C.

Skinner The dating of the civil war in Kelantan referred to in the Kesah Pelayaran Abdullah In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 121 (1965), no: 4, Leiden, 433-437

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THE DATING OF THE CIVIL WAR IN KELANTAN REFERRED TO IN THE KESAH PELAYARAN ABDULLAH
n his interesting article on the Kesah Pelayaran Abdullah Mohd. Taib Osman tackles the problem of dating various events in the history of Kelantan during the late 1830's.1 Taib's conclusions are as follows: Sultan Muhammad I died in 1835 and was succeeded (in the same year) by his brother Raja Zainal. Raja Zainal reigned until 1837 when (as the result of the civil war described by Munshi Abdullah in the Kesah) he was driven out and succeeded by his nephew, Senik (later known as Sultan Muhammad II). The main source supporting 1835 as the year of Sultan Muhammad I's death is apparently Haji Abdullah's fragment (compiled in 1868) on the history of Trengganu and Kelantan 2 where it is stated that the death occurred on 27 Safar 1251.3 It is apparently this date that has been accepted by Rentse (working, it would appear, largely upon evidence furnished by Dato' Nik Mahmud),4 by Saad Shukri,5 and even by present-day members of the Kelantan royal family.6 Vella too, with the Thai sources available to him, chooses to follow Rentse and accepts 1835 as the date of Muhammad I's death.7 In doing so however Vella ignores the Thai Annals of Kelantan which relate that "Sultan Muhammad died in the year of the Dog,
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3 4

5 6 7

Mohd. Taib Osman: KES. Although the article gives his name as 'Mohd. Taib Ustnan', I have reason to believe that he prefers the spelling 'Mohd. Taib Osman'. I shall refer to him below simply as 'Taib'. Abdullah: TRE, p. 12. In his introduction, Marriot (the editor of the fragment) says that it was written "in about 1878", but the text shows that it was copied in 1876 from a compilation made in 1868. 24/25 June 1835. Rentse: KEL (c.f. also Rentse and Mahmud: SAL). Dato' Haji Nik Mahmud was the author of the Rengkasan Chetera Kelantan mentioned by Taib, and also the owner of the manuscript of the Hikayat Seri Kelantan. Saad Shukri: KEL, (c.f. also Saad Shukri: SEJ, apparently a revised version of the former). Assuming that their approval was obtained for the 1961 Coronation Souvenir. Vella: RAM, p. 70.

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the 10th year of the cycle",8 i.e. in the year beginning in April, 1837. Taib himself, although quoting Graham in another context, does not mention that Graham says that Muhammad I's death occurred "about the year 1837" and also states that Senik and his adherents seized power in 1838.9 It is significant that Graham's account of events is corroborated by the Shair Musoh Kelantan, a contemporary source which, although giving no dates, is far more reliable for the events of the late 1830's than is the Hikayat Seri Kelantan. The most convincing argument for taking 1837 and not 1835 as the date of Muhammad I's death is supplied by a collection, of letters written by Senik (Muhammad II) and his contemporaries in the year 1839.10 Senik's seal (as Raja of Kelantan) reads: "He who trusts in God the Raja of Kelantan may God preserve his dominion, his good works and his merits son of the late A Luang Tan A.H. 1254." " The seal of Long Ahmad (a cousin and an opponent of Senik) who had been appointed 'Raja Muda' by Raja Zainal runs as follows: "He who trusts in Almighty God the Raja Muda of Kelantan son of the late Yusuf may God preserve his dominion and his good works A.H. 1253." And finally the seal of Muhammad (the "Raja Kampong Laut" met by Munshi Abdullah),i3 who was appointed 'Perdana Menteri' by Raja Zainal, runs as follows: "He who trusts in Almighty God Muhammad, Prime Minister of Kelantan son of the late Ismail , may God preserve his dominion and his good works A.H. 1253." 14 In other words, the seals of office of the men appointed by Raja Zainal upon succeeding Muhammad I, both date from A.H. 1253 (7 April 1837-26 March 1838) while Senik's seal as Ruler of Kelantan (in
Phongsawadan Muang Kelantan, p. 133. Due to its bias against Raja Zainal and his adherents, this source is not always reliable as to events, but most of its dates appear to be accurate. 9 Graham: KEL, p. 44-46. 10 These letters are in the Wachirayan National Library, Bangkok (Catalogued as 'Section 3' - Nos. 281-288, 290-293, 295, 297-308). For full details, see my forthcoming The Civil War in Kelantan in 1839. 11 See Cat. Nos. 284-286, 288, 290, 293, 295. 12 Cat. No. 301. Abdullah: KES, p. 78-81. 14 Cat. Nos. 299, 302, 305, 307.
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THE DATING OF THE CIVIL WAR IN KELANTAN.

