The Mandailings in Peninsular Malaysia

War of The Kemanan Men, 1857-1863

The Pahang civil war was "extremely complex and the personalities involved, numerous. It was not a war confined to the boundaries of Pahang as it affected Johore, Trengganu, the remnants of the Riau-Lingga Empire and even Siam as well as the British." Selangor, Pahang's neighbouring state, became an extended battle ground for the war.

The Pahang civil war, known locally as the "war of the Kemaman men", was the struggle between two brothers, Wan Ahmad and Wan Mutahir for control over Pahang. Raja Asal's marriage to a relation of Wan Mutahir was described as the "deciding factor" in the Mandailing entanglement in the civil war. Raja Asal's marriage to Wan Putih (also known as Cik Putih or Che Putih Raja Asal), was perceived as an act of political alliance. Mandailing custom obliged Raja Asal to side with Wan Mutahir in the war.

When Raja Asal came to Pahang he met other Sumatrans and Mandailings, namely, Raja Mangasa Peduli Bukit, Bendahara Raja, Pinta Ali, Jabaringin, Jagaringging, Angku Tuha, Jakalong and others. Some of these personalities were mentioned in Hikayat Pahang, Abdullah Hukum's account of Kuala Lumpur before British intervention and in Riwayat Tuan Abu Bakar. According to the Tarikh Raja Asal and Riwayat Tuan Abu Bakar, the Mandailings mined gold in Raub, and some mine tin in Sungai Ujung (Seremban in Negeri Sembilan, today).

The Tarikh and the Riwayat, the Mandailings led by the Namora Natoras (The Nobles and Elders) abandoned Pahang for Selangor, before the commencement of the Pahang War. Raja Asal, Raja Pinayngan and other Mandailing notables were amongst those who left Pahang. However, non-Mandailing sources point to the Mandailing involvement in the contest for control over Pahang.

The Hikayat Pahang, in part a chronicle of the Pahang War, implicated the Mandailings in the war. According to the Hikayat, the "Mendeheleng Rawa" entered the war soon after it started. In the civil war, the Rawa featured prominently in the fighting and fought on both sides of conflict, to the extend it was called "peperangan Rawa" (Rawa War). It appears that the Mandailing gave their undivided support to Wan Mutahir.

By early 1863, Wan Mutahir forces were defeated and they, including the Mandailings, pack their bags and left Pahang to Selangor, for good. This is not to say that all the Mandailings left Pahang. Some did stay on, and their descendants are still to be found in the state till today.

From Selangor, the Mandailings launched "lightning raids" into Pahang, until the conclusion of the war. Hundreds of Rawas joined the Mandailing forces. The British, who were on the side of Wan Ahmad, condoned his retaliation against the Mandailing-Rawa-Chinese coalition in Selangor terrritory. The Chinese were the Hakka Kah Yan Chew clans. The Pahang War overlapped with the Selangor War (1867-1873). It was during the Selangor War that thousands of Wan Ahmad's armies swamped Selangor by land and by sea to join Tengku Dziau'd-din (Tengku Kudin) Kedah troops to flush out the "Mendeheleng Rawa" forces out of Selangor.

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