THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
_ 1
v*^ ( ^•'•-M^* y
^
KELANTAN
PUBLISHED BV
JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS, GLASGOW
{Inbliehtre to tht Bnibtrsitg.
MACMILLAN ANIJ CO., LTD., LONDON.
New York,
Toronto, •
London, •
Cambridge,
Edinburgh,
Sydney, ■
The Macmillan Co.
'Die Macmillan Co. o/Canadtt.
Simpkin, Humiiton and Cc.
Bowes and Bcnves.
Dougias and pouln.
Angus and Robertson.
>r^,'^•
PREFACE.
Kelantan, the largest of the Malay States
subordinate to Siam, and of an area about equal
to half that of Belgium, is a country almost
entirely unknown, not only in far-away Europe,
but also in those parts, Siam, the Straits Settle-
ments, and even the other States of the Malay
Peninsula which lie nearest to it.
Persons (if such there be) seeking knowledge
concerning Kelantan in the neighbouring cities
of Bangkok or Singapore will usually receive
little information for their pains, and that of a
kind which, should they thereafter be so hardy
as to test the same by personal observation, they
will find to have been misleading as regards the
people, the resources, the government, and in
fact almost every feature of the country as it
is to-day.
It is with a view to placing reliable information
within the reach of such possible inquirers, and
19G9483
vi PREFACE
in the hope of drawing some small share of the
attention of the public to the incipient prosperity
and commercial possibilities of the State, that
this booklet has been prepared, and the writer
trusts that, in spite of its many defects, it will
not entirely fail in the achievement of its objects.
For the photographs of Para Rubber and
Rubber Plantations, the author has to thank
the General Manager of the Duff Development
Company Ltd.
W. A. G.
Kelant.\n,
October ^t/t, 1907.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
Introductory, ------- i
CHAPTER II.
Geographical, 4
CHAPTER III.
Geological, 12
CHAPTER IV.
Climate, 14
CHAPTER V.
The People, 17
CHAPTER VI.
Towns and Villages, - - - . - 27
CHAPTER VII.
Religion, ^i
CHAPTER VIII.
Language, - - - ^.
viii CONTENTS
pa<;e
CHAPTER IX.
History, ^8
CHAPTER X.
COMMUNICAIIONS, ------ 55
CHAPTER XI.
Tr.\de, Commerce, and Industries, - - 59
CHAPTER XII.
Agriculture, - 70
CHAPTER XIII.
Live Stock, 83
CHAPTER XIV.
Land, - - - - 91
CHAPTER XV.
TiMCER AND Forest Produce, - . - 95
CHAPTER XVI.
Minerals and Mixing, ----- joi
CHAPTER XVII.
Government, - 109
CHAl'TER XVIII.
General, - - - 114
Appendices, 126
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
His Majesty the King of Siam, . - - . Frontispiece
Mail Steamer "Boribat"off Kelantan - - Til le page
His Highness the Raja of Kelantan, . . . . 2
The Lighthouse, Kuala Tumpat, 4
Kota Bharu from the River, ------ 6
The Kelantan River, Far Inland, ----- 8
The Padang, Kota Bharu, 10
The Balei, Inner Gateway, ----- . 12
Outside the Raja Mudas House, . . - . . 14
The Post Office, Kota Bharu, 16
A Street in Kota Bharu, ------- 18
Kelantan Peasants, 20
Kelantan Peasant Women, 22
Woman of Kelantan, 24
The "Kelumbong" as Garment, 26
The "Kelumbong" as Ornament, 28
House of a Malay Noble, .-.--.. 30
Entrance to the Musjid, Kota Bharu, - . - . 32
The Old Musjid, Kampong Laut, 34
Lauggar, the Sultan's Burial-Place, - . - - 36
Chinese Joss-House, Kampong China, .... 38
X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
I'AUE
Charity, a Wayside Rest House, - .... 40
The New Market (under construction), - - - 42
The Prison, Kota Bharu. 44
A Country Road, 46
A Country Lane, 48
.\ Road near Kota Bharu, 50
The Captain China's House, 52
Kampong China, China Town, 54
The Kelantan River at Kuala Lebik, - - - - 56
On the Kelantan River, 58
Fifty Miles up River, 60
Landing Stage, Kota Bharu, 62
The Pasir Putch Road, .-..--. 64
Silk Weaving, 66
A Fishing Boat, 68
Paddi Fields, 70
Para Rubber, 14 Months, Taku Estate, - - - - 72
Coco-nut Trees on thk River-side, 74
A RUBBER Clearing; Duff Company, .... 76
A Coco-nut Plantation, 78
On the Lebir River; The Duff Company Station, - 80
Betel Palms, 82
Coolie Lines at Taku, 84
A Buffalo, 86
Draught Oxen, 88
A Kelantan Ram, 9©
A Private Conveyance, 92
A Mining Camp; Duff Company's Concession, - - 94
A Gold Mining Shaft, Duff Company, - - - ■ 96
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi
I'AGE
A Gold Dredger on the Kelantan Rivek ; Duff Company, 98
Constructing a Gold Dredger ; Duff Company, - - 100
Shifting Ground; Duff Company, 102
Civil Police, Kota Bharu, ------- 104
Military Police, Kota Bharu, 106
A District Police Station, io8
Court House, Kota Bharu, no
A Creek, 112
A Creek, 114
A Bull-Fight, 116
A Champion, 118
The Residency, 120
Map of Kelantan, at end
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
In the month of December, 1902, an agreement
was signed between the Government of H.M.
the King of Siam and H.H. the Raja of
Kelantan (one of the States of the Malay
Peninsula subordinate to Siam), considerably
modifying the arrangements which had formerly
existed for the government of that Dependency.
The Suzerain Government promised to appoint
an official to reside in the State as His Majesty's
representative and to act as Adviser to H.H.
the Raja, and undertook to leave the internal
administration of the State thereafter in the
hands of its own ruler, provided that the said
administration should be conducted with justice,
moderation, and humanity, for the benefit of the
people, and provided also that peace should be
maintained. H.H. the Raja of Kelantan under-
2 KELANTAN
took for his part to follow the advice of the
Adviser in all matters of administration other
than those touching the Mohammedan religion.
In July of the year 1903 the first Resident
Commissioner and Adviser under this new
arrangement was appointed, H.M.'s Government
selecting for this purpose an Englishman who
had been for some years in the Siamese service,
and who had had considerable former experience
in administrative work as an official of the
Government of India. An Assistant Commis-
sioner and Adviser was also appointed by His
Majesty's Government in the person of a young
officer borrowed, at first, from the Government
of the Federated Malay States, and who has
since severed his connection with the latter
Government in order to take permanent service
in the Siamese Malay States. At that moment,
owing to several causes, but chiefly to the fact
that, unable to stem the tide of intrigue which
his relatives had set flowing from the day (in
1 899) on which he became ruler, the Raja had
lost all but the outward semblance of power,
the Government of the State was in a state
of sheer chaos ; law and order were scarcely
existent, and the time-honoured customs of the
country, and even the tenets of Mohammedan
HIS HIGHNESS THE RAJA OF KEI.A:
INTRODUCTORY 3
law, were fast becoming subverted. Four years
of administration under the new agreement have
effected considerable alteration in the aspect of
affairs. The intrigues of the nobility have been
checked, and the State revenues have been
rescued from their clutches and restored to the
Treasury, numerous laws have been passed,
justice has been brought within the reach of
the populace, many works of public utility have
been undertaken, and different departments of
Government have been organised with the
assistance of English and Siamese officers
specially engaged by the State.
CHAPTER II.
GEOGRAPHICAL.
Description. The State of Kelantan is situated
on the eastern side of the Mala>' Peninsula and
lies between latitudes 4.45" and 6.25 north and
between longitudes 101.30 and 102.40° east.
It is bounded on the west by the Siamese
Monton of Patani and by the British protected
Malay State of Perak, on the south by the
British protected Malay State of Pahang, on
the east by the Siamese Malay State of
Tringganu, and on the north by the China
Sea. Kelantan has a coast line of 60 miles,
and her total land frontier is about 360 miles
long. The area of the State has been estimated
at 5500 square miles, the greatest length from
north to south being i i 5 miles, and the greatest
breadth from east to west 60 miles.
Physical Geography. Roughly Kelantan may be
GEOGRAPHICAL 5
said to consist of the basin of the Kelantan
river and its tributaries, with the valleys of the
lower Golok and the Semarak rivers on the west
and east respectively. All along the sea-shore
the land is flat and low-lying, and is inter-
sected by numerous tidal creeks which connect
the different rivers and which penetrate to
some distance inland. Back from the shore,
to a distance of from ten to twenty-five
miles, extends a great and fertile plain of a
thousand square miles or more, about three
quarters of which is under cultivation. Towards
the south the level of the land rises and
isolated hills appear, surrounded by stretches of
more or less open country eminently suitable
for grazing. Behind this again the hills run
into chains of jungle-clad mountains, the summits
of which rise higher and higher as they recede,
always towards the south, until, near the southern
border of the State, the country becomes a
series of wild mountain masses culminating on
the southern border in the heights of the far-
famed, mysterious Gunong Tahan, the highest
peak in the whole Malay Peninsula.
Mountains. Gunong Tahan, or " The forbidden
mountain," reputed, like the inaccessible heights
of many lands, to be inhabited by demons and
6 KELANTAN
warlocks of a peculiar malevolence, has never been
ascended by Malays, who, moreover tremble at
the bare idea of invading its recesses. And,
indeed, seeing that the immense distance of the
ascent entails days of wandering amidst pathless
jungle, the imminent risk of exhaustion and
starvation and the certainty of malaria, this
lack of enterprise on the part of the people
of the country is scarcely a matter for surprise.
Moreover the Malay, being in no sense addicted
to scientific research, and also quite untroubled
by the ambitions which inspire the Alpine Societ}-,
there is really absolutely nothing to take him
up the mountain, unless it be a vague wish,
which at times may visit him, that he might
become master of the fabulous gold and jewels
which, according to tradition, lie upon the
mountain-top protected by the fierce Spirits of
the Summit. The ascent has, however, been
made by Europeans, once in i 899 by a member
of the Cambridge Scientific Expedition who went
up from the Kelantan side, and who, much to
the surprise of the Malays, reappeared alive after
many days, though much shaken by fever and
dysentery ; once in 1901, also from the Kelantan
side, and again in 1906 by a party which
made the ascent from Pahang. The report of
GEOGRAPHICAL 7
these explorers is silent concerning the presence
of wealth on the summit, and the only treasure
known to have been wrested from the Watchers
of the Mountain on these occasions consisted of
a few rare botanical specimens. Gunong Tahan
is about 8000 feet high. Until the boundary
between Kelantan and Pahang has been accurately
delimited it remains uncertain to which of the
two States the summit of this mountain actually
belongs.
Other mountain heights of importance in
Kelantan are Gunong Blimbing, Gunong Sitong,
Gunong Kemiri, and Gunong Noring, all between
5000 and 6000 feet high, and situated in the
south eastern part of the State, and which,
though lofty and difficult of access, present to
the Malay mind few of the terrors inspired by
Gunong Tahan, There are also several lesser
Gunongs and an infinity of hills or Bukits,
remarkable amongst which are Bukit Yong, a
considerable range near the Tringganu border,
reported rich in tin ; Bukit Merbau, an isolated
group standing upon the plain ; Bukit Temangan
close to the main river about thirty miles inland,
also said to be stanniferous ; Bukit Kamaheng
on the Leggeh border ; Bukit Panau and others.
" Gunong " means a mountain, and " Bukit " a
8 KELANTAN
hill, but exactly when a height is a " Bukit "
and when it is a " Gunong " does not appear
capable of accurate determination by the Malay
mind. More than one of the " Bukit " of
Kelantan would seem to possess all the attributes
of " Gunong."
Rivers. In the nomenclature of his rivers the
Malay is peculiar. All the great rivers of the
Peninsula, the Perak river, the Pahang river,
the Kelantan river, and the Patani river are
called after, or, as seems equally probable, ha^■e
given their names to the State of which they
are the main artery. The peculiarity consists in
the fact that instead of tracing the rivers so
named along the main channels and right up to
their principal source, regarding all lesser con-
fluent streams as tributaries thereto, the Malay
runs them to earth in some small side creek
near the mouth of the first big tributary, above
the confluence of which the main streams take
a new name, only to lose it again when the
next big tributary is met. Thus the main
river of Kelantan is known as the Betis for
the first twenty miles of its course, then as the
Ninggiri, then as the Galas, and ultimately as
the Kelantan. It is a magnificent river, 120
miles long, 400 yards broad at Kota Bharu eight
GEOGRAPHICAL 9
miles from the mouth, and navigable by shallow-
draught launches and big country boats for
78 or 80 miles. Sailing vessels of eight feet
draught ascend as far as Kota Bharu. The
principal tributaries are the Galas, the Lebir,
the Nal, the Krah, and the Bagan on the right
bank, and the Sitong, the Pergau, and the Kusial
on the left. In the upper reaches the river
and its tributaries flow for the most part through
mountainous, densely wooded country, though
here and there, as in the neighbourhood of Pulai,
a village in the far south, broad open flats,
apparently of ancient alluvial formation, are
passed. Waterfalls, set amidst the wildest and
most beautiful natural scenery, occur in the
Ninggiri reach of the main river, in the Sitong
and in the Kusial, while in the Lebir and the
Pergau are many rapids. From Kuala Lebir
downwards the river flows, a broad and ever-
widening stream, between high banks covered
at first with ever-green jungle and later with
coconut and betel palms, banana trees, and
bamboos, hiding the houses of the riparian
population which clusters thick upon its banks.
During the greater part of the year the river
is studded with yellow sand-banks, but during
the rainy season these are covered, and the
lO KELANTAN
water descends during six months of the year
in a fair broad sheet running high and fast
between the banks. About four miles from the
sea the river divides and forms a small delta,
the soil of which is extremely rich and is nearly-
all under paddi cultivation. Beyond the mouths
of the river there lies a broken semicircle of
sand-banks some five miles long, enclosing a
large shallow lagoon and forming a bar which
precludes the entry into the river of any vessel
having more than nine feet draught. At times,
however, the great volume of water discharged
during the floods, scours a deep channel through
the bar, and, until the opening thus made
becomes silted up again, the lagoon forms an
ideal harbour. At other times the steamers
which visit Kelantan are forced to lie outside
the bar in the open sea, whereby the trade of
the State is a good deal hampered.
