Monday, 29 December 2014

Sultan Muhammad Kanzul Alam


He was the 21st Sultan of Brunei, the son of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien I and ascended to the throne from 1807 until 1826. He succeeded Sultan Muhammad Tajuddin and was famously known as ‘Pengiran Di Gadong Ayah’.

Some of his contributions to Brunei were as listed below:

in 1821 he issued pitis coins to the Padian.
he strenghthened the relations between Brunei and Spanish Manila
He was an open-minded and diplomatic Sultan who wanted to established good relations with Europeans. In 1809 for example the British troops headed by ‘Si Merah’ was well recieved by the Sultan and accepted his challenge to allow any Bruneians  who can beat the huge fierce dog owned by ‘Si Merah’. Consequently, this dog was beaten byPengiran Muhammad Daud and that achievement earned him the title Pengiran Pemancha. Amazingly he was also the saviour of his Majesty when a free loose tiger (agift from Sultan Terengganu) was put back into the cage.


The turning point of Brunei’s history was when he promoted Pengiran Muhammad Salleh to become Pengiran Indera Mahkota (Cheteria) and appointed him  as the Governor of Sarawak. Even though he was considered to be a wise noble (he who wrote Syair Rakis voicing out his concerns over the exploits of the British in Brunei’s territories), his attitudes and actions (the textbook seemed to protrayed him as the culprit) has caused troubles in Sarawak and internal conflicts within the royal family which gave an opportunity to James Brooke to intervene (i.e. the beginning of  Brunei’s lost territories).

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