obmar
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The History of TemerlohHIstory of termerloh
THE HISTORY OF TEMERLOH DISTRICT
v Memorial Picture Galleryv List of Temerloh District Officer
§Temerloh History Background Before Independence§
Temerloh Before The Arrival Of The British§
Temerloh during the British AdministrationTemerloh
History
Background
Before Independence
Temerloh is considered as one of the largest district in the State of Pahang. It was 3601.5 sq km in area. This district is comprising of several sub districts (mukim) which is administrated by Penghulu (chieftain), and each sub district (mukim) is again divided into several villages (kampung) which are under the custodian of Ketua Kampung (village headmen).
The Temerloh Distrist was developing immensely with an attractive history background.According to a story related by a famous figure in Pahang, Haji Zakaria Hitam, the present Temerloh Town, was developed from a river mouth settlement in Sungai Pahang named Kuala Semantan.
He also related that, the old name for Temerloh was Kuala Semantan. So, it was very important to know the root history of Kuala Semantan because from here established the Temerloh Town.Kuala Semantan originally was an old village. Located on the right side headland mouth of the Sungai Semantan, opposite Kampung Bangau Parit. Relating his story, the name ‘Semantan’ claimed it own history. The word ‘Semantan’ derived from the word ‘Seman Tahan’. ‘Seman Tahan’ was a Bruneise, living in the right side of the headland mouth, of one of the Sungai Pahang stream.Osman also known as Seman, was master in marshal art (silat) and spiritually.Because of his talents, many people living from all over his neighborhood came to learn the arts from him.Besides master in marshal art, he was also invulnerable. This extra talent he possessed made him known as ‘Seman Tahan’ among the settlers of the surrounding areas. As day go on, the name ‘Seman Tahan’ became very famous among the settlers living along the river which still had no name during that time.Because of his popularity, the name ‘Seman Tahan’ eternities to the river located there. From there the name of the river became Sungai Seman Tahan.
As time goes on, Sungai Seman Tahan became Sungai Semantan (might be for brief and easy pronunciation) and the mouth located at the Sungai Semantan still remain up to now. Because many settlers moved to Kuala Semantan, to learn from Seman Tahan, the area developed and became a small town and later on established as a famous stopping place, before the arrival of the British.Suit with the development that happened at Kuala Semantan, many new areas were established as settlement areas. The name Kuala Semantan is no longer suitable for the new developing areas because the word ‘kuala’ only covered the surrounding settlement between the entrance Sungai Semantan and Sungai Pahang. Because of that, the name Temerloh was chosen to name the new developing areas.
Temerloh, liked the other areas in the State of Pahang, earned it name through one incidents happened in Kuala Semantan. Related by Haji Zakaria Hitam (he gained the story from the local inhabitants) the name Temerloh resulted from the word ‘mereloh’. This was based from one incident happened in one of the left downstream stream of Sungai Pahang, opposite Pulau Temerloh. One day, a Minangkabau landed at the mouth of the stream. During his stayed in the village, he saw a sakai (native) who is infatuating‘mereloh’ (sleep) the whole day without bothering other things. From that incidents appeared the word ‘temerloh’ which later on, chosen to name the area newly opened.
Opinions quoting the name Temerloh came from the word ‘mengeloh’ were also agreed by many local figures such as Ishak Haji Muhamad and Haji Omar even though the incidents they knew were a little different from each other. Temerloh Town (Kuala Semantan) before the year 1926.Acceptable towards those opinions, which said Bandar Semantan was the same as Bandar Temerloh, was also agreed by Abdul Latiff in his book titled “Ishak Haji Muhammad’ in which he related Bandar Semantan or Bandar Temerloh was a birth place for Ishak Haji Muhamamad.
Temerloh Before The Arrival Of The British
Before the British arrival, Temerloh was considered as a very peaceful and harmony area. The administration was managed by the ‘Orang Besar’ System. Two Orang Besar Berempat who possessed the rightful areas of Temerloh was Orang Kaya Indera Temerloh and Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Chenor. Orang Kaya Indera Segara Temerloh ruled area from Sungai Teriang, up to the bonder of Rembau and Selangor.Where as the Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Chenor ruled the areas between Bera and Kuala Luit.
