Palembang

“ CHARACTER OF INHABITANTS.
Amongst the people of Palembang themselves this language (the character of which they employ) is mixed with the common Javan. The Dutch, on whom we must rely for an account of the manners and disposition of these people, and which will be found in Volume 3 page 122 of the Batavian Transactions, describe those of the low country as devoid of every good quality and imbued with every bad one; whilst those of the interior are spoken of as a dull, simple people who show much forbearance under oppression* ”

“ From what I have already recorded, [520] those who glory in hunting dangerous game may conclude that they cannot do better than to visit this part of Sumatra. To reach it they should come from Singapore to Muntok on the island of Banca, and thence over to Palembang, where the Resident of all this region resides, and obtain from him letters to his sub-officers in this vicinity. From Palembang they should come up the Musi and Limatang to Lahat, when they will find themselves in a most magnificent and healthy country, and one literally abounding in game. ”

“ She in due time produced a son, from whom are descended the royal race who reign in China at the present time.
After Raja Sangsapurba had remained a long time quiet in Palembang, he was seized with the desire of viewing the ocean. He summoned Damang Lebar Dawn, and the rest of his chiefs, and informed him of his intention to go and look out for a fine situation to found a new settlement. Damang Lebar Dawn very obligingly offered to accompany him, as he did not wish to be separate from him. ”

“ On the passage out to the Cape they saw nothing of the Palembang. But there she was heard of as having being seen somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Agulhas Bank, having a real good time in that native home of the god of the winds, where fifty per cent. of all the breezes that do blow are gales that dance in and out and about like a cooper round a cask.
But the Simoom had luck, and slipped through as if Æolus never spotted her. And old Banks chortled happily, and sang an extra hymn on Sunday, compensating the men (otherwise disposed to growl at the innovation) with an extra lot of grog. ”

“ This subordination is the consequence of the king of Bantam's former influence over this part of the island, Palembang being a port anciently dependent on him, and now on the Dutch, whose instrument the sultan is. There is an inferior pangeran in almost every dusun (that title being nearly as common in Passummah as dupati towards the sea-coast) who are chosen by the inhabitants, and confirmed by the superior pangeran, whom they assist in the determination of causes. In the low country, where the pepper-planters reside, the title of kalippah prevails ”

“ The country is best inhabited in the central and mountainous parts, where the people live independent, and in some measure secure from the inroads of their eastern neighbours, the Javans, who, from about Palembang and the Straits, frequently attempt to molest them. It is probably within but a very few centuries that the south-west coast of this country has been the habitation of any considerable number of people ”

“ The Malays were then called Orang de bavah angen, or people of, or toward the South.
“Other Malay historians trace the origin of the people to Hindustan. They trace their chiefs up to Alexander the Great or Rajah Sekander. One of the sons of Rajah Souren, founder of Besnagour in India conquered Palembang in Sumatra and founded an empire. About the year 1159 the Palembang chiefs invaded Java.” (pp. 41–43.)
Turner’s Nineteen Years in Polynesia, gives the following Samoan traditions:
Origin of Fire. Mafuie, the god of earthquakes, lived under the earth and kept a constant fire. ”

“ Then after the demonstration of loyalty the two gongs — one from Menangkabau, the other from Johore — are beaten, and the Moslem high priest proclaims the Sultan and preaches a sermon, declaring him to be a descendant of Sri Turi Buana, the Palembang chief who founded the early kingdom of Singapore in 1160 A.D., who reigned in that island for forty-eight years, and whose descendants became the royal family of Malacca. ”

“ S. Beal has some remarks on this question in the Merveilles de l’Inde, p. 251, and he says that he thinks “there are reasons for placing this country [Çrībhôja] , or island, on the East coast of Sumatra, and near Palembang, or, on the Palembang River.” Mr. Groeneveldt (T’oung Pao, VII. abst. p. 10) gives some extracts from Chinese authors, and then writes: “We have therefore to find now a place for the Molayu of I-tsing, the Malaiur of Marco Polo, the Malayo of Alboquerque, and the Tana-Malayu of De Barros, all which may be taken to mean the same place. ”

