MY: Malaysian Royalty - Is the Sultan of Selangor Legitimate?(fw)
Bala Pillai
alk...@pop.jaring.my)
To: Multiple recipients of list <gen...@jaring.my>
Subject: Is The Sultan Of Selangor Legitimate?
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Is The Sultan Of Selangor Legitimate?
There is strong talk among the Selangor palace circle that the Raja Muda of
Selangor will be by-passed as the next Sultan of Selangor in favour of his
younger brother, Tengku Sulaiman. These same sources strengthen their
argument by pointing out to the fact that the Raja Muda has left the country
for about a year now and is not expected to return until at least a year s
time. This, they add, is because he has merajuk .
There are many different theories as to why the Sultan would want to make
this radical move of breaking away from tradition. One is that the Raja
Muda has a non-royal wife, and a foreign one at that too. The argument is,
there is no way she can qualify as a Tengku Ampuan .
The other theory is, Tengku Sulaiman is married to the daughter of the
Sultan of Johore. Making him the next Sultan of Selangor, and therefore the
Sultan of Johore s daughter the next Tengku Ampuan, will strengthen the ties
between the Selangor and Johore palaces.
Another theory is that the relationship between the Raja Muda and the
Selangor Menteri Besar has been badly strained. It seems some time back,
during the Constitutional Crisis when the Raja Muda was the Pemangku Sultan,
the Menteri Besar by-passed the Raja Muda and went direct to meet the Sultan
who was holidaying in Australia. This tantamount to the Menteri Besar
ignoring the Raja Muda who was the legitimate acting ruler of Selangor
then. They argue that to put the Raja Muda on the throne would create
further friction between the government (or rather UMNO) and the palace
while Tengku Sulaiman has better rapport with the UMNO politicians.
Some Royal Family members point out that it is not up to the Sultan to
choose his successor; it is up to the Council of Rulers. In fact, they would
prefer if the Sultan would abdicate the throne now in favour of the Raja
Muda as, they complain, the Sultan has become very eccentric in his old age
and an embarrassment to the family.
Looking at the present mood of the family, if the Sultan attempts to change
the line of succession, they might remove him as the Sultan and, I believe,
the State Constitution allows for this. History has shown that this has been
done many times in the past.
For that matter, even the legitimacy of the present Sultan can be
questioned. This is because there has been many deviations made over the
years and the rightful successors to the throne have been by-passed in
favour of another illegitimate Sultan at least on three occasions.
Sometimes this was done by the Council, sometimes by the British
colonialists government and, on one occasion, even by the Japanese during
the Japanese occupation of Malaya.
To understand this palace intrigue better we must first understand how the
Selangor Sultanate or, for that matter, the state of Selangor, came about.
In the beginning, unlike in the other states like Kedah, Johore, Perak, and
so on, Selangor as a sovereign state did not exist, let alone have any
Sultan. Selangor was just a lawless trading post (like the American Wild
West of the past) where some areas along the main rivers were infested
with Bugis traders (Malaysian cowboys) from the Celebes.
Up to the 15th century Selangor was directly under Melaka rule. When Melaka
fell to the Portuguese forces in 1511, jurisdiction of Selangor was
transferred to Johore, which was part of the Johore-Riau empire.
In the early 18th century the Bugis, led by the five Bugis brothers; Daing
Perani, Daing Menambun, Daing Merewah, Daing Chelak and Daing Kemasi;
defeated Raja Kechil Siak of Riau and took control of Johore.
In 1748, Daing Kemboja, the son of Daing Perani, became the third Yamtuan
Muda of Riau where he set up his headquarters in Linggi, now part of Negeri
Sembilan.
In 1766, Raja Lumu, the son of Daing Chelak, became the first Sultan of
Selangor. To do this, Raja Lumu had to go to Lumut in Perak where the 16th
Sultan of Perak, Sultan Mahmud Shah, installed him as the first Sultan of
Selangor with the name of Sultan Salehuddin Shah.
When Sultan Salehuddin Shah died in 1778, Sultan Ibrahim Shah, his eldest
son, took over as the second Sultan of Selangor. Sultan Ibrahim Shah had
four wives; Chu Che of Kedah, Raja Andak binti Daing Kemboja, his cousin,
Che Halijah binti Maharaja Lela Hussain of Selangor, and Che Saimah.
When Sultan Ibrahim Shah die in 1826 there was a tussle for the throne.
Sultan Muhamad Shah, the son of the THIRD wife was chosen to be the third
Sultan of Selangor. Both the first wife s and well as the second wife s sons
were by-passed. In fact, there were 19 children from the first wife and one
son from the second wife.
The reason given for this FIRST DEVIATION was that Sultan Muhamad Shah had
been appointed the Raja Muda by the Sultan so, as Raja Muda, he should
automatically ascend the throne. Sultan Muhammad turned out to be a weak
ruler and during his reign Selangor went through a period of anarchy. Riots,
murders and robberies were common and there was also a tussle between two of
the Sultan s sons and the Sultan s younger brother to become the Raja Muda
of Selangor. Eventually all three died so the problem solved itself.