The Orang Besar Berempat was assisted by Orang Kaya Berlapan who was appointed by the Bendahara with the agreement of Orang Besar Berempat. Four(4) of the Orang Kaya Belapan were as follow: 1. Orang Kaya Setia Perkasa Pahlawan Semantan 2. Orang Kaya Dato’ Setia Lela Kerdau 3. Orang Kaya Setia Penggawa 4. Orang Kaya Dewa Pahlawan Bangau.
After the Orang Kaya Belapan, was the Orang Besar Berenam Belas appointed by Orang Besar Berempat in his district and named To’ Muda.Orang Besar, especially the Orang Besar Berempat in Pahang were assigned with many responsibilities. They have been given right to collect tax in their own governing areas. Their govern areas were an award from the Sultan to them. Besides that they were also given power to impose punishment on criminal and civil cases except those related with central administration. Those Orang Besar were also required to go to Pekan once a year to hand over the collectioncalled ‘banchi’ to the Bendahara who acted as the Sultan Representative.
Agriculture is considered one of the main activity in Temerloh. Although agriculture in those day was more considered as farming for selves earning, yet, it was only as a way of life and not as an activity for profit earning.It wasvery moderate either for the aspect of the quality or thequantity.Temerloh District was a large agriculture area. Paddy was the main crop in this district. Normally it was planted in paddy fields existed in the village.The technique used was by ploughing the land with the use of buffaloes and ploughs’.Beside that, also exist the co-operation system (gotong royong) known as the ‘berderau ‘.To encounter the other requirements the farmer communities in Temerloh cultivated their lands with maize, yam and tapioca. They also collected forest products, to barter for different requirements like clothes and fuel. In the effort for the requirements of agriculture lands, the settlers were free to open new lands, under one condition, that they have to give part of the products to the dignities of the areas.Besides planting padi, the Temerloh settlers also did other activities such as catching fish and bird, rearing fowl and buffalo and as carpenter.
Public views about the occupation practice by the villagers in Temerloh can be seen by the occupation carry out by Haji Muhamad (Ishak’s father) as what was related by Abdul Latifin his book that is:“ Haji Muhammad occupation as a farmer, were planting padi, rubber, occasionally catching fish and catching bird. His part time jobs were, gold smith such as making earring, ring and carpenter. Muhammad also sold buffalo".From the social aspect, the settlers of Temerloh practiced an easy way of life.
Their houses were built from woods collected from the forest. They did not possess any valuable things. To them, what were more important, were, as long as they could get enough food for their families and could lived in moderate house.
More ever, their clothes were very few.They only changed when their clothes were really worn out. During nightfall, the small children were slept together, sharing a single blanket made of material like floor sacks.This condition was different from the richer groups. However the numbers were very few.
The river was the main water sources in Temerloh. It was used for the daily requirements like cooking and washing. The river was also considered as the main communication for this community and the type of transport usually used by them were sampan and raft.The main rivers in this district were the Sungai Semantan and Sungai Pahang.
In the aspect of education, it could not be certain whether there had been established a formal education, but however, it was certain that the settler children were given a religious education. Either the parents taught the children or they were sent to other places like the masquerade (surau) to learn from a religious teacher. Those religious teachers did not receive any payment except alms given sincerely by the parents.From the settlement aspect, the pattern settlement and the scattering settlers for this region was determined by the flow of rivers.
The most populated areas in Temerloh were in Kuala Sungai Semantan, Triang, Chenor and Sungai Tembeling.From the angle of settler composition, mostly were of Malay origin and indigenous. There were also other eternizes like Chinese and Arab, but however the number were very small.
Temerloh during the British Administration.
