British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the
Malay Peninsula that were colonized by the
British from the 18th and the 19th until the 20th century. Before the formation of
Malayan Union in 1946, the colonies were not placed under a single unified administration. Instead, British Malaya comprised of the
Straits Settlement, the
Federated Malay States and the
Unfederated Malay States. Malaya was also one of the most profitable British protectorates, being the world's largest producer of
tin and later
rubber.
Malayan Union was dissolved and replaced with
Federation of Malaya in 1948. It became independent on August 31, 1957. On September 16, 1963, the federation, along with
Sabah,
Sarawak and
Singapore formed a larger federation called
Malaysia.
The British first became involved with Malay politics when it tried to set up trading posts in Penang, then part of
Kedah in 1771 and Singapore in 1819.
Kedah and Penang
In the mid-18th century, British firms could be found trading in the
Malay Peninsula. In April 1771, Jourdain, Sulivan and de Souza, a
British firm based in
Madras,
India sent Sir
Francis Light to meet the sultan of
Kedah,
Muhammad Jiwa Shah, to open up the state's market for trading. Light was also a captain within the
British East India Company.
At the same time, the sultan was facing multiple external threats that could challenge the sultan's power in Kedah.
Siam of which was at war with
Burma and saw Kedah as its vassal state, frequently demanded Kedah to send in reinforcement. Kedah in many cases was a reluctant ally to the Siam.
Through negotiation between the sultan and Light, the sultan agreed to allow the firm to build a trading post and operate in Kedah if the British agree to protect Kedah from external pressure. Light conveyed the message to his superior in India. The British however decided against the proposal.
Two years later, Sultan Muhammad Jiwa died and was replaced by Sultan
Abdullah Mahrum Shah. The sultan was getting desperate and offered Light, who became a British representative, the island of
Penang in return for military assistance for Kedah. Light informed the British East India company of the sultan's offer. The Company however ordered Light to take over Penang and gave him no guarantee of the military aid the sultan had asked earlier. Light later took over Penang and assured the sultan of military assistance despite the Company's position. Soon, the Company made up its mind and told Light that they would not give any military aid to Kedah. In June 1788, Light informed the sultan of the Company's decision. Felt cheated, the sultan ordered Light to move out of Penang but Light refused.
Light's refusal made the sultan to strengthen Kedah military and fortified
Prai. Prai is a stretch of beach opposite to Penang. Recognizing the threat, the British moved in and razed the fort in Prai. With the defeat, the British forced the sultan to sign an agreement that legally allowed the British to occupy Penang. In return, the sultan received an annual rent of 6,000 Spanish peso. On May 1, 1791, the
Union Jack was officially raised in Penang for the first time. In 1800, Kedah ceded Prai to the British and the sultan received further 4,000 peso as an annual rent. Penang was named Prince of Wales Island while
Perai was renamed
Province Wellesley.
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George Town, capital of Penang. Beyond the body of water is the Seberang Perai or Province Wellesley on the mainland. |
In 1821, Siam invaded Kedah, sacked the capital
Alor Star and occupied the state until 1842.
Malacca
From the 16th to the early 19th century, Malacca was a
Dutch colony. During the
Napoleonic Wars, between 1811 and 1815, Malacca as with other Dutch holdings in
Southeast Asia, was under the care of British. This was done in order to prevent the French from claiming Dutch processions in there. When the war ended in 1815, Malacca was returned to the Dutch. In 1824, the British and the Dutch signed a treaty known as
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. The treaty, among other things, legally transferred Malacca to British administration. The treaty also became the one agreement that officially divided the
Malay world into two separate entities and the basis for current Indonesian-Malaysian boundary.
Johor and Singapore
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1888 German map of Singapore. |
Modern Singapore was found by Sir
Stamford Raffles. Before establishing Singapore, Raffles was the Lieutenant Governor of Java from 1811 till 1815. In 1818, he was appointed as of
Bencoolen. Realizing how the Dutch was monopolizing trade in the
Malay Archipelago, he was convinced that the British needed a new trading colony to counter Dutch trade power. Months worth of research brought him to Singapore, an island at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. The island was ruled by a
temenggung.
The current sultan of Johor,
Tengku Abdul Rahman, was under the influence of the Dutch and the Bugis. Hence, he would never agree to a British base in Singapore. However, Tengku Abdul Rahman was became a sultan only because his older brother,
Tengku Hussein or Tengku Long, had been away getting married in Penang when their father, the previous sultan died in 1812. According to Malay culture, a person has to be by the dying sultan in order to be considered as a new ruler. Tengku Abdul Rahman was present when their father died. The older brother was not happy with the development while the temenggung that was in charge of Singapore preferred Tengku Hussien to the younger brother.
