Getting to Know Dato Panglima Kinta Mohammed Yusof

In 1903, Dato Panglima Kinta Mohammed Yusof was a very wealthy Malay tin miner in Perak. Did you know that the current courthouse building in Ipoh was actually his home before he passed away, and was later purchased by the British Government?

As we already know, the title of Dato Panglima Kinta actually dates back to the reign of Sultan Mudzaffar Shah II, the 10th Sultan of Perak, in 1636. For our loyal readers at orangperak.com, Dato Panglima Kinta Mohammed Yusof was chosen and appointed as the 10th Dato Panglima Kinta after the ninth holder of the title, Dato Panglima Kinta Zainal Abidin (Uda Bidin), passed away in 1884. Dato Panglima Kinta Mohammed Yusof was a cousin of Dato Panglima Kinta Zainal Abidin. As one of the eight major chiefs (Pembesar Berlapan) in Perak, the Dato' Panglima Kinta played a vital role in the administrative system of the Perak Malay Sultanate and the socio-political hierarchy of Malay society. However, the arrival of British power in Perak, particularly in Kinta in 1878, slightly diminished the socio-political influence of these chiefs in this tin-rich district.

One of the oldest mosques in Ipoh is the Masjid Datuk Panglima Kinta. It was built in 1898 by Datuk Panglima Kinta Mohamed Yusof to commemorate the passing of his wife in the same year. The mosque is located on Jalan Masjid, by the banks of the Kinta River and near the Sultan Iskandar Bridge, and is also known as the "Masjid Tengah" (Central Mosque). The mosque features a blend of Mughal and Neoclassical architecture.

The mosque features two minarets, a porch, a stone dome on the east side, and a pyramid-shaped roof. Behind the mosque lies a cemetery dedicated to the family of Datuk Panglima Kinta, while in front of the mosque, the Madrasah Kamaliah was built, which was the first Arabic school in Ipoh.