The ruling family of Selangor
This is a brief extract by W. E. Maxwell, C.M.G., from the Selangor Administration Report for 1889, tracing the Bugis origins of Selangor’s ruling dynasty and its succession up to Sultan Abdul Samad.
Summary
Maxwell outlines how five Bugis chiefs established themselves in Selangor around 1718, with Raja Lumu left as ruler. He was invested as Sultan Salaeeddin Shah by the Sultan of Perak in 1743, and his successor Sultan Ibrahim joined a failed attack on Dutch Malacca in 1783, after which the Dutch blockaded Kwala Selangor and forced a treaty acknowledging their sovereignty (p. 322–323). British relations began with a commercial treaty by Mr. Cracroft in 1818, followed by a peace agreement with Sultan Ibrahim Shah (p. 323).
The succession of Sultan Mohammed (r. c. 1826–1856) and then Sultan Abdul Samad is described, noting that the latter’s election was secured by Raja Juma’at of Lukut to prevent a war of succession among the late Sultan’s numerous children and nephews (p. 323). Maxwell closes with a brief characterisation of Selangor’s Bugis-influenced population, contrasting their “sinister and impudent bearing” with the more dignified Malay of Kedah, and noting the growing influence of Sumatran and Javanese settlers (p. 324).