The Sungei^ Golok, coming from the State of
Leggeh in Monton- Patani, crosses the western
border of Kelantan, flows in a winding course
through fifteen miles of open, cultivated land and
falls into the sea at Tabar, about nine miles up
the coast north-west from the mouth of the
' Sungei = River.
- Monton = A Siamese administrative division
GEOGRAPHICAL ii
Kelantan river. Near the confines of Tringganu
the river Semarak runs almost parallel to the
border line, rising in the Bukit Yong range and
falling into the sea at Kuala Semarak, the last
littoral village of Kelantan.
The Littoral. Though the level of the land is
low, near the sea there is an abrupt sandy beach,
higher than the land behind it, all along the
Kelantan coast-line. There is no sign of the
low mud-banks and mangrove swamps which
characterise the west coast of the Peninsula ; but
all along the shore runs a bright double line of
silver surf and golden beach, topped by the green
of shimmering coconut palms or waving casuarina
trees.
The land is advancing seaward round about
the mouth of Kelantan river, a fact which is
proved by the presence of two well-defined sand
beaches lying across the plain, one behind the
other, at a distance of three and four miles respec-
tively from the present sea-shore. There are no
islands off the coast of Kelantan except the
" Turtle-back " island near the north-east border,
which belongs to the State of Tringganu.
CHAPTER III.
GEOLOGICAL.
Not much is known of the geology of Kelantan,
as no geologist has ever visited and examined
the State. The highest mountains are largely
composed of granite, which, moreover, forms many
of the low isolated hills with which the northern
plain is dotted. Limestone, also, occurs in many
places, though the peculiarly shaped and precipi-
tous limestone hills which are to be seen in the
provinces of Ratburi and Lakon in the north of
the Peninsula and in the Kinta valley of Perak
are absent in Kelantan. The Printian and
Turtle-back islands, off the coast of Tringganu,
and the hill called Bukit Panau, some twenty-five
miles up the Kelantan river, would appear to be
outcrops of the same strata of quartzite, schistose
rocks, and sandstone. The beds at both places
are tilted towards the south west, and though
they are separated by thirty miles of flat alluvial
%■ /f=~
yij.
GEOLOGICAL 13
land, with several granite hills between them,
it is conceivable that they are the remains of
a once great mountain range formed by the
upheaving, bending, and faulting action of granite
violently intruded from below, and almost the
whole of which has now been disintegrated and
denuded away. No fossils have hitherto been
found in the State. The alluvial deposits in
Kelantan are very extensive. In the far south
of the State there are several broad valleys the
bottoms of which are formed of an ancient
alluvium of fertile soil, which in some places is
highly cultivated, and in others is, or has been,
worked for minerals. The northern districts are
almost solely alluvial, the great plain being
entirely comprised of, probably, estuarine deposits
of detritus carried down from mountains which
have long since vanished altogether. The soil
thus formed is mostly of very fine consistency,
with here and there beds of coarse sand and
gravel running through it. Near the sea the
older beds have been in places overlaid with
recent marine deposit, while inland they are
covered, sometimes to the extent of several feet,
with the fine and fertile sediment of which a thin
layer is annually spread over the land by the
regularly recurring floods.
CHAPTER IV.
CLIMATE.
The climate of Kelantan is mild and equable.
In the plains it is strongly affected by the sea,
the morning land breeze and the afternoon sea
breeze blowing with peculiar regularity during
the greater part of the year. Here the tempera-
ture, while rarely falling below 69"^ F., never rises,
even at the hottest time of the year, beyond
93'' F., and the average daily range of temperature
is about 14 F. Among the hills, fifty and more
miles from the .sea, the heat is greater during
the day and less during the night. There the
thermometer falls as low as 62 F. and occasionally
rises to 96" F., and the average range is about
1 8°. The oppressive night heat, one of the
trials of so many tropical countries, is never
felt in Kelantan.
Rainfall. The rainfall is fairly equal through-
CLIMATE IS
out the State, being generally, but not always,
slightly greater in the far interior than on the
coast. The records for the last three years, in
fact, show an average of about 102 inches in the
hills and about 104 inches in the plains.
The months of February, March, and April
are the driest of the year, the rainfall during
that period being seldom over two inches per
month. In October, November, and December
a strong wind blows from the north east, bringing
with it dense masses of cloud, which frequently
hide the sun for several days together, and which
deluge the land with heavy rains. Twenty inches
in a month is no unusual record during this
season. The remaining six months of the year
have an equal rainfall averaging from seven to
eight inches a month (see Appendix B). In May
and June sudden squalls of wind from the south-
west are to be expected. These blow with much
violence but are of brief duration, and are seldom
of sufficient strength to cause any considerable
damage. Some thirty years ago the State was
practically reduced to ruin by a cyclone which
swept down the Kelantan river, uprooted many
thousands of coconut trees, destroyed nearly
all the houses, and laid waste broad belts of
jungle. It was followed by immense forest
i6 KELANTAN
fires, which left the country a charred and
blackened desert
Such is the fertility of the soil, however, that
no trace of the catastrophe now exists except
the presence, amid the jungle which has reclothed
the hill-sides, of tall dead trunks of the "changal"
trees which withstood the wind but were killed
by the fire, and which now supply an excellent
building material.
5r #
CHAPTER V.
THE PEOPLE.
No complete census of the population has ever
been taken. The number of people in the State
has hitherto been merely guessed at without
any particular data, and the total has been placed
at anything between 100,000 (Pallegoix) and
600,000 (Swettenham), but it is now possible
to arrive at an estimate of greater accuracy
than was obtainable by former writers. The
recently introduced system of annual returns,
from which the poll-tax lists are compiled, shows
close upon 60,000 adult males, which gives,
allowing for 60,000 adult females and 1 80,000
children, or three to each adult female, a total
of about 300,000. The average of three living
children to each family is perhaps rather low,
though the census of Burma and of Siam works
out at about that figure ; for owing to the com-
1 8 KELANTAN
parative absence of epidemic diseases, the infant
mortality of Kelantan is probably rather less
than in those countries, and the actual population
may therefore be considered to be rather over
than under 300,000. To this figure may be
added some 10,000 Sakeis and Jakuns, wild
tribes inhabiting the mountains, and of whom
little was known beyond the fact that they
existed in considerable numbers, until the recent
issue of the work of Skeat and Blagden on
the pagan races of the Malay Peninsula, gave
to the world a mass of valuable information
concerning these and other Malaj'an hill
tribes.
The bulk of the population is Malay, or rather
that peculiar product of the fusion of Malay,
Siamese, and other races which in Kelantan
passes for Malay. The Kelantan man is taller,
better built, and stronger than the true Malay.
He is probably also of a temperament more easy-
going, more open and less excitable than his
cousins in the south. Gay, debonair, a good
sportsman and a humorist, easily moved alike
to brief anger and to affection, and endowed by
nature with extraordinarily good manners, the
man of Kelantan makes, as a casual acquaintance,
the best of good company, whether he be a Raja
THE PEOPLE 19
at a bull-fight or a peasant engaged as a jungle
guide. Below the surface, however, he is a
natural born intriguer, and for that reason is
also a slave to continual suspicion of the motives
of his neighbours. He is consequently an in-
veterate liar ; but his deceits are far from skilful
and his soul is entirely free from shame whenever
his prevarications are exposed. That the Malay
is lazy and will not work is a common saying
in the mouths of Europeans in Malaya. True,
the Malay will often decline to work in the
particular manner in which the European desires
him to do so, that is as a mining cooly or plan-
tation hand in the service of the said European,
but the Malay is by no means an idle person.
In Kelantan he grows the seventy thousand odd
tons of rice which feed the population, he catches
and dries fish enough for home consumption and
for considerable export, he makes some forty
thousand pikuls of kopra every year, he works
boats on the river, and, in fact, he makes a very
comfortable living, supplies all his wants, and is
contented. It is not probable that any European
who condemns him would himself continue to
work at tin mine or rubber estate after he had
made enough to satisfy all his wants and to
be able to realise all his ideals in order merely
20 KELANTAN
to satisfy the demand of some stranger for labour.
The Siamese in the State number about 15,000.
They live chiefly in the coast districts, in villages
apart from the Malays, where they follow their
own religion and customs unmolested. They
are well behaved and prosperous. The Siamese
of Kelantan are chiefly the descendants of
settlers from the northern parts of the Penin-
sula, but there are also several villages near
the coast the forebears of the inhabitants of
which came from Siam proper, accompanying
the Siamese general, Phaya Pitsnulok, on a
military expedition some sixty years ago, and
afterwards being left behind to keep the peace
between Kelantan and the neighbouring state of
Sai. Of foreigners in the State the Chinese
number about 8000. In former years the
Chinese element was purely Hokien, individuals
of which family settled in Kelantan long years
ago, and, in spite of various kinds and degrees
of oppression, persisted there, joining with the
Malays in rigid exclusion of all other Chinese.
Within the last two or three years, however,
many Singapore Chinese and Hailams have come
in, either as shopkeepers or as labourers, and
the Chinese population is now rapidly increasing.
Of natives of various parts of India there is
"J»fJ^
THE PEOPLE 2 1
a small number, upwards of a hundred Moham-
medan Klings, natives of the west coast of India,
cattle-traders and cloth-sellers, and, in addition
to the company of Sikh Police, a few Punjabi
and Afghan money-lenders, pedlars, etc. A
certain number of Arabs reside in Kota Bharu,
where they carry on trade on principles which,
but for the odour of sanctity which surrounds
them, would infallibly have caused their undoing
long ago. A floating population of some forty
Europeans, employed in the Government service
and in various mining and planting enterprises,
makes up the sum of the foreign population.
This last element, which is probably destined
to grow and greatly to influence the destiny of
all the rest in the not remote future, was entirel}'
absent until about eight years ago, at which
date the concession-hunter first obtained a footing
in the country. Before that time Kelantan was
to the European a dark and mysterious land,
concerning which almost nothing was known,
but of which, owing to the som.ewhat lurid light
thrown upon it by the tales of very occasional
travellers, the worst was readily believed. Now,
however, the evil reputation of former days is
being contradicted, and, indeed, it would almost
appear at this day that Kelantan is one of the
2 2 KELANTAN
most delectable of lands to live in, for those few
foreigners who have made their abode there
cease not from sounding its praises, one result
of which is becoming apparent in the increasing
contemplation of the State as a field for enter-
prise and investment by the people of the
neighbouring centres of commercial activit)-.
Costume. The costume of the Kelantan
peasant is of a simple nature. A square of
cotton cloth called '' Kain Lepas," hitched round
the waist, and falling to his knees, a wisp of
painted calico artistically bound round his shaven
poll, and a third cloth wrapped about his middle,
forming a belt in which arms, money, betel-nut,
and tobacco can be carried, complete his outfit.
Thus attired he is prepared for any of the
occupations which his daily life may bring him.
Is it a long journey to perform, he thrusts his
kriss into his cloth belt, hides a parcel of rice
and a little extra tobacco in the folds of the
latter, takes his spear in hand, and is ready for
the road. Does the season of the year call him
to the ploughing, he goes forth without sartorial
preparation of any kind, and takes his buffalo
to the field. Wet or fine, his costume is the
same. He has no boots to be spoilt by mud,
and no coat to be injured by rain ; with shirts
KELANTAN PEASANT WOMEN.
u
THE PEOPLE 23
and collars he is unacquainted, though he some-
times wears a calico vest, and trousers he recog-
nises only as the garments of his betters. He
has a silk "sarong" or skirt for marriages, funerals,
and Friday's church-going, and, perhaps, if a
Haji, a long Arab coat, brought back long since
from Mecca, and now old, worn, and musty, but
still honourable. Far different from the peasant,
the nobility, or " Anak Raja," the official class,
and the well-to-do traders are nothing if not
dressy. They flaunt it in silks and satins of
striking design ; gay velvet caps cover their heads,
striped with gold if the wearer be " Raja " ; neat
white coats with astonishing buttons are the
correct thing, and white pipe-clayed, or sometimes
patent-leather shoes, with stockings, often, alas,
open-work, complete their costume. On the
smallest provocation, moreover, they appear in
the most beautiful raiment of European cut,
though their efforts in this last direction are
not always crowned with success. Such, at least,
is the costume of the better-class youth of the
capital. The older men have usually a more
subdued appearance, affecting dark-coloured coat,
sarong, rich in material but of modest colour
and design, and heelless Malay shoes without
stockings. On occasions of state the full dress
24 KELANTAN
Malay costume is frequently worn with remark-
ably pleasing effect.
The usual costume of the Malay woman
consists, like that of the peasant man, of three
cloths. The first (Sarong) is fastened round
the waist and falls to the ankles ; the second
(Kembau) is hitched round the body under the
arms and over the bust and falls over the sarong
to a few inches below the hips, being usually
adjusted to reveal the lines of the figure as
clearly as possible ; and the third (Kelumbong) is
a loose shawl which is supposed to be used to
conceal the head, face, and shoulders, but which
is generally so arranged as to leave those parts
uncovered. All classes wear the same costume,
that of the ladies of high degree differing from
the dress of their lowly sisters in quality, perhaps,
but not in form or quantity.
This being a Mohammedan country one might
expect to find the female part of the population
confined to the houses or allowed to go abroad
only on rare occasions and when carefully veiled
from the vulgar eye. Custom, however, has
decreed quite otherwise, and, as regards the
position of women, the Kelantanese follow the
customs of their Siame.se, Burmese, Cambodian
and other Mongolian neighbours rather than
WOMAN OF KELANTAN.
THE PEOPLE 25
the sterner precepts of their adopted religion.
The women move about with perfect freedom,
buying and selling in the markets and in the
shops, visiting their friends and assisting their
husbands in their agricultural pursuits, and except
for the wearing of the Kelumbong, which burlesque
is the only concession to Islam, their habits
and manners are scarcely to be distinguished
from the usually modest behaviour of the females
of other Indo-Chinese races. The better class
very occasionally wear the " Kebaya " or long
sacque coat, commonly seen in Singapore and
in the southern States, and on festive occasions
display much jewellery of quaint design. The
cotton clothing of the people is partly woven by
the women and partly imported ready-made.
