SELESILAH (BOOK OF THE DESCENT) OF THE RAJAS OF BRUNI. Hugh Low

SELESILAH

(BOOK OF THE DESCENT)

OF THE

RAJAS OF BRUNI.

BY

Hugh Low, H. B. M.'s Resident, Perak.

This is the history of the Rajas who have sat upon the throne of Bruni (1) — Da rul Salam (City of Peace) —according to their generations, to whom descended the Nobat Nagara (Royal Drum) and Gunta Alamat (The Bells, an Emblem) from Johor — Kemal ul Mekam (The Royal Place): they also received the Nobat Nagara from the country of Menangkabau, that is to say, Andalas and Saguntang.

The first (2) who held the sovereignty in the city of Bruni, and who introduced the Mahomedan Religion and observed the institutions of the prophet Mahomed, on whom be peace, was the Paduka Sri Sultan Mahomed. (See Note I.) Before his time the country of Bruni was Kafir (gentile) and a dependency of Menjapahit, (3) but at the time of the death of the Batara of Menjapahit and of the Wazir (Minister) Pateh Gajah Mada (*) and the destruction of the Country of Menjapahit which ensued, Bruni ceased to send the tribute of a jar of the Young Pinang Fruit (green betel nut).

In the reign of Sultan Bahkei, (5) of the Kingdom of Johor, he summoned the Tuan Alah Bertatar and Pateh Berbi to Johor, and, when they arrived there, they were invested as Sultan Mahomed by the Yang di Pertuan of Johor, and he gave them the nobat nagara and gunta alamat, and five countries — Kalakah, Seribas, Sadong, Semerahan, and Sarawak. Pateh Berbi being appointed Bendahara Sri Maharaja.

After having remained some time in Johor, His Majesty the Sultan Mahomed returned to Bruni. He had no sons and only one daughter.

Before this (see Note II.) the Emperor of China had sent two of his officers, named "Wang Kong and Ong Sum Ping, to get the gemala (jewel) of the Dragon, which lived on the China Balu. A great number of the Chinese were lost, being eaten by the Dragon, which retained its jewel, and thus the mountain was called China Balu. But Ong Sum Ping conceived a device for deceiving the Dragon ; he put a candle in a glass case, and, while the Dragon was out feeding, he took the jewel, putting the candle in its place, the Dragon thinking his gemala still safe. The treasure having been thus obtained, all the junks set sail to return to their country, and when they had got some distance from the mountain, Wang Kong demanded the jewel from Ong Sum Ping, and they quarrelled, but Wang Kong insisted on the surrender of the jewel, so that Ong Sum Ping was angry and would not return to China, but turned back and sailed to Bruni, and, having arrived there, he married the Princess, the daughter of the Sultan Mahomed (see Note III.) and the Sultan gave over the sovereignty to his son-in-law Sultan Akhmed.  

Sultan Akhmed also had a daughter, who was of exceeding beauty, and a Sheriff named Ali, of the line of AMIL-AL-HASAN, came from the country of Taif and passed into Bruni. Having heard of the great beauty of the Princess, he became enamoured of her, and the Sultan accepted him for his son-in-law, and gave him the sovereignty of the kingdom. He was called Sultan Berkat, and he enforced the laws of the prophet, and built a mosque in the city of Bruni, and by the aid of his Chinese subjects he erected the Kota Batu (stone wall), (see Note IV.).

The Sultan Berkat had a son—the Sultan Suleiman—who was the father (6) of the Sultan Bulkeiah, (see Note V.) who was, the Raja who conquered the kingdom of Soolook and made a dependency of the country of Selurong, (7) the Raja of which was called DATOH GAMBAN. Sultan Bulkeiah (8) had a son, who was the Sultan Abdul Kahar; he is known as the Merhoum Kramat, (9) and was the father of the Sultan Saif-ul-Rejal.

