Mat Kilau's Asylum, Part 1

After being labelled as a rebel and traitor, most of us didn’t know what had happened to Mat Kilau and how he can escape all the chases of British that tried to catch and kill him. All we know is just that he had taken refuge in Kelantan and Terengganu and resurface years later after independence had been achieved by Malaysia.

To escape from being able to be detected by British, Mat Kilau had used several names like Mat Siam, Mat Dahan and Mat Dadu. He also only stay put in one place for just three months as he feared that his presence will be detected by British said Che Wan Nawang or Che Wan Pahlawan, one of Mat Kilau’s silat student that accompanied him to Hulu Tembeling,  Pahang during his refuges.

There are lots of stories and facts on what had happened to Mat Kilau when he was hiding from British. One of it was when he was stay at Kampung Penar, Patani while using the name of Mat Siam. When British found out about Mat Kilau in Patani, Hugh Clifford had demanded Raja Siam to command Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Mansur to give up Mat Kilau to British whether alive or dead.

However, Mat Kilau had a trick about giving himself up to Sultan Mansur as he will pretended that he was dead and gave his ‘body’ to Sultan Mansur which later, Sultan Mansur can inform Raja Siam that he was dead during the fight on capturing him.

Firstly, he drank a potion that made him fainted for 2 days as it made him look like he was dead. Then, his body was covered with a yellow cloth and other people can only watched his body from far. The only people that can be closed to his body are his father, Tok Gajah, Datuk Bahaman, and his silat students which to make sure that he won’t be harmed by others.

 Later, his ‘body’ was carried to anjung istana Kelantan for the public to witness the ‘death’ of Mat Kilau which had convinced Sultan Mansur to send a messenger to Raja Siam informing that Mat Kilau was dead and convey the message to British.

After that, when Mat Kilau's 'body' was getting buried, his 'body' was taken away by his silat students which they had changed it to banana tree. However, the words about the fake body was reached to Raja Siam that resulting him to be furious and had intention to attack Kelantan. Fortunately, Raja Siam cancelled the attacks as he found out that Mat Kilau and his students are willing to defend Kelantan.

As to maintain the peace in Kelantan, Mat Kilau had moved away to Kampung Pasir Nering. This was where Mat Kilau was attacked by British and got his in the shoulder by a gold bullet as one of his students had became a traitor by telling British about Mat Kilau's secret. Later, he had escaped to Terengganu which will be tell next time.

Sources:

1. Kumai (June 20, 2011) Pahlawan Mat Kilau. Retrieved on September 23, 2013 from blogspot.com website: mrkumai.blogspot.com
2. Sangtawal Sangkrata (December 15, 2009) Siri Pendekar Sufi: Muhammad Bin Imam Rasu @ Mat Kilau. Retrieved on September 23, 2013 from blogspot.com website: Sangtawal Sangkrata
3. Elmi Rizal Elias (May 23, 2007) Mat Kilau Attempted to Establish Formidable Resistance. Retrieved on September 23, 2013 from Bernama website: Mat Kilau Attempted to Establish Formidable Resistance