Value of imports of cotton yarn amount to
$100,000, of cotton cloth to $150,000 a
year.
Physique. The average height of the Kelantan
men is about 5 feet 3 inches ; that of the women
three or four inches less. The men are usuall}^
slight but strong in build and of good muscular
development. Beard and moustache are rudi-
mentary or entirely absent, the head is generally
kept shaved, the complexion varies from olive
in the upper class to dark brown in the peasantry ;
26 KELANTAN
the head is brachycephalic in shape, and the
facial angle usually rather low.
The women, when young, are well-formed
little creatures, to whose plump figures the habit
of carrying heavy weights balanced on the head
imparts erectness and grace of outline. Their
straight black hair is worn long, is drawn away
from the face, and knotted at the back of the
head and is usually embellished with flowers.
In complexion they are slightly fairer than the
men, while their modest, vivacious deportment
is by no means without charm. Their period
of bloom, however, is but short. Early marriage,
prolific child-bearing, and hard work soon steal
all their charms away, and, at an age when
western women are entering upon their prime,
they are already sinking into the decrepitude
of old age.
TH1-: 'kelumbong' as garment.
CHAPTER VI.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
KOTA Bharu, the capital, is the only town in
the State. It is situated on the right bank of
the river about six miles from the sea, and may
be said to comprise a semicircle of a mile radius,
the Musjid, or Mosque, standing on the middle
of the arc. The population is now close on
10,000 and is increasing, chiefly owing to immi-
gration of Straits Chinese, of Mohammedan
Klings, and of Malays from other parts of the
Peninsula. The town is well laid out with metalled
roads which divide the area into many rectangular
blocks. The principal building is the Palace of
H.H. the Raja, standing in an enclosure of from
five to six acres, which opens through a massive old
gateway of quaint construction, on to a turf-covered
oval of some two acres in extent, surrounded by
a road and by the Court House, the Revenue
28 KELANTAN
Office, the Post and Telegraph Office, the School
House and the dwellings of some of the nobility.
Other buildings are the Palace of H.H. the Raja
Muda, the Post Office, the Customs House, and the
new Market. There is also a small furnished Rest
House. The principal streets have paved side
walks, are lighted by lamps at night, and are
swept clean every morning. Thatch, the use
of which was universal a short while ago, is
giving place to tiles, and a great deal of unsightly
but useful corrugated iron is used in the con-
struction of houses. Within the last three years
upwards of 150 substantial houses have been
built mostly for use as shops. The market is
a large and commodious building, is densely
thronged every day, and here excellent fish and
provisions of all kinds are plentiful and cheap,
and beef and mutton are sold twice a week. The
Central Jail, built to contain 200 convicts, and
just completed, is situated ontside the town in
a wide open space and near the Military Police
barracks.
Upon an island separated from the west of
the town by a narrow creek is situated the
Chinese quarter or Kampong China. Here
beneath the benevolent sway of the Captain
China some 1000 Chinese live, and here they
Till: '■ kelumbong" as ornament.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES 29
are allowed to keep pigs, gamble, and drink,
as their manner is, all unmolested. Certain
trades, such as the blacksmiths, the pork butchers,
and the dyers are confined to Kampong China,
but many Chinese watch-menders, tailors, car-
penters, and general dealers have recently taken
to living in the main town.
The most important villages in the State
are Tumpat (population 4000), Tabar (population
3000), Bacho (population 2000) and Semarak
(population 500), on the coast, and Kampong Laut
on the river, the latter some fifteen miles inland,
Pasir Putteh (population 1000) near the
Tringganu border, and Wachap Nau (population
1000), seven miles west of Kota Bharu.
Each of these villages is provided with a
Police Station and a market, and each is the
head-quarters of a Government Official, a
Datch or a Toh Kweng. Wachap Nau is a
Chinese centre. The sweeping statement which
has sometimes been made, that the greater
part of the east coast of the Peninsula is
an almost uninhabited forest, is singularly
misleading so far as the Kelantan coast, where
the population is dense.
The only village of any size in the far interior
is Pulai, about 100 miles from the sea, with
30 KELANTAN
a population of some 500 people, mostly Chinese,
engaged in gold washing.
Besides the above there is an almost infinite
number of small villages, varying from half
a dozen to fifty houses, dotted all over the
plain and extending far up the main river.
CHAPTER VII.
RELIGION.
The prevailing religion is Shaffi Mohammedan-
ism. The State is divided into 250 " mukim "
or parishes, each of which has its Imam (vicar)
and Toh Bilal (curate), who conduct services
in the " Surao " or praying house, who officiate
at marriages and deaths, and in whose charge
is the general moral and spiritual welfare of
the community. There are three musjids, or
mosques, in and near the capital. The religious
system is mainly supported on the " zakkat "
and *' pettra " offerings, which are a sort of
tithes contributed by the whole population,
the Government providing salary for the " Mufti "
or chief religious authority, for the " Sherria "
Court, where matrimonial disputes and questions
of inheritance are settled, and a small grant
in aid of repairs to the Musjids. The people
32 KELANTAN
are naturally prone to neglect the observances
of religion, but are kept up to the mark by
the periodical infliction of penance for absence
from the Friday service. It is no uncommon
thing to see a well-to-do citizen carrying a
load of sand from the river to the Musjid
compound in compulsory atonement for back-
sliding. The religion of Islam is not more
than seven hundred years old in any part of
the Malay Peninsula, and it is less than 400
years since it obtained a firm footing in Kelantan.
Much of the animistic superstition which formerly
constituted the religion of the people persists
to this day, thinly covered by a veneer of
Mohammedanism and ready to crop up at any
moment of stress, not only amongst the peasantry
but in the highest quarters. It needs but an
obstinate ailment in the family of the Raja,
for instance, for little trays containing eggs,
rice, etc., as offerings to this, that, and the
other air spirit, to appear hanging from the
boughs of trees near the Palace or placed beside
some object which is " Kramat," or the abode
of an, usually evil-disposed, essence. An old
iron ship's gun, lying rusting in Kota Bharu,
is the reputed abode of a peculiarly powerful
spirit, and not all the threats and exhortations
RELIGION 33
of the Imam can prevent the continual crudescence
around it of little flags, jos-sticks, tiny cups
of rice and other offerings. Indeed, the Malay
of Kelantan, whose professed religion sternly
forbids it, persists in surrounding himself with
a host of invisible beings of earth, air, and
water, quite as numerous as that of the Burman
or the Siamese, whose capacious belief accepts
them all, and though bird-cage-like little temples
" Nat Sin " or " San Phra Poom " are not found
under trees or in rocky clefts as in Burma or
Siam, yet the hills, woods, and streams of
Kelantan all have their Dryads.
There are forty " Wats " or Buddhist monas-
teries in the State, the yellow-robed inmates of
which minister to the spiritual needs of the
Siamese portion of the population. The affairs
of the " Wats " are managed by the ecclesiastical
head of the province of Lakon (Chao Ka Na
Nakon Sri Tammarat). The chief Buddhist monk
of the State, an old man of eighty-four years,
who had lived in Kelantan all his life, and
whose memory was stored with highly interesting
information regarding the history of the State,
died a short while ago, much regretted by every-
body, his superior sanctity having long been fully
recognised alike by Mohammedans and Buddhists.
CHAPTER VIII.
LANGUAGE.
The universal language of the State is Malay.
The Kelantan dialect is a fearsome-sounding jargon
in the ear of the Malay of other parts, full of
strange clippings and contortions, and sprinkled
with words of local manufacture or of a Siamese
origin, unknown in any other parts of Malaya.
Yet, to the accustomed ear, this dialect is a
musical one, for the Kelantan Malay delights in
the use of vowels and inserts them freely in his
words to avoid, wherever possible, the use of two
consonants together. Final consonants also are
more frequently dropped than in the dialects of
the south, whereby the speech is much softened.
The habit of pronouncing the final " a " as " aw "
and the letter " g " very soft as " gh " or almost
" h " is, at first, quite bewildering to strange ears.
The visitor from other Malay countries is not
LANGUAGE 35
long, however, in discovering that these dialectical
peculiarities indue the Kelantan dialect with
many subtleties of expression not to be found
elsewhere. The literature consists of the few
books and writings common to the Malay States
generally, but few people ever read anything
except the Koran. The Siamese and most of
the old-time Chinese use the Singora dialect
of Siamese, but all know Malay as a second
language. Very few Kelantan Malays have any
acquaintance with Siamese, and though some of
the nobility have a smattering of that language,
picked up during former years of residence at
Bangkok, H.H. the Raja himself knows no word
of it.
There has recently been introduced, for use
in the Secretariat, a typewriter of the Arabic
character in which Malay is written. It is made
by the Remington Company and is probably the
first machine of its kind in Malaya. Should it
be found successful, it is probable that others will
be procured for use in the Government Service
generally.
The ruling family does not claim descent, as
is usual in the other Malay States, from the
Royal houses of Sumatra and Malacca, but have
traditions of an adventurer named Long Junus, a
36 KELANTAN
Malay who is supposed to have come " from the
East," many hundreds of years ago, settled on
the Kelantan coast and founded the clan. The
Malay Annals, that jumble of fable and fact
which constitutes the only history of the Malays,
mentions Kelantan only in connection with the
wars of Sultan Mahmud Shah, the last Sultan of
Malacca. This Prince, it appears, sent an army
about the year 1490 A.D. to invade Kelantan
because that State had declined to recognise
him as its suzerain. The State was found to
be very large and powerful ; but the inhabitants
being without firearms (then newly introduced to
Malacca) the country was soon laid waste and
in spite of fierce battles in which the men of
Malacca and the Kelantanese mutually amoked
against each other with much fury, the Sultan of
Kelantan, Mansur Shah, was slain, his son put
to flight and his three daughters carried off to
Malacca, where they were married to the Sultan
Mahmud Shah.
Whether any connection existed between Long
Junus " from the East " and the Sultan Mansur
Shah, it is impossible to surmise. The " Malay
Annals" hint that the latter was descended from
the Royal family found reigning in the Peninsula
at the time of the invasion of the ancestors of
LANGUAGE 37
the Malacca Sultans, but that family was probably
of Siamese or Khmer origin, which does not fit
in with the " East " theory. It is to be noted
that the names of the three Kelantan princesses
who were carried off to Malacca were all distinctly
Siamese.
CHAPTER IX.
HISTORY.
The early history of Kelantan is lost in
obscurity. Owing to the fact that no records
have ever been kept, and no particular effort
has, in the past, been made to keep alive the
traditions of the State even by oral transmission,
it is not known either whence the ancestors
of the Kelantan Malays came, or what was the
origin of the ruling family which has apparently
held sway in the country with certain periods
of interruption for several centuries.
It seems probable, however, that the existence
of Kelantan as a strong and united community
has not been continuous in the past, but that
the districts which are now comprised in the
State have been, during long intervals, divided
into a number of petty chiefdoms, subordinate
alternately to Patani on the north and to Tring-
HISTORY 39
ganu on the south. That there was a town of
some importance not far from the mouth of the
Kelantan river at least 350 years ago is proved
by the fact that the Portuguese and Dutch maps
of the sixteenth century all show a capital city
there, the name of which is variously given as
Calantan, Calatam, and Calantao. Hardly any
references are made to Kelantan in any of the
annals of the early European traders in the Far
East, though Patani, close by, was for many
years one of the great centres of trade of the
Portuguese, Dutch, and English. It is remark-
able also that in the maps of the Malay Peninsula
made by Father Placide and by Guendeville at
the beginning of the eighteenth century, no town
of Kelantan is marked, though the river of that
name is shown, while in Roberts' map of 1757
the town reappears. It is quite possible that
during the latter part of the seventeenth and
the beginning of the eighteenth centuries, the
statelet which had the town as its capital had
been altogether broken up beneath the sway of
Patani or Tringganu, and that it was not until
well on in the eighteenth century that it began
to emerge once more, owing probably to the
weakening of its conqueror.
It is definitely known, however, that about the
40 KELANTAN
year 1780 the chiefs who ruled in Kelantan had
all been more or less subdued and brought into
subjection by the Raja of Kubang Labu, a fortified
place on the west side of the river opposite the
present site of Kota Bharu. This prince had
seized Kubang Labu on the death of his father,
had killed or put to flight all his brothers, and,
after years of intrigue and war, had made him-
self master of an area almost equal to that of
the State as it now is. He was not, however,
left long in the peaceful enjoyment of his victories,
for a brother named Jangut whom he had un-
fortunately omitted to execute, appeared suddenly
with a strong following and attacked him in
the capital. The brother was with much trouble
repulsed, was driven out of the State, and peace
was restored. Jangut, however, was not to be
beaten. He retired to Tringganu, where he
obtained the services of a certain Wan Jafifar
a commander in the Tringganu army, with whom
he arranged for an attack in force upon Kelantan,
promising to his ally the sovereignty of the
eastern part of the State in the event of the
invasion proving successful. The attack was
made, and the unfortunate Rajah of Kubang
Labu, finding his forces quite outnumbered, sur-
rendered his throne and fled to Patani. The
HISTORY 41
victorious Jangut thereupon proceeded to subdue
the whole State, which labour he accomplished
with comparative ease with the guns and men
brought from Tringganu by General Wan Jaffar,
pushing his frontier a good way east and north-
east into territory which was recognised as
belonging to Patani. He then built a new
capital on Pulau Saba, an island in the Kelantan
river, which has since been entirely washed away
by floods, established Wan Jaffar as feudatory Raja
of the eastern part of the State with his capital
at the village of Limbat, and lived as acknow-
ledged ruler of Kelantan for seventeen years. A
nominal subjection of Kelantan to Tringganu,
which appears to have prevailed since the invasion
of Jangut, disappeared at this time, the two States
being henceforth recognised by Siam as on an
equal footing though His Majesty Phra Pradiyut
did not then confer upon the Raja titles equal
to those enjoyed by the Sultan of Tringganu.