SAIF-UL-REJAL (10) was the father of the Sultan Shah Bruni,(11) and when he died the kingdom descended to his brother Sultan Hasan.

Sultan Hasan (see Note VI.), who was called the Merhoum di Tanjong, was very powerful in his kingdom and conquered all the Bajau countries and the Batara of Soolook. He was the father of the Sultan Jalil-ul-Akbar, who is known as Merhoum Tuah, and who was the father of the Sultan Abdul Jalil-ul-Jebar, and when he died, he was succeeded by the brother of His Majesty's father, Sultan Mahomet Ali, from whom the sovereignty was snatched away by Bendahara Abdul.  

Sultan Mahomet Ali (12) is called Merhoum Tumbang di Rumput, and, on his death, the throne was occupied by Sultan Abdul Mubin. He was succeeded by the nephew of Sultan Mahomet Ali, who reigned as Sultan Muaddin ( 13 ), who carried on the war against the island (14), and recovered the royalty from the Sultan Abdul Mubin. He is known as Merhoum Bongsu : when he died he was succeeded by the son of his brother, who was named Sultan Nasr-Addin. After his death he was succeeded by his father's cousin (aya sa papa) named Sultan Kemal-Addin, (15) who was the son of Sultan Mahomet Ali : he is the Merhoum di Lobah, and was twice sovereign. His Majesty resigned the throne to his relative (chuchu sa - pupu) Sultan Mahomed Ali-Uddin, (16) who was the father of the Sultan Mahomed Tej-Waldin , (17) who was the father of the Sultan Jemal-ul-Alam.

When he died the throne was occupied by the Sultan Mahomed Khan Zul-Alam, (18) whose son was the Sultan Mahomed Alam, (19) who had waged war with the Chief Mentri Abdul Hak of Buong Pinggi, who rebelled against His Majesty. The grave of this Sultan is at Pulau Chermin. After his death he was succeeded by the Sultan Omar Ali Saif II., who is now reigning, and who is the son of the Sultan Mahomed Jemal-ul-Alam.