“ It is a peculiarity of the Malays never to build a house on solid ground if they can find a place to stand it on piles in the water, and they prefer a boat to any other kind of a conveyance. At Palembang the most of the Malay inhabitants are thus located; but there are many Arab and Chinese residents who have their houses on the solid ground. Most of the trading is in the hands of these foreigners, and there are very few European inhabitants besides the officials who represent the Dutch government. ”

“ Hukum, the law of God; 2. P'rentah, the law of the sovereign; 3. Susahan, oppression (of the people from the law of the prince) .
[297] The money here alluded to is the coin of Palembang, subsequently introduced by Raden Patah, in consequence of his connexion with Palembang. Rice appears to have been the principal medium of exchange previously to this period. The pichis is a small tin coin, of which two hundred make a wang, and twenty-eight wangs are equal in value to a Spanish dollar. ”

“ In these inscriptions Sumatra is called the “first Java.” The traces of Hindu influence still to be found in the island are extremely numerous, though far from being so important as those of Java. There are ruins of Hindu temples at Butar in Deli, near Pertibi, on the Panbi river at Jambi, in the interior of Palembang above Lahat, and in numerous other localities. One of the principal Hindu ruins is at Muara Takus on the Kampar river. The buildings (including a stupa 40 ft. high) may possibly date from the 11th century. ”

“ At noon we came down into a fertile valley surrounded with mountains in the distance, and at 2 P. M. arrived at Lahat, a pretty native village on the banks of the Limatang. The controleur stationed here received me politely, and engaged a boat to take me down the Limatang to Palembang. The Limatang takes its rise up in the Pasuma country, and Lahat, being at the head of navigation on this river, is an important point. A strong fort has been built here, and is constantly garrisoned with one or two companies of soldiers. ”

“ The best pepper certainly does not grow in the richest soils, for the peppers of Java and Palembang are the worst of the Archipelago, and that of Pinang and the west coast of Sumatra are the best. Care in culture and curing improves the quality, as with other articles, and for this reason chiefly it is that the pepper of Pinang is more in esteem than that of any other portion of the Archipelago. From the ports and districts of Siam 3,500 to 4,000 tons are exported annually. ”

“ There is but a single range, and it is a fact that from the navigable part of the Musi river to a place on that of Bencoolen where rafts and sampans may be used is to the natives a walk of no more than eight hours. Musi is populous, well cultivated, and the soil exceedingly rich. The people are stout, healthy looking, and independent in their carriage and manners, and were to us courteous and hospitable. They acknowledge no superior authority, but are often insulted by predatory parties from Palembang. ”

“ A chain of mountains runs through its whole extent, the ranges being in many parts double and treble, but situated in general much nearer to the western than the opposite coast, being on the former seldom so much as twenty miles from the sea, whilst on the eastern side the extent of level country, in the broader part of the island, through which run the great rivers of Siak, Indragiri, Jambi, and Palembang, cannot be less than a hundred and fifty. ”

“ Padang: the principal Dutch settlement. Padang-guchi: river of. Padi: or rice, cultivation of upland. Of lowland. Transplantation of. Rate of produce. Threshing. Beating out. Paduka Sri: king of Achin, see Iskander Muda. Pagi (or Nassaus) : islands of. Palembang: river of. Rises in the district of Musi, near Bencoolen river. Dutch factory on it. Description of country on its banks. Government. City of. Many foreign settlers. Language. Interior country visited by the English. Palma-christi. Pandan: shrub, its fragrant blossom. Pangeran: nature of title. Authority much limited. ”

“ Before night I arrived at Saraburi, the chief town of the province of Pakpriau and the residence of the governor.
"Saraburi is a place of some extent, the population [Pg 137] consisting chiefly of Siamese, Chinese, and Laotian agriculturists; and consists, like all towns and villages in Siam, of houses constructed of bamboo. They peep out, half hidden, among the foliage along the banks of the river; beyond are rice plantations, and, further in the background, extensive forests, inhabited solely by wild animals. ”

