Article

Outline of the history of the Dindings from the 17th century to the present time

From Munshipedia, the MBRAS digital historical encyclopedia

Outline of the history of the Dindings from the 17th century to the present time

E. M. Merewether, writing in 1891 for the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, provides a chronological account of the Dindings—comprising Pulau Pangkor, Pulau Sembilan, and a mainland strip in Perak—from the earliest European contact in the 1660s through the first seventeen years of formal British administration. The article traces the island’s passage from Dutch occupation and abandonment to British territorial acquisition under the Pangkor Treaty of 1874, and closes with a descriptive survey of the district’s geography, resources, and persistent health problems.

Summary

Merewether opens with a lengthy extract from Wouter Schouten’s 1666 voyage log, in which the Dutch navigator describes anchoring in the roadstead between Pangkor and the Perak mainland to take on fresh water and firewood. Schouten’s account of the island as “uninhabited, full of high Mountains, vast Forests and very deadful Wildernesses” establishes the baseline from which all subsequent occupation is measured. Merewether then draws on the Malacca records to reconstruct the Dutch presence: a 1670 order to build a wooden stronghold with a garrison of one sergeant, three soldiers, and three sailors; Dampier’s 1689 visit, which found a stone fort, a governor’s house, and “about 20 or 30 soldiers”; and the 1690 massacre of the garrison by Malays under Panglima Kulup, after which the Dutch erected a stone pillar bearing the arms of the United East India Company and the United Provinces as a monument to their claim and withdrawal (pp. 36–39).

The British chapter begins with the 1826 cession of Pangkor and the Sembilan Islands by Perak for the suppression of piracy, but no effective use was made of the concession until 1867, when a Kedah Malay named Haji Mahomed Akib obtained permission to settle on the island and was appointed Penghulu in 1870. The Pangkor Treaty of January 1874 then formalised British sovereignty over the island and an additional 200 square miles of mainland, creating the administrative unit known as the Dindings, initially a dependency of Penang but administered by the Perak Resident. Merewether devotes considerable space to the violent early years of British rule: Captain Lloyd’s murder by Chinese coolies in October 1878, the near-fatal stabbing of Superintendent R. R. Bruce by Haji Hasan in September 1882, and the death of Urban Bruce in November 1884. Two of the first four Superintendents died in office and a third was seriously wounded, a record Merewether acknowledges without attempting to explain beyond the immediate circumstances (pp. 40–42).

The article concludes with a physical description of the district, noting its bold rocky coastline, the navigable Dinding River, the timber trade (2,200 tons exported in 1887), alluvial tin deposits near Telok Sera, and the persistent malarial fever that made Pangkor notoriously unhealthy. Merewether records the transfer of district headquarters from Pangkor to Lumut in 1890 as a response to the health problem, though he notes the results have been “not very encouraging so far” (pp. 43–47).

Key Findings

  • The Dutch garrison at Pangkor was massacred in 1690 by Malays under Panglima Kulup; a 1693 order prohibited re-garrisoning and directed the erection of a stone pillar bearing the arms of the VOC and the United Provinces (p. 39).
  • A second Dutch garrison of 30 European and 30 native soldiers was established in 1745 but withdrawn in 1748 on account of the “insalubrity of the place” (p. 39).
  • The Pangkor Treaty of January 1874 ceded Pangkor and approximately 200 square miles of mainland to the British, creating the Dindings as a dependency of Penang administered by the Perak Resident (p. 40).
  • Captain Lloyd, first Superintendent, was murdered on 26 October 1878 by Chinese coolies from the Lumut Estate who had been thrown out of employment (p. 41).
  • Timber exports from the Dindings reached approximately 2,200 tons in 1887, and the district was noted as the only part of the Colony with any extent of forest remaining (pp. 44–45).
  • By Ordinance XI of 1886 the Dindings were transferred from Penang to Singapore, and by Ordinance IX of 1890 they were re-transferred back to Penang (pp. 42–43).

Conclusion

Merewether’s definitive takeaway is that the Dindings, despite a tragic early administrative history in which two of four Superintendents died and a third was nearly killed, represents a “valuable accession to the Colony” once developed. He frames the district’s future in terms of its agricultural potential (tapioca, pepper, gambier, padi), its timber and tin resources, and the strategic advantage of the Dinding River as a natural port for Perak—advantages that, he implies, will be realised once the health problem is overcome and proper communication with the interior is established.

Context

  • Merewether was a senior colonial official in the Straits Settlements at the time of writing; his account reflects the administrative perspective of a contemporary functionary rather than a detached historian, and his narrative is shaped by the practical concerns of colonial governance (health, revenue, security).
  • The article draws on the Malacca records (Dutch archival correspondence), Dampier’s Voyages (1699), Schouten’s voyage log, Crawfurd’s 1822 account, and the official journals of the Superintendents of the Dindings, making it a useful early synthesis of primary sources for the district’s history.

References