Mat Salleh Rebellion
The Mat Salleh Rebellion is a series of major unrest in northern Borneo, today's Sabah state in Malaysia , between 1894 and 1900. The leader was Datu Paduka Muhammad Salleh , better known as Mat Salleh .
causes
In the late 19th century, North Borneo came under the administration of the North Borneo Chartered Company (BNBCC). The British company tried to establish the production of various agricultural products in North Borneo, but in particular tobacco growing. As a result of the rationalization applied and the introduction of an administrative system based on western standards by the North Borneo Chartered Company, there was inevitable economic and social upheaval in North Borneo.
Although the company had committed itself in its charter contract to preserve the local culture, regulations were made that were a thorn in the side of the local population. For example, slavery was abolished. Other troublemaking innovations introduced by the company were new regulations regarding the sale of land, the acquisition of tulin (small territories independent of the Sultanate), polling taxes and levies on jungle products. Many flatly rejected the new regulations.
Mat Salleh and the Rebellion
One of the more influential, dissenting chiefs was Mat Salleh. He was born in Inanam, North Borneo, the son of Suluk chief Datu Balu. Before the North Borneo Chartered Company made their land claims, his father controlled parts of the Labuk and Sugut areas. His mother belonged to the Bajau people. Mat Salleh spent parts of his childhood in Inanam and Pulau Gaya . He married Dayang Badang, a princess from the court of the Sultan of Sulu, and became chief of an independent territory ( tulin ) on the Sugut River .
In 1895 a long-lasting dispute with society began. Salleh disagreed with the new rules the Sugut River Society was making, but the Society ignored his complaints. For its part, society was upset that Mat Salleh was collecting taxes from the local population without their permission. In addition, the independence of territories such as Mat Salleh's was a nuisance to the Chartered Company.
The beginnings of resistance 1894–1895
Paduka Mat Salleh was first noticed by the British in 1894 when he was found responsible for the murder of two Iban members on Jambongan Island . Captain Barnett and Barraut, who later became Kudat's district officer, were assigned to arrest him, but were unsuccessful. Instead, Mat Salleh made his way to Sandakan to visit Governor LP Beaufort and William B. Pryer , the East Coast resident . He intended on the one hand to reveal his own intentions and at the same time convey the displeasure of the locals on the Sugut River about the administrative policy of the BNBCC. When Mat Salleh reached Sandakan on August 17, 1895, Beaufort and Pryer were absent. Acting Governor Alexander Cook, who saw Mat Salleh as nothing more than a criminal, refused to see Salleh. For the time being, he settled down with his entourage in Kampung Buli Sim-Sim and waited to see if Cook might change his mind. When it became apparent on August 20 that no solution was in sight, he left Sandakan.
Start of fighting
When Beaufort returned to Sandakan, he interpreted Salleh's visit as an open declaration of war on the North Borneo Chartered Company. On August 29, 1895, he sent a police force under Barraut and Jones to Jambongan Island . The capture of Mat Salleh failed and resulted in a retaliatory strike by Salleh, in which some commercial buildings in Kampung Tatabuan went up in flames. Now the company offered a reward of 500 straits dollars for his capture.
The years 1896 and 1897 were marked by a series of fighting, car chases and punitive expeditions. On February 10, 1897, Mat Salleh appeared in Ranau and collected new followers from the ranks of the Dusun there . The advancing British attacked Ranau and caused the death of Mat Salleh's father in their attack. With a troop of warriors from Inanam , Mat Salleh fought back on July 9, 1897: The company's port in Pulau Gaya was completely destroyed and looted. The followers of Salleh fell into the hands of a large amount of weapons, ammunition, boats and trade goods from the company's warehouses. After the British warship SS Ranee with 50 armed police officers under the command of G. Hewett approached from Labuan on July 12, Salleh fled into the jungle. On July 15 and 16, the British set Inanam and the surrounding fields on fire, beside themselves about the destruction of the administrative infrastructure on Gaya Island.
In November 1897, Salleh and warriors from the Bajau, Iranun and Suluk attacked the company's branch in Ambong. With such an attack expected, Mat Salleh met fierce opposition and no damage was done other than the demolition of the administration building. When the SS Petrel appeared off Ambong with British supplies, the attackers withdrew. In the subsequent persecution, Salleh's newly built fort and the villages around Kota Belud were destroyed.
