Article

A list of the butterflies of Borneo with descriptions of new species

From Munshipedia, the MBRAS digital historical encyclopedia

A list of the butterflies of Borneo with descriptions of new species

J.M. Gullick’s 1987 article “Tunku Kudin of Kedah” traces the final political bid and subsequent 27-year exile of Tunku Kudin (Dhiauddin), a Kedah royal prince who had served as Raja Muda of Kedah and titular “viceroy” of Selangor during the 1868–1878 civil war. The article covers the succession crises of 1879–1882 that permanently excluded Kudin from Kedah’s government, and his later life in Penang and Selangor until his death in 1909. Gullick’s overarching argument is that Kudin, despite his political acumen and personal charm, was ultimately defeated by the structural dynamics of the Kedah dynasty and the decisive intervention of the Siamese government, which chose a young puppet ruler over the most capable of the competing royal uncles.

Summary

The article opens with the death of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin II in June 1879, which exposed the latent fragility of the Kedah succession. The late Sultan’s will had nominated his eldest son, Tunku Petra (Zainal Rashid), as heir, but the real contest was between two factions of royal uncles: Kudin, aligned with the sons of the consort Wan Jah, and Tunku Yakob (the sitting Raja Muda) allied with the chief minister Wan Mat Saman, who backed the sons of the other consort, Wan Hajar. Kudin’s first move was characteristically to seek British support, dispatching his brother Yusof to the acting Lieutenant Governor of Penang, C.J. Irving, a week after the Sultan’s death. The Colonial Office disclaimed any interest. The Siamese then imposed a compromise: Tunku Petra succeeded as Sultan Zainal Rashid II, with Kudin and Yakob as joint regents. But this arrangement collapsed when the young Sultan died of a respiratory complaint in September 1881 after less than two years on the throne.

The second succession crisis (1881–1882) proved decisive. Both factions raced to Bangkok to present their candidate. Kudin first proposed himself as Sultan, then fell back on his son-in-law Tunku Kassim, and finally floated the radical idea of dividing Kedah in two. The Siamese, after six months of deliberation, chose Tunku Abdul Hamid (Wan Hajar’s son) as the new Sultan, with Yakob as regent and Mat Saman as chief minister. Kudin was excluded entirely. The Siamese briefly stationed troops in Kedah and possibly a Commissioner, but withdrew both once the new regime appeared stable. Kudin, whose pride would not permit him to live as a private citizen in Alor Star, settled permanently in Penang.

The second half of the article reconstructs Kudin’s exile from scattered sources. He maintained a comfortable existence in Georgetown, building grand houses and participating in Penang’s social life. For a period (1883–1894) he returned to Selangor for business ventures — a mangrove concession at Kuala Langat, a failed padi and sago company, and eventually a coffee estate of some 300 acres near Klang — and for family connections, particularly his daughter Tunku Maharum, who married the heir to the Selangor throne in 1891. A protracted matrimonial dispute between Tunku Maharum and her husband Sultan Sulaiman (triggered by the Sultan’s second marriage) brought Kudin briefly back into the centre of Selangor’s royal drama in 1899–1901. In his final years Kudin suffered from failing eyesight and died blind in his Penang house in May 1909, aged about 74. His coffin was carried in full royal ceremony to the Kedah burial ground at Kota Langgar.

Gullick is candid about the poor quality of sources for the critical 1879–1882 period. The main narrative source, the Kedah chronicle, was written by a court official hostile to Kudin and is unreliable on dates. British official reports establish the broad outline but lack detail. Siamese sources contain deliberate disinformation. The author compares the experience of reading these sources to watching “an old silent cinematograph film” with biased captions.

Key Findings

  • Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin II died on 22 June 1879 at approximately age 47; his successor, Sultan Zainal Rashid II, died on 22 September 1881 after reigning less than two years (pp. 75–76).
  • The Siamese proposed retirement pensions of $20,000 per annum to Kudin, $10,500 to Tunku Yakob, and $10,000 to Tunku Yusof, figures that “nicely reflect the Siamese perception of the nuisance value of the three royal uncles” (p. 77).
  • The Siamese required six months (September 1881 to March 1882) to resolve the second succession crisis, double the normal three-month period (p. 77).
  • Kudin’s Selangor Padi and Sago Planting Company received a government grant of 6,000 acres free of rent and a loan of $1,700, but the venture ended in failure (p. 84).
  • By 1894 Kudin had planted approximately 300 acres with coffee on his 2,000-acre leasehold near Klang, before the coffee slump forced him to sell the land (pp. 84–85).
  • Kudin’s exile from Kedah lasted 27 years (1882–1909); he died on 24 May 1909 at approximately age 74 (pp. 79, 91).

Conclusion

Gullick’s definitive takeaway is that the Siamese made the correct strategic assessment in 1882: by installing a young, pliable ruler (Abdul Hamid) backed by the experienced chief minister Mat Saman, and by excluding the most talented but most divisive figure (Kudin), they secured a stable regime that governed Kedah in peace and prosperity for the remainder of the 19th century. Kudin’s defeat was not a failure of personal ability but of structural position — he lacked the family connections, the Siamese goodwill, and the institutional base that his rivals possessed. His subsequent life in exile, while comfortable and socially prominent, was that of a man who had been permanently written out of the political narrative of his own state.

Context

  • This is the fourth in a series of Gullick papers on Kedah and Tunku Kudin, following “Kedah 1821–1855” (Vol. 56), “Kedah in the reign of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin II” (Vol. 58), and “Tunku Kudin in Selangor 1868–1878” (Vol. 59). The primary archival collections drawn upon include the Straits Settlements despatches (CO 273 series) at the Public Record Office, Selangor Secretariat files at the Arkib Negara, the unpublished Bloomfield Douglas diary, the Kuala Langat Collector’s journal, and the Kedah chronicle (Hassan, 1928/1968).
  • The article’s historiographical contribution lies in its transparent assessment of source limitations for the 1879–1882 period and in its reconstruction of Kudin’s post-1882 life from fragmentary press reports, official journals, and later memoirs (notably Pasqual, 1934), filling a gap in the existing literature on late 19th-century Kedah politics.

References