The fortunes of Raja Wan Jaffar's sub-State
are soon told. After a long reign he died and
was succeeded by his son and grandson in turn,
who both took the title of Rajah Limbat. The
last Rajah Limbat was succeeded by his son
Raja Slia, who found himself, on coming into
power, in a position of practical independence,
42 KELANTAN
the suzerainty of Pulau Saba or Kota Bharu,
as it had then become, having through intrigues
at Court been so weakened as to be almost a
dead letter. Raja Slia, however, soon got into
trouble, for, following in the footsteps of his
great-grandfather the general, he became involved
in the politics of a foreign State. He extended
hospitality to one Bahman, Orang Kaya of
Semantan, a defeated rebel who had fled from
Pahang in 1892, and proceeded to concoct
schemes for the invasion of that State. In the
year 1894 these plots came to a head, and
Bahman, provided with a following of 150 of
the men of Limbat, re-entered Pahang with the
intention of defeating the British, who had
established a protectorate there, and of dividing
the State with Rajah Slia. Their hopes, how-
ever, were short-lived. The Kelantan mercen-
aries, practising the art of war as understood
in Malaya, surprised a small police-station, robbed
some boats, burnt a few houses, murdered a few
men, outraged a few women, and then, fearing
the appearance of a real enemy, fled into the
jungle, where they took up a fortified position.
Here they were found by a detachment of Sikhs
of the Malay States Guides, who, entirely ignoring
the rules of war, attacked them without any
HISTORY 43
beating of gongs or other warning, stormed their
stockade in the most foolhardy manner, killed a
third of their number, and sent Bahman, Rajah
Slia, and the remainder flying back to Kelantan
with their great ambitions shattered for ever.
Shortly afterwards, as the result of negotiations
between the British and Siamese Governments,
Raja Slia and Bahman were arrested by the
latter Power and were sent into perpetual exile
in the far north of Siam. Limbat thereupon
ceased to exist as a feudatory State, and was
incorporated with Kelantan proper.
On the death of Rajah Jangut, Raja Mahmat,
his favourite son, became ruler. Things went
fairly well for a time, though his three brothers,
the Raja Muda, the Temangong, and the Rajah
Banggor Bendahara, entered into several unsuc-
cessful conspiracies against him. At length the
State became involved in a war between Patani
and Siam. Assistance in arms and men was
lent to the former, and after his final defeat
the Rajah of Patani and his family took refuge at
Pulau Saba. Siam thereupon sent an expedition to
demand the surrender of the rebel, which demand,
after some demur, was complied with, Raja Mah-
mat at the same time making overtures of submis-
sion to Siam through the hereditary Governor of
44 KELANTAN
Ligor (Nakon Sri Tammarat), and agreeing to
pay triennially a tribute of golden flowers to Siam.
The peace thus obtained did not last long,
the Temangong having gone upstream to Pulai,
in the far south of the State, was murdered
by the Chinese gold miners of that place, at
the instigation, it was afterwards proved, of his
brother, Raja Banggor Bendahara. The youthful
Raja Snik, son of the Temangong, took the matter
up, and after having exterminated the Chinese
at Pulai, attacked his uncle, who was forced to
fly to Menara, a village just across the Patani
border, where he remained quiescent for a time.
At length Raja Mahmat, having ruled for
thirty years and feeling his end approaching,
sent for Raja Banggor, for whom it appears
he had retained affection, and, disregarding the
claims of the Raja Muda, appointed him to be
his successor. Raja Banggor took up his resi-
dence at Pulau Saba and at once began to
make himself unpopular by his evil practices,
so that when Raja Mahmat shortly afterwards
died (about the year 1837), the people declined
to recognise his choice of a successor, but
declared in favour of the Raja Muda. The
latter, however, a man who had long enjoyed
much popularity on account of his gentle dis-
HISTORY 45
position, declined the honour which was offered
to him, and, to avoid further trouble, retired to
the Court of Siam, whence he was shortly
afterwards sent to found a new family as Raja
of Patani. Raja Snik, however, and his brother.
Raja Kota, sons of the late Temangong, were
men of another kidney. On the flight of the
Raja Muda they took up arms against their
remaining uncle, Raja Banggor Bendahara, who
had by this time seized the throne, and besieged
him in the capital. The investment lasted for
three months, by the end of which time Raja
Banggor Bendahara, overcome by fear, deter-
mined upon flight. He left the town by night
with his followers, in a number of boats, and,
though several of his men were killed or
captured, got away himself to Menara, thus
terminating a very perturbed reign of about
one year. Awang Kichi and Abu Bakar, two
of his leading men, on being brought captive
before Raja Snik, explained that they were no
more than dogs, and whereas they had hitherto
barked to the order of Raja Banggor Bendahara,
were now prepared to do the same for a new
master. They were therefore pardoned and
taken into favour, and as they represented most
of the followers of Raja Banggor Bendahara, all
46 KELANTAN
opposition to Raja Snik ceased, and he and his
brother estabhshed themselves as joint rulers of
the country (1838). They had not, however,
seen the last of Raja Banggor Bendahara, for
a few years later, having gathered together a
party of- adventurers, that warrior once more
entered the country from Menara and made
such head against the forces of his nephews
that the latter were obliged to call for the inter-
vention of Siam. One Phaya Chayah was
dispatched from Ligor with a force which made
short work of Raja Banggor Bendahara, driving
him back to Menara and capturing many mem-
bers of his family. Having been approached by
the nobles and people of the State and requested
to settle the question of the rulership, the Siamese
Government now determined to appoint a Sultan
of Kelantan, a rank to which no Raja had hitherto
attained in that country. A difficulty, however,
arose in the choice of a man to fill the proposed
exalted position. Raja Snik was, without doubt,
the most intelligent member of the ruling family,
but Raja Kota had established a great reputation
as a fighter, and it was feared that whichever was
preferred, the other would in all probability rebel
against him before long. The expedient was
therefore adopted of making both the brothers
HISTORY 47
Sultans, Snik to be the actual ruler and Kota to
receive the title of Sultan Dewa and to be Com-
mander of the Army and the head of the execu-
tive. This step, which was doubtless suggested
by the custom obtaining at that time in Siam, of
investing the eldest brother of the king with royal
dignity, was carried into effect at Bangkok by order
of His Majesty King Nang Klao ; but the result
was not very happy, for, after a brief interval of
peace, the brother Sultans fell to quarrelling and
the intervention of Siam was again called for.
The Sultan Dewa's party was dispersed and
he and his family were deported to Siam, whence,
after a time, he was appointed to the vacant
Rajaship of Jering, one of the small States into
which Patani had been divided after the last
rebellion against Siam. Thereafter Sultan Snik,
who was now universally known as Sultan Mulut
Merah, or the " Sultan with the red mouth," ruled
in Kelantan for many years, receiving the title of
Phaya Phipit Phak Di from His Majesty the King
of Siam, paying visits at intervals to Bangkok
and submitting his triennial golden flowers, to
the value of about $ii,ooo, to his suzerain. In
his old age he grew very short-tempered and
ruled his people with some harshness, inflicting
capital punishment with frequency, and practising
48 KELAXTAX
mutilation as a penal tj* for theft. His t>Tanny,
however, secured peace to the State, and, though
he had two brothers besides the ex-Sultan £>ewa,
one of whom was the Raja Muda, and a host
of direct and collateral descendants, no noise of
rebellion was heard in the land for a period of
thirt}--five years. Under these changed circum-
stances Kelantan grew in stroigth and prosperity,
and when in the year 1877 the old man at last
resigned the cares of government in order to
make his soul, he left the State a strong, united,
and populous community'.
Comparatively early in his reign. Sultan Mulut
Merah removed his capital from Pulau Saba
to Kota Bhani, "the new Capital," a step lii-hich
was rendered necessarj' by the rapid erosion of
the banks of Pulau Saba by the waters of the
river, and in the palace which he built then,
his great grandson the present Raja now rules.
Phaya Ratsada, the favourite son of Sultan
Mulut Merah, and whom he had named as his suc-
cessor upon abdicating, was now appointed Sultan
by his Majest>- the present King at Bangkok. He
was already a man past middle age, but he ruled
for eleven years \*-ith wisdom and moderation,
and kept together the State which his father
had left him. The most notable events of his
HISTORY 49
reign were the devastating of the country by
a cyclone which destroyed an immense amount
of property, followed by a severe pestilence
amongst the cattle, seriously checking the pros-
perity which long years of peace had fostered,
and the settlement, by a Siamese commission, of
the western border of the State, the indefiniteness
of which was becoming a grave cause of friction.
The worst thing which Sultan Tenggah did for
his country was the breeding of an inordinately
large family, the members of which were destined
to bring much trouble upon the State at a later
date. When he died in 1888 he left a dozen
sons, most of whom were just coming to man's
estate, and eight or nine daughters. His death
was the signal for an outburst of quarrelling
amongst these, firstly as to who should succeed
him, and secondly regarding the division of his
property. The first point was settled by the
appointment, by Siam, of Ahmat Bendahara to
be Sultan, but the second matter, after causing
endless disputes and intrigues, has not been
brought to a final conclusion yet, and very
probably never will be.
Sultan Ahmat ruled for seven years and died
worn out by the constant worries of his situation.
His brothers plotted against him all through
50 KELANTAN
his reign, and the cause of his sudden death
was never satisfactorily explained. The inter-
vention of the Siamese Government was so
frequently asked for to keep the young Rajas
in subjection that His Majesty at length found
it necessary to appoint a Resident Commissioner
to Kota Bharu to keep the peace between the
Sultan and his brothers. Furthermore, several
of the young men were called to Bangkok,
where they lived for varying periods, very well
treated and unable to make mischief. The
Resident Commissioner advised the Sultan on
many points connected with the administration,
and was instrumental in the introduction of
several reforms, of which may be cited the
building of a Court House and the appointment
of Judges, the building of a jail, the assessment
of land revenue on good principles, and the crea-
tion of a Police force. His time was principally
occupied, however, in keeping the peace between
the different members of the ruling family, and
not very much could be done in the way of
reform so long as the disputes of these gentlemen
absorbed almost the whole of his attention.
Judging by such past history of Kelantan
as is available, it would seem that it has
always been a matter of course for the Sultan's
IK^'
HISTORY 51
brothers to spend their time in plotting against
him, and the young nobles of the time of
Sultan Ahmat, in so doing, merely acted after
their kind and in the manner sanctified by
ancient usage. The Sultan was a hard and
overbearing person who made it his object to
maintain his power over the State and all in it,
to the full as complete as that wielded by his
father ; but the Rajas, or Tungkus, as they now
began to be called, declined to accept from a
brother the treatment to which they had perforce
submitted at the hands of their father. Unwill-
ing to acknowledge that their brother, by virtue
of his accession to the rulership under sanction
of His Siamese Majesty, had acquired any
authority over them, they furiously resented
his autocratic behaviour, and several of them,
having banded themselves together to secure his
overthrow, were prepared to go to any length
and to invoke any aid to achieve their purpose.
And it happens thus that history presents us
with the spectacle of an embryo British Radical
M.P. sitting on a sand-bank opposite Kota
Bharu and listening, at midnight, to seditious
whisperings, and to the applications of a lot
of rebellious Malay youths for arms and other
assistance, to enable them to assassinate their
52 KELANTAN
blood relation and to elect in his stead one of
their number who would certainly be no whit
better disposed towards them than he whose un-
doing they sought. Sir Henry Norman, however,
was proof against the temptation to organise a
coup d'etat in Kelantan, and left the disaffected
party to accomplish their ends in some other way.
The Sultan died about a year later (1895).
Sultan Ahmat was succeeded by his brother,
one of the plotters, who became known as Sultan
Mansoor, and who had no sooner received his
appointment from the Court of Siam than he
found all his brothers arrayed against him and
already busy scheming to compass his downfall.
The unfortunate gentleman led a most unhappy
life for three years, during which he must often
have devoutly wished his elder brother had
remained alive, and at the end of that short
period died with extraordinary suddenness (1898).
At this time, and for some few years previously,
there had been growing up in the British colony
of Singapore a strong desire to secure to British
interests the same facilities for trade and for
commercial enterprise in all parts of the Malay
Peninsula as were offered by the Malay States
under British protection. It .seemed, at the time,
quite clear to the colonists that they could not
HISTORY 5 3
expect such facilities in Kelantan unless the
State were under British protection, and hence
considerable efforts were made to demonstrate,
in spite of the repeated admissions by British
statesmen of her rights, and of the presence in
Kelantan of a Siamese Resident Commissioner,
that Siam had never by any act of sovereignty
vindicated her rights over Kelantan, and had
now, therefore, no business to interfere with the
affairs of that State. This contention of the
colonists soon became known in Kelantan, where,
amongst the numerous amateurs of conspiracy,
an anti-Siamese party was soon formed which
hoped, by encouraging colonial desires, to bring
about a change, or at least a condition of
unrest, out of which it would go hard if its
members could not reap advantage for them-
selves. The insinuations of this party, which
was sufficiently powerful even to force the ruler
at times to act as its mouthpiece, gave rise to the
idea, erroneous, but natural to those who judged
by outside appearances, that Kelantan as a whole
was anxious to exchange the suzerainty of Siam
for the protection of England.
When, therefore, the present Raja Snik (who
has not assumed the rank of Sultan) became
ruler, with the Siamese title of Phaya Phipit
54 KELANTAN
Pakdi, he found his position to be one of
extreme difficulty. It is not necessary here to
recapitulate the discussions which at this time
took place in many quarters on the subject of
Kelantan — discussions which were rendered the
more difficult by the readiness of the Raja to
utter, equally as his own, the sentiments of
the majority of the inhabitants one day, and
the diametrically opposed opinions of the revol-
utionary minority the next, in his frantic desire
to stand well with both sides. It is sufficient
to state that, after several years of uncertainty,
during which both Siam and England hung aloof,
while even the very form of settled government
was lost amid the bickerings and intrigues
of the rival parties in the State, a modus
Vivendi was at last arrived at, England formally
recognising the suzerainty of Siam, and the
two Powers agreeing to certain arrangements
concerning future administration, the result of
which has been the establishment, in the year
1903, of the present regime, the silencing, for
a time at least, of the intriguing element, the
restoration of law and order, and the inception
of what it is hoped may prove an era of
prosperity, to which British trade, now cordially
invited by Siam, will largely contribute.
^"^^^H'44
CHAPTER X.
COMMUNICATIONS.