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(1) The name of this kingdom and city is always written "Bruni" by the Natives, but it is called indifferently " Bruni" and "Brunei." (2) The first date in Bruni history which can be trusted is A. H. 1072, being that of the death of Sultan Mahomet Ali, who was the twelfth Mahomedan Sultan. From the establishment of Johor in 1512 to the year 1810, Crawfurd says, fourteen Princes reigned, giving an average of twenty-one years to each reign : a similar average for each Sultan of Bruni would make the religion of Islam to have been introduced, and the dynasty to have been established, about the year 1403, but it was probably somewhat earlier, as several of the Sultans of this period appear to have had long reigns. (3) The Hindu kingdom of Menjapahit was destroyed by the Mahomedans in A.D. 1473, Bruni is mentioned in the history of Java as one of the countries conquered by ADAYA MINGRAT, the General of Angka Wijaya, the last king. (4) Gajah Mada was the Minister of Angka Wijaya. Pateh Berbi, in another version of the Selesilah, which was given to me by Pangiran Kasuma, ia represented as the brother of Sultan Mahomed. (5) Johor was not established as a kingdom at the time of these events, and the Sultan mentioned must have reigned in Malacca, which was taken by the Portuguese in 1500, Johor being established the following year. (6) It is probable that Nakoda Ragam, Sultan Bulkeiah, carried on his career of travel and conquest during the life time of his father, Sultan Suleiman. When Magellan's Squadron was at the mouth of the Bruni river, A.D. 1521, a fleet returned to Bruni from the conquest of a place called Lawi, which was on the East Coast of Borneo. This fleet was commanded by the son of the King of Luzon, who was the Captain-General of the King of Bruni. This statement of Pigafetta's confirms the Brunian narrative. (7) Selurong is said by Brunian tradition to be in the Island of Luzon and the site of the present town of Manila. (8) It was probably towards the end of the reign of Sultan Bulkeiah that the ships of Magellan, after his death at Mactan, touched, in August, 1521, at Bruni, where they found a magnificent court. (9) He was called Merhoum Kramat, from having appeared, after death, on horseback at the head of the forces of Bruni to repel the Castilians during their attack on Bruni. His tomb on the hill above Kota Batu was destroyed by the Spanish shot. (10) It seems probable that it was in the reign of this Sultan Saif-ul-Rejal, that Bruni was attacked by the Spaniards, A.D. 1577, but the history is contradictory on this point, in one place assigning the first attack to the time of his father Sultan Abdul Kahar. The second attack by the Spaniards took place in 1580. (11) Sultan Shah Bruni is said to have been a great encourager of manufactures in brass. It was during his reign that the magnificent brass cannon taken away by Sir Thomas Cochrane in 1846 were founded. (12) This sovereign, Merhoum Tumbang di Rumput, was a younger son of Sultan Hasan and consequently uncle to his predecessor Jalil-ul-Jebar. (13) Pronounced Muaddin in Bruni. He was married to his cousin the daughter of Sultan Mahomet Ali ; he was himself a son of Merhoum Tuah, so that he was a grandson of Sultan Hasan, and his wife a granddaughter of the same King. (14) Pulau Chermin, where the usurper Sultan Abdul Mubin established himself. Abdul Mubin is not mentioned in the genealogical list of Sultans carved on the historic tablet by order of Sultan Mahomed Taj-uddin. (15) Sultan Kemal-Addin was one of the sons of Merhoum Tumbang di Rumput, and was named Husein ; he with his brother Hasan, the elder of the two, were quite young at the time of the massacre and were protected by their brother-in-law the Bendahara Bongsu, who afterwards became Sultan Muaddin.(16) Sultan Mahomed Ali-Uddin was the son of the Pangiran di Gedong Shah Bubin, who was the son of Sultan Muaddin by his wife, the daughter of the Sultan Mahomet Ali. After his death, his father-in-law Kemal-Addin again assumed the royalty. (17) Sultan Mahomed Tej-Waldin resigned the throne in favour of his son Mahomed Jemal-ul-Alam, who having died after a reign of from six to nine months, his father re-ascended the throne. (18) Sultan Mahomed Khan Zul-Alam was a son of Sultan Omar Ali Saif- UDDIN. (19) This was a madman of the cruelest propensities, who would have set aside Mahomed Ali Saif-uddin.  

NOTES.

I.

Sultan Mahomed.—The tradition preserved in Brum, as related to me by the Pangiran Kasuma, is that the Bruni Rajas are descended from three sources : —

(1°) from Awang Alak Ber Tabar, who governed the country before the introduction of the religion of Islam ; (2°) from Johor (Malacca ? ), a lady of that royal family having been forcibly brought to Bruni before the people were Mahomedans ; (3°) from the Arabian Prophet : Alak Ber Tabar was converted to Islam and became Sultan Mahomed. The Chinese element seems to be omitted in the above enumeration of the sources of origin of the royal family.

II.

The productions of North and North-East Borneo must, from early times, have attracted considerable attention from the Chinese, as is shewn by the names of the largest river and the highest mountain in that territory, viz., China Batangan and China Balu ; very large quantities of birds' nests, beche-de-mer, sharks fins, Bornean camphor, pearls and pearl-shells are still collected there, and in no other part of the island, for export to China. The unsuccessful expedition sent by Kublai Khan, A.D. 1292, to the Eastern Archipelago was probably to this place, and may have been that which gave a Raja or Princess to Borneo, for there is undoubted uncertainty in this early part of the Bornean narrative as to relative dates. It is very probable that the Chinese had a settlement or factory at China Batangan, and that the wife of Sultan Akhmed, the second Sovereign, came from there, as in some versions of the Selesilah she is expressly stated to have been brought thence by the Sultan.

III.

