Sultanate of Riau-Lingga

The Sultanate of Riau-Lingga is also known as Nagari Segantang Lada, which refers to “thousands of large and small islands spread out across the vast sea”. It was a Malay kingdom, which emerged from 1824 to 1911.

After the defeat of the Yang Dipertuan Muda Riau Raja Haji in 1784, which was followed by the one-sided Anglo-Dutch Treaty in 1824, the sultanate became divided, placed Riau and Lingga under Dutch authority while Johor and Pahang under British domination. With this separatiom, Riau-Lingga Sultanate was born and Tengku Abdul Rahman was crowned as the first Sultan of Riau-Lingga.

Since 1868, the Riau Resident who acted as the Dutch East Indies government’s representative in Riau-Lingga, began to appoint Assistant Residents in Tanjung Buton to control the Sultan of Riau-Lingga who resided in Daik-Lingga, as well as officers as government representatives in Karimun, Buru Island, and Pengujan and Kijang Mountain on Bintan Island.

Historically, the Riau-Lingga Sultanate (1824-1911), is renowned for its significant economic, political, and cultural contributions to the Malay world.

Sultanate of Riau-Lingga was officially ended by the Dutch in 1911 when Sultan Abdul Rahman Muazzam Syah refused to sign a treaty of total submission to the colonial government of the Netherlands East Indies, and was obliged to leave the Riau-Lingga area and live-in exile in Singapore until his death in 1930.
Sultanate of Riau-Lingga

Raja Haji Ali (1808-1873)

Ali Haji bin Raja Haji Ahmad also known as Raja Haji Ali was a greatest Malay writers of the 19th century. He was the grandson of Raja Haji, Marhum Teluk Ketapang, whose demise occurred in battle during the attack on the Dutch in Malacca.

He belonged to the Malay-Bugis royal house of Riau and underwent a broad education, which was to equip him to make a significant contribution to various areas of learning.

Raja Haji Ali is best known for his writing:
*Tuhfat al-Nafis (1865) – The Precious Gift
*Salasilah Melayu dan Bugis 1890

The Tuhfat is a history of the Johor-Riau-Lingga area from the late seventeenth to the mid-seventeenth century. Parts of the book contain long sections of genealogies of the royal families, including the major achievement of each reign.

Raja Haji Ali completed Tuhfat al-Nafis during a period when the Malay world was in great flux. Rivalry and conflicts were evident between the Bugis, their Malay hosts and the Dutch colonial authorities.

The diverse skills of Raj Ali Haji were displayed his expertise in various field, which cover Malay language, theology, law, history, grammar, poetry, custom and traditions, and statecraft.

The principal works of grammar by Raj Ali Haji are composed in:
*The Bustan al-Katibin 1857
*The uncompleted Kitab Pengetahuan Bahasa

Two works on statecraft:
*Intizam Waza’if al-Malik 1857
*Thamarat al-Mahammah 1857

Among the elements of reform that are found in the works of Raja Ali Haji are the disclosure of dates, acknowledgment for using other sources as reference and validation and the author’s own statement that any errors found in his writings would be corrected by his descendents on the future.
Raja Haji Ali (1808-1873)

Brief history of Riau Islands

The Riau Islands have played a significant role in the cultural history of Indonesia, being the cradle of the form of Malay that became the national language and major center of classical Malay civilization.

Riau’s position at the southern entrance to the Strait of Malacca, the gateway for trade between India and China, was strategically significant.

There were small trading settlements on the Riau and Lingga archipelagos from at least the time of the empire of Srivijaya, which was established in southern Sumatra from the seventh century. It was said that the sea nomads of Riau made up opart of 20,000 strong military force of the Srivijaya ruler around 683 AD.

By about 1000 the island of Bintan was emerging as dominant, and it was to this island that Sultan Mahmud I of Malacca fled when the Portuguese captures his capital in 1511.

From the 16th century, the Riau Islands were ruled by a variety of Malay Kingdoms, which had to fight off constant attacks by pirates and the opportunistic Portuguese, Dutch and English.

Riau’s Golden Age, when it was at the height of its cultural and religious influence, was from around the middle of the 16th century to the end of the 18th century. At that time Bintan became an international center for the exchange of opium, tin, peeper, cloth, gambier and spices.

The Dutch then won controlled over the Strait of Malacca and mainland Riau became their colony when the Sultan of Johor surrendered in 1745.

In 1824 the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London completed and Riau Islands became part of the Dutch colony of what became known as the Netherlands East Indies.

The last Sultan of Riau was finally forced to abdicate by the Dutch colonial authorities in 1911.
Brief history of Riau Islands

Raja Haji Riau

Raja Haji Fisabilillah was born at Ulu Sungai, Riau in 1725. He was a fearless warrior and a pious Muslim of Bugis origin.

He led a mercenary force against the Minangkabau invasion in the Johor-Riau-Lingga Kingdom and thus played a crucial role in resorting the Malay sultanate in the eighteenth century.

Malay sultan granted him the office of Yang Dipertuan Muda Riau Malay Empire in 1777. According to Tufhat an-Nafis, the empire was at the peak of power. Under his influence Johor-Buginese authority was imposed on the principal Malay States flanking the Straits of Malacca. These included Jambi and Indragiri on Sumatera.

Riau’s harbor was regularly frequented by hundreds of Buginese, Javanese, Siamese and Chinese vessels, trading in fine goods and staples ranging from European chintz, Javanese batik and silk-weave from nearby island to Siantan to the best shellac and top quality Siam rice.

It was the time when many junks form China and many ‘khatibs’ from Java came to Riau to teach religion. 

In January 1784, Raj Haji began massing troops from Selangor, Riau and Rembau. Two weeks afterwards, he and his allies attacked Malacca. Their effort were thwarted by the arrival of Netherlands government fleet commanded by Admiral Peter van Braam in May 1784 with orders to impress local lords with the power of the Netherlands.

Van Braam attacked Riau in June 1874. Raja Haji later was killed by the Dutch at in Teluk Ketapang Melaka on 18 Jun 1784.
Raja Haji Riau