The Mystery Behind the Tomb of the 19th Sultan of Perak
History is fading with time, a hard truth to accept. Kampung Bandar Baharu, better known as Bandar Baru by locals, is located in Kampung Gajah, Perak. This area is situated right on the right bank of the Perak River, which was once the main artery for travel upstream and downstream throughout Perak, holding great secrets from the past.
Across the river from Kampung Bandar Baharu lies a village called Kampung Air Mati. For your information, Kampung Bandar Baru was once the administrative location for
J.W.W. Birch
in 1875. Interestingly, there are still 4 British soldier graves from the Perak War of 1875, along with several other important tombs and old buildings. This raises the question: what exactly was this village in the past?
There used to be an old mosque with Malay architecture deep within the oil palm plantation. Not far from the mosque is the tomb of the 19th Sultan of Perak, Sultan Abdul Malik, who reigned from 1806 to 1825. Nearby, there is also the grave of the first British Resident of Perak,
J.W.W. Birch
who was killed by the followers of Datuk Maharajalela in 1875. The mosque has since been relocated, check
The Story of the 107-Year-Old Dilapidated Mosque in Kampung Teluk Memali
. It begs the question: if there is a tomb of a Sultan of Perak, an abandoned old Malay mosque, and the grave of the first British Resident all in one area, what secrets were hidden here in the past? It is believed that this was a Malay settlement and, indirectly, the capital of Perak during the reign of Sultan Abdul Malik.
The name Kampung Bandar Baharu was given because, not far from there across the Perak River, there existed a larger, older settlement. Locals across the river called this area 'Bandar Baharu' (New Town) because it was a newly opened area compared to the older settlement across the water. As the seat of the Perak Malay Sultanate in the early 19th century, there must have been a royal palace here. However, all that remains is an old, abandoned mosque that has weathered with time (latest update: the mosque has been relocated, check
The Story of the 107-Year-Old Dilapidated Mosque in Kampung Teluk Memali
). The British also took over this area and turned it into a British administrative center led by
J.W.W. Birch
shortly after the Pangkor Treaty was signed in 1874.
This theory is further strengthened by the question of why
J.W.W. Birch
was buried there, even though he was killed in Pasir Salak, which is located across the river and far from his current grave site. Everything changed after the death of
J.W.W. Birch
when the British implemented a massive 'social engineering program' to diminish the dignity and power of the Malay people. Since then, Malay towns like Bandar Baharu were erased by the British and turned into agricultural estates to remove traces of Malay history for future generations. At the same time, new towns with economic activities centered on other races, such as Taiping, were promoted. Since that day, the Malay people began to lose their way, and that is when our history was obscured and forgotten. Today, some Malays are hungry for the remnants of history that are slowly disappearing, just like you, the loyal readers of orangperak.com who always await new articles. However, many are uninterested because our minds have been washed by the tide of modernization, which is theoretically said to be a Western agenda to conquer the world through technology. We should realize today that it is time to restore the dignity of the Malay nation, which was once truly glorious on its own land.