Mat Salleh retired to his fort in Ranau . Two armed police forces from 38 Sikh police under the command of Hewett, Ormsby, P. Wise and Jones and 250 local police from Iban and Dayaks under the command of Barraut and Wheatle began the attack on Ranau on December 13, 1897. The hoped for success did not materialize, however. On January 7th and 8th, 1898, the British continued to bombard the fort. When Hewett stormed the fort on February 9, it was completely deserted - Mat Salleh had fled to Tambunan with his supporters . Hewett had the fort completely razed and forced the locals to build an administration building for the society.
The Menggatal Agreement of April 23, 1898
William Clarke Cowie , the executive director of the North Borneo Chartered Company, believed that the conflict must be resolved peacefully. In 1898 he traveled to North Borneo and met with Mat Salleh to negotiate the terms of an armistice.
In preparation for the treaty, Mat Salleh met with Cowie on April 19, 1898 in Pulutan to negotiate the terms of an agreement. The preconditions postulated by Mat Salleh - the release of all his followers from prison and permission to settle permanently with his followers on the Inaman River - were flatly rejected by Cowie. Instead, he opened the terms of the company to Mat Salleh, namely the handing over of all weapons to the British and the full cooperation of Mat Salleh and his supporters with the company. In return, they would be granted a full pardon from the British Government.
The following day, Mat Salleh met Beaufort at Pengiran Kahar's house in Menggatal, escorted by 200 armed supporters who feared the British would seize the opportunity and take Mat Salleh prisoner. At this second meeting, Mat Salleh was offered full control of the Tambunan area - indirectly giving up his hereditary rule over the Sugut and Inanam Rivers. The other conditions were also one-sided and obviously exclusively to the advantage of the British. Essentially, they included the banishment of unwelcome people from Inaman and the appointment of new chiefs devoted to the Company. Instead of the release of all captive followers, the British only offered to release Shah Bandar and an elderly prisoner named Malim from prison.
It was foreseeable that the second day of negotiations would also end without a result. The British began to grow impatient, and the presence of the armed warriors was beginning to be perceived as threatening. The British pushed for a decision and let Mat Salleh be informed that he would make a final statement on the offered conditions by the next day. They also asked Mat Salleh to report the next day without his followers either in Menggatal or on board the government ship SS Petrel anchored off the coast .
Unimpressed by the threats made by the British, Mat Salleh initially insisted on discussing the terms of the agreement with his supporters in distant places, but then decided to agree to the terms of the British. Confident of victory, Cowie and Beaufort were escorted to Menggatal on April 22nd by a group of heavily armed Sikh police and British soldiers from HMS Swift and hoisted the Union Jack there . Mat Salleh attended the ceremony and, as previously agreed, gave the British five cannons. At the same time he presented Cowie and Beaufort with two parang , a mixture of machete and sword typical of the country.
On April 23, the agreement, which now contained seven points, was finally signed:
- Paduka Mat Salleh and his followers are pardoned with the exception of those who escaped from prison and those who committed a crime.
- Shah Bandar and Malim are released from Sandakan prison.
- The population of Inaman is expelled and can only return there with the permission of the British. Permission to do so is given by OKK Serial or another leader appointed by the society or the district officer.
- Paduka Mat Salleh is allowed to live in Tambunan or any other secluded region with the exception of the Sugut River and the Labuk River. He should also convince the local population to support the administration of the company.
- Paduka Mat Salleh is committed to assisting the Chartered Company in the prosecution and arrest of criminals.
- Paduka Mat Salleh undertakes to inform the Chartered Company of his respective whereabouts.
- If Pauka Mat Salleh intends to visit the coastal regions, he must report to the responsible district officer.
The signatories of the agreement were Cowie and Beaufort on behalf of the British Government and the North Borneo Chartered Company on the one hand and Paduka Mat Salleh and Datu Sahak on the other.
What is significant about the Menggatal Treaty is that it is the only treaty the British government has ever made with the common people of Sabah. At the same time, the agreement upgraded Mat Salleh's position within the chiefs, as it confirmed him as an important and influential leader. Only with the agreement did the British turn Mat Salleh, previously known as a “criminal”, into a leader to be taken seriously and paved the way for recognition as a rebel against the British and later as a folk hero.
