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The Rawas are an adventurous people, with a strong turn for trade, living to the north east of the Pagarooyong (Menangkabowe) district, in the middle of Sumatra. They have long been in the habit of trading to the Peninsula, and have established Colonies in several places, the most important of which was at Pahang, where they almost monopolized the trade. The superiority of these people over the ordinary Malay gives rise to jealousies which require them to be on their guard, and to combine for mutual protection, so that when any of the tribe are injured the rest are bound to assist in protecting them, a feature in their character which adds to the dislike of them entertained by the Malays; but being, like the Chinese, good colonists, they are allowed to remain in the Malay countries.
Causes of.-A number of the tribe bad settled in Sungie Ujong, and were getting the chief portion of the local trade into their hands when three of them were put to death by the Klana for an alleged offence. The justice of the execution was denied by the tribe, and they determined to exact vengence. Assistance was sent for to Pahang, their head quarters, and open war was declared. This was said to have been the pretext for the war, but the truth probably was, that the many differences and jealousies between the two races had brought matters to such a state that it required very little to bring
on a war.
Result of The Rawas proved their individual superiority over the Malays during the war. But being few in numbers and distant from their resources they were at last obliged to retire; and they have not since been allowed to return to the country. The Rawas who are now in Sungie Ujong are said to be Tamoosai Rawas, and do not mix with the others, Rawa Ulu (or up country Rawas); in fact the Tamoosais sided with the Klana.
The Chinese mines were destroyed during the war.
Syed Ahman. The Rawas had become acquainted with the person and claims of Syed Ahman, who lived at Ulu Langat, and they made advances to him to join them. The Syed agreed to this on the understanding that, if they were successful, they were to support him in his attempt to take his rightful place of Klana of Sungie Ujong.
This Syed Ahman is the son of Syed Ahmat, a brother of Syed Sabban. Syed Ahmat had married one of the daughters of the then Klana, and his son was, according to the Menangkabowe law in force in the States, nearer in succession than the Klana Kawal, who, it is said, took advantage of Syed Ahman's youth and want of support, and usurped his rights. Syed Ahman succeeded as Klana only in the year 1872, on the death of the late Klaua Sendang, at a very advanced age.
During this time of suspense, while in opposition to the Klans Kawal, we find him engaged, with other chiefs, in levying illegal duties in the river; and finally, towards the end of the life of the late Klana Sendang, the successor of Klana Kawal, he figures as Tuanku Laxamana Rajah Laut, Syed Abdulrahman Bin (son of) Syed Ahmat al Kadrie (Ahman being a contraction of Abdulrahman), under which title he inanaged the affairs of the Klana Sendang, and succeeded himself as Klana soon after the death of Sendang, in October, 1872.
Arrangement proposed in 1853.
All parties had suffered from the state of anarchy, in which the affairs of the river and the mines were found, when, in the year 1853, an attempt was made to reduce matters to order, by combination of the chief claiming to be interested in the tin trade; that is, the Klana of Sungie Ujong, the Punghulu of Rumbowe, the Datu Bandar Koolup Tungal, the Datu Siama, the Datu Muda of Lingie, the Datu Kanda. a son of the Datu Bandar Hajee Mahomed Salleh, and the Malaoca merchants and traders.
Of the Chiefs abovenamed, Koolup Tungal, the Datu Bandar, Chief of the port, or rather river, sometimes called the Datu Shahbandar, was the ablest and richest. He had advances out to about twenty mines, while the Klana had only three or four. Koolup Tungal is said to have usurped the right of the proper Datu, Siama named above, who Koolup Tungal was a gambler and opium smoker, and resigned himself to his fate. succeeded his brother Hajee Mahomed Salleh, who returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1845, and died soon after. From his great wealth and consequent influence the Datu Bandar has been impatient of control, and has frequently been in opposition to his
overeign, the Datu Klana of Sungie Ujong.
To levy only a tenth on Tin.—It was proposed to fix a uniform rate of 10 per cent.
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duty on tin alone, everything else, coming up and going down, to be free of duty, and to farai out the right of collection to a Malacca Chinese.
