The taking over from Siam of part of Reman or Rahman
E. W. Birch, a senior British colonial administrator (C.M.G.) serving in the Federated Malay States, published this first-person account in 1910 of the physical handover of the Reman (Rahman) district from Siamese suzerainty to British protection in July 1909, an operation conducted under the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of that year. The article functions as an official dispatch and travel narrative documenting the ceremonial transfer at Klian Intan, the settlement of the boundary line, and the immediate administrative challenges confronting the new Perak territory.
Summary
Birch’s account centres on the practical mechanics of a territorial transfer rather than on any broader geopolitical analysis. He narrates his ten-day elephant-borne journey from Grit to Klian Intan, the formal ceremony at which the Ampur of Betong (Wan Husein) surrendered the district to British authority, and the subsequent demarcation of the boundary ridge at Betong. The narrative is shaped by a recurring colonial administrative concern: the gap between the treaty’s legal fiction and the messy reality on the ground. The town of Klian Intan had recently been burned down, leaving approximately 2,000 people homeless in bamboo shanties, and the Chinese mining population had grown substantially beyond the figures recorded in the Siamese census, complicating the handover inventory.
A secondary thread of the article concerns the toponymic dispute over the name of the mining locality—Klian Intan (Diamond Mine) versus Klian Hitam (Black Mine)—which Birch resolves in favour of the former, citing the hereditary claims of the Dato Sri Adika Raja and the usage of both European mining companies. The boundary protocol itself, appended to the article in both English and Siamese, traces the watershed from Gunong Lang south-eastward through a series of named ridges and passes to a point dividing the Tado and Perak river systems, a description that Birch and Berkeley verified in the field against the terrain.
The article draws on Birch’s own observation, the testimony of local Malay and Siamese authorities, and the administrative records of the Rahman Tin Company and the Rahman Hydraulic Tin Mining Company. It is essentially a field report: the primary “source” is the event itself, recorded in real time by a participant.
Key Findings
- The Anglo-Siamese Treaty was dated 10 March 1909 (10 Minakun 127 in the Siamese calendar); the boundary protocol attached to it defined the transfer along the watershed dividing rivers flowing into the Gulf of Siam from those flowing into the Perak and Kedah river systems (p. 154).
- The Siamese census at the end of the Siamese year recorded a total population of 2,624: 1,295 Malays, 975 Chinese, 346 Siamese, and 8 Europeans, along with 423 buffaloes, 441 cattle, 5 elephants, and 148 guns (pp. 150–151).
- Birch, drawing on the check-rolls of the Rahman Tin Co. (750) and the Rahman Hydraulic Tin Mining Co. (432), estimated the actual Chinese population at approximately 1,500 and the total district population at no fewer than 3,300 (p. 152).
- The boundary was formally settled at Betong on 20 July 1909 by H. Berkeley and Luang Raj Bharakii (Wan Husein) in accordance with High Commissioner’s instruction No. G.H. 34 (9 July 1909) and Prince Damrong’s instruction No. 1-7006 (25 Mehtu Nayun 128) (p. 154).
- The distance from Grit to Klian Intan by the route taken was 22 miles, traversed by elephant over seven days of travel; the journey made a complete circuit of Mount Kendrong, 4,000 feet high (p. 153).
- Birch received 192 applications for shop lots along a planned 100-chain circular road in the new town at Klian Intan, with lots allocated by lottery to prevent favouritism (p. 152).
Conclusion
Birch presents the transfer as a smooth, cordial, and legally unambiguous operation, emphasising the friendly relations between the Siamese and British parties and the orderly succession of flags, guards, and salutes. The underlying message is one of administrative confidence: the British were capable of absorbing a complex, multi-ethnic mining district with minimal disruption, and the treaty’s watershed boundary was workable on the ground. The article serves to document that confidence for the record.
Context
- Birch was a senior official of the Federated Malay States government; this article is an official account of a state act, published in the Society’s journal as a matter of public record rather than as independent scholarship.
- The article’s value lies in its status as a contemporaneous field report: it preserves the boundary protocol in bilingual form, the population inventory, and the logistical details of the handover that would otherwise survive only in government archives.