The British, officially began it early interference in the Pahang administration in 1888 that was when John Pickeragill Rodger was appointed as the first British Resident of Pahang. However the fully administration of the British only began on 1st Julai 1889.With this interference, involuntarily Temerloh received the British influences. J.P Rodger appointed a few British Officers to assist him in administrating the region. Those officers also acted as the collector and magistrate. For the Temerloh region, E.A. Wise was appointed as the first British Adminstrator.The assignment of the appointed English officer was to represent the Government at the region level and responsible for the development of the region. Because of that he must know every aspect of his administration area. In this matter, Sadka related that every officer must had a complete information about the condition and requirement of his governing areas.Under this new administration, many changes have been enforced to make administrating easier, such as the introduction of administrative systems of Penghulu (chieftain).
Haji Yahya related that, the penghulu system was first introduced around 1887. The Penghulu appointed were attached to every mukim as chief. However the Penghulu have limited dominance since he was subordinately under the supervision of a District Officer.Besides that, the new regulations introduced, challenged the traditional leadership capability in Pahang. Those changes altered the position and involvement of the Sultan as well as the State Dignitaries.Daily Administration was taken over by the British Resident and it officers. In the earlier times, the State Dignitaries were very powerful in theirs governing region, but after the British governed them, they were not allow to act freely themselves like collecting tax, without the British permission.
Because of this the Semantan War occurred.This Semantan War was leaded by one dignity named Dato’ Bahaman. The main factor of this rebellion was the feeling of dissatisfying among the Pahang dignities, especially Dato’ Bahaman (Orang Kaya Semantan) towards the British intervention on his region.Obviously the confrontation between Dato’ Bahaman with the British began since 1890, but however it reached it peak in 1891.The confrontation began in the month of December 1890 when it was said that Dato’ Bahaman was angry and accused E.A Wise (Temerloh Region Officer) who intend to build a police station at Lubuk Terua, an area included in the Dato’ Bahaman governing, without consulting him first.When Huge Clifford (Acting Pahang British Resident for that time) knew that matter, he advised the Sultan, and later on His Highness, instructed Dato’ Bahaman to come to Pekan, so that the situation could be investigated. However Dato’ Bahaman refused to go to Pekan, and so the Sultan send him a letter which divesting him of his rank and position as Orang Kaya Semantan.The action of divesting his rank and position anger him.This circumstances inspired Dato’ Bahaman and his disciples to attacked C.E.WM Deaborough and his followers on 15 December 1891, during the moment they were going up stream the Sungai Semantan. The attacked was committed byDato’ Bahaman because he thought Desborough came to arrest him.At the sudden attack, Desborough lost andescaped to Temerloh Town.After knowing the incident at Semantan, the British Officers all over Pahang began preparing an army to fight the Malays who confronted the British. Following from there, on 21 December 1891, a group of troop, leaded by Clifford and Tengku Mahmud went to Kampung Kelubi, the second defense fortress, of Dato’ Bahaman. Here again, was happening another fighting between the British and Dato’ Bahaman, but again the British was defeated.Dato' BahamanOnly after the situation in Temerloh became peaceful, the British began to continue it daily administration. From time to time the British made a few changes because they assumed that the traditional administration was not proper. The district dignities were assumed as did not understand the administration system. The bundling of the district revenue did not earnthe government any profit. Certainly the intention of the British taking over the administration was not for the welfare of the societies, but only more to the exploiting of local community economies.In the effort of governing this region, the British Officers were instructed to obtain the cooperation from the Penghulu and the Ketua Kampung (village headmen). Besides that, the British Officers also practiced their own administration body in their regions.This body included a British Officer (acted as Assistant Revenue Collector), Chief Clerk and other assistants from the three (3) main ethnizes, Malay, Chinese and Indian.Because the British Officer have to be friendly with the Penghulu in applying his administration at the region level, the Penghulu performances during that times became important.
This was because the success and developing of a Mukim depended on the cleverness of it Penghulu.Beside that, the Penghulu must also determined that his rule and order must be followed without protest, as well as reporting his 'anak Mukim' views to the government.
