Johor. NQ 1
W.E. Maxwell, Assistant Resident in Perak, published this translation in 1884 of a royal genealogical manuscript (Salsila) compiled by Raja Haji Yahya of Belanja, Perak, which traces the succession of Perak sultans from the late eighteenth century through the period of British colonial intervention in the 1870s. The work serves as an authentic native-source record of dynastic legitimacy and the customary mode of succession among the Perak royal house.
Summary
Maxwell’s paper is a straightforward translation of a genealogical record that extends the earlier Perak Salsila (published in JSBRAS No. 9, 1882) from the death of Marhum Muda (c. 1777) down to the 1870s. The original manuscript, written by Raja Haji Yahya at Kampong Belanja on the 7th of Jamad-ul-akhir, A.H. 1299 (c. 1881), is explicitly not a historical narrative but a genealogical chain of descent, recording marriages, offspring, and the transfer of titles such as Raja Muda, Bandahara, and Sultan across successive generations (p. 305).
The genealogy begins with Marhum Jalil-ullah, grandson of Marhum Kasab of Siak and descended from Sang Sapurba of Pagar-ruyong, and traces his six children through multiple branches of the royal family. The record documents the succession of sultans including Sultan Mahmud Iskandar Shah (whose reign is stated to have lasted one hundred and twenty years), Sultan Ala-eddin, Sultan Muhammadin Shah, Sultan Ahamadin Shah, Sultan Mansur Shah, Sultan Abdullah Ma’adam Shah, Sultan Shahab-uddin Shah, Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Shah, Sultan J’affar Ma’adam Shah, and Sultan Ali (Marhum Naji-ullah), before reaching the contested succession of the 1870s (pp. 305–319).
The final section of the manuscript shifts from pure genealogy to a brief chronological account of British intervention in Perak, naming Governor Ord, Sir Andrew Clarke, J.W. Birch, Sir William Jervois, Captain Dunlop, Major McNair, Mr. Davidson, and Mr. Hugh Low in sequence, before concluding with the children of the then-Regent, Raja Muda Yusuf, and of Raja Haji Yahya himself (pp. 319–321).
Key Findings
- The manuscript records that Sultan Mahmud Iskandar Shah’s reign lasted “one hundred and twenty years,” an extraordinary claim that likely reflects either a scribal error or a conventional genealogical formula rather than a literal chronology (p. 306).
- The succession of Perak sultans followed a pattern in which the Raja Muda and Bandahara were drawn from the royal family, with the Bandahara often becoming Raja Muda upon the death of the incumbent, and the Raja Muda ascending to the throne upon the Sultan’s death (pp. 309–315).
- A civil war during the reign of Raja Inu resulted in the elevation of Raja Bisnu (Marhum Aminullah) to the throne as Sultan Muhammad Shah, illustrating that succession was not always peaceful or strictly hereditary in a linear sense (p. 307).
- The contested succession following the death of Sultan Ali (Marhum Naji-ullah) at Kuala Manora led to the Chiefs raising Raja Bandahara Ismail to the throne, while Raja Muda Abdullah secured British recognition through Governor Ord and later Sir Andrew Clarke at Pangkor, resulting in Sultan Ismail being demoted to Sultan Muda (p. 319).
- The death of Resident J.W. Birch at Pasir Salak and the subsequent exile of Sultan Abdullah, the Laksamana, and the Shabandar to Pulau Seychelles are recorded as part of the genealogical narrative, linking dynastic history directly to colonial administrative events (p. 319).
- The manuscript’s author, Raja Haji Yahya, was himself a member of the royal family, adopted by Toh Ungku Ismail Puteh and Raja Puteh Khadijah from the time of his mother’s conception, and was in possession of lands, mines, slaves, elephants, and buffaloes transferred to him in his youth (p. 321).
Conclusion
Maxwell presents this genealogy as a tool for establishing “the relative purity of the descent of the surviving members of the royal line” in Perak, making it a document of dynastic legitimacy as much as historical record (p. 305). Its value lies in providing a native-authored account of succession that predates and operates independently of British colonial records, while its final pages inadvertently document the transition from indigenous to colonial governance of the state.
Context
- Maxwell was serving as Assistant Resident in Perak and governing Larut at the time of publication, placing him within the colonial administrative structure he describes (p. 319).
- The manuscript was written at Kampong Belanja, a location in Perak associated with Raja Haji Yahya, and represents one of the few surviving native-authored genealogical records of the Perak royal house from this period.