Upon learning the situation, Raffles made a deal with Tengku Hussein. The agreement stated that the British would acknowledge Tengku Hussien as the legitimate ruler of Johor if they allow the British to establish a trading post in Singapore. Furthermore, Tengku Hussein and the temenggung would receive yearly stipend from the British. The treaty was ratified on February 6, 1819. With the Temenggung's help, Raffles managed to smuggle Hussein, then living in exile on one of the Riau Islands, back into Singapore.
The Dutch were extremely displeased with Raffles' action. However, with the signing of Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the Dutch receded its opposition to the British presence in Singapore. The treaty also divided the Sultanate of Johor into modern Johor and the new Sultanate of Riau.
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Postage stamp of the Straits Settlements from 1883. |
After the British secured Singapore from the Dutch through the
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the British aimed to centralized the administration of Penang, Malacca and Singapore. As such, in 1826, a framework known as the Straits Settlements was established with Penang as its capital. Later in 1832, the capital was moved to Singapore. While the three holdings formed the backbone of the Settlements, throughout the years
Christmas Island,
Cocos Islands,
Labuan and
Dinding of
Perak were placed under the authority of the Straits Settlements.
Until 1867, the Settlements was answerable to British administrator in form of the
British East India Company at
Calcutta. The Settlements however was unsatisfied with Calcutta handling of the Settlements' affair and complaint to London. Calcutta even tried to cancelled Singapore's
free port status in 1856. This made the administrators in of the Straits Settlements extremely unhappy.
However, the Company was dissolved in 1858 and India was made as a crown colony. With Calcutta's waning power and intense lobbying by the Settlements' administrators, in 1867 the colony was placed directly under the power of the
Colonial Office in
London and was declared as a
crown colony. The declaration gave the colony considerable independence and power within the
British Empire.
In 1946 after the
Second World War, the colony was dissolved and was absord into the
Malayan Union while Singapore was separated from the Union and formed a new crown colony. The Malayan Union later was replaced with Federation of Malaya in 1948 and in 1963, together with North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore formed a greater federation called Malaysia.
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British and French pressures forced Siam to give up its territorial claims on Indochina and the Malay Peninsula. |
Prior to the late 19th century, the
British East India Company was only interested in trading and tried as much as possible to stay away from Malay politics. However, Siam influence in northern
Malay states, especially
Kedah,
Terengganu,
Kelantan and
Pattani was preventing the Company from trading in peace. Therefore, in 1826, the British through the Company signed a secret treaty known today as the Burney Treaty with the king of Siam. The four Malay states were not present during the signing of the agreement. In that treaty, British acknowledged Siamese sovereignty over all those states. In return, Siam accepted British ownership of Penang and
Province Wellesley and allowed the Company to trade in Terengganu and Kelantan unimpeded.
Almost a hundred years later, a new treaty now known as Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 or Bangkok Treaty of 1909 was signed between the two powers. In the new agreement, Siam agreed to give up claim over
Kedah,
Perlis,
Terengganu and
Kelantan while Pattani remains as Siamese territory. Perlis was previously part of Kedah but during Siamese reign, Perlis was separated from Kedah. Kedah's district of
Satun however was annexed by Siam in the same agreement. Pattani on the other hand was dissected into
Pattani proper,
Yala and
Narathiwat after the signing of the treaty.
Though the Siamese King
Chulalongkorn was reluctant to sign the treaty, increasing
French pressure on the Siamese eastern border forced Siam to cooperate with the British. As with Rama IV, Chulalongkorn hoped that the British would leave Siam alone if he acceded to the British demands. Earlier in 1893, Siam had lost Shan region of north-eastern
Burma to the British.
This demarcation remains today as
Malaysia-Thailand Border.
Perak is a state on the western shore of the Malay Peninsula and in the 18th and 19th century, it was discovered the state was rich in
tin. In fact, Perak had the richest alluvial deposits of tin in the world.
Europe at the same time was undergoing an
industrial revolution and this created a huge demand for tin. The British as well as the Dutch were active in the states, each seeking to monopolize production of tin and other lesser commodities. However, political atmosphere in Perak was sufficiently volatile to raise the cost of tin mining operations. For instance, in 1818, Siam ordered Kedah to attack Perak. The lack of security in Perak forced to British to protect Perak in 1826.
As Perak continued to increase its mining operations, it suffered a shortage of labor. Looking to solve the problem, Malay administrator
Long Jaafar invited the Chinese in Penang to work in Perak; particularly at
Larut. By the 1840s, Perak's Chinese population exploded. The new immigrants more often than not were members of Chinese secret societies. Two of the largest were
Ghee Hin and
Hai San. These two groups regularly tried to increase their influence in Perak and this resulted in frequent skirmishes. These skirmishes were getting out of hand that even
Ngah Ibrahim the
Menteri Besar (equivalent of a
chief minister) at that unable to enforce rule of law properly.
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Raja Abdullah, later Sultan of Perak |
Meanwhile, there was a power struggle in Perak royal court. Sultan Ali died in 1871 and the next in line for the throne was the
Raja Muda or the crown prince,
Raja Abdullah. Despite that fact, he was not present during the burial of the sultan. Much like the case of Tengku Hussein of Johor, Raja Abdullah was not appointed as the new sultan by the ministers of Perak. Instead, the second in line
Raja Bendaraha Raja Ismail became the next sultan of Perak.