Exactions by Freebooters.-The immediate cause of this attempt to arrange matters on
a fair footing was, that in addition to whatever taxes and duties the tin producers had to pay to the constituted, or professing constituted, authorities, duties were, at the same time, exacted by three Chiefs on the river without any reasonable claim of right. The first and most important of these was Lebby Koolup.
Lebby Koolup. This man was born in Rumbowe, but had settled on the river, where he had married a sister of Hajee Mahomed Sallih, one of the Waris Bandar, that is, a member of the family of the Datu Bandar. Lebby Koolup got into a dispute with some Sungie Ujong men, in which four Chinese debtors of his were killed, thus causing him a loss of 4,000 dollars. The Datu Klana promised to pay half of this sum, but did not do so. Lebby Koolup had another grievance, for his wife, Tabow, on going one day in a boat, with all her property, to the place of her relation, Datu Kattas, at Permatang Passir, was robbed and outraged. Lebby Koolup complained to the Klana of the injury and insult done to him, and asked for redress, but without effect. He threw off his allegiance to Sungie Ujong, and established himself, with some followers, at Pengkalang Kumpas, on the river, a little way above Sempang, and afterwards at Sempang, where he exacted a duty on the Sungie Ujong trade, in order, as be said, to repay himself tenfold for his losses. The doings of this Chief in 1848-49 caused a long correspondence with the Datu Klana and the Punghulu of Rumbowe, in which the latter maintained that Lebby Koolup was per- fectly right in closing the trade of Sungie Ujong till he should have justice done hit, and was but little affected by a remark of the Resident Councillor, that, whatever claims Lebby Koolup might have on individuals, he could have no possible right to close the trade of the public in a river open to public trade.
Lebby Koolup was able to maintain himself on the river till his death, in 1859, with the countenance of the Punghulu of Rumbowe, with whom he is said to have shared his profits.
Hajee Mahomed.-The next was named Hajee Mahomed. He was brother-in-law of Datu Kattas, of Permatang Passir, and succeeded as Datu Muda of Lingie on his death. His pretension was that, as Datu of Lingie, he had a right to levy duties on the trade passing his station.
Hajee Mahomed Sallih.-The third was Hajee Mahomed Sallih, the brother-in-law of Lebby Koolup, with whom he had been at Sempang. A quarrel having arisen there, he went back to Rumbowe, where he remained about a year, and then came and settled at Bukit Tiga, about five miles above Sempang and a mile below Permatang Passir, and there levied a duty, for which act he does not appear to have ever condescended to give
a reason.
All three of these men, it is said, were encouraged or tolerated by Rumbowe; and it is supposed that the claims of Rumbowe to share in the revenue which may be levied on the river, while originally founded on the right of the Eam Tuan Besar and Muda, are strengthened, in the ideas of the Chiefs, by the fact that these men did actually levy such duties under the authority of, or rather under the concealed protection of, Rumbowe.
The traders thus, besides the regular duties payable to the authorized chiefs, had to pay three sets of extra duties; and, as it was urgent that something should be done, they tried to carry out the arrangement above set out.
Proposed scheme.-The money to have been raised by the proposed 10 per-cent. duty
was to have been devoted to the following purposes:→→→
1. To reimburse the sufferers in the Rawa disturbances.
2. To form a fund for the purposes of general defence and purchasing arms, &c.
3. The balance to be divided among the Chiefs, according to their rank. Failure of attempt.-It was found, however, to be impossible to manage Lebby Koolup, who refused to be a party to the arrangement proposed. The other two could have been managed; but with Lebby Koolup's bold and determined character, and with the secret support supposed to be given to him by the Panghulu of Rumbowe, it was impossible to induce any solvent Malacca Chinese to come forward to purchase the farm, without means of preventing Lebby Koolup from continuing to levy his unauthorized duty; so the arrangement fell to the ground.
Proceedings in 1855.
In the beginning of 1855, fresh complaints were made of exactions on the part of unauthorized Chiefs in the river below Lingie. On inquiry, it appeared that Lebby Koolup was strongly stockaded at Sempang, Datu Kanda at Pengkallang Kumpas, Hajee Mahomed
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