The Ketua Kampung (village headmen) in his Mukim assisted the Penghulu in governing the Mukim.In the Temerloh Region there were 15 Mukims that included Mukim Jenderak, Lipat Kajang, Kerdau, Sanggang, Bangau, Perak, Semantan, Mentakab, Songsang, Lebak, Triang, Bera, Kertau, Chenor and Bukit Segumpal.In those Mukims there were about 68 kampung (villages).After the establishment of the British Administration in Temerloh, it was certain that a new system of bureaucracy appeared. In this new structure, the Region Officer stood as the highest hierarchy in the societies. The Penghulu and then the Ketua Kampung followed it. Where as the farming societies remain at the lowest level in this system of bureaucracy. Beside the administrating Government in Temerloh, there were also Political Parties, such as PAS, UMNO and the Socialist Party, However the movement of those parties became obvious only in 1950s, in the late years before Malaya achieve it Independence. It activities were very limited. Before that, around 1941, there was a leftist political movement active in Temerloh. At that time Temerloh was established as headquarter for the movement of Parti Kesatuan Melayu Muda Pahang.What was more attractive, the leader of that Party was Ibrahim Haji Yaakob, who was Temerloh genuinely born, and assisted by Ishahar.
The Temerloh area was known as an area, which generated many famous nationalists such as Dato’ Bahaman, Mat Kilau, Ibrahim Haji Yaakob and Ishak Haji Muhammad.Those nationalists were a symbol of greatness. They helped to transform Temerloh into a famous region during the British era, even though Temerloh had no natural resources, like Raub, which was rich in its gold.During the British governance, the main economic resource in Temerloh district was agriculture. The main crops planted were rubber and paddy. After 1909, rubber was planted impetuously. Deferred to Cant: …” There is no growth in rubber planting until 1909. There was also no evidence that show either Malay or non-Malay people who have plant it.
In Temerloh, the rubber planting area was only in Lubuk Terua which was nearby Bentong's mines ".After 1909, there were around 1920s, many places in the Temerloh colony were planted with rubber and paddy. The growth of rubber planting, had conveyed the developing of a special body for controlling all the rubber planting areas. This body was invigilated by the Rubber Invigilation Enactment, and established in 1924. The members that have been constituted into this body were Residents Officer as chairman, Residents Officer Assistant, Mr.Anderson, Chieftain of Mukim Perak, Mrs.Poniah and Towkay Lou Tiew Tin.The rubber that planted in Temerloh was divided into two categories, the rubber plantation (estate) and rubber planted in small scale by Malay farmers. There were many applications by companies to open big rubber plantations in Temerloh.
The biggest application was from the Charmong Development Limited, which applied an area of about 217 acre in Mukim Semantan for the planting the rubber. However, because of certain reason, this company failed to get the area.The second main crop in Temerloh was paddy. The paddy crop was effort by the Malay peoples in their own villages.
During the British administration and until 1957, paddy crop was effort traditionally. There were Padi Tenggala, padi Ladang , Padi Kubang , Padi Chedong, Padi Tabur and Padi Tunggal. Most of the paddy, which had been planted either in the swampy areas, or the paddy fields have enough water supply.The production of paddy in Temerloh was increasing continuously and the biggest product was collected between 1923 until 1924. This was the biggest product among all the regions in Pahang. At that time, the Mukim which produced more than 100 thousands gantang paddy were listed as below:
Mukim Product Produce1.
Perak 262,550 thousand gantang
Jenderak 246,000 ““
Sanggang 195,160 ““
Semantan 164,720 ““
Chenor 140,483 ““
Triang 115,170 “"
Planted area was 10,500 acre.This high production of paddy was not consistent.
In the year 1926, the production of paddy in Temerloh decreased because of the big flood, which effected all areas included Temerloh and destroyed the paddy fields.
To overcome the shortage of paddy, a Drainage and Irrigation Department was established in 1930. This Department was established to control a sufficient supply of water for each paddy field.
This Department received an allocation of between $100,000.00 to $150,000.00 to manage 5 irrigation schemes in 1932. The result was very encouraging.
By 1939, the production of paddy increased infinitely over sold.
