Mat Kilau's Uprising

Definitely most who had heard about the name of Mat Kilau knows about his rebellion against British that happen in Pahang, in year between 1880s and 1890s. However, in general, we just know a little about Mat Kilau’s involvement in the rebellion as he was labelled as traitor that need to be executed by British in one of the way to stop Mat Kilau’s rebellion.

Even though Mat Kilau had been branded as a traitor in the past, right now we looked at Mat Kilau as one of the Malay warrior that triumphed against British. Let me tell a little about Mat Kilau’s revolution against British.

After Mat Kilau’s marriage with Yang Chik, daughter of Imam Daud, only then his father allowed him to learn about the arts of silat which lead him to join the battle against British. His first fight was in year 1868 where he had joined the ‘Perang Saga’ which fight against the army of Tun Mutahir that was getting help from Temenggung Johor. Mat Kilau and his father, Tok Gajah won the battle excellently which result Mat Kilau being promoted to ‘Orang Kaya Budu’ by Sultan Ahmad.

The next battle that Mat Kilau had joined was the fight when Wan Da and Wan Aman, the sons of Tun Mahathir which had helped Raja Mahadi defeated Tengku Kudin in Selangor, asked Raja Mahadi to help them back in takeover the power in Pahang. However, the second attack from Wan Da and Wan Aman with the help from Raja Mahadi was successfully defeated by warriors of Pahang which included Mat Kilau, Imam Rasu aka Tok Gajah and Datuk Bahaman.

Hence, because of the defeat occurred to Raja Mahadi, later he decided to no longer siding with Wan Da and Wan Aman which results Wan Da and Wan Aman to change side to Tengku Kudin fought against Raja Mahadi. After that, Wan Da was sent to Pahang as ambassador and requested helps from Bendahara Ahmad to help them fought Raja Mahadi in Klang. Bendahara Ahmad agreed and sent his armies which included Pahang warriors like Mat Kilau, Tok Gajah and Datuk Bahaman to fight Raja Mahadi as the reason was Raja Mahadi once attacked Pahang. The battle happened again between Tengku Kudin and Raja Mahadi which Tengku Kudin had won and the friendship between Tengku Kudin and Bendahara Ahmad became closer.

This friendship between Tengku Kudin and Bendahara Ahmad bring concern to British which lead them to force Bendahara Ahmad to accept the visit of British representative as to be friends with Pahang. However, the Pahang warriors such as Mat Kilau and Datuk Bahaman were suspected of British’s tactics.

The British representative was Sir Andrew Clarke whom had come to Pahang with 4 battle ships that filled with cannons and weapons which had made Mat Kilau became mad as they were tried to show off their power to Pahang. This is why Mat Kilau had voice out his thoughts about British in sarcastic way to Bendahara Ahmad. The Governor was shocked and felt threatened which was lead to changing of the representative to Sir William Jervois.

After the arrival of Sir William Jervois to Pahang, things had gone bad as he had investigated about Pahang and found out that Pahang had lots of minerals and gold. These had led to British trying to take over Pahang through Bendahara Ahmad as he had become British’s puppet and British had interrupted the authorities to collect taxes from state ministers where the rebellion of ministers had begun which included Mat Kilau.

The rebellion started right in his father’s home where the family strongly opposed the invaders from the very beginning. In 1881, after his father was forced to submit to the British resident, Mat Kilau was driven with anger had ambushed and killed five English soldiers at Lubuk Terua security post in Lanchang, Pahang. Besides that, a few more hired soldiers who came looking for him also received the same fate which resulting more clashes between both sides.

Therefore, the British Resident during that time, Sir Hugh Clifford had labelled him as traitor and ordered his capture which was provided with rewards. Mat Kilau had taken refuge in Kelantan and Terengganu which he got supports from Terengganu famous warriors, Tokku Paloh and Abdul Rahman Limbong and Tok Janggut in Kelantan. Thus, the refugee life for Mat Kilau had begun.

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
4. Arkib Negara Malaysia. Patriotism as Catalyst for Nation Building: Emulate the Fighting Spirit of Mat Kilau. Retrieved on September 23, 2013 from Arkib Negara Malaysia website: Patriotism as Catalyst for Nation Building: Emulate the Fighting Spirit of Mat Kilau

Malaysian Warrior; MAT KILAU

Anyone who heard the name of Mat Kilau would have knew about his resistance against British in Pahang. He was one of the many Malay warriors that fight for the love of their motherland between the 1880s and 1890s when the colonial masters extended their rule in Pahang.

Besides that, he was also the only one of Malay warriors that lived to witness with his very own eyes the nation’s independence on 31^st August 1957. On that day, he even had the opportunity to shout the word ‘Merdeka” with others Malaysia citizen something that his comradeship did not live to do which were Datuk Bahaman, Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong, Tok Janggut, Datuk Maharaja Lela and Dol Said.

Mat Kilau bin Imam Rasu (Tok Gajah) was a famous Malay warrior in Pahang, Malaysia during the period of British protectorate which was before the Japanese protectorate. His father was Imam Perang Rasu or most famous known as Tok Gajah whose was a local chieftain. This brave warrior was believed to be born in 1847 in Kampung Masjid Pulau Tawar, near Jerantut, Pahang.

He married to Yang Chik binti Imam Daud when he was 20 years old, had three children which one of them was Omar, the one that help him to re-emerged from silence in 1969 to reveal his true identity. According to Pahang Delight.com, only after his marriage, Mat Kilau had learnt the finer art of silat and spiritual knowledge and one of his masters was his father, Tok Gajah.

During his resistance against British, Mat Kilau had form a formidable resistance group that scared the British. The group had attacked a police post which was set up by British and conquered Temerloh. The name of Mat Kilau and Datuk Bahaman are recorded in the national annals as those are responsible for the attack.

However, their resistances are not for long as their strengths had decreased when a clever ply had been executed by British as the group had been accused for betraying the Sultan. Therefore, Mat Kilau had taken refuges under lots of different names like Mat Dahan, Mat Dadu and Mat Siam.

On December 16, 1969, Mat Kilau had decided to re-emerge from his sanctuary and come out into the open where he himself made a declaration of his real identity at Pulau Tawar mosque in Jerantut. After months of research and investigations, the Pahang state government finally confirmed that he was indeed Mat Kilau.

Regrettably, Mat Kilau had died after 10 days of the approval of his identity which on August 16, 1970 at his home, Kampung Batu 5 that it was believed he had died at the age of 122 based on his estimated birth year of 1847. 







Sources:

1. Tuan Sharipah Shahani, Mohd Shukri Ishak (January 29, 2007), Mat Kilau the Malay Warrior. Retrieved on September 23, 2013 from theStar online website: Mat Kilau, the Malay Warrior
2. Pahang Delights.com. Pahang Warrior and Patriot. Retrieved on September 23, 2013 from Pahang Delights.com website: Mat Kilau