Klang War

The Klang War or Selangor Civil War took place in the Malay state of Selangor and was fought between Raja Abdullah bin Raja Jaafar, the administrator of Klang and Raja Mahadi bin Raja Sulaiman from 1867 to 1874. Raja Abdullah the head of Hulu Klang, appointed by Sultan Muhammad Shah of Selangor between 1849 and 1850.

Reason for war

Before the sultan appointed Raja Abdullah as Klang's administrator, Raja Mahadi's father, Raja Sulaiman was Klang's head. In 1866, Raja Abdullah leased Klang to two traders from the Straits Settlements; William Henry Macleod Read and Tan Kim Ching. Among benefits of being a renter was tax collection. When the two traders went out to collect tax, Raja Mahadi was offended. Given his standing within the Malay communities, he refused to pay tax to foreigners.

Sultan Muhammad died in 1857 and was replaced by Sultan Abdul Samad. With sympathy from the new royal family of Selangor, Raja Mahadi began to challenge Raja Abdullah's authority in Klang. The royal court considered Raja Abdullah, which was from Riau instead of Selangor, as an outsider. On Raja Abdullah's side was his son, Raja Ismail. The Chinese laborers were divided between the two camps.

Tengku Kudin enters the war

In 1867, Tengku Kudin, a prince from Kedah married into the royal family and was appointed as an arbitrator. Raja Mahadi however flatly refused the peace effort. Offended by Raja Mahadi's blunt no, Tengku Kudin sided with Raja Abdullah and Raja Ismail instead and this precipitated a war. The coalition against Raja Mahadi received a blow when Raja Abdullah died of natural cause. However, an influential Chinese kapitan, Yap Ah Loy, of whom was responsible for the early development of Kuala Lumpur joined Tengku Kudin's cause.

Meanwhile, the British Straits Settlements were becoming increasingly dependent on the economy of Selangor. Selangor through the 19th and the 20th was one of the world's major tin producers. Since Selangor's security affected tin trade, the British felt it needed to have a say in Selangor politics. The British saw Tengku Kudin as a ticket to reach out to Selangor's royal court. Therefore, the Straits Settlements led by Andrew Clarke implicitly supported Tengku Kudin.

Throughout the war, Tengku Kudin brought in 500 soldiers from Kedah along with mercenaries and European officers from the Straits Settlements. Finally, in 1872, he brought more soldiers from Pahang to gain the upper hand over Raja Mahadi.

The royal family was greatly disappointed with the outcome of the war and viewed Tengku Kudin with suspicion. What made the situation worse was Tengku Kudin's army from Pahang. After the war, the army refused to return to Pahang because they wanted to collect tax as a payment for their service. While the British through the new Governor Andrew Clarke was on Tengku Kudin's side, the post-war situation had weakened Tengku Kudin's power base. Therefore, Andrew Clarke was forced to freeze the plan to reach out to the royal family through Tengku Kudin.

British Resident

In November 1873 however, a ship from Penang was attacked by pirates near Kuala Langat, Selangor. The sultan expressed concern over Selangor's security and requested assistance from Sir Andrew Clarke. This led to the appointment of a British Resident in Selangor in 1875. The first resident was J.G. Davidson, a lawyer from Singapore. He was Tengku Kudin's friend.

The war ended in 1874 and was won over by Tengku Kudin and Raja Ismail while Raja Mahadi step down. Raja Mahadi died in Klang and was buried in Klang.

References

* Zainal Abidin bin Abdul Wahid; Khoo Kay Kim; Muhd Yusof bin Ibrahim; Singh, D.S. Ranjit (1994). "Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah Sejarah Tingkatan 2." Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. ISBN 978-983-62-1009-8
* 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. "Malay States."
* Haji Buyong Adil; "Sejarah Johor" Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

ee also

*British Malaya