The Malays Of Sungei Ujong And Several Of The Adjacent States Are
Supposed To Be Tolerably Directly Descended From Those
Of the parent
empire Menangkabau in Sumatra, who conquered and have to a great extent
displaced the tribes known as
Jakuns, Orang Bukit, Rayet Utan, Samangs,
Besisik, Rayet Laut, etc., the remnants of which live mainly in the
jungles of the interior, are everywhere apart from the Malays, and are
of a much lower grade in the scale of civilization. The story current
among the best informed Malays of this region is that a Sumatran chief
with a large retinue crossed to Malacca in the twelfth century, and
went into the interior, which he found inhabited only by the Jakuns, or
"tree people." There his followers married Jakun women, and their
descendants spread over Sungei Ujong, Rumbow, and other parts, the
Rayet Laut, or "sea-people," the supposed Ichthyophagi of the ancients,
and the Rayet Utan, or "forest-people," betaking themselves to the
woods and the sea-board hills.
This mixed race rapidly increasing, divided into nine petty States,
under chiefs who rendered feudal service to the Sultans of Malacca
before its conquest by the Portuguese, and afterward to the Sultan of
Johore, at whose court they presented themselves once a year. This
confederation, called the Negri Sembilan, in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries made various commercial treaties with the Dutch,
but its domestic affairs were in a state of chronic feud, and four of
the States, late in the eighteenth century, becoming disgusted with the
arbitrary proceedings of a ruler who, aided by Dutch influence, had
gained the ascendency over the whole nine, sent to Sumatra, the
original source of government, for a prince of the blood-royal of
Menangkabau, and after a prolonged conflict this prince became
sovereign of the little States of Sungei Ujong, Rumbow, Johol, and Sri
Menanti, the chiefs of these States constituting his Council of State.
This dynasty came to an end in 1832, and intrigues and discord
prevailed for many years, till the Datu Klana of Sungei Ujong, troubled
by a hostile neighbor in Rumbow and a hostile subject or rival at home,
conceived the bright idea of supporting his somewhat shaky throne by
British protection.
After some curious negotiations, he succeeded in obtaining both a
Resident and the English flag to protect his little fortunes; but it is
obvious that his calling in foreign intervention was not likely to make
him popular with his independent neighbors or disaffected subjects, and
the troubles culminated in a "little war," in which the attacking force
was composed of a few English soldiers, Malay military police, and a
body of about eighty so-called Arabs, enlisted in Singapore and taken
to the scene of action by Mr. Fontaine. The "enemy" was seldom obvious,
but during the war it inflicted a loss upon us of eight killed and
twenty-three wounded. We took various stockades, shot from sixty to
eighty Malays, burned a good deal of what was combustible, and gave
stability to the shaky rule of the Datu Klana, Syed Abdulrahman.
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