Waterways supply the principal means of
communication in the State. The rivers and
their tributaries penetrate into most parts of
the interior, and the districts near the coast are
intersected by a system of creeks which connects
all the rivers in their lower reaches, and which
furnishes a ready means of communication
between the villages situated a little way inland
from the sea-shore. The Government registers
of boat licenses show upwards of 6000 craft
of various descriptions, from 60 to 70 tons —
schooners to small open market boats. The
river boats, chiefly used for carrying merchandise,
are the " Prau Daud," a covered boat with a
broad, square, upturned bow, and the " Kepala
Belalang," or " Grasshopper Head," a covered
boat of less beam than the " Prau Daud," and
56 KELANTAN
with a sharp prow. These boats carry some-
times as much as five koyans (about twelve tons)
of paddi. They are poled up-stream and are
rowed down. They are able to ascend the
main river as far as eighty miles from the
capital. Ten miles a day up-stream is the usual
rate of progress, and a fair-sized boat can be
hired for $5 a day, complete with crew. In-
numerable fishing boats daily put out to sea
from the maritime villages, and, returning with
their catches of fish, sail far up the rivers to
the different inland markets. From the large
" Payang," with a crew of twenty men, to the
diminutive but graceful " Linchong," which two
men can manage, all are excellent sailers ; and,
with favouring breezes, can do their si.x miles
an hour against a strong current. To meet a
growing demand, numerous sailing lighters have
recently been built for the carriage of cargo to
and from the steamers at the mouth of the
river. They are large and commodious, and have
no difificulty in dealing with cargo of the most
bulky nature. A stern-wheel steamer, the pro-
perty of a private company and subsidised by the
Government, carries the mails for fifty miles up
and down the river every week, and at the
same time accommodates passengers at reasonable
COMMUNICATIONS 57
fares. (See Appendix C.) A motor-launch can
also be hired for use on the river.
The making of roads has not yet progressed
far beyond the capital. One road of eight miles
on the left side of the river connects the capital
with the village of Tumpat ; another runs for
four miles down the right bank to Banggor and
beyond ; a third runs out in south-easterly
direction for six miles, and will ultimately be
extended to Pasir Putteh, thirty miles, and to
the Tringganu border. The last-mentioned road
is now under construction at the seventh mile.
Four years ago there was not, and apparently
never had been, except for the carriages of
H.H. the Raja, a single wheeled vehicle in
Kelantan ; a fact which, in view of the great
number of cattle bred there, and of the gener-
ally open nature of the country, at least in the
northern districts, seems almost unaccountable.
True, no roads existed, but the paddi fields
during the season between reaping and ploughing,
and the sparsely wooded jungle lands at all
times, present no serious obstacles to cart
traffic. Before the annexation of Upper Burma
no roads existed in that country, yet in every
village carts were to be found which carried all
the produce of the fields to market, and which
58 KELANTAN
found no difficulty in traversing the country
during six months of the year. Again, in the
great central plain, and in all the south-eastern
part of Siam, bullock or buffalo carts are
everywhere to be seen ; and it is strange that
their use has never extended to Kelantan, where,
in those large districts which are not within
easy reach of any river or creek, the difficulties
of transport are so great as to interfere seriously
with the extension of agriculture. The Malay,
moreover, takes kindly to the use of carts, as is
plainly to be seen in Malacca, where almost every
householder keeps at least one of these vehicles.
It is to be hoped that the opening of roads
through the State will be followed by a general
adoption of wheel traffic.
The steamers of the East Asiatic Company
Ltd. carry regular weekly mails to and from
Bangkok and Singapore, with which places
parcel mail service has recently been estab-
lished. A money order service with Singapore
is being negotiated. Kelantan is in direct
telegraph communication with Bangkok, and via
Penang with the outside world. There is also
a telephone system in the town, which extends
to the harbour at Tumpat. Postal and tele-
graph rates will be found in Appendix D.
CHAPTER XI.
TRADE, COMMERCE, AND INDUSTRIES.
Trade and Commerce. The total value of com-
merce for the twelve months ending February
6th, 1907 (the end of the Mohammedan year),
is shown by the Customs House returns as :
Exports, - - - $1,153,948.00
Imports, - - - 1,388,435.00
$2,542,483.00
an increase of $366,150 over the total for the
preceding year. (See Appendix E.)
Chief exports are kopra, gold, betel-nut, paddi
and rice, cattle and dried fish ; while wild
rubber and gutta-percha, hides, silk goods, and
poultry are also exported in some quantity.
Principal imports are cotton goods, specie,
general provisions, kerosene oil, and timber.
Mining and planting stores imported during
1906-07 reached a total of $32,000.
6o KELANTAN
Owing to the recent abolition of various
monopolies and revenue farms, the conditions of
which were calculated to hamper trade, the
total value of commerce for the year 1907-08
should not fall far short of 83,000,000.
All articles of export and import are subject
to the payment of duty in accordance with a
fixed tariff.
The carrying trade to and from Kelantan,
which was formerly all done by means of
sailing vessels, has how passed in great measure
to the coasting steamers which visit the State
in increasing numbers every year. There is
still, however, much trade with Tringganu and
Patani in sailing ships, and the river, from the
capital to the sea, is thronged with these at all
times, except during the few months of each
year when the north-east monsoon renders all
sailinc: on the east coast of the Peninsula
impossible.
The total tonnage of steamers which visited
the Port of Kelantan during the year ending
February 6th, 1907, was:
Entered inwards, - 52,481 tons.
Entered outwards, - 52,830 „
Total, - - - 105,31 I tons.
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES 6i
The commerce of the State is shared by
Chinese, Malays, and Mohammedan Klings, the
greater part being in the hands of the former.
Depots for the collection of produce are annually
established on a large sand-bank across the
river from Kota Bharu, from which cargo boats
are dispatched to meet every steamer.
Currency. The unit of currency in Kelantan
is the Straits Settlements dollar. Formerly
Austrian, Spanish, Mexican, and British dollars
were all current in the State and of equal value,
but the first three of these have now been
demonetised, and the last passes current only
at 5% discount, the new Straits coin (exchange
value 2s. 4d.) being the only dollar accepted
at full value. The numerous recent changes
in the Singapore currency have caused much
confusion to the finance of the State, notwith-
standing the invariable consideration of the Straits
Government in relaxing the currency regulations
in favour of Kelantan sufficiently to allow trade
to continue ; and a saving would have been
effected if the Siamese Tical could have been
introduced in place of the dollar some years
ago. Such a step was, however, impossible, in
view of the close commercial connection with
Singapore and the absence of any bank or
62 KELANTAN
other means of conducting exchange operations.
If, at some future date, a banking agency is
established at Kota Bharu it is possible that
Siamese currency may then be introduced.
Besides the Straits dollar, the currency notes
of the Government of the Straits Settlements
of value $1, $5, $io, $20, $50, and $100, are
legal tender to any amount, vi^hile the subsidiary
silver coin of the Straits Settlements, of value
5, 10, 20, and 50 cents, is also in use. Siamese
money is received in the State treasury in
payment of revenue, but is very rarely tendered.
The currency chiefly in use in the bazaars
and markets is a locally minted coin made from
an alloy of tin and lead and called " Pittis," a
small circular coin pierced in the centre and carried
in bundles threaded on a string. A bundle
of fifteen coins is called a " Keneri," one of
sixty a " Kupang," and four hundred and eighty
" Pittis " equal one dollar. Not very long ago
each State of the Peninsula had its own tin
coinage, but this form of money has now gone
out of use everywhere except in Patani, Kelantan,
and Tringganu. There is at present about
$60,000 worth of tin coin in circulation. The
mint has been closed, and it is not proposed
to issue any more money of this description,
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES 63
as the alloy used is very soft and perishable,
and the coin is easy to imitate, and has been
frequently counterfeited. Arrangements have
been made to replace the " Pittis " by a struck
coin made of zinc, of equal value to the " Pittis,"
so soon as there is any indication that the coin
now in circulation is becoming scarce.
A small gold coin called " Mas Dinar " is
found in many parts of the State upon the
sites of ancient towns and forts and was evidently
at one time current throughout the country.
Similar coins have been found in most districts
of the Peninsula, and they usually bear a sun,
a moon, and a fabulous monster, supposed to
be a lion, but more resembling a cow, on one
face, with the words " Malik ul Hal," or simply
" Malik," on the other. The coins were supposed
to be of foreign (possibly Persian) origin until quite
recently several were found on the site of the
old fort at Kubang Labu bearing the word
" Kelantan " upon them, which seems to point
to some at least having been coined locally. At
the present date the coins are not used as money,
but are considered of much talismanic value
against sickness and ill luck, being applied also
to the tongue of the talking minah to assist
that bird in mastering the intricacies of the
64 KELANTAN
Malay language. In fact, the "Mas Dinar" is
the crooked sixpence of the Malay.
Weights and Measures. The system of weights
used in Kelantan is identical with that of
Singapore. The standard of weight is the pikul
(lbs. I33'0. which is divided into lOO katties,
and the kattie again into i6 Tahils. Formerly
no fixity of weight existed, and scales and weights
were manufactured by individuals as desired, but
lately a notification has been issued adopting
the Straits Settlements standard, and balances and
weights are all now inspected by Government
and stamped with the Government mark. The
unit of measurement of capacity is the " Gantang,"
which equals one gallon exactly. This is divided
into four " Chupa." " Gantang " and " Chupa "
measures are all inspected and stamped by
Government. Eight hundred " Gantang " equal
one " Koyan." The unit of measurement of
length is the " Deppa," a standard of which, six
feet in length, was marked a long time ago,
on a brass canon kept in the Palace of H.H.
the Raja. A new standard has recently been
adopted, making the " Deppa " equal to the
Siamese " Wah," that is, exactly two metres.
Half a " Deppa " is called an " Ela," and a
quarter " Deppa " is called a " Hasta." The unit
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES 65
of square measurement is the " Penjuru," equal
to 400 square " Deppas." This unit exactly
corresponds with the " Rai," the unit adopted
by the Siamese Royal Survey Department. One
English acre equals 2.7 "Penjuru."
Industries. The principal industries apart from
all-absorbing agriculture are silk-weaving, boat-
building, fishing and fish-drying, kopra-drying
and brick-making.
Weaving is chiefly confined to the capital.
In almost every house there are one or more
looms upon which the housewife and her daughters
weave silk sarongs, the excellence of which is
justly famed throughout the Peninsula. In these
good times most of the people possess at least
one silk sarong for holiday wear, and the value
of the silk goods exported is over $20,000 per
annum. The pattern of the Kelantan sarongs
is all made in the weaving and is not painted
on afterwards, as is the case with the sarongs
of Java and to a certain extent with those of
Tringganu. The best quality are made with
checks of different colours something after the
fashion of Highland tartan, very handsome
effects being obtained by tasteful blending of
colours.
Since the greater part of the merchandise of
66 KELANTAN
the State became diverted to steamer carriage
the boat-building industry has waned considerably,
but a good deal is still done in the way of
fishing-boat and river-boat building, and many
fine lighters have recently been constructed for
conveyance of cargo to the steamers.
Some thirty thousand people live by sea-
fishing and fish-drying. The nets used vary in
size, the largest being that worked from a
" Payang," a large seaworthy boat with a crew
of twenty men. The fish are sought for by divers,
one of whom accompanies each boat in a little
canoe. On reaching a likely spot this person
paddles off by himself and presently leaves his
canoe and goes below. Down on the green
depths he can, if fairly expert, both see and hear
the fish if there is a shoal in the immediate
neighbourhood, and when he has done so he at
once rises to the surface and indicates by signs
the presence and size of the shoal, and the
direction in which it is travelling. No sooner
are the signals perceived than every man bends
to his paddle, and the great boat rushes through
the water, describing a wide circle round the
diver and paying out net as it goes. When
the circle is complete the drawing begins, and,
if a bin; shoal has been netted, the wildest
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES 67
excitement prevails as the circle narrows. The
men haul upon the net like fiends, shouting and
yelling with delight as each large fish appears.
When a big catch is safe on board, a short
dance of triumph precedes the hoisting of the
sails and a quick run for home, followed by-
further ebullitions of joy when the women come
down to unload the cargo. Such of the fish
as is not eaten fresh, is cleaned, salted, and dried
in the sun, thereafter being packed in large
baskets for export. The value of dried fish
exported amounts to some $120,000 in a year.
All the salt used is imported from Patani, further
up the Peninsula, the Kelantanese having hitherto
neglected the art of salt evaporating. In 1906-7
the salt supply fell off, owing to a cholera
epidemic at Patani, and the export of fish from
Kelantan consequently dropped to $70,000. The
coast of Kelantan is not suited to the use
of stakes for fishing, but these are employed
with success in many of the creeks near the
sea.
The drying of kopra is a simple process which
consists in no more than splitting the coconuts,
extracting the two halves of the kernel and
exposing the same to the sun. Recently a
drying-shed was erected by some enterprising
68 KELANTAN
persons, wherein kopra might be made by means
of artificial heat, but this has proved a very
qualified success.
The brick-making industry fluctuates with the
demand for bricks. Last year about 400,000
bricks were made, chiefly for the use of the
Public Works Department of Government. It
is to be noted that the badly shaped, half-baked
bricks which were formerly made have now
been supplanted by a thoroughly good and
serviceable article.
In the southern part of the State the village
people weave mats of the fibre of the Pandanus
or screw-pine. These are soft, smooth, and
beautifully woven, and by dint of using blue
and red dyes very pretty patterns are produced.
The mats are used for sleeping upon, and
are in great demand in the Kota Bharu
market. Basket- weaving employs a certain
portion of the leisure of many of the people,
the results being frequently of no mean artistic
beauty.
At one time the silversmiths and goldsmiths
of Kelantan were famous for the high excellence
of their work, and there is still a good deal of
old silver-ware to be seen in the houses of the
nobility, judging by which the men who made
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES 69
it must have been possessed of considerable skill.
Unfortunately, however, this art is now almost
extinct, and the work turned out by the few
native jewellers who hang about the Court of
H.H. the Raja is not to be compared with that
of former generations.
CHAPTER XII.
AGRICULTURE.
Kelantan is at present, and within the memory
of man has always been, an agricultural country,
and though the future may possibly see her
mineral resources developed to equal those of
the Malay States which subsist almost solely
on their mines, the great plain, which at present
supports practically the whole of her population,
must always continue to contribute largely to
her wealth. But it must not be considered that,
because almost all her people practise agriculture,
therefore anything approaching the full crop-
bearing capacity of the land has been reached.