In the copy of the Selesilah given to me by Pangiran Kasuma, Sultan Akhmed is represented as having been the brother of Sultan Mahomed, and to have married the daughter of the Chinese Chief, whom he brought from China Batangan, who, with all his people, is said to have settled in Bruni, and to have had by her a daughter, who was married to the Arab Sheriff who became the third Sultan. This seems to be confirmed by the narrative on the historical stone carved by order of the Sultan Mahomed Taj-uddin

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IV.

" Kota Batu."—There are two places called thus, one in the site of the ancient palace at the little river Bruni below the ancient tombs of the former Sultans, the other is the artificial bar formed in the river between the islands " Kaya Orang " (*) and " Pulau Chermin " which the Pangiran Kasuma's narrative gives as the one referred to in the text, saying that forty junks filled with stones were sunk to form it. As the former was in existence and mounted with fifty-six brass and six iron cannon in 1521, when Pigafetta visited the place, it was probably built at the same time. In the stone tablet the erection of the Kota Batu is ascribed to the Arab Sultan Berkat, the third of the Kings, who married the daughter of Sultan Akhmed ; he probably, with the assistance of his Chinese subjects, finished one or both of these structures. 

V.

Sultan Bulkeiah was familiarly known as Nakoda Ragam : he is described in Bornean traditions as a great navigator and warrior, having voyaged to Java and to Malacca and conquered the East Coast of Borneo, Luzon and Soolook. His tomb, of very exquisite workmanship in very hard basaltic stone, still remains on the hill above the site of the ancient town ; it was probably imported from Achin or Java. Two stones only remained in 1873 of the similar tomb of Lela Men Chanei, the wife of this Sultan, who was a daughter of the Batara of Soolook. I saw two other stones which had formed part of this lady's tomb in the burial ground at the " Kiangi " above the " Upas " under a large waringin tree. Sentences from the Koran are exquisitely carved on both tombs, but they have no names or dates which I could distinguish. (*) "Kaya Orang," There are veins of coal on this island, and the remains of regular fortifications : it is opposite Pulau Chermin, and with it commands the entrance of the Bruni river.

VI.

Sultan Hasan had a palace at Tanjong Chindana and a fort on Pulau Chermin. He was buried in the former place and is hence called Merhoum di Tanjong. He is reported to have reconquered several countries. Soolook is said to have been tributary to him, and it is certain he had intimate relations with that State, a son of his by a concubine having, it is asserted, become its Raja : it may have been under his order and by his assistance that the attack on the arsenal of Santao in 1617 took place, when all the garrison were killed and property to the value of $1,000,000 destroyed. The tribute formerly paid by Selurong (Manila) to Bruni is stated to have been one gantang of gold in each year.

Before Sultan Hasan's time, there were only two Wazirs—the Raja Bendahara and Raja Temenggong : he added the Pangiran or Raja di Gedong and the Pangiran Pemancha ; so that, like the Prophet, he might have four counsellors or " friends." He must have been contemporary with Sultan Iskander Muda of Achin, A.D. 1600-1631.

The son of Sultan Hasan, who became Sultan of Soolook, is called, in an appendix to the Selesilah, Pangiran Shahbandar Maharaja Lela, grandson of the Batara Raja of Soolook. The Bornean Rajas dislike his memory and say that he was illegitimate and a bad character and dissatisfied in Bruni because he did not rank with the sons of his father born in wedlock, but a grandson of the Raja of Soolook must have been of considerable rank, and it is probable that the dislike arises from the after-events by which Soolook acquired so large a territory from Borneo after the con- quest of the Merhoum di Pulau.

Sultan Hassan lived at Tanjong Chindana and had a covered passage from his palace to Chermin island, which was strongly fortified. The Spaniards are said to have sent an embassy either in his time or that of his son Jalil-ul-Akbar.

Source : Royal Asiatic Society (Journal of The Straits Branch)