The Story Behind the Civil War in Hulu Perak
In the late 19th century, a war erupted in Hulu Perak. This conflict, which involved a small district in Lenggong, became known as a civil war.
It is said that during the civil war, Malay chiefs were manipulated by foreigners to turn against one another, creating opportunities for outsiders to seize control of Malay governance. The story recounted here is intended to serve as a lesson for all readers of orangperak.com, both the current and future generations, so that such events will never happen again. In the past, Reman was part of the Hulu Perak district and was situated near Patani. The Malay Sultanate of Patani was a kingdom rooted in Islam and was considered a very strong and stable government from the 17th to the 18th century. For your information, a portion of Hulu Perak, starting from a place called Bukit Nasah in the south, was under Siamese rule. The Siamese government appointed chiefs and royal representatives to govern the Hulu Perak region, which was formerly known as Negeri Reman. The administration of the Malay Kingdom of Reman was centered in a place now known as Kampung Selarong, located not far from the small town of Pangkalan Hulu, formerly known as Pekan Kroh.
The former palace of Tuan Jagung, the last Raja of Reman, still stands today in Kampung Selarong. In this village, there is also the tomb of Queen Cik Neng, the wife of Tuan Jagung. For your information, Queen Cik Neng passed away in 1915. The story of her passing is linked to her deep longing for her youngest son, Tuan Lebih Long Raya, who was destined to become the Raja of Reman. This prince was captured by the Siamese government in 1899 and executed in Bangkok on suspicion of leading efforts to liberate Reman from Siamese control. When Siam conquered Patani, the territory was divided into smaller states. Siam continued to appoint Malay chiefs as kings or rulers in the states they had partitioned. Reman was one of them. There are several boundary markers that separated the upper part of Perak from the state of Reman, which was under Siamese rule. These are located in Kampung Kerunai, Gerik.
In 1882, an agreement was made between the state government of Perak under British colonial rule and Tuan Jagung, the Raja of Reman who was under Siamese suzerainty. The agreement reached a consensus to establish a new border at Bukit Nasha, located about five kilometers south of Gerik town. That is how Bukit Nasha got its name, derived from the phrase "nak disahkan satu perjanjian" (to validate an agreement). In 1899, a new agreement was made to determine a border acceptable to the Malays in Hulu Perak. The new border was located in Kerunai, north of Gerik town. There, several square cement boundary markers were erected along the border. The distance between each marker is approximately one kilometer. In 1909, the Burney Treaty was finalized between the government of Perak and the government of Siam. In that treaty, the Siamese, who had controlled the Malay Kingdom of Reman since 1826, agreed to cede a large portion of Hulu Perak, covering approximately 1,800 square kilometers, to the state of Perak. Since that handover, the Hulu Perak district, which is predominantly inhabited by Patani Malays who speak the Patani Malay dialect, has been free from Siamese control. However, the independence of Hulu Perak did not mean they were free from the grip of other colonizers.
After escaping Siamese control, they fell under British rule, which greedily exploited the valuable treasures of the wilderness in the region. The fate of the Malay Kingdom of Reman was rather unfortunate. After the death of Tuan Jagung, the Siamese government abolished the monarchy, effectively ending the Malay Kingdom of Reman that had governed parts of Hulu Perak and parts of Upper Patani, which were previously under the Patani Malay Kingdom. The civil war ended in 1909. Once the war concluded, Hulu Perak was handed over to the administration of the state of Perak, which at the time was under British colonial rule. The cession of the land by the Siamese government was the result of the Burney Treaty between the Siamese government and the Perak government under British rule.