The news that the peace agreement ended the rebellion, however, turned out to be premature. Unfortunately, the truce with the British enraged his own people so much that Salleh was forced to flee to Tambunan . One of the reasons for the anger of his followers was Mat Salleh's admission to Cowie and Beaufort to use his influence and extradite fugitives from their own ranks.
The battle of Tambunan
The British guaranteed Mat Salleh sole control of Tambunan and he had a new fort built in Kampung Tibabar . In 1899, however, the company decided to set up its own administration in Tambunan. For this purpose, the Keningau district officer, FW Fraser, was sent to Tambunan on the pretext of settling a dispute between two tribes. The direct interference in his tribal and administrative affairs angered Mat Salleh so much that he severed diplomatic relations with the company. In return, the BNBCC offered a reward for the capture of Mat Salleh. The fighting then flared up again.
On December 6, 1899, Mat Salleh and his supporters attacked the Dusun villages allied with the society. A truce offered by the resident of Labuan, RM Little, on behalf of the company, was refused by Mat Salleh. Instead, he insisted on an immediate withdrawal of the police from Tambunan. On December 11, 1899, supporters of Mat Salleh attacked Kinarut and destroyed a Dusun village. On December 15, around 100 Bajau attacked the British branch in Mengkabong and burned down the office and apartment buildings. The entire west coast, including Papar and Menggatal, was in turmoil.
In this situation, CH Harington, the vice-commander of the North Borneo Armed Police Forces, was ordered to attack Tambunan. To his support he was assigned the police officer Dansey, the district officers FW Fraser, AR Dunlop and FG Atkinson and the doctor Conyngham. In total, a force of 140 men moved towards Tambunan, accompanied by 800 coolies and armed with 7-pound mountain guns and Maxim machine guns . They reached Tambunan on December 31st and made camp at Kampung Timbau .
The first exchange of blows on January 1, 1900, when Harington attacked the fort known as the "Hornet's Nest", claimed four lives among supporters of Mat Salleh. The following day, the British attacked Kampung Pisau , another fort protected by bamboo stakes , with heavy artillery , killing 60 defenders. An attack on Kampung Toboh , just one kilometer from the large fort in Kampung Tibabar , followed on January 15. Supported by Harington, who attacked from Kampung Toboh , the British under Dansey, Dunlop and Fraser finally managed to advance to 250 m from Mat Salleh's fort on January 19. A defensive position in Mat Salleh was destroyed on January 21st after it was attacked from three sides with the support of Labuan police. The British were now ready to use any means to win the fight, so Harington had the stream that ran through the fort poisoned to cut off Mat Salleh's drinking water supply.
On January 26th, the British had worked their way up to 50 meters from the fort. Until January 31st, the fortress of Mat Salleh was continuously fired from Kampung Sunsuron . The lines of defense began to crumble.
Mat Salleh's death
On the night of February 1, 1900, at around 2 a.m., a Bajau woman was captured while trying to escape from the fort. The woman, named Niuk, reported that defense lawyers had run out of food and that Mat Salleh was killed by a Maxim's bullet around noon the previous day, January 31, 1900 .
When the British invaded the fort at dawn, it was deserted by the last of the survivors. The entire area inside the fort was littered with corpses and only with the help of Bajau woman Niuk was it possible to locate the makeshift grave of Mat Salleh, a hole next to the flagpole. The bullet from the machine gun had pierced his left temple and, in accordance with Islamic customs, his body was wrapped in white sheets. District Officer Fraser and several locals identified Mat Salleh. As one of his first acts as the new governor of British North Borneo , Sir Hugh Clifford set fire to the remains of the fort on February 3, 1900.
This is how Mat Salleh's life ended in Kampung Tibabar in Tambunan. His death left a rebel movement without a leader, which ultimately marked the end of the rebellion. Individual riots that flared up shortly after Salleh's death were nipped in the bud.
A continuation of the conflict is reflected in the all-round rebellion (1900–1915).
Mat Salleh as a folk hero
While the person of Mat Salleh was more likely to be described as a rebel and troublemaker in colonial times, his public image has changed fundamentally since Malaysia was sacked into independence.
