Kelantan rebellion

The outbreak of the Kelantan Rebellion in 1915 has attracted much attention from scholars but there is much disagreement over what actually was the cause of the rebellion. It remains to be an area of Kelantan's history that is still debated amongst scholars, whether these scholars have studied the rebellion through the British colonial sources or whether they have studied the folk version of the rebellion. Both versions present very different interpretations of the motivations behind the rebellion. However, what is agreed upon by both sides was that the rebellion was centered on “a venerable-looking bearded gentleman” - known simply as Tok Janggut. (Old Long Beard)

The rebellion began at a public meeting to discuss the new land tax when Tok Janggut killed a police sergeant who was attempting to arrest him on the 29 April 1915. The district officer of Pasir Putih, Abdul Latif escapes with his family along with all the money in the Treasury. Before fleeing, he had sent out a message to the British Adviser in Kota Bahru seeking for help. The British Adviser, upon receiving the news, dispatched a regiment of Sikh and Malay police officers to Juaran, a place located between Pasir Putih and Kota Bahru. News of the uprising reaches the Sultan of Kelantan, who sent two Malay ministers to arrest Tok Janggut and restore order. Tok Janggut demanded a full royal pardon as a condition for halting the uprising- a demand that was rejected by the Sultan. In the meantime, the rebels had occupied Pasir Putih town, ransacked government buildings and burned down several shophouses. The British authorities had sent a military force, the Malay States Guides (A Sikh Regiment) to Pasir Putih. On 24 May 1915, Tok Janggut and the rebels attacked the Malay States Guides where Tok Janggut was killed in the crossfire. The rebels are routed and Tok Janggut's body was taken back to Kota Bahru cand carried around on a bullock cart for members of the public to see. The body was then hanged in a public field before being taken down and buried about an hour later.

Before investigating or debating the various causes which brought about the rebellion, it would be important to understand the location as well as the manner in which Kelantan was being administered to fully grasp the situation in which the rebellion arose. The segment below would show the manner in which Kelantan was being governed and how it affected the people during the various periods of change.

Although the Kelantan rebellion had been popularly viewed as a peasant uprising, it has to be noted that prior to the rebellion, there were changes to the administration which had eroded the privileges of the traditional leaders – chiefs, aristocrats and the ruler. This erosion of the traditional privileges had brought about the arousal of hostility and bitterness amongst the traditional leaders. Kelantan was brought under the control of British authorities who had made an agreement with Siam in the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1902 which saw the appointment of two British officers, W.A. Graham and H.W. Thomson to oversee the administration of Kelantan. Significantly, the British administration was able to bring under its control, 1904 square miles of mineral-rich land previously leased by the Sultan of Kelantan to a British entrepreneur-R.W Duff.

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Wikipedia