But however this big production was disturbed, when the Japanese occupied Malaya in 1941. The shortage of rice happened because the people were afraid to go to work in their padi fields.
When the British returned to rule, they tried to improve the life of the local people, especially in the production of food. Because of that, in 1947 many steps were taken, such as building irrigation and cleaning the ditches and drain.Besides that the production campaigns were fixed all over the area. The areas affected were Paya Teratai (in Mukim Lebak), Paya Pulai and Paya Besar.In the fishing aspect, there was no attempt to catch fish intensely, because Temerloh was not located near the shore.
But instead, there were fishing in small scale in Sungai Semantan and Sungai Pahang.The fishing methods were 'mengail', 'menajor' and 'menuba'. However fishing by 'menuba' was rarely practiced because it was illegal.
Those offenders who were caught in 'menuba' could be sued and imprisoned. To controlled this, the Penghulu was instructed to hinder his 'anak Mukim' not to practiced this type of fishing. From the business aspect, could not be denied that, there were already various kind of business existed, such as trading things made of gold, clothes, food, rubbers and the daily requirements, but however those business was not as big as today business.
Before the big flood of 1926, the most demanded areas in Temerloh Town, for the selling and buying transactions, were areas along the Sungai Pahang, which included, the area from the Temerloh Clinic to the Sunday Market (Pekan Sahari) site. At present those places still exist. Because of the frequency flood, Temerloh Town was moved a little higher from the old site.
So all the trading activities were concentrated at the new areaSince the flood of 1926 destroyed many shops, the Temerloh Town was transferred higher from the old site in 1942, as was related by Haji Zakaria,
This Temerloh New Town, originally was a rubber plantation.
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obmar
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obmar
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PahangPahang Darul Makmur was called differently many centuries ago. A Chinese writer called it as Pang-Hang Peng-Heng, Pang-Heng, Pong-Fong, Phe-Hang, Pang-Kang and others.
In 1225, Choa Ju-Kua wrote the book 'Chu-Fan-Chi'. He wrote that amongst the states invaded by San-Fo-Chi was one called Peng-Keng, i.e. Pahang.
The Arabs and Europeans at that time called it as Pam, Pan, Phang, Paam, Poa, Paon, Phamm, Paham, Fanhan, Phang and Pahagh. G.R Tibbets, a historian who commented the story written by Mas'udi thought that Fanjab (in Mas'udi's book) was Pahang. He preferred to call it Fanhan, Panghang/Panhang, rather than Fanjab.
Certain people said that the name 'Pahang', originated from the language of a Siamese aborigines tribe, meaning 'ore'. The aborigines used to live here and opened up several mining areas, especially in Sungai Lembing.
According to an old Malay story, at the place near the Pahang River, on the opposite side of Kampung Kembahang, a large 'mahang' tree fell across the river, thus the name ' Pahang originated'.
Pahang was also known as 'Inderapura', otherwise called Pahang Inderapura. It's infamous Royal Town and once of the Malacca Sultanate, Pekan was known as 'Pura'.
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obmar
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Prior to the establishment of the Melaka Sultanate, Pahang was in control of the southern areas in the Malay Peninsula. The Majapahit people at that time reffered to the Peninsula simply as 'Pahang'. At the beginning of the 16th century, the period when the Malay State of Johor was established, the borders of Pahang were as follows; in the south at Sedili Besar, in the north reaching Terengganu. It's western borders of Pahang were as follows; in the south at Sedili Besar, in the north and west borders of Pahang are a chain of mountains, i.e. the Main Range. On the east side is the South China Sea.
Pahang is the largest state in the Malay Peninsula. Total land area is 35,515 square kilometres. There are 11 districts in Pahang; which are Kuantan, Maran, Pekan, Rompin, Temerloh, Jerantut, Bentong, Raub, Lipis, Cameron Highlands and Bera. People of various religions and races make up the population.
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The Inquisitor
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that's fascinating, obmar.
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obmar
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Can you count how many whites in the foto?, TI..
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