4 3 5 .,

succession to Raja Zainal) dates only from A.H. 1254 (27 March 1838 - 16 March 1839). Turning now to the date of Munshi Abdullah's visit to Kelantan, any doubt could have been resolved by reference to the most obvious of contemporary sources the newspapers of the day. In 1837, when Singapore boasted two newspapers,15 no mention can be found in their files of any mission to Kelantan. In 1838 however issues of the weekly Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser during the months of March, April and May show that Abdullah's mission left Singapore between Monday 26 March and Wednesday 28 March, arrived off the Kelantan river on 12 April, and returned to Singapore on the night of Tuesday 24 April.16 Abdullah was thus correct when he wrote that he left Singapore at midnight on the 1 Muharram (27/28 March) and arrived back there on the night of 29 Muharram A.H. 1254 (24 April 1838)." As Abdullah arrived in Kelantan while Raja Zainal was still holding out (albeit with difficulty), Senik's party could not have gained the upper hand until after April 1838. The usually reliable Shair Musoh Kelantan states that the Kelantanese mission to Bangkok (which was bringing back to Kelantan Siamese recognition of Senik's seizure of power) had reached Nakhon Si Thammarat when news was received there of the Kedah rising.18 As the Kedah rising broke out at the beginning of August, we can assume that Senik's expulsion of Raja Zainal had occurred a month or two earlier, in May or June, and that Siamese recognition of Senik as Ruler of Kelantan had been granted to him probably in July 1838. We may sum up as follows: Long Muhammad (later styled 'Sultan Muhammad I') died (some time in or after April perhaps June?) 19
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The Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register and the Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. The 'Chronicle' died on 30 September, 1837. (See Gibson-Hill: CHR.) See Singapore Free Press, especially issues for 29 March, 26 April and 3 May 1838. Although of course he (or a copyist) erred in writing "A.H. 1253" as the year of his departure, and "Sabtu" as the eve of his return. (Abdullah: KES, p. 25, p. 121). Shair Musoh Kelantan, p. 36-37. A.H. 1253 began on 7 April 1837. It is just possible that the "27 Safar A.H. 1251" mentioned by Haji Abdullah (see above) is correct as to the day and month but not the year. If it were "27 Safar A.H. 1253" this would be equivalent to 2/3 June 1837. It is perhaps worthy of note that the Shair Musoh Kelantan, p. 12 says that Raja Zainal had been in power "about a year" when the disturbances broke out that led to his expulsion.