Raja Abdullah was furious and refused to accept the news kindly. He then sought and gathered political supports from various channels, including several Perak's local chief and and several British personnels that he had done business with in the past with the secret societies becoming their proxies in the fight for the throne. Among those British individuals was British trader
W.H.M. Read. Furthermore, he promised to accept a British advisor if the British recognized him as the legitimate ruler of Perak.
Unfortunately for Raja Abdullah, the Straits Settlements governor at that time was Sir
Harry Ord and the governor was a friend of Ngah Ibrahim, of whom had unresolved issues with Raja Abdullah. With Ord's aid, Ngah Ibrahim sent sepoy troops from India to prevent Raja Abdullah from actively claiming the throne and to some extending control over the Chinese secret societies.
By 1873, the Colonial Office in London came to perceive Ord as incompetent. He was soon replaced by Sir
Andrew Clarke and Clarke was ordered to get a complete picture of what was happening in the Malay states and recommend how to streamline British administration in Malaya. The reason is, London was increasingly aware that the Straits Settlements were increasingly dependent on the economy of the Malay states, including Perak. Upon Clarke arrival in Singapore, many British traders including Read became close to the governor. Through Read, Clarke learned of Raja Abdullah's problem and willingness to accept a British representative in his court if the British assisted once apparent heir.
Clarke ceased the opportunity to expand British influence. Firstly, he called all Chinese secret societies and demanded these groups to a permanent truce. Later, through the signing of Pangkor Treaty on January 20 1874, Clarke acknowledged Raja Abdullah as the legitimate sultan of Perak. Immediately,
J.W.W. Birch was appointed as a
British resident in Perak. Raja Ismail on the other hand while not a party to the agreemnt, was forced to abdicate due to intense external pressure applied by Clarke.
Along with Perak,
Selangor, which is another Malay state just south of Perak had considerable deposit of tin around
Hulu Selangor on the north,
Hulu Klang in the central area and
Lukut near Negeri Sembilan to the south. Around 1840, under the leadership of Raja Jumaat from Riau, tin mining turned into a huge enterprise. His effort soon was rewarded by
Sultan Muhammad of Selangor;
Raja Jumaat was appointed as Lukut's administrator in 1846 Raja Jumaat. By the 1850s, the area emerged as one of the most modern settlements on the Malay Peninsula if the Straits Settlements were discounted. At one point, there were no less than 20,000 labors of which most of them were enthic Chinese imported from China. He died in 1864 and his death created a leadership vacumm. Slowly, Lukut slided backward and was forgotten.
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Kuala Lumpur is currently the largest city in Malaysia. It is also the nation's capital. |
Meanwhile, Hulu Klang enjoyed unprecedented due to tin mining. Between 1849 and 1850,
Raja Abdullah bin Raja Jaafar, Raja Jumaat's cousin, was appointed by the sultan as Klang's administrator. As Lukut economic importance was slowly degrading, Hulu Klang was rising up to the top. This attracted many labors, especially Chinese immigrants that had worked in Lukut to relocate here. One person that was responsible in persuading the Chinese to move from Lukut to Hulu Klang was a person named Sutan Puasa from
Ampang. He supplied the mining colonies in Hulu Klang with goods ranging from
rice to
opium. As Hulu Klang prosper, several settlements started to rise up and two of them were
Kuala Lumpur and
Klang by the late 1860s. A Chinese
kapitan named
Yap Ah Loy was instrumental in developing Kuala Lumpur.
As occurred in Perak, these rapid development attracted tremendous interest from the British in the Straits Settlements. The economy of Selangor became too important to the prosperity of the Straits Settlements that any disturbance in that state would hurt the Straits Settlement itself. Therefore, the British felt it needed to have a say in Selangor politics. The one major disturbance, amounted to a
civil war, was the
Klang War that begun in 1867.
In November 1873, a ship from Penang was attacked by pirates near
Kuala Langat,
Selangor. A court was assembled near
Jugra and suspected pirates were sentenced to death. The sultan expressed concern and requested assistance from Sir Andrew Clarke. Initially in 1874. Frank Swettenham was directed to serve as the sultan's advisor. Approximately year later, a lawyer from
Singapore named
J.G. Davidson was appointed as
British Resident in Selangor.
Frank Swettenham was nominated for the Resident post but he was deemed too young.
The civil war came to an end in 1874.
*Zainal Abidin bin Abdul Wahid;
Khoo, Kay Kim; Muhd Yusof bin Ibrahim; Singh, D.S. Ranjit (1994).
Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah Sejarah Tingkatan 2. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. ISBN 983-62-1009-1
*
Osborne, Milton (2000).
Southeast Asia: An Introductory History. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-390-9
*
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
Malay States.