The wants of the Kelantan peasant did not
in the past extend much beyond a sufficiency
of rice, tobacco, and betel, a house of a kind,
and a few cotton sarongs for clothing. Indeed,
the knowledge that any superfluous property
AGRICULTURE 71
of which he might become possessed would
speedily be annexed by some member of the
local aristocracy or by the satellites of the nobility
— the latter a large class which subsisted mainly
by robbing and cheating — was usually sufficient
to quench all ambition for the amassing of wealth.
Consequently little more land was cultivated than
served to supply immediate wants, and the man
was formerly thought a fool who expended his
energy in cultivating more than sufficed for these.
The coming of better times has indeed induced
an extension of agriculture, but even now not
more than 450,000 acres are under cultivation
in the whole State.
Rice. The chief product is rice, of which
about 70,000 tons is now produced in a year,
sufficient to feed the entire population and to
provide 4000 to 5000 tons for export. The
area of land under rice cultivation is capable
of great extension, and it is probable that, given
a succession of good seasons, the amount of
rice available for export will increase rapidly.
Rice lands in Kelantan are of three kinds,
each of which demands a separate method of
cultivation. The first is wet land (Tanah Che-
dong), upon which standing water, supplied either
by irrigation or by rainfall, is maintained within
72 KELANTAN
low embankments during the greater part of
the time the crop is on the ground and which
is planted annually ; the second is plough land
(Tanah Tugalan), which is moistened by the
rain, but which retains no water upon its surface,
and which is planted triennially ; and the third
is hill land or jungle (Ladang), which is simply
a patch of fresh cut jungle, burnt, cleaned very
roughly, planted up for one, or at most two
seasons, and thereafter left to revert to its former
condition. The area of Ladang annually brought
under cultivation is small as compared with
that of the other two classes. The implements
used in connection with rice-growing are primitive
in the extreme, the peasantry altogether declining
to employ any but those the usage of which
has been sanctified by the lapse of many centuries.
The plough, which is used for both " Chedong "
and " Tugalan " as soon as the rains of May
and June have softened the earth, is a light
wooden instrument shod with an iron share,
drawn by a pair of bullocks or by a single
buffalo, and turning up a furrow of some three
inches depth. After the first ploughing the
land is left for three or four months, by which
time, if " Chedong," it is flooded, and can be
churned up with the tooth-harrow and brought
AGRICULTURE 73
to a condition of very soft mud, into which
the young rice plants, already germinated in
a nursery near by, are transplanted. If " Tuga-
lan," the ploughed land is treated much in
the same manner as a corn-field in Europe,
the soil is broken up by a harrow and weeded
and cleaned until its red-brown surface is quite
smooth. Grain is then sown broadcast upon
it, the young plants are thinned out when a
few inches high, and one or two subsequent
weedings complete all the operations that are
necessary before reaping. " Ladang " cultivation,
entailing the felling and burning of jungle, can
only be begun after elaborate precautions have
been taken either to propitiate the spirits of
the woods or to deceive them as to the identity
of the proposed cultivator, so that when the
trees are cut down the guardian spirits will
not know upon whom to visit their resentment.
Thereafter the patch is cleared, roughly hoed
over, and the seed dibbled in. A fence is made
round the field to keep out deer and pig, and
the rest is left to nature.
Reaping is a long and painful process whereby
each head of grain is cut off singly with a
small knife-blade, the whole of the straw being
left. The use of the reaping hook is objected
74 KELANTAN
to because the action of reaping is apt to
shake off, and so cause to be lost, a few of
the grains from each ear. Winnowing is done
by hand, and the grain is stored in the husk
until it is wanted, when it is husked by pounding
with a wooden pestle in a mortar made from
a section of a log of timber.
Though the quality and quantity of crops
vary from year to year, absolute failure is
unknown. On one occasion, however, some
seventeen years ago, the death of many of the
ploughing cattle from rinderpest greatly inter-
fered with agriculture, and caused a scarcity
of food which drove many people out of the
State to seek a livelihood elsewhere. The last
three years have seen a great rise in the value of
rice-land, which has, however, been temporarily
checked, in some degree, by the recent introduction
of a graduated tax on such lands, the assessment
of which, entailing land measurement, has caused
some uneasiness in the peasant mind as to
the future intentions of the Government.
Coconuts. The coconut palm is the article
of agriculture next in importance after rice.
Every village is surrounded by plantations of
these tall, graceful trees, which, moreover, in a
thin belt, line the sea-shore throughout almost
AGRICULTURE 75
the whole of the Kelantan littoral, as well as
the edges of all the streams, spreading out
every here and there into great plantations.
There are some 500,000 trees actually in bearing
in the State, while quite as many again have
been planted within the last few years, but
are not yet yielding fruit. The export of kopra
for the year 1906-07 was 41,150 pikuls, or
10,287,000 nuts, to which must be added
136,500 nuts exported whole. The kopra
of Kelantan is of the best quality offered
upon the Singapore market. Naturally the
yield of coconuts will increase as the young
trees come into bearing, and since the local
consumption, which is probably about eight
million nuts a year, is not likely to become
much greater than it is at present, all increase
will be available for export. Provided that no
unexpected calamity occurs to destroy the young
trees which are now coming on, the output of
coconuts for the whole State should be nearly
double what it is now by the end of another
half dozen years. The soil of Kelantan is so
peculiarly well adapted to the growth of coconuts
that planters in the coast districts expect a
return from their trees in six years from the
date of planting, and it is not at all unusual
y6 KELANTAN
to find trees yielding lOO nuts, and more, in
the twelvemonth at the age of eleven years.
Most of the land best adapted to this purpose
is already taken up, but it is probable that at
least 5000 acres of land of the first quality
for coconut cultivation could still be found if
it were required. The price of coconuts, owing
to the good price obtainable for kopra in
Singapore, is at present $3.50 per lOO; but this
is higher than the average, which is nearer $2.50
per 100.
The Kelantan kopra is all sun-dried, which is
one of the reasons why it commands a high
price abroad. The drying industry is largely
in the hands of Chinese, but a good many
nuts are dealt with by the growers since the
Malay began to realise that the saving of carriage
may have something to do with increase of
profits. The coir fibre of the coconuts is neither
used locally nor exported. The first big rise
in the rivers in the autumn brings down tons
of husk which have been left on the sand-banks
where the kopra was dried. It is not at present
worth collecting, but if a coir factory were
started, would at once become a valuable
product.
Betel-Nut. The betel-nut is largely grown and
AGRICULTURE 77
exported from Kelantan, but its cultivation, un-
like that of the coconuts, is not at present being
largely extended. Nevertheless, the prevailing
prices are good, from $3 to $4 per pikul is
the present rate in Singapore, and as the tree
usually begins to yield fruit at the age of three
years, its cultivation should form a profitable
investment.
The betel palm grows best in the interior,
away from the salt sea-breezes, and many
thousands of acres are available for its cultivation.
Other Agricultural Produce. The cultivation of
pepper, gambier, tapioca, tobacco, sugar, and
other valuable plants has hitherto been singularly
neglected in Kelantan, though there is every
reason to suppose that all these would do ex-
tremely well there. Large quantities of gambier
from the neighbouring State of Tringganu, and
of tobacco from Singapore, are annually imported,
both of which could without any difficulty be
grown locally in sufficient quantities to supply
the home market. A few small pepper planta-
tions have been opened within the last three
years, which are now just beginning to yield a
small return. The plants have grown remarkably
well, and their success is encouraging Chinese
planters to the further extension of this form of
78 KELANTAN
agriculture. Tapioca and sugar-cane are grown
in small quantities for home consumption only.
The cultivation of rubber is at the present
moment attracting a good deal of attention
among Malay landholders. The great possi-
bilities of this article have been much impressed
upon the notice of the people by the Government
during the last two years, and travellers to foreign
parts have seen the great forests of plantation
rubber which are growing up in the States of
Perak, Selangor, and elsewhere. The result has
been the importation into the State during the
Mohammedan year 1324 (1906-07) of over
$5000 worth of seeds and young plants by
Malays alone, all of which were planted in small
holdings of twenty acres and under. The success-
ful growth of the young rubber, more particularly
of the young plants imported, has encouraged
others to take up the matter, so that rubber
planting is becoming a craze, and cases of seeds
or consignments of plants are now passing
through the Customs almost every week. How
long the craze will last, and how much of the
rubber now being planted will ever come into
bearing, are other questions. Misfortunes with a
few small plantations before the actual profits
on rubber have become visible, may easily bring
AGRICULTURE 79
about a reaction in the fickle mind of the people,
and the continual care which young plantations
demand is almost certain to prove too much for
many planters ; but the Government is doing its
best to foster the industry, and no effort will be
spared to keep it alive whenever the critical
period of failing interest and courage shall arrive.
Vegetables and Fruits. Sugar-cane, maize, beans,
pumpkins, melons and other vegetables are largely
cultivated on the rich alluvial soil near the rivers,
and find a ready and increasing market in Kota
Bharu. Pine-apples, bananas, langsat, mango-
steens, and durians are amongst the fruits culti-
vated, the latter in enormous quantities. Oranges
were at one time largely grown, and were ex-
ported to Bangkok and to Singapore; but of late
years the trees have been destroyed by a pest of
beetles, and the orchards in which they formerly
grew are now largely given up to the cultivation
of " siri," the acrid leaf which is chewed together
with betel-nut.
Any description of Kelantan would be incom-
plete were it to contain no dissertation on the
durian. This fruit, a large oval the size of a
pine-apple, with hard spiny skin, and from four
to five compartments containing the edible pulp,
is extremely abundant in all parts of the State.
8o KELANTAN
It can hardly be said to be cultivated. Seeding
by accident in the " dusun " or orchards, which
are frequently hardly distinguishable from patches
of wild jungle, the durian tree grows to a height
of from sixty to eighty feet, or even more. Its
growth is slow, and nothing whatever is done for
it in the way of cultivation during the whole of
its existence. It begins to fruit when ten years
old, and continues to do so yearly until it dies,
perhaps 150 years later. Wherever man may
go during the fruit season, durian seeds are
cast about, and consequently the trees are found
not only in the orchards, but on all the river
banks, along jungle paths, and in all manner of
places far away from human habitation. To the
European the fruit is usually unpalatable at the
first attempt to eat it, the very powerful smell
which it gives off being highly offensive to un-
accustomed nostrils. The peculiar odour, how-
ever, pervading the whole atmosphere all through
the durian season, generally becomes inoffensive
to the foreigner after a time, then pleasant, and
finally he will discover the delicious scent raising
in him the same craving for the fruit which it
does in the native. Description of the scent and
taste of the durian is impossible. They must be
experienced to be understood. At the height of
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AGRICULTURE 8i
the season durians are sold in Kota Bharu at
75 for a dollar. The eating of the durian is a
serious business. People take long journeys to
the interior simply to arrive at places where it
grows best ; the most pressing work must be put
aside on the invitation of a friend to a feast in his
durian orchard, and parties will frequently risk
the displeasure of the Imam and stay away from
church on Friday to indulge in an all-day orgie
of this most wonderful fruit.
Foreign Enterprise in Agriculture. Very little
has up to the present time been done in Kelantan
by foreigners in the way of agriculture, a fact
which is scarcely surprising if it be borne in mind
that only a very few years ago the few foreigners
who knew of the existence of the State had heard
of it only as a lawless and savage country, whose
people were given over to all manner of wicked-
ness, and where the life of any stranger, even in
the capital, would not be considered worth many
hours' purchase. When, at last, foreigners pene-
trated into the country with some idea of turning
its resources to account, it was not to planting
but to mining that their attention became directed,
and it was not until towards the end of the year
1905 that the great agricultural possibilities of
the State first began to be appreciated. Early
82 KELANTAN
in 1906 the Duff Development Company, the
holders of a very large mining, planting, and
general trading concession in the State, began to
advertise their concession by various means for
planting purposes, and the Government, about the
same time, took measures to make widely known
the terms and conditions on which planting land
could be obtained in the State. These efforts
resulted in the receipt of numerous inquiries, in
many cases followed by actual selection of land.
Active negotiations are being conducted, and
estates comprising 21,700 acres of land are now
being opened up and planted with coconuts and
with rubber. (See Appendix F.) It is expected
that further areas will be opened up shortly.
Very favourable reports upon the soil of
Kelantan have been made by planting experts.
It is certain that pepper, gambler, and tobacco
would all do exceedingly well in many parts
of the State, while the interior is eminently
suitable for rubber and the coast districts for
coconuts. The local demand alone for gambler
and tobacco should ensure the pecuniary success
of any venture based upon the scientific cultiva-
tion of these.
CHAPTER XIII.
LIVE STOCK.
It has already been said that there is much
land in Kelantan well adapted for grazing
purposes. The inhabitants have long ago taken
full advantage of this fact, with the result that
the State is rich in live stock. No census
of cattle, sheep, or goats has, however, been
attempted, and it is therefore impossible to say
with complete accuracy how many of these
animals there are in the State.
Buffaloes. The buffalo, common to the plains
of India and to all the Indo-Chinese Peninsula,
is bred in Kelantan in considerable numbers.
There are probably not fewer than 20,000 in the
State, most of them being kept in the plains,
where they are used for ploughing. Occasionally
a few are exported overland to the neighbouring
States of Pahang and Perak ; but about the
84 KELANTAN
year 1890 a severe epidemic of rinderpest carried
off large numbers of these animals and rendered
ploughing a matter of great difficulty for several
seasons, and the fear of serious recurrence of
shortage deters people from exporting to any
great extent. The price of an average buffalo
is $40.
Bullocks. The number of ordinar\- cattle main-
tained in the State is very large, the total in
all probability not falling short of 90,000 head.
The breed is the small humped variety common
throughout all the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. A
good deal of attention has been paid to cattle-
breeding in the past, the chief object being to
encourage and accentuate the qualities of strength,
courage, and pugnacity, for Kelantan has for long
been the home of a form of the sport of bull-
fighting. The animals are also used for plough-
ing, and between three and four thousand head
of bullocks are annually exported to Singapore,
where the best are sold as draught cattle and
the rest are slaughtered. The use of cow's milk
for dairy purposes is not practised. The cost
of keep for cattle is practically nothing, unless
the keep include preparation for the fighting-ring,
for which special care, attention, and diet are
necessary. The common herd is simply driven
LIVE STOCK 85
out in the morning to graze in the open, and
at night is driven home again. Sometimes
children go out as cow-herds, but usually the
cattle are allowed to wander without any watcher,
and hence, as a natural sequence, cattle theft is
of common occurrence. A considerable number
of bullocks are slaughtered for food, no wedding
or funeral being considered quite correct without
a generous supply of beef, while at the end of
the fasting month (Ramadan) everybody in the
State manages to get a piece of butchers-meat
wherewith to celebrate his return to normal living
after the painful period of self-denial decreed
by the Prophet for the ninth month of the year.