On the spot where Mat Salleh's Fort stood, the British erected a memorial with the inscription “This plaque marks the site of Mat Salleh's Fort which was captured by the North Borneo Armed Constabulary on the 1st February 1900. During this engagement, Mat Salleh, who for six years led a rebellion against the British Charted Company administration, met his death. "
Today, Mat Salleh is no longer described as a rebel, but as a folk hero, revolutionary or freedom fighter. The Sabah government took this into account by converting the site of the British triumph over the "rioters" in the middle of rice fields into the "Mat Salleh Memorial" in 2000. The memorial plaque to the former fort of Mat Salleh and the place of his death is now housed in a small park. In the memorial, reminiscent of a bunker, there is a small exhibition about Mat Salleh.
Mat Salleh in literature
Hugh Clifford, the governor of Sabah, set Mat Salleh's first literary monument in the two short stories
- Hugh Clifford, Sally, A Study , Edinburgh, 1904 and
- Hugh Clifford, Saleh, A Sequel , Edinburgh 1908,
in which he draws the picture of a young Malay chief who is doomed. Salleh's career was the subject of the book by
- Owen Rutter, The Golden Rain , London, 1928.
Evaluation of the rebellion
Although the history of the Mat Salleh Rebellion as well as the all-round rebellion are part of the self-image of the history of Malaysia to this day, it must not be ignored that both rebellions were limited to a relatively small territory, involved a relatively small number of people and, in contrast, the by far the greater part of Sabah had remained calm.
Trivia
Almost everywhere in Malaysia and thus also in the state of Sabah, the word "Mat Salleh" is used colloquially for "the white man". In this context the term could also be derived from "mad sailor" (crazy sailor) or from the term "Mat Salleh" for the preachers who came in the wake of the early colonial rulers to spread Christianity in Borneo.
literature
- "Datu Paduka Mat Salleh - Hero of Sabah (1894-1900)", ed. from the Sabah State Archives, Kota Kinabalu, May 2007
- WKC Wookey: The Mat Salleh Rebellion in: The Sarawak Museum Journal , No. 8, pp. 405-450, December 1956, Kuching, Sarawak
- KG Tregonning: "A History Of Modern Sabah (North Borneo 1881–1963)", 2nd edition, University of Malaya Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1965, reprint 1967
- Cecilia Leong, Sabah - The First 100 Years , Pencetakan Nan Yang Muda Sdn. Bhd .; Kuala Lumpur, 1982
- Regina Lim: Federal-state relations in Sabah, Malaysia: the Berjaya administration 1976-85 , Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2008, ISBN 978-981-230-811-5
- Volker Schult: Desire and Reality - German-Filipino Relations in the Context of Global Interdependencies 1860–1945 , Logos Verlag Berlin, 2008, ISBN 978-3-8325-1898-1
- Our Family History (As The Existence Real True Blood Of Royal Brunei) {Paduka Enderang Sibling to Paduka Mat Salleh}
- Zainal Abidin Bin Abdul Wahid, Khoo Kay Kim , Muhd. Yusof Bin Ibrahim, DS Ranjit Singh. 1994. Sejarah Tingkatan 2 . ISBN 983-62-1009-1
Individual evidence
- ^ Lim, page 19
- ↑ a b Lim, page 25
- ^ Owen Rutter: British North Borneo - An Account of its History, Ressources and Native Tribes , Constable & Company Ltd, London, 1922
- ↑ State of Sabah: History of Mat Salleh ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in English, accessed October 10, 2012
- ↑ Datu Paduka Mat Salleh - Hero of Sabah, p. 22
- ↑ “The Rebellion ended” ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in: The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942), April 25, 1898, p. 2
- ↑ The Straits Times, May 14, 1898, page 3 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Rutter, pp. 207–208
- ↑ "Attack on Kudat" ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in: The Straits Times, June 9, 1900, p. 2
- ↑ a b Tregonning, page 206
- ↑ see also the assessment in Tregonning, page 212
Remarks
- ↑ Both locations are near what is now Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
- ↑ This was possible because Mat Salleh, as the son of a chief, had the status of a pangeran (prince)
- ↑ Before meeting Salleh, Cowie wrote of these riverside tulin : “These rivers are a source of constant loss and nuisance to us. Black powder, weapons and opium are smuggled across borders that have never been defined and that we therefore cannot guard. "
- ↑ Translation: “This plaque marks the site of Mat Salleh's Fort, which was captured on February 1, 1900 by the North Borneo Police Force. During this argument, Mat Salleh, who had led the rebellion against the administration of the British Chartered Company for six years, was killed. "
- ↑ In August 2012 the facility is in an unkempt condition; the exhibition has little didactic structure and is not understandable without prior knowledge.