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in 1837. He was succeeded in the same year by his brother Raja Zainal (also known as 'Raja Banggul', up to that time Bendahara of Kelantan). Raja Zainal was soon involved in a civil war with his nephews, in particular with Raja Penambang (whom Zainal had appointed 'Bendahara') and Raja Penambang's brother Senik (later to be styled 'Sultan Muhammad IF) whom Zainal had appointed 'Temenggong'. This civil war was still going on when Munshi Abdullah's mission visited Kelantan in April 1838. Raja Zainal was driven out of Kelantan in May or June and Senik was recognized by the Siamese in July 1838. One final point. From the genealogical table on p. 359 of Taib's article, it might be supposed that Senik was the elder and Raja Penambang the younger brother. In fact, all but one of the sources indicate that the reverse was the case.20 This is to some extent confirmed by the appointment made by Raja Zainal, for one would expect that the (far more senior) office of 'Bendahara' would go to the elder and not to the younger brother (for whom the title of 'Temenggong' would suffice). Again, the fact that the Siamese, after recognising Senik, the younger brother, as 'Sultan Kelantan Phaya Kelantan', felt compelled to award to Raja Penambang the (unusually high) titles of 'Sultan Dewa Phaya Changwang',21 would appear to indicate that Bangkok felt Penambang to be of a seniority such as to warrant him being placed virtually on the same footing as his younger brother, whom events had made the ruler of Kelantan. C. SKINNER
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abdullah (Haji)
TRE: A Fragment of the History of Trengganu and Kelantan, lated by H . Marriot, J S B R A S 72 (1916) p. 3-23. ed. and trans-

Abdullah, (Munshi, b. Munshi Abdul Kadir) K E S : Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah, ed. Kassim Ahmad, 2nd. (revised) edition, Kuala Lumpur, 1962.
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21

Only Rentse: K E L , p. 60 has it that Raja Penambang was the younger brother of Senik. Abdullah: T R E , p. 12, Hikayat Seri Kelantan p. I l l (ms. p. 61), Phongsawadan Muang Kelantan p. 132, and Rentse and Mahmud: SAL, p. 306a, all indicate that Penambang was the elder and Senik the younger. T a i b : K E S , p. 346 says that Raja Penambang's Thai title was ' P h ( a ) y a Che Puan', but this is the result of his reading [ch-p-w-a-n]. The correct reading is [ch-ng-w-a-n] which is the (Kelantan) Malay pronunciation of the Thai [ca: n g w a : ng] - "Deputy". 'Phaya Changwang' means something like 'Deputy Ruler*. The grant of this title to Raja Penambang is recorded in the Phongsawadan Muang Kelantan, p. 132.

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Gibson-Hill (C. A.) CHR: The Singapore Chronicle (1824-37), JMBRAS 26(1), 19S3, p. 175-189. Graham (W. A.) KEL: Kelantan, A State of the Malay Peninsula, Glasgow, 1908. Hikayat Seri Kelantan Hikayat Seri Kelantan, edited by Mohd. Taib bin Osman, (unpublished) M.A. thesis, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 1961. Mohd. Taib (bin Osman) K E S : A Note on Abdullah's Account of the Kelantan Civil War in his Kesah Pelayaran Abdullah, BKI 120 (1964) p. 342-349. Phongsawadan Muang Kelantan [Phongsa: wada: n Muang Kalantan] p. 131-148 in Prachum Phongsawadan [Prachum Phongsa: wada: n] part 2, 2nd. edition, Bangkok, 1933. Rentse (A.) KEL: History of Kelantan, JMBRAS, 12(2), 1934, p. 44-62. Rentse (A.) and Mahmud (Dato' Nik) SAL: Salsilah Raja* Kelantan, JMBRAS, 14(3), 1936, facing p. 306. Saad Shukri (bin Haji Muda) KEL: Kilatan atau Riwayat Kelantan, serialized in the magazine 'Kenchana', Kota Bharu, 1930-31. SEJ: Sejarah Kelantan, Kota Bharu, 1962 (here the author's name is given as (As c ad Shukri Haji Muda). Shair Musoh Kelantan Shair Musoh Kelantan, edited by Kassim bin Ahmad, (unpublished) M.A. thesis, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 1961. Singapore Free Press Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, (weekly) Singapore. National Library Archives, Singapore. Souvenir Souvenir (of the) Coronation Celebrations of H. H. Tuanku Yahya Petra ibni almarhom Sultan Ibrahim, Kota Bharu, 1961. Vella (W. F.) RAM: Siam under Rama HI, New York, 19S7.

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