The history of Perak from native sources
W.E. Maxwell published “The History of Perak from Native Sources” in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Vol. 14, 1884), presenting a translation of the Marong Mahawangsa, a native Malay chronicle of Perak. The article situates Perak’s political origins in the legendary migration of a Kedah prince and the subsequent establishment of the Johor royal line, tracing succession through Acheh conquests, Bugis invasions, and the early Dutch commercial presence at Tanjong Putus. Maxwell’s overarching thesis is that the native chronicle, while rich in mythological material, preserves a coherent political genealogy that can be cross-referenced with the Sajarah Melayu and Acheh annals to reconstruct the state’s formative centuries.
Summary
Maxwell opens by translating the Hikayat Shamsu-l-bahrin account of a Kedah prince who, after shooting a silver arrow that fell on an island, established a town there and was formally installed as Raja of Perak, the name deriving from the silver arrow (perak = silver). He immediately notes, however, that this legend “has no local currency in Perak” and that the Perak Malay “commences the history of his country with the legend of the white Semang” (p. 306). He identifies Bruas as the probable oldest settled district, citing the Sajarah Melayu’s reference to a “Raja of Bruas” predating the Johor line, and points to ancient tombs at Bruas as physical corroboration of its antiquity (pp. 306–307). The most venerable spot, he argues, is Tumung on the Perak river, a few miles north of Kuala Kangsar, which is the scene of the white Semang legend (p. 309).
The white Semang narrative, which Maxwell reproduces at length, tells of Nakhodah Kasim, an attendant of Sultan Mahmud of Johor, who married a Semang girl whose blood was white. After an unprecedented flood, his wife discovered an infant girl (Tan Puteh Purba) in a mass of river foam, and a boy (Toh Changkat Pelandok) was found inside a bamboo on Bukit Pelandok. Upon Nakhodah Kasim’s death, Tan Puteh became mistress of Perak and dispatched her minister Tan Saban to negotiate with Johor, resulting in the installation of Ahmad Taj-uddin Shah as the first Johor-line Sultan of Perak, who brought the full regalia including the nobat drums, the sword Perbujang, and the sceptre (pp. 310–311). Maxwell identifies Tan Saban as a corruption of the Hindu name Salivahana, suggesting the legendary war against the second king derives from mythological accounts of Salivahana and Vikramaditya (p. 312, n. 5).
The chronicle then traces a succession of rulers through periods of usurpation, Acheh conquest, and Bugis invasion. Sultan Malik Shah seized the throne by strangling his infant cousin; the Acheh kings captured Perak royalty on at least two occasions, carrying them to Aceh as captives; and Bugis forces under Klana and Daing Chelak nearly caused the loss of the regalia before the chiefs installed a new sultan (Sultan Muhammad Shah). Maxwell identifies the Acheh conqueror “Marhum Makota ‘Alam” as Sultan Iskandar Muda, the greatest of the Acheh kings, and links the Perak genealogy to the Acheh annals through the figure of Paduka Sri Sultan Mansur Shah, who reigned in Acheh and was killed in A.H. 993 (A.D. 1585) (pp. 315–316, n. 16). The narrative closes with the Dutch receiving permission to guard Kuala Perak and stamp tin, and with the reign of Sultan Mahmud Shah (Marhum Besar), whose adopted nephews and the subsequent Bugis threat frame the political situation on the eve of the nineteenth century (pp. 316–318).
Key Findings
- The Marong Mahawangsa names Ahmad Taj-uddin Shah as the first Johor-line Sultan of Perak, installed at Kota Lumut with full regalia including the nobat, the sword Perbujang, and the sceptre kaya gamit (p. 311).
- The Perak river was named for its “exceeding whiteness,” likened to santan (coconut milk), after Magat Terawis discovered a haruan fish suckling her young at the source of a white tributary at Chigar Galah (p. 315).
- Sultan Malik Shah usurped the throne by breaking the neck of his infant cousin, triggering a three-year war with Tan Saban that ended only when Magat Terawis—a Menangkabau warrior bearing an inscribed matchlock bullet—shot Tan Saban and compelled his submission (pp. 312–314).
- Acheh conquered Perak at least twice: once under a king identified as Iskandar Muda, and once earlier when the widow of Marhum di Kota Lama and her sixteen children were taken captive to Acheh (pp. 314–315).
- The Dutch were formally permitted to build a fort at Tanjong Putus, to buy tin, and to stamp all tin with letters, marking the earliest documented European commercial concession in Perak (pp. 316–317).
- Maxwell identifies the legendary Tan Saban as a corruption of the Hindu name Salivahana, linking the Perak chronicle’s war narrative to the mythological cycle of Salivahana and Vikramaditya brought by Hindu settlers (p. 312, n. 5).
Conclusion
Maxwell’s definitive takeaway is that the Marong Mahawangsa, despite its heavy mythological accretion, preserves a politically coherent genealogy of Perak’s rulers that aligns with the Sajarah Melayu and the Acheh annals, particularly in the identification of key figures such as Iskandar Muda and Mansur Shah. The chronicle thus serves as a critical native-source complement to the Malay annals, confirming that Perak’s sovereignty derived from the Johor royal house and that its political organization—chiefs of various ranks with definite duties—was established under the first Johor-line sultan.
Context
- The Marong Mahawangsa manuscript in Maxwell’s possession is the same text Colonel Low had previously translated in the Journal of the Indian Archipelago (Vol. III, p. 176), making this a second English rendering of the same native source (p. 305, n. 1).
- Maxwell’s article appears in JSBRAS Vol. 14 (1884), a period when SBRAS was actively publishing translations and chronicles to support colonial administrative knowledge of the Straits Settlements and the Malay states.