Rembau
D.F.A. Hervey, a colonial official who had visited Rembau on several occasions, published this account in 1884 to fill what he perceived as a gap in the literature on the state, drawing heavily on Newbold’s earlier work and his own observations. The article presents Rembau’s political constitution, its Menangkabau-derived traditions of succession, and its physical geography, situating the state within the broader framework of the Negeri Sembilan confederation and its evolving relationship with British Malacca.
Summary
Hervey’s central purpose is to document the constitutional structure of Rembau as a Negeri Sembilan state, with particular attention to the dual Penghulu system (Sedia Raja and Lela Maharaja) elected alternately from the Beduanda Jawa and Beduanda Jakun tribes, and the eight Lembaga chiefs who hold real administrative power. He traces the origin of these institutions through local traditions, including the founding narrative of Bendahara Sakudei and the Menangkabau settlers who established the suku system, and the solemn oath of the “Lima Suku” that bound five chiefs into a single Lembaga. The article also covers the history of the Yam Tuan Besar and Muda, from the installation of Raja Melawar in the mid-eighteenth century through the intrigues of Raja Ali and the eventual severance of Tampin under Syed Hamid.
Hervey devotes considerable space to the Menangkabau “undang-undang” (customary law) that defined the respective powers of the Raja, Penghulu, and To’ Bandar, presenting these as a system of checks in which the suzerain held only nominal authority and the Penghulu controlled the land and its produce. He supplements this with a physical description of the country—its undulating terrain, extensive sawah, granite geology, and the notable summit of Gunong Dato’—and notes the impact of a cattle disease that had devastated the buffalo population and disrupted rice cultivation.
Key Findings
- The Penghulu of Rembau is elected alternately from the Beduanda Jawa (title: Sedia Raja) and Beduanda Jakun (title: Lela Maharaja), a settlement attributed to the sovereign of Johor following a dispute between the two branches (pp. 242–243).
- The boundary between Rembau and Malacca was fixed by treaty on 9 January 1883, running from Kwala Sungei Jerneh through Bukit Bertam, Bukit Jelotong, Bukit Putus, Jirat Gunjei, Lubok Talan, Dusun Feringgi, Dusun Kepar, Ulu Sungga, and Bukit Putus, with the Rembau branch of the Linggi forming the remainder (p. 243).
- The population of Rembau was estimated at approximately 11,000 (excluding Tampin, Kru, and Tebong), compared to Newbold’s 1839 figure of 9,000 including those areas; the constitutional table gives 2,121 houses, yielding 10,605–12,726 persons (pp. 244, 258–259).
- The Yam Tuan Besar’s maintenance was fixed at one suku (13½ cents), two gantang of padi, and two cocoa-nuts per householder annually; on occasions of death, marriage, or circumcision in the royal family, each Penghulu was to send three buffaloes (p. 247).
- Gunong Dato’ was measured by Hervey at 2,060 feet above Gadong; the summit features a peculiar rock formation with a hollow attributed to the Petri Gunong Ledang, giving the mountain its name and its reputation as a kramat (p. 257).
- Padi yields averaged eighty to ninety-fold, reaching one hundred-fold at Gadong, where the sawah soil was described as a very white clay with grit (p. 255).
Conclusion
Hervey presents Rembau as a polity whose real governance resided in the Penghulu and the Lembaga chiefs rather than in the nominal Yam Tuan, a structure sustained by Menangkabau customary law that explicitly denied the suzerain ownership of the country or the power to levy taxes. By the 1880s, however, the old confederation was fragmenting: Tampin had effectively separated under Syed Hamid, the British boundary treaties were redrawing the state’s periphery, and the author anticipates that “under the new regime” the disorder of the Gadong district might be corrected.
Context
- The article draws substantially on Newbold’s The Native States of the Straits Settlements (1839) and on oral traditions collected by Hervey during official visits; it also incorporates a rough compass-bearing chart of the country taken from Gunong Dato’.
- As a colonial administrative account, it reflects the British interest in defining boundaries and understanding local power structures in the context of expanding Malacca territory, particularly after the 1883 boundary treaty and the cession of land at Sempang for a police station in 1874.