Details of the Final Moments of J.W.W. Birch
On November 1, 1875, coinciding with Eid al-Fitr at exactly 5:30 PM,
J.W.W. Birch
eagerly set off for Hulu Perak to distribute the proclamation signed by Sultan Abdullah regarding the declaration of
J.W.W. Birch
as the British Resident of Perak, as previously agreed upon in the Pangkor Treaty.
At that time, rumors were already circulating that Dato Maharajalela would attack
J.W.W. Birch
, but the British ignored them, dismissing them as fake news and mere rumors. Arrogantly,
J.W.W. Birch
stated before departing for Hulu Perak that he would shoot Dato Maharajalela if he were attacked.
J.W.W. Birch's dragon boat
J.W.W. Birch finally departed for Hulu Perak from Bandar Baru that day on his dragon boat.
J.W.W. Birch
was accompanied by several people, namely Sub-Lieutenant J. F. Abbott, his interpreter Mat Arshad, and a team of soldiers. There were two other boats accompanying
J.W.W. Birch
's dragon boat. While on the journey of
J.W.W. Birch
to Hulu Perak,
J.W.W. Birch
stopped at a place located before Pasir Panjang to allow Mat Arshad to hand over the proclamation letter to Raja Lop. Unfortunately, Raja Lop was not at home at the time, and they waited until dusk. After cooking rice and having dinner around 8:30 PM,
J.W.W. Birch
could no longer wait for Raja Lop to return and told his troops to continue the journey to Pasir Salak immediately. They set off for Pasir Salak and arrived there that same night between 10 PM and 11 PM. Because it was already late,
J.W.W. Birch
decided to sleep in his dragon boat. On the morning of the second day of Eid al-Fitr, dated November 2, 1875,
J.W.W. Birch
ordered his dragon boat to be tied near the Chinese goldsmith's bathhouse in the area. As it happened, the two boats accompanying Birch from the start were tied a little further away from the dragon boat belonging to
J.W.W. Birch
. Mat Arshad was ordered by
J.W.W. Birch
to inform Dato Maharajalela about the British arrival in Pasir Salak and to post the proclamation letter in Pasir Salak.
Mat Arshad also invited Dato Maharajalela to the riverbank to meet with
J.W.W. Birch
. Upon hearing the invitation, Dato Maharajalela objected and rejected it. Dato Maharajalela asserted that the state and the village did not belong to Birch and there was no reason to meet him. Not stopping there, Dato Maharajalela threatened to resist if the proclamation letter was posted, as he had received orders to oppose
J.W.W. Birch
from Sultan Abdullah and Sultan Ismail. On the morning of the second day of Eid al-Fitr, November 2, 1875, at exactly 6 AM after dawn, Sub-Lieutenant J. F. Abbott and others went hunting in Kampung Gajah.
J.W.W. Birch
dressed in all white, left his dragon boat to go to the bathhouse located on the banks of the Perak River, which belonged to a goldsmith named Koh Ah Yong. Meanwhile,
J.W.W. Birch
ordered Mat Arshad to post the proclamation letter. Dato Maharajalela could no longer contain his anger at the actions of
J.W.W. Birch
, which seemed to challenge his warning. He immediately gathered armed men on the riverbank to attack. Dato Sagor, who was also present, brought a keris and a spear to meet Mat Arshad and
J.W.W. Birch
. Dato Sagor immediately tore up a copy of the proclamation letter in front of both of them, and his action of tearing the letter was followed by others, one by one, in front of
J.W.W. Birch
.
Then, Dato Sagor leaned his spear against the wall of the Chinese shop and boarded Birch's dragon boat to talk. It is unclear what they discussed while Birch sat comfortably on his rattan chair in the dragon boat. After talking for a while, Dato Sagor and Mat Arshad went to meet Dato Maharajalela. Mat Arshad was brought into the hall of the
Pasir Salak fort
and invited to have betel nut. At the same time, Mat Arshad and about 20 others gathered in front of
Dato Maharajalela's house
and informed them that
J.W.W. Birch
wanted Dato Maharajalela to come and meet him at the dragon boat on the riverbank. Once again, Dato Maharajalela refused, asserting that he had no business with
J.W.W. Birch
and forbade the posting of any letters in the area. Mat Arshad returned to the riverbank where Birch's dragon boat was moored and reported the situation to
J.W.W. Birch
.
J.W.W. Birch
became enraged by Dato Maharajalela's actions and ordered Mat Arshad to proceed with posting the letters, ignoring the warning from Dato Maharajalela. Mat Arshad followed orders, taking 3 copies of the letter and posting them on the wall of the nearby Chinese goldsmith shop.
As a result, more people gathered on the riverbank. The crowd grew from 20 to about 60 people, and most of them were fully armed.
J.W.W. Birch
felt slightly threatened and ordered Mat Arshad to tell Dato Sagor to instruct the gathering crowd to disperse. Dato Sagor then told the angry crowd to gather elsewhere, but they only moved back slightly. Furthermore, they continued to shout and hurl insults at
J.W.W. Birch
. After that,
J.W.W. Birch
went to the bathhouse for his morning bath. At the same time, Dato Sagor took the spear he had leaned against the shop wall. When Dato Maharajalela learned that the proclamation letter had been posted again despite being torn, the atmosphere became even more tense, and many grew increasingly angry. After the letters were posted by Mat Arshad and torn by the villagers several times, Mat Arshad pleaded for them not to be torn again while they were there, and to tear them only after they had left. However, this was ignored by the crowd, who were increasingly angered by the audacity of
J.W.W. Birch
. While the argument between Mat Arshad and the crowd was ongoing, Dato Sagor, Dato Maharajalela, and Pandak Indut came to tear down the posted letters. Then, without a word, Pandak Indut and another person chased after Mat Arshad.
Dato Maharajalela's replica house
Mat Arshad ran in fear as he was chased with a machete. At the same time, Sepuntum was there and shouted, "We carry the Sultan's command - attack, attack!" During the chase, Mat Arshad was stabbed in the struggle and ran towards Birch's dragon boat on the riverbank. While running towards the dragon boat in the river, Sepuntum struck Mat Arshad's head with a single blow, killing him instantly. At this moment,
J.W.W. Birch
was at the bathhouse by the river and witnessed the incident. Birch's guard, Kalil Khan, fled to save himself upon seeing what happened to Mat Arshad. The same went for Birch's other officers and soldiers, who ran for their lives while shouting, "Birch is bathing! Birch is bathing!", without regard for the safety of
J.W.W. Birch
. The angry crowd then turned their attention towards the bathhouse. Pandak Indut threw his spear at
J.W.W. Birch
, followed by Che Ali,
Ngah Jabor
, and Panjang Bur. Dato Sagor, along with Dato Maharajalela, also ran towards
J.W.W. Birch
and threw spears at their enemy. As a result of the spears thrown and piercing his body,
J.W.W. Birch
fell into the Perak River. Sepuntum, who had just killed Mat Arshad, also turned his gaze towards
J.W.W. Birch
and ran in the same direction to kill him.
illustration
Ngah Jabor
shouted at Sepuntum to strike
J.W.W. Birch
because Sepuntum was the closest to Birch. When
J.W.W. Birch
resurfaced from the river, Sepuntum struck Birch's head twice, and Birch was killed and swept away by the current of the Perak River.