The hides of locally slaughtered cattle are ex-
ported, the value of these same last year amount-
ing to $46,507. The price of a good bullock
is $30 ; of a cow, about $20.
Rinderpest and anthrax are of only too
common occurrence, and in fact it is rarely that
the State is entirely free from both. It is not
very often, however, that these diseases become
violently epidemic, but when they do so the
entire absence of any attempt at treatment or
effective segregation causes heavy loss.
Sheep. The sheep of Kelantan are worthy of
peculiar notice. There are two distinct breeds,
86 KELANTAN
one of which has fine soft wool and only the
rudiments of ears, while the other has a stiffer
fleece, in which the wool is mixed with hair,
and normal ears. The sheep are small and are
quite unlike those imported from Hongkong to
Singapore and Bangkok, neither do they resemble
the animals to be seen in Burma and in India.
It is not known who first brought sheep to
Kelantan and from what part of the world they
came; but whatever their origin, they are now
thoroughly acclimatised in this part of Malaya,
and are bred in Kelantan, in Patani, and to a
less extent in Tringganu. Strangely enough,
they are not found in the other States or
Provinces of the Peninsula.
The rams are trained for fighting, and when
in full fettle are the most pugnacious little
animals conceivable. The majority of them, as
soon as they meet with a reverse in the arena,
are sold either to the local butchers or to natives
of India, who send them to Singapore. Between
seven and eight hundred head are annually
exported from the State. No females are ever
exported except under special permission of the
Raja. A young ram in good condition can be
bought in Kota Bharu at from $4 to $7 ; the
price of an average ewe is about $2. In 1906 a
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LIVE STOCK 87
flock of eighteen head of specially selected sheep,
both long and short-eared, were supplied to the
Government of French Indo-China at the request
of H.E. the Governor-General, in the hope that
they might become acclimatised and breed there.
Goats. The Kelantan goat is a mixture of
various breeds. All sorts of fancy kinds have
been, and occasionally are still, imported from
Java, India, Mecca, and elsewhere. In the streets
of Kota Bharu they take the place occupied
by pigs and pariah dogs in other eastern towns,
and to some extent perform the scavenging
functions of the latter. They wander in the
market, graze on the " Padang," as the village
green is called, sleep in the streets, and gambol
in and out of the houses, entirely of their own
free will.
The Malays of Kelantan prefer goats' flesh
to mutton, and a large number of goats are
slaughtered to grace their feasts. The export
of these animals has for many years been for-
bidden, a measure which has resulted in a large
increase in their number. The price of an
average goat in Kota Bharu is from $2 to $5.
In the interior they can be bought for rather less.
Poultry. Ducks and fowls are bred in
Kelantan, but no other form of poultry. The
88 KELANTAN
export of ducks was forbidden some years ago,
the authorities being under the impression that
the country was becoming depleted of these
birds. Whatever may have been the case in
the past, there can be no doubt that ducks are
very plentiful now, and though the prohibition
of export has never been withdrawn, it has
become practically a dead letter. Of fowls there
is a very large and an increasing number in
the State. There are no large poultry farms,
but every household possesses a certain number
of hens, which wander freely about all day and
at night roost in the house. No fewer than
88,503 fowls were exported from the State
during the year 1324 (1906-7), all of which
were sent to Singapore to supply the market
there. The price of fowls and ducks in Kota
Bharu is at present twenty-five cents each, or,
if bought in large numbers, twenty cents. They
are sold in Singapore at about forty cents each.
Fresh eggs can usually be bought at from fifty
to seventy-five for a dollar. With a practically
unlimited demand in Singapore, a fowl-run
conducted on a scientific basis would pay well
in Kelantan, the only danger being from
epidemics, fortunately rare, which occasionally
carry off large numbers.
LIVE STOCK 89
Elephants. There are a few tame elephants
in the State, which are used as a means of
transport. They belong chiefly to the aristocracy,
and are about 100 in number. Their owners
are not too proud to hire them out at 50 cents
a day, but, even at that low rate, they are not
an attractive form of conveyance. They carry
absurdly small loads, frequently fall ill, and
sometimes become dangerous and unmanageable.
They are likely to continue in use so long as
the roads are not sufficiently numerous as to
permit the regular employment of other means
of transport, but it is difficult to believe that
anyone will continue to use them thereafter.
It is possible, however, that elephants may
some day be found useful for the working of
timber if that industry undergoes the development
which is hoped for it in the future.
Numerous herds of wild elephants are known
to exist in the State. They are rounded up
periodically, and young animals are captured by
methods very similar to those employed in India
and elsewhere. At the last drive seventeen
were taken.
Horses. The only horses in the State are
imported. The Siam pony, the Deli pony, and
the Australian cob all thrive in the country ;
90 KELANTAN
but there are very few of them, and they are
not much in request except for the stables of
H.H. the Raja and amongst the small European
population.
Pigs. Pigs are of course kept by the Chinese.
There is a pork butcher at Kota Bahru and
another at Tumpat, and from two to three pigs
are killed every day. About looo head are
exported in a year, chiefly to Singapore.
CHAPTER XIV.
LAND.
It has been said above that the area of land
under cultivation by Malays in Kelantan is about
450,000 acres, and it has also been mentioned
that some 21,700 acres have been taken up
for rubber planting purposes. There thus remain
rather over three million acres of waste land, of
which it is probable that about one million acres
are cultivable ; and from this it may be seen
how, the large rural population notwithstanding,
the agricultural resources of the country have as
yet been only partially developed.
The following extract from a report, published
in 1904, sets forth the situation with regard to
the ownership of land in the State :
" The axiom that all land fundamentally
belongs to the ruler obtains in Kelantan, and
though, at present, fallow land is not assessed
92 KELANTAN
to revenue of any kind, there is in reality no
such thing as freehold landed property there.
In the plains, however, where land is of high
value, it is almost all held by persons who have
acquired the status of landholders, that is, who
have acquired heritable and alienable rights by
grant or purchase from the ruler at some more
or less remote period.
"Previous to the year 1299 of the Moham-
medan era (1881), the State kept no sort of
land registers, and consequently little or nothing
was known of the condition of land tenure in
different districts, except to the local Headman,
in whose hands lay the disposal of waste lands
on behalf of the ruler. A person desiring
to take up land had to apply, in accordance
with a very old-established custom, to the
Headman of the district in which land in
question was situated, and from him to obtain
permission to occupy, on payment of a fee
which varied according to the nature of the
land. The fee was supposed to be paid in to
the ruler, but was usually retained by the
Headman. Having paid the fee and taken
possession, the holder had done all that was
considered necessary ; but as title granted by
the rural officials was not considered as con-
LAND 93
stituting an indisputable right, he could never
be certain that his land would not at some
future date be taken from him and given away
elsewhere.
"In the year 1299 (1881), however, the Sultan
Mulut Merah (Phaya Pak Deng) introduced a
system of registration of all changes of tenure, by
which means land purchased or inherited was
definitely recognised as the property of the
registering party, and later on, in the year 13 14
(1896), the Sultan Mansoor inaugurated a Land
Office, for the keeping of such registers and for
the issue of proper title deeds. A person who
had acquired land by application to the local
authorities was thus enabled to secure his title
beyond the possibility of dispute by registering
at the Land Office, and there receiving a title
deed or " Grant," as it was called, the name whence
Sultan Mansoor got his idea. Not content with
the issue of deeds to voluntary applicants, the
Sultan, in 13 17 (1899), sent out a commission to
inquire into the tenure of land already alienated
by the State, with a view to the compulsory
issue of deeds to all landholders."
That commission is still at work, and during
the eight years of its existence has examined into
the tenure of the lands of eighteen of the most
94 KELANTAN
densely settled parishes, and issued thirty
thousand permanent title deeds. This work,
though highly creditable to the rulers who
conceived and set it going, was at first very
perfunctorily carried out, was only too often
made use of by persons whose high position
enabled them to browbeat mere officials, in order
to secure to themselves lands to which their
right was defective. It now devolves upon a re-
organised Land Office to adjust, as far as may
be possible, the errors of former da}'s, and at
the same time to continue, in accordance
with the original method, but without the
accompanying corruption, the issue of deeds to
cover the remainder of the occupied land in
the State. The system of land registration
formerly in force has already been satisfactorily
reformed. Uncleared waste land, if taken up
for rubber or other planting, is held under
special planting lease, issued under the easiest
possible conditions.
CHAPTER XV.
TIMBER AND FOREST PRODUCE.
Timber. The jungles of Kelantan contain
many different kinds of timber, some of which
are of considerable value. In the southern
part of the State there are upwards of 3000
square miles of forest where Merbau, Giam,
Meranti, Kulim, Balau, Klat, and many other ex-
cellent kinds of timber-trees flourish exceedingly.
In the jungles farther north, more especially about
the Bukit Merbau and Bukit Yong hills, the
Changal tree and the T'mbusu grow, while
on the low-lying lands near the sea, and
subject to occasional inundations of brackish
water, the Glam grows in profusion.
The Changal is the most important timber
tree found in the Malay Peninsula. It is hard,
heavier than water, close-grained, and withal
easy to work. Moreover, it resists the action
96 KELAXTAN
of weather and is impervious to the attacks of
white ants. The surface of the wood, when
first exposed to the air, is of a pale yellow
colour, which, however, soon turns brown and
ultimately almost black. Three kinds of Changal
are found in Kelantan, namely-, Changal Batu,
Changal Resak Batu, and Changal Pasir, the
last being the least valuable. The wood is
used for the posts and outer walls of the better
class of dwellings, and, when available, for all
purposes where the action of the weather is to
be withstood. It is, however, an expensive
timber, running about 1 5 cents per cubic foot,
and is consequently not within the reach of
everybody. Merbau, T'mbusu, and Glam are all
good hard woods, but have not the imperishable
qualities of Changal, and are more difficult to
work. Glam is largely used as fuel in Kota
Bahru. The timber of Kelantan was, until
quite lately, worked very little, the greater part
of the Changal used being imported from the
Pahang State and the cheap timber from
Singapore. Lately, however, the consumption
of home-grown timber has increased considerably,
a steam saw-mill started by the Duff Develop-
ment Company during the last year has brought
a lot of the better-class soft woods on to the
:ir
FOREST PRODUCE 97
market, while the Changal forests in the south-
east of the State are now producing most of
the hard timber required in the capital and
elsewhere for bridges, house-building, boat-
building, etc. There is so much good second-
class timber available in the State as to warrant
the hope that before long timber will become
an important article of export.
Forest Produce. The jungles in which the
timber grows are also rich in various other
produce, of which wild rubber and gutta, resin
and gharu, rattan and bamboo are the most
important. The extraction of these articles has
not, however, except in the case of wild rubber
and gutta, been developed to any great extent,
for the reasons that the Kelantan Malay, being
already well off in the open plains, is not much
given to roaming the jungles for a living ; while
the crushing royalties formerly demanded by
the ruler of the State, on all such produce as
was extracted, usually reduced the profits on
the same to vanishing point. The extraction
of wild rubber and gutta, however, was farmed
by the State to persons who induced a con-
siderable number of Dyaks to come in and
collect the same for them. Their methods being
crude and highly wasteful, the output of rubber
98 KELANTAN
and gutta has diminished very much of late
years, and for the year 1324 (1906-07) the
value of the produce exported was little more
than $25,000. Wild rubber is procured from
the Rambong {Ficus elastica) and closely allied
species, most of which grow into very large
forest trees.
Gutta-Percha. Gutta, known in commerce as
" Gutta-percha," or the sap of the Percha tree,
is obtained from the Percha, and from several
other trees and vines which flourish in the same
localities. Of these the Taban {Diclwpsis Gutteri)
produces the finest and most valuable gutta,
while from the Gutta Puteh tree, the Gutta Merah
tree, the Palan, the Jcletong, and many others
a poorer quality is obtained. The world's supply
of gutta — a substance for which the demand,
largely in connection with the manufacture of
electrical appliances, is rapidly increasing — is all
obtained from the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and
Sumatra, in which localities only the gutta-
bearing trees are found. The varieties produced
vary greatly in value. Good Gutta Taban
realises sometimes as much as $500 per pikul
of 133^ lbs., while other qualities range from
$250 down to $80. The supply, more especially
of Gutta Taban, is very limited, and, for reasons
FOREST PRODUCE 99
already stated, tends to become more so. The
Taban tree is said to yield from 2^ to 3 lbs. of
gutta when it has reached the age of thirty years,
but the great demand has caused the felling of
countless young trees for the sake of the few
ounces which can be obtained from each, and
thus even the richest forests have become
practically exhausted after a comparatively short
period of working. Sixty-three years have passed
since gutta-percha was first employed in the
arts and manufactures of Europe. During that
time many millions of Taban trees have been
felled to supply the market, and, though con-
servation has recently been adopted in some
States, it is probable that the measure has come
too late to prevent the total extermination of
the best kinds of gutta-producing trees in many
great forest areas. It is probable that the
cultivation of some of the fast-growing gutta
plants, several of which can be tapped successfully
after from six to ten years' growth, would be
found almost as highly profitable in the future
as is the cultivation of Para rubber at the present
moment. For this purpose the soil and climate
of Kelantan are entirely suitable and large areas
of land, at present of small value, are available.
Various Produce. Large quantities of bamboo
lOO KELANTAN
are annually cut in the forests of the far interior,
and are floated down river to Kota Bharu for
sale. The price varies from $3 to $5 per
hundred according to the season of the year.
Various kinds of resin, known collectively as
" Dannar," are obtained for making torches and
caulking for boats ; but though the material
available in the jungle is practically without
limit, the amount got out does not come within
reasonable distance of supplying local wants, and
a considerable quantity is therefore imported
from Tringganu. The " Damar " is undoubtedly
among the undeveloped riches of Kelantan. Its
extraction in the forests leased to the Duff
Development Company is now receiving the
serious consideration of that corporation, and it
is to be hoped that before long the " Damar "
required for use in the State will be all of home
production.
