With the Bugis gaining control over much Kedah, Perak and Selangor during
the mid-18th century, the Bugis saw the Dutch as major threat to their domination
of the Peninsula - especially after Johore allied itself with the East India
Company. The Bugis leader, Daeng Kamboja, made Linggi his base - the word
"Linggi", in fact, is actually derived from an old Bugis word which
means the 'stem' or the bow of a ship.
From Linggi, the Bugis in October 1756 blockaded and besieged Dutch
Malacca. Unfortunately, Dutch reinforcements from Batavia arrived in February
1757, attacked Daeng Kemboja's bases in Linggi and the Bugis were forced
to lift the siege in July 1757. Exhausted by the war, the Bugis sought to
restore friendly relations with the Dutch and both agreed to jointly build
a fort at the mouth of the Linggi River as a token of friendship.
The fort was built on a Bukit Supai (Sepoy Hill), just a few hundred metres
from the seashore, on the southern bank of the river mouth. It is a square-shaped
structure measuring 167 feet by 150 feet, with walls consisting of broken
laterite slabs. The walls were about 8 feet high and had bastions for artillery
at each corner. A moat completely surrounded the fort, except for a landward
entrance and a seaward entrance that led to a passageway connecting the fort
and the landing stage at the beach.
The Dutch called it Fort Filipina after the daughter of Jacob Mosel, the
Governor General of the Dutch East India Company at the time. The Dutch formally
sealed this unlikely alliance with a peace treaty that was signed at the
fort on the 1st of January 1758 with Daeng Kemboja of Linggi, Raja Adil of
Rembau and Raja Tua of Klang.
Under the terms of the treaty, the three ruling chiefs submitted to the Dutch
but were allowed to retain their positions. All trade with foreign Europeans
nations was to cease and all the tin of Linggi, Rembau and Klang was to be
sold to the Dutch at the price 32 Spanish dollars per bahar and 2 Spanish
dollars for the ruler. No vessels were to pass along the coast from south
to north and vice versa without calling at Melaka to obtain passes.
The treaty also required that the fort be also offically handed over to the
Dutch. From this strategic location, the Dutch could control traffic on the
river and collect taxes from vessels transporting tin quarried in the Linggi
and Rembau river valleys.
The Dutch finally abandoned the fort in 1759 because of the continuing good
relations with the Bugis. The uneasy peace remained until the death Daeng
Kemboja, after which Raja Haji led the Bugis to war against the Dutch in
1782.
Though remnants of the stone walls and bastions of the fort remain today,
other structures, including buildings that were erected inside the fort,
have now vanished with time. The fort was gazetted as a historical monument
under the Antiquities Act of 1976 and archeological work at the site have
unearthed a cannon, some clay pots and six shillings belonging to the East
India Company.
With the Bugis gaining control over much Kedah, Perak and Selangor during
the mid-18th century, the Bugis saw the Dutch as major threat to their domination
of the Peninsula - especially after Johore allied itself with the East India
Company. The Bugis leader, Daeng Kamboja, made Linggi his base - the word
"Linggi", in fact, is actually derived from an old Bugis word which
means the 'stem' or the bow of a ship. 
From Linggi, the Bugis in October 1756 blockaded and besieged Dutch
Malacca. Unfortunately, Dutch reinforcements from Batavia arrived in February
1757, attacked Daeng Kemboja's bases in Linggi and the Bugis were forced
to lift the siege in July 1757. Exhausted by the war, the Bugis sought to
restore friendly relations with the Dutch and both agreed to jointly build
a fort at the mouth of the Linggi River as a token of friendship.
The fort was built on a Bukit Supai (Sepoy Hill), just a few hundred metres
from the seashore, on the southern bank of the river mouth. It is a square-shaped
structure measuring 167 feet by 150 feet, with walls consisting of broken
laterite slabs. The walls were about 8 feet high and had bastions for artillery
at each corner. A moat completely surrounded the fort, except for a landward
entrance and a seaward entrance that led to a passageway connecting the fort
and the landing stage at the beach.
The Dutch called it Fort Filipina after the daughter of Jacob Mosel, the
Governor General of the Dutch East India Company at the time. The Dutch formally
sealed this unlikely alliance with a peace treaty that was signed at the
fort on the 1st of January 1758 with Daeng Kemboja of Linggi, Raja Adil of
Rembau and Raja Tua of Klang.
Under the terms of the treaty, the three ruling chiefs submitted to the Dutch
but were allowed to retain their positions. All trade with foreign Europeans
nations was to cease and all the tin of Linggi, Rembau and Klang was to be
sold to the Dutch at the price 32 Spanish dollars per bahar and 2 Spanish
dollars for the ruler. No vessels were to pass along the coast from south
to north and vice versa without calling at Melaka to obtain passes.
The treaty also required that the fort be also offically handed over to the
Dutch. From this strategic location, the Dutch could control traffic on the
river and collect taxes from vessels transporting tin quarried in the Linggi
and Rembau river valleys. 
Though remnants of the stone walls and bastions of the fort remain today,
other structures, including buildings that were erected inside the fort,
have now vanished with time. The fort was gazetted as a historical monument
under the Antiquities Act of 1976 and archeological work at the site have
unearthed a cannon, some clay pots and six shillings belonging to the East
India Company. 