The
Mandailings in Peninsular Malaysia
The
Founding of Kuala Lumpur
Who and when exactly Kuala Lumpur was founded remains an open
question. Yap Ah Loy is popularly known as the founder of Kuala
Lumpur, but historians point out that he was not even the first
but the third Kapitan China of Kuala Lumpur. Latter-day historians
consider that Raja Abdu'llah, the Bugis Raja from Riau to be
the real founder.
The Mandailings claim that Kuala Lumpur was founded, or co-founded,
by one of their historical personalities, Sutan Puasa. According
to an autobiography on Yap Ah Loy, Sutan Puasa, who was living
near the mining settlement at Ampang, advised two Chinese traders
who were supplying goods to him "about the quick profits
to be made at Ampang" and "finally persuaded them to
go". So it came about that Hiu Siew and Ah Sze Keldek became
the first Chinese traders to arrive at Ampang. They set up shop
at a spot near the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers,
and the place eventually became known as Kuala Lumpur.
According to the Eurasian Pasqual, the Mandailings arrived in
Hulu Klang, Ampang and Kuala Lumpur ahead of the Chinese. The
Mandailing - mistaken for "foreign Malays" (as opposed
to the "indigenous Malays") - were the main traders
and miners in Kuala Lumpur in the period preceding and during
the Selangor war (1867-1873).
Of the Mandailing and Muslim tin traders in the early days of
Kuala Lumpur, Pasqual has this to say: "It seems strange
to be told that the Malays were the principal tin dealers in
the days of Kuala Lumpur, as besides Sutan Puasa there were Thamby
Dollah (a Malacca chitty) and Che Imby and Che Sahid (if I remember
their names) who were jawi-peranakan from Penang and retired
to Jelutong year after. Sutan Puasa must have amassed a fortune
from the mines of the Kanichoos in Kanching..." In another
instance, he said that Sutan Puasa became rich by financing the
Chinese miners.
The Tarikh Raja Asal dan Keluarganya corroborates Pasqual's account
that Sutan Puasa was a principal Mandailing merchant in Kuala
Lumpur, before and during the Selangor war. The Tarikh also named
Jalila, Jasuman, Haji Abdul Majid, Raja Duri as amongst the more
successful Mandailing merchants in Kuala Lumpur. Raja Duri was
named as the Mandailing leader in Kuala Lumpur. Chinese sources
say that Sutan Puasa was recognised as the leading trader there.
According to the Tarikh, the Mandailing notables and elders in
Selangor at the time were Bendaharaja, Jalumut, Sutan Maga, Imam
Perang Rakat, Imam Perang Jabarumun, Sri Handalan, Sigaroh, Melapak,
Jamanungkoli, Raja Mengatas, Haji Ibrahim Tambangan, Kudarat,
Anchalchal, Haji Ali Pahang, Sutan Puasa, Sutan Duri, Raja Suman
and many others. The Tarikh reported that Raja Asal's nephew,
Raja Bilah and his entourage came from Mandailing around 1860.
Raja Bilah sent for his wife and daughters later.
AMPANG -- According to the Tarikh, the Mandailings founded settlements
in Ampang. The Mandailings in Ampang was led by Raja Bernang
and later Raja Banding. For that matter, Ampang could have been
named after the reservoirs built by the Mandailing for mining.
The Mandailings are expert builders of reservoirs and waterways
as evidenced to this day in many Mandailing villages in the Mandailing
homeland.
BUNUS -- In Bunus (present-day Kampung Baharu) the Mandailing
people were led by Jabaltuq or To' Bunus, in Gerongkang by Hulubalang
Ali, in Kajang by Raja Berayun, in Ulu Langat by Engku Tuha (Tua)
dan others not mentioned in the Tarikh Raja Asal. According to
Riwayat Tuan Abu Bakar, Bunus saw a lot of blood shed during
the Selangor War, known to the Mandailing as Porang Kolang.
BUKIT NENAS - Bukit Nenas is a hillock that overlooks the confluence
of the Gombak and Kling Rivers in Kuala Lumpur. A British historian
notes that "the traditional seat of Malay authority in Kuala
Lumpur was a stockade originally built in the 1860's on Bukit
Nenas, and known after the civil war as 'Sutan Puasa's stockade'
from the Malay headman who had once occupied it". Sutan
Puasa was of course not a Malay headman but a leading Mandailing
trader. The original name of Bukit Nenas, according to Mandailing
oral tradition, was Bukit Gombak. It was renamed Bukit Nenas
because during the civil war, the Mandailings planted pineapples
on the hill slopes as a foil against advancing enemy troops.
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