“ In the Kuantan valley, which lies parallel to the Pahang River, a European company is working tin lodes with considerable success. These lodes are the only mines of the kind being worked in the Federated Malay States. Pahang is fertile and well suited for agriculture of many kinds. The rainfall is heavy and regular. The climate is cooler than that of the west coast, and the full force of the monsoon is felt from October to February in each year. For administrative purposes Pahang is divided into four districts—Ulu Pahang, in which the present capital is situated ”

“ In former days Pahang was far more thickly populated than in modern times, but the long succession of civil wars which racked the land after the death of Bendahara Ali caused thousands of Pahang Malays to fly the country. To-day the valley of the Lebir River in Kelantan and the upper portions of several rivers near the Perak and Selangor boundaries are inhabited by Pahang Malays, the descendants of these fugitives. The Pahang natives are almost all engaged in agriculture. The work of the mines, &c., is performed by Chinese and foreign Malays. ”

“ Not far from the Kwala Tamileng I found the river Pahang, though somewhat narrower than in its lower stream, was about 40 fathoms wide, or about as broad as in its middle course. At the mouth of the Tamileng on the right bank of that river, lies an important village called Kampong Roh. Here I found it necessary to transfer my rather large covered boat (in which all my baggage, two servants and five Malays had found room) into two small open canoes.
The bed of the river Tamileng is, it must be allowed, in many places rather narrow, and forms numerous rapids (Jeram) ”

“ The Jĕlai valley has, from time immemorial, been ruled over by a race of Chiefs, who, though they are regarded by the other natives of Pahang as ranking merely as nobles, are treated by the people of their own district with semi-royal honours. The Chief of the Clan, the Dâto’ Mahrâja Pĕrba Jĕlai, commonly known as To’ Râja, is addressed as Ungku, which means 'Your Highness,' by his own people. ”

“ This proceeding of the raja of Pahang was reported to the Sultan of Malaca. Then the Prince asked amid his champions, "Who of you now, will go and bring me the elephant of the raja of Pahang, with which he threatens to assault the hall of my palace. Whoever shall bring it, all his faults shall be forgiven, even though he have slain a man." Then said the laksamana Khwajeh Hasan, "If Your Majesty will give me permission, I will go to Pahang to bring this elephant." ”

“ Towards the interior, landward, there is a plain of great extent, and the woods abound in elephants, rhinoceros, and apes. It is said that the nilghau and the ape are only about one-fourth inferior to the elephant. Formerly Pahang was an extensive country, dependent on Siam, and its raja was named Maha Raja Dewa Sura, of the same lineage as Paduca Bubanyar.
When Sultan Mansur Shah heard of this country, he became very desirous to possess himself of it, and he directed his bandahara Paduca Raja to invade it. ”

“ The census taken in April 1901 gave the total population of Pahang at 84,113, of whom 73,462 were Malays, 8695 Chinese, 1227 Tamils and other natives of India, 180 Europeans and Eurasians, and 549 people of other nationalities. The population in 1905 was estimated at 100,000, the increase being due to immigration Population. ”

“ Their efforts, however, have not hitherto been successful. A magnificent road over the mountains, with a ruling grade of 1 in 30, joins Kuala Lipis, the administrative capital of Pahang, to Kuala Kubu, the nearest railway station in Selangor. The road measures 82 m. in length. Pekan, where the sultan has his residence, was the capital of Pahang until the middle of 1898, when the administrative headquarters were transferred to the interior as being more central. None of these towns is of any size or importance. ”

“ This may be considered the key to the geography of Perak in the North, just as the common source of the R. Muar and the southern branch of the R. Pahang is the key to the geography of the South of the Peninsula, and the knowledge of the country between the Northern branch of the R. Pahang and the R. Kelantan, is the key to the geography of the Interior of the Peninsula. ”

“ The men of Malaca and Pahang attacked them, and they gave way, and were broke and completely dispersed entirely. Maha Raja Dewa Sura fled to the uplands of Pahang, and proceeding straightly by land to Calantan, he returned to Legor. Then the raja of Pahang gave an honorary dress to the bandahara Sri Maha Raja, who took his leave and returned to Malaca. When Sultan Mahmud learned that Pahang had not been conquered he was greatly pleased, and he also conferred honorary dresses on those who had distinguished themselves according to their rank. ”