The History of Bagan Datuk in Perak

Bagan Datuk began to be explored around 1880, and the town of Bagan Datuk was opened in 1896. At that time, the location was known as Sungai Keling, and some referred to it as Pekan Baru.

The name Tok Kelah is no stranger to the residents of Bagan Datoh. For the older generation in Bagan Datuk, the late Tok Kelah was a resilient hero in his efforts to establish a settlement. According to history, the name Bagan Datoh, before it was changed to Bagan Datuk, was a combination of the location and the structure of the Malay residential area there.

It is said to have stemmed from the British's difficulty in pronouncing the Malay dialect. According to history, the structure of Malay houses at that time was built along the banks of the Perak River. The residents were connected to the mainland by bridges. This type of structure was called a 'bagan' by the local community.

Meanwhile, the name Tok Kelah was also popular at that time among the local community, including in Kota Setia and

Teluk Mak Intan

which is now known as Teluk Intan. If anyone wanted to go to the place explored by Tok Kelah, they would call the place Bagan Datok, named after the place that had a 'bagan' and the name of Tok Kelah.

Over time, the name Bagan Datok changed to Bagan Datoh when the Straits Plantation Company Limited, a British plantation company, opened a coconut estate in 1896 located about 4 km from the town and named it Bagan Datoh Estate, after the then-famous name Bagan Datok. The British's difficulty in pronouncing the word 'Datok' caused the pronunciation to change to 'Datoh'. Thus, until early 2017, the spelling of Bagan Datoh was changed to Bagan Datuk because it was more comfortable for the community to pronounce.

For your information, Bagan Datuk has now been upgraded to a district comprising 4 mukims, namely Hutan Melintang, Mukim Bagan Datoh, Rungkup, and Teluk Bharu, which indirectly brings the total number of districts in Perak to 12.