British Intervention

in the

Malay States

REASONS FOR BRITISH INTERVENTION IN THE MALAY STATES

Demand for Tin & Raw Materials

Need for Markets for British goods

Need for new investment areas

Anarchy in the Malay States

Fear of European Rivals

Opening of the Suez Canal

Change to Liberal Govt. in London 1874

4 MALAY STATES

1. PERAK

2. SELANGOR

3. PAHANG

4. NEGRI SEMBILAN

British Intervention in the

Malay States

PERAK

BRITISH INTERVENTION Straits merchants invested money in tin mining areas of Larut

Investments were affected by the events in Perak

EVENTS IN PERAK Larut Wars

Succession Disputes

Piracy of the Coast

THE LARUT WARS Larut Wars - fight among the Chinese miners for control of the tin mines and water courses in Perak The miners were divided into 2 Secret Societies : I) the Ghee Hins - Cantonese II) the Hai Sans - Hakka

THE LARUT WARS 1st Larut War 1861 - clash over control of a water course 2nd Larut War 1865 - over a gambling quarrel 3rd Larut War 1872 - scandal between Ghee Hin leader and Hai San Woman 4th Larut War 1873 - Ghee Hins avenge their previous defeat

The 4th Larut War and the Succession Disputes combined to become a civil war that affected the whole state Perak was in anarchy Action of Raja Abdullah - wrote a letter to British Governor

SUCCESSION DISPUTES Perak system of succession

R. DI-HILIR

R.BENDAHARA

R. MUDA

SULTAN

SUCCESSION DISPUTES System abused - Malay Chiefs picked favourites, personal interests , rivalry between chiefs of Upper Perak and Lower Perak 3 claimants to the throne - Raja Abdullah - Raja Ismail - Raja Yusof

PIRACY The succession quarrels and Larut Wars disrupted peace and stability Piracy was rampant off the coast of Perak British ships attacked

British Intervention in the

Malay States

PERAK

BRITISH POSITION Colonial office in London aware of the need to protect British interests in Malaya Instructions to Andrew Clarke : Investigate the situation Who was ANDREW CLARKE?

BRITISH POSITION Instructions to Andrew Clarke I) Study the situation in the Malay states II) recommend steps to improve the situation in Malaya III) study the possibility of appointing British Officers to the Malay States Andrew Clarke went beyond his instructions - intervened in the Malay states

THE LETTER written by Raja Abdullah to the British governor Sir Andrew ClarkeRequested 1.British to support Abdullah to become Sultan 2. in return a British Resident could help in the administration of the state

THE LETTER

written by Raja Abdullah asked “ for a man of sufficient abilities to…….. show us a good system of government ‘

THE LETTER gave the British a reason to intervene in Perak intervention was in the form of a meeting on Pangkor Island Frank Swettenham : sent to invite the Malay Chiefs to the meeting W.A. Pickering : sent to invite the Chinese miners to the meeting

THE MEETING took place on Pangkor Island

lead to the signing of the Pangkor Treaty

this signaled the start of British intervention in the Malay states

EVENTS IN PERAK Larut Wars Succession Disputes Piracy of the Coast

These were the factors that lead to the signing of the Pangkor Treaty .

THE Pangkor Treaty

SIGNIFICANCE : The start of British Intervention in

the Malay States

PANGKOR TREATY

PANGKOR

ENGAGEMENT -

MALAY CHIEFS

CHINESE ENGAGEMENT -

CHINESE MINERS

PANGKOR ENGAGEMENT Attended by : Raja Abdullah , Ngah Ibrahim , Laksamana , Shahbandar, Malay Chiefs All supporters of Raja Abdullah Raja Ismail - did not attend , was not informed in advance Raja Yusof - did not attend was not informed

CONCERNS AT MEETING Sir Andrew Clarke’s main concern to choose the rightful Sultan He was not aware that Raja Yusof was a claimant to the throne Liked Raja Abdullah because he was willing to accept a British Resident

Result Raja Abdullah was chosen as the Sultan The Pangkor Engagement was signed 19th January 1874

Terms of Pangkor Engagement

Raja Abdullah was to be Sultan Raja Ismail was Sultan Muda, monthly pension of $1000 and small territory Ngah Ibrahim was to be Mentri of Larut with Assistant Resident to advise on the administration of Larut Sultan was to accept a British Resident - paid by the Sultan and provided a place of residence

Terms of Pangkor Engagement

British Resident to advise the Sultan on all matters of Administration except those concerning Malay customs , traditions and religion Collection and control of revenue to be taken charge by the Resident Malay chiefs not allowed to collect revenue- they were to be given a pension

SIGNIFICANCE Start of British Intervention in the Malay States - Clarke exceeded his instructions British merchants were pleased - intervention would provide protection and open up trade opportunities

SIGNIFICANCE

Signing of the Treaty was fast for the Malay Chiefs They had little time to think about the implicationsThe role and duties of the Resident were not clear - create problems later

IMPACT on MALAY CHIEFS Loss of power of the Sultan Was no longer independent - had to act on the advice of the Resident Problems created : 2 Sultans of Perak - R. Ismail ruled in Upper Perak and refused to give R. Abdullah the Regalia Ngah Ibrahim was ignored as the independent ruler of Larut

PANGKOR TREATY

PANGKOR

ENGAGEMENT -

MALAY CHIEFS

CHINESE ENGAGEMENT -

CHINESE MINERS

EVENTS IN PERAK Larut Wars Succession Disputes Piracy of the Coast

These were the factors that lead to the signing of the Pangkor Treaty .

CHINESE ENGAGEMENT Leaders of Chinese miners met with Sir Andrew Clarke Agreed to the terms as set out by the British The Chinese Engagement was signed

TERMS OF CHINESE ENGAGEMENT

Chinese miners agreed to end disputes Agreed to disarm their warboats Keep the peace under the penalty of a $50,000 fine Established a govt. commission headed by W.A. Pickering and Chinese leader - to oversee destruction of weapons, stockades and exchange of prisoners

TERMS OF CHINESE ENGAGEMENT

A satisfactory division of the tinfieldsCaptain Speedy was appointed as Asst. Resident of Larut Miners agreed to accept decisions of commission in settling disputes

EFFECTS OF CHINESE ENGAGEMENT

Chinese miners satisfied - kept the peace : they were tired of fightingAccepted the decisions of the government commission in their quarrels Destroyed all their arms and weapons