When Sultan Muhamad Shah died in 1857 there was a serious conflict as to who
should replace him as Sultan. Tengku Ampuan Basik, his first wife and the
rightful Tengku Ampuan of Selangor, wanted one of her sons, Raja Mahmud, to
become the next Sultan. However Raja Mahmud was too young and the Council
wanted Raja Abdul Samad instead. Raja Abdul Samad was the nephew of Sultan
Muhamad Shah and a cousin of Raja Mahmud.
Finally, two years later, Sultan Abdul Samad was installed as the fourth
Sultan of Selangor. This was the SECOND DEVIATION. Sultan Abdul Samad ruled
Selangor for 41 years, the longest reigning sultan so far, and during that
period Selangor went through a further period of anarchy resulting in
British intervention in the state. The Sultan spent most of his time
gambling and smoking opium rather than ruling the state proving to be a bad
choice of sultan by the Council.
This meant, so far, twice in the history of Selangor the line of succession
had broken from tradition. It was not the rightful candidate who replaced
the Sultan on the throne and both these alternative choices spelt disaster
for the state of Selangor.
During the reign of Sultan Abdul Samad his eldest son, Raja Muda Musa, was
appointed as the Raja Muda of Selangor. However, he died on 7th July 1884,
before he could become Sultan. When Sultan Abdul Samad died in 1898, Raja
Muda Musa s son, Raja Suleiman, became the fifth Sultan of Selangor with the
name Sultan Ala Eddin Suleiman Shah.
Sultan Suleiman ruled Selangor for almost as long as Sultan Abdul Samad;
that is for 40 years; but it was not until his 22nd year on the throne did
he appoint a Raja Muda. Sultan Suleiman had 10 wives, 44 children, and more
than 200 grandchildren. The Raja Muda, Tengku Musa Eddin, was his eldest
son from his first wife, Tengku Ampuan Maharum binti Tunku Diauddin (of
Kedah, who was also his cousin).
However the British did not like Tengku Musa Eddin so they forced him to
step down without even consulting the Sultan or the Council of Rulers. Two
years later Tengku Alam Shah was appointed as the new Raja Muda to replace
Tengku Musa Eddin. Tengku Alam Shah was the second son of the second wife,
Cik Hasnah @ Cik Aminah binti Pelong, a commoner.
Maybe this choice was made because the other four children from the first
wife, that is the Tengku Ampuan, were all girls. However, Tengku Alam Shah
did have an older brother from the same mother, Tengku Badar Shah, who was
given the title of Tengku Bendahara. He could, and should, have been chosen
instead but, strangely enough, was not.
Tengku Badar Shah had three wives, six children (two sons and four
daughters), and thirty grandchildren. All the six children and thirty
grandchildren are still alive today. If we follow the correct line of
succession, Tengku Badar Shah should have been Sultan, Tengku Mohd Tahir,
his oldest son, the Raja Muda and Tengku Khairuddin, the oldest grandson, to
succeed as Raja Muda when Tengku Mohd Tahir becomes the next Sultan of
Selangor.
When Sultan Suleiman died in 1938 Sultan Hishamuddin Alam Shah became the
sixth Sultan of Selangor by-passing Tengku Musa Eddin (as well as Tengku
Badar Shah), the rightful heir to the throne. This was the THIRD DEVIATION.
When the Japanese invaded Malay in 1942 they removed Tengku Hishamuddin as
the Sultan and appointed Tengku Musa Eddin as the seventh Sultan with the
name of Sultan Musa Ghiathuddin Riayat Shah. The installation was done with
full palace traditions making Musa Eddin not only the rightful Sultan but
also properly installed on the throne.
When the Japanese lost the war and the British returned, they sacked Tengku
Musa Eddin as Sultan of Selangor and re-appointed Sultan Hishamuddin Alam
Shah on the throne. Tengku Musa Eddin was exiled to the Cocos Islands in
the Indian Ocean. He died in 1955. No one questioned the legitimacy of the
British in doing this. Tengku Musa Eddin was the rightful Sultan and was
properly installed on the throne. The British had no authority to remove
him.
When Sultan Hishamuddin Alam Shah died in 1960, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz
Shah, the present Sultan, replaced him as either the seventh or the ninth
Sultan of Selangor, depending on how you look at it.
Three times in the history of Selangor the rightful Sultan had been
by-passed in favour of someone else. Now it may happen again if the present
Raja Muda, Tengku Idris, is by-passed.
Maybe if the Sultan would like to change the line of succession we should
track back to see who should be the rightful Sultan today if there had been
no deviations along the way. This should not be too difficult. Since Tengku
Musa Eddin left no heirs then the throne should go to the heir of Tengku
Badar Shah.
Raja Petra Kamarudin
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