Friday, April 27, 2007

THE DUTCH ON SIAM (1737)

Daily Register kept by Theodorus Jacobus van den Heuvel, koopman in the service of the Honourable Company and opperhoofd over its interests in the empire of Siam, on the journey to Prabat, whither he by special order was to follow the King.

Wednesday 6th March 1737-wednesday

Then came the regalia in a gilded vessel as described above, which was followed by two empty ones, as well as the Crown's seal, and finally the King, before whom as well as before the said ornaments and seal we bent down and raised our hands three times above our heads according to the custom of the country. And the parade ended with the remaining forty vessels, all of which, as well as those which had been rowed in the van, were in the charge of mandarins,and two empty gilded ones and as many as five hundred ordinary oared barges.

Since the King (Sultan Muhiyuddin Mansor Shah @ Boromokot) passed us very close by and had the kindness to turn his face entirely towards us, we had the opportunity to see His Highness quite well and to observe that he was already fairly old, hollow-checked and thin-faced and carried himself well. On his head he wore a crown of massive gold, its shape was reminiscent of that of the Roman popes, three layers wrought with flowers, and he was dressed in a garment of red velvet with gold embroidery, with narrow sleeves, and buttoned up to his chin to hide his goitre. Furthermore, he held in his hand a short broadsword, well set with gold and precious stones (keris le, ape lagi !!) , on which he leaned, but we were unable to see the clothing of the lower part of his body because he was seated.

We went this morning with four mandarins, who were expressly sent to guide us, to just beyond the Prabat pagoda, where a location was assigned to us by express royal command, to welcome the King who was about to arrive, which place had formerly been destined for the Cambodian king to pay such compliments, and further orders were given that the same honours should be paid to us as to that potentate. Having waited there for about an hour, His Highness passed us at a distance of more than two roods, seated in a small gilded house on a large and big-tusked elephant, and dressed in a white garment and white mandarin's cap (berjubah putih dan memakai songkok lebai. Hari ini pun jika kita lihat dibahagian dalam songkok lebai, akan tertulis disitu "Made in China", ini lah mandarins cap).

In front went as many as a thousand men in two columns at the side of the road, two by two, of various nationalities, such as highlanders, Cochin-Chinese, Cambodians, and Malays, each among his kind, armed with musket, bow and arrow, broadswords, and assagais. They were followed by nine large elephants, each carrying three men, and then came the King. Behind His Highness four Persian horses were led by hand, caparisoned with golden saddles and bridles, then followed the King's children and a great mass of mandarins, all also seated on elephants and horses, who concluded the cavalcade.

The reference to the crown is unclear. Nothing is known about a royal head gear of this type. Abraham Bogaert, in his Abraham Bogaerts historische reizen door d'Oostersche deelen van Asia (Amsterdam 1711) 238, visited Siam in 1690 and saw the king carrying a 'gold, towering crown' beset with precious stones; while Gervaise, Natural and Political History, 215, writes in 1688 about the king wearing a 'pointed cap ... adorned with two diamond crowns'.

(Nota : inilah mahkota yang dicari oleh thai selepas menawan Ayuthia dalam tahun 1767 . Dalam tahun 1821, mereka menyerang Kedah dan membunuh Khalifah Sharif Abu Bakar Syah, Kaha Ekataat, Boromoraja V, Maharaja Islam Siam Ayuthia terakhir di Istana Kota Meang Kuang,Bandar Darul Aman.Mereka tidak menjumpai mahkota di situ. Sebaliknya mereka merampas buku-buku, rekod salsilah, hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, perabot dan dibawa balik dengan gajah ke Bangkok. Semasa penjajahan keatas Kedah oleh thai, 1876-1881, mereka telah membakar lagi 15 istana lama Maharaja Besar Siam di Kedah dalam usaha mencari mahkota tersebut. Pada lilitan kepala ditulis kalimah, “La illahaillallah, Muhamadan Rasullullah”, sekaligus membuktikan bahawa Ayuthia itu beragama Islam. Ini lah yang akan membocorkan rahsia mereka. Mahkota Maharaja Ayuthia disimpan oleh keturunan pengawal peribadi Maharaja Siam Islam sewaktu berundur dari Ayutthia dahulu dan sekarang berada di Kedah.

This procession having passed, and we having been ordered to follow, we did so immediately, but at the moment we cast off a young deer sprang in front of us into the water from the other side of the river, being chased by dogs (sini pun banyak anjing), and we could have easily captured it, but we allowed this pleasure to the above-mentioned son of the Tjauw Fanarin, who had remained with us and subsequently also sailed on with us.

In the afternoon having proceeded to a village named Banarrejek we stayed there and the King, who that afternoon had rested and eaten in the pagoda Prana Coenlouang, passed us even more closely than in the morning, but the order of the vessels which rowed ahead and followed was now quite irregular and confused. There also passed by us amidst the bustle of many oared barges the two queens in ordinary barges, which were however draped with blue chintz curtains, whom we greeted in like manner to the king and paid honour according to the custom of the country. Thereafter we rowed on further and landed that night in Terrouwa, where we found our tent pitched at the riverside by the mandoor who had sailed ahead in a galley prow, in which tent after disembarking we took our night's rest.

(Nota : Raja Chakri Thai hari ini, Bhumiphol Adulyadej dikatakan mempunyai sebuah bilik khas yang dijadikan arkib. Orang yang tidak berkenaan dilarang memasukki bilik itu. Walau bagaimanapun menurut seorang akademik sejarah Malaysia yang dijemput menjadi penceramah "Forum Sejarah Realiti Kedah", 2006, seorang pelajar beliau (mungkin pelajar thai,yg menuntut di Malaysia?) dibenarkan memasukki bilik tersebut. Didalamnya, didapati tersimpan segala buku-buku , manuskrip tulisan tangan termasuk Al Quran, Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, peta-peta, bunga mas, perabot serta peralatan istana yang dirampas hampir 200 tahun dahulu dari Istana Maharaja Benua Islam Siam).

Seperti kata seorang penyelidik barat yang beragama Islam,
"Apparently there exist other fragments of Thai (bermaksud siam)chronicles which survived the sack of the Ayutthaya in 1767 at the hands of Burmese invaders but to which the present author has had no access".
-Dr Ismail Marcinkowski

3 comments:

rosmerah said...

Assalamualaikum.

Saya amat terharu membaca sejarah silam bangsa Melayu ini. Saya berdoa semoga sejarah sebenar ini akan terbongkar untuk pengetahuan ramai sedikit masa nanti. Teruskanlah usaha murni saudara sekelian untuk kembalikan sesuatu yang terlalu tinggi nilai sejarahnya ini. Semoga bangsa Melayu tidak akan dipandang rendah oleh orang kaum-kaum lain, lebih-lebih lagi orang Melayu sendiri yang kini seakan-akan telah hilang identitinya sendiri.

losoworld said...

akum...cuma sekadar nak bertanya..taun 2007 @ 2008 (saya ta ingat taun bila ) telah diadakan satu pejumpaan besar besaran generasi Merong Mahawangsa di Paya Pahlawan, Jitra, Kedah dimana ianya dianjurkan oleh Datuk Afiffudin...jd pesoalan saya, adakah merong mahawangsa tersebut sama dengan Merong Mahawangsa yg saudara ceritakan..saya juga adalah dalam generasi tersebut...dan rambut saya juga beruban semasa saya berumur 17 tahun..sekian

anaianai said...

laaa..losoworld..kan anaianai yang memberi ceramah pada majlis tersebut?