The Rattan cane plant has suffered from
reckless and wasteful exploitation to the same
extent as the gutta. The best quality of cane,
" Rotan Sega Mas," never very abundant, has
been worked out, and is now found only in very
small quantities. Of the less valuable kinds
a good deal is still worked to supply local
demands, but little or none is exported.
CHAPTER XVI.
MINERALS AND MINING.
The fame of Kelantan as a mineral- bearing
country extends throughout all the neighbouring
Malay States, to Siam proper, and to other
contiguous lands, and once upon a time, when
all parts of the Malay Peninsula were in an
equally undeveloped condition, the mineral pro-
ducts of Kelantan considerably exceeded in value
those of any other State. At the present day,
however, the enormous development of tin mining
in the eastern States and the practical cessation
of gold mining in the western has entirely
changed the situation, and Kelantan, at this
moment, is actually producing less mineral
wealth than any State of the Peninsula. The
causes which have led to this altered state of
things have nothing to do with the quantity or
quality of the minerals available, recent prospecting
102 KELANTAN
work having shown that Kelantan is possessed of
extensive mineral resources which were unknown
to the gold workers of the past, but are solely
the outcome of administrative conditions. Some
fifty years ago (long before the beginning of that
development of the western Malay States under
British guidance which has been one of the
phenomena of recent tropical administration), the
gold mining of Kelantan could more than vie
with the tin mining of the western States ; but
while the latter, under able and judicious govern-
ment, has of late advanced enormously, years
of misrule and neglect have hampered and
finally all but annihilated the former.
Gold. Gold has been mined in Kelantan from
a very remote period, a fact which is attested
by the presence of traces of old workings in
many parts of the State, the history of which
has been entirely lost. Apparently the industry
has always been entirely in the hands of
Chinese, who must have settled in the gold-
producing districts in considerable numbers,
and a few of whose descendants persist, to this
day, at Pulai and elsewhere. During ancient
days, when there was no Raja in Kelantan of
any far-reaching power, the Pulai settlement
grew into a rich and powerful community
MINERALS AND MINING 103
regarding with very scant respect the orders
of the Malays sent by the Rajas to make demands
for royalties on the gold resulting from their
mining, and frequently sending such messengers
back to the capital with scant politeness. At
length, however, during the time of Raja Mahmat
they fell upon evil days. A monopoly for the
sale of rice having been given by the Raja
to his son the Temangong, the latter proceeded
to Pulai to enforce his rights there. The Chinese
miners, who lived entirely on rice which was
brought up the river from the plains, refused
to comply with the extortionate demands of
the monopolist. The traffic of rice-boats on the
river was stopped, famine supervened, and the
starving miners, excited and exhorted thereto
by a brother of the Temangong, attacked and
killed the princeling monopolist. Thereupon with
all haste an expedition was organised from
Kota Bharu by the son of the murdered
Temangong, who ascended the river, overcame
the Chinese, and put the whole community to
the sword. The river ran red with blood,
decaying corpses polluted the air for miles,
the gold amassed by years of labour became
the spoil of the avengers, and the gold mining
industry of Kelantan came to a sudden end.
104 KELANTAN
Gradually, however, in after years, the village
of Pulai grew again, a few survivors of the
massacre being induced to return and to under-
take gold-washing in the river. Here they
were ultimately found by the first Europeans
who explored the country, and the lands which
they and their ancestors worked are now
incorporated in the numerous mining concessions
which were recklessly granted by H.H. the
Raja a few years ago.
As mentioned above, prospecting operations
have recently shown that the country still
holds rich deposits of gold, but, for reasons
quite other than those which caused the waning
of the ancient Chinese industry, the efforts of
Europeans to convert it into money have not
hitherto been crowned with success, and even
as the Chinese, with their primitive implements
and methods, were ruined by oppression and
misrule, so workers with the costly scientific
appliances of modern mining have, even while
winning fair quantities of gold, seen their
labours stultified by over capitalization and
business ineptitude. It is a melancholy fact
that while the value of gold exported from the
State during the year 1906-07 was $212,984.00,
or about ;{^2 5,000, the company which produced
MINERALS AND MINING 105
the greater part of it was recently forced to
go into liquidation.
Tin. Indications of the presence of tin abound
in Kelantan, The geological formation is very
similar to that of the other States where most
tin is found, and in many parts of the country
rich samples of ore have been obtained from
time to time. Some fifteen years ago the Sultan
Ahmad, hearing of the development of tin
mining which was proceeding in the other
States, made arrangements with a Chinese
expert to have prospecting work done. The
expert duly visited the State and sent agents
to travel through the interior. After some
months spent in making inquiries and in obtaining
samples, the Chinaman announced that though
there was clearly a certain amount of tin in
the State, the general conditions of the country
were such that it could not be worked at a
profit. He then withdrew to Patani, where he
is still residing.
It is a well-known fact that in the first
place the Chinese expert and his men made
no thorough examination of any part of the
State, and that the difficulties of transport,
the insecurity of property and of life, and the
rapacity of the nobility, which then obtained.
io6 KELANTAN
were the principal reasons for his conclusion
that tin mining would not pay in Kelantan.
These obstacles having now been removed,
the accounts of rich deposits of tin, still, as
ever, current amongst the inhabitants, are again
attracting attention. Careful prospecting has
been undertaken in more than one district,
and the results obtained permit the hope that
the State will ultimately prove as rich in this
metal as the other States which lie round it.
Other Minerals. Galena, containing both gold
and silver with the lead, is known in various
parts of the State, and this ore to the value
of $8000 was exported during the year 1906-07.
Rich deposits of it have been discovered in
the concession of the Duff Development Company,
but it seems probable that the difficulty in
treating the ore will make the successful working
of a galena mine impossible until means of
communication are available better than those
now existing. Iron pyrites has also been found,
and hot springs containing sulphur salts occur
in several places, the properties of which may
be of medicinal value.
Mining Concessions. H.H. the present Raja,
shortly after his accession, gave away amongst
his friends and relatives the mining rights over
MINERALS AND MINING 107
almost the whole mineral-bearing area of the
State. These gifts took the form of concessions,
good for thirty years and upwards, conveying
to the recipients the maximum of privileges
while imposing the minimum of liabilities, so
that when, four years ago, the reorganisation
of the State was seriously undertaken by His
Siamese Majesty's Government, it was found
that the control of affairs, so far as mining
was concerned, had passed in a great measure
beyond the reach of the Government. Attempts
were being made to develop one enormous
concession, attempts which, owing to want of
sufficient working capital proved for a long
time abortive, while in the seven other con-
cessions, which covered the remainder of the
mineral area, absolutely no effort had been made
to start work of any kind. Fortunately, however,
there existed, in all the concession documents,
a time clause, and under the provisions of this,
the Government has been able to recover a
fair interest in the development of many of
them, and at the same time to assist the holders
in exploiting their remaining rights. The majority
of the concessionaires being persons quite unable
to develop their rights themselves, and altogether
ignorant of the methods by which capital and
io8 KELANTAN
expert knowledge may be brought to their assist-
ance, the Government has stepped in to their
aid, and has spared no efifort to bring them
into communication with persons of repute in
the mining world. Many difficulties have been
encountered owing to the bad reputation which
the failure of early efforts has earned for the
State, but these are being slowly overcome. Two
concessions have been taken up by syndicates,
comprising well-known tin and gold mining
experts, and active negotiations are now in
progress with regard to two others. Furthermore,
the company whose non-success has hitherto so
much hindered progress is now apparently enter-
ing upon a period of comparative prosperity,
having, in fact, recently reached a total of lOOO
ounces of gold for one month's work, so that
there seems at last good prospect of an early
and a steady development of the mineral resources
of the State.
CHAPTER XVII.
GOVERNMENT.
Kelantan is governed by a Raja, whose office,
subject to the will of His Majesty the King
of Siam, is hereditary, assisted by a Council
composed of the most influential persons in the
State, and in accordance with the advice of
His Siamese Majesty's representative (an English-
man). Since the beginning of the year 1904
laws have been passed by His Highness in
Council providing for the administration of justice,
for the control of the police, for the collection
of revenue, and for various other matters, while
departments embracing all branches of govern-
ment have been created and organised. At
the head of each department is one of the
principal nobles, assisted in the management
of the affairs entrusted to him by one of the
Siamese or English officers already alluded to
no KELANTAN
as having been specially engaged for the service
of the State. The ancient customs of the country
are adhered to as far as is compatible with
government in the interests of the people, and
not solely for the benefit of the upper class.
Police. The Police force of the State consists
of 250 men, of whom fifty are Sikhs and Punjabi
Mohammedans and the remainder Malays. There
is one English officer in the force. The uniform
is khaki, and about half the men are armed
with rifles. There is no other armed force of
any kind in the State. The strength of the
Police will probably be increased in the near
future.
Justice. The Court of H.H. the Raja is
the High Court for the State, and also the
only Court of Appeal. With His Highness
sit a Malay nobleman and a Siamese officer
of considerable local experience as Assistant
Judges. His Majesty's representative sits as a
Court of Revision. There is a Central Court at
Kota Bharu, and there are three Courts of Small
Causes in different parts of the State. The
general manager of the Duff Development
Company also is empowered to try certain
offences.
Eevenue. The total annual revenue of the
GOVERNMENT iii
State since the year 1322 (1904-05) is as
follows :
1322 - - $168,108.7.11.
1323 - - $207,979-4.59-
1324 - - $
1325 (estimated) $319,700.0.00.
The principal heads of collection are land
revenue, customs, and excise.
The principal revenues of the country are
collected by a Land Revenue Department and
by a Customs Department. The former controls
the land taxes, royalties on minerals and timber,
boat registration, trading licenses, and other
branches. The Customs Department collects
all import and export duties and port dues.
The majority of these items of revenue were
formerly farmed from the Government by individ-
uals, whose rights have recently been relinquished
to the State on payment of compensation, which
in some instances have been considerable.
Treasury. The State Treasury receives and
accounts for all revenue and public moneys, and
disburses all pensions, salaries, and other charges
on the Government. This office was organised,
with the other Government departments, in 1 904,
and the following extract from a report on
112 KELANTAN
the State, published in that year, will convey
some idea of the manner in which the finances
of the State were administered prior to that date.
" A difficult problem involved in the initiation
of reform was the creation of a State Treasury,
into which it would be wrong for any one,
even His Highness himself, to dip when in
need of cash for purposes other than those of
State. Hitherto the Treasury consisted of two
or three clerks at His Highness' Palace, who
received the revenue, made a — usually inaccurate
— note of it, and passed it on into the interior
of the Palace, whence it never again emerged
unless, at uncertain intervals, grudgingly, to pay
long-standing accounts for jewelry and similar
luxuries. Coin once received in the coffers of
His Highness was no longer available for State
purposes, salaries, such as they were, being payable
only when there happened to be money in the
hands of the Treasury clerks and not yet remitted
inside. If the Government was suddenly called
upon to make quite unavoidable payments,
recourse was had to the opium or export farmers,
who were invited to advance the sum required,
against the revenue payable by them, and
running accounts were kept with the farmers,
for this purpose, which, it is needless to say
GOVERNMENT 113
were usually to the disadvantage of the State.
His Highness' bank consisted of a cache in the
hills a few miles distant from the capital, and
thither mysterious convoys of elephants were peri-
odically escorted, laden presumably with wealth."
At the present day the State Treasury is a
fixed institution. H.H. the Raja has his privy
purse, and the nobility their State pensions, all
of which are paid from the Treasury, and
order has been taken that the revenues, without
exception, pass under the care of the State
Treasury officer.
Eural Government. The interior of the State
is administered by means of a village system
resembling that in force in Siam. Each village
has its own Headman or " Toh Kampong,"
who is responsible to a Circle Headman or
" Toh Kweng," appointed by the Government
usually after selection by the people, to the
charge of a group of villages. The circles
again are grouped to form districts, each under
the charge of a District Officer, who is Magis-
trate, Land Officer, and Revenue Officer for his
charge. At the capital there is a Central
Office, where all reports from the interior are
received, and whence issue all orders concerning
rural administration.
p
CHAPTER XVIII.
GENERAL.
Sanitary. The plain of Kelantan is probably
as healthy a spot as any in the Far East.
The sandy, well-drained soil, the open nature
of the country, the sea breezes, the mildness of
the tropical heat, and the absence of sudden
changes of temperature, render all serious forms
of fever very rare ; dysenter)' and smallpox,
though usually present in the interior, rarely
assume epidemic form, cholera and beri beri
hardly ever appear, and plague is hitherto
unknown.
In the southern, mountainous districts, where
the country is covered with jungle, and where
the temperature is subject to a wider range,
fevers are more common, but even there they
are not usually of a malignant nature, and may
be avoided by Europeans by attention to food,
GENERAL 115
clothing, and personal hygiene generally. Beri
beri has also occurred amongst estate coolies
and miners who, with the conservative obstinacy
of Chinamen, insist upon eating stale and often
mouldy rice imported from Singapore rather
than the freshly husked but unmilled local
produce. Where Kelantan rice has been sub-
stituted for imported grain the ravages of beri
beri have invariably been checked. A highly
experienced and able English medical officer
is attached to the Duff Development Company,
Limited, whose services can usually be obtained
on application to the company, and a duly
qualified Siamese medical officer is in charge
of the Kota Bharu Hospital and of the State
Medical Department. Upwards of ten thousand
persons have been vaccinated during the course
of the last four years, to which number the
Duff Company's doctor has largely contributed.
Vaccination is voluntary, and is given free of
charge ; but the people are never very anxious
to avail themselves of it, except when in dread
of an epidemic of smallpox.
Skin diseases are very prevalent amongst the
peasantry, and are of many different kinds.
Dr. J. D. Ginlette, the Duff Company's medical
officer, has made an exhaustive study of these.
ii6 KELANTAN
and has embodied the results of his researches
in more than one extremely valuable brochure
on the subject.
To the European the climate and general
conditions of life in Kelantan are very healthy,
provided that the common precautions necessary
in all tropical countries are reasonably observed.
Education. Up to the year 1904 nothing
had been done to provide education for the
youth of Kelantan. The boys of the upper
class were generally taught to read and write
by private tuition, and numerous Hajis gave
instruction in reciting the Koran. At the end
of that year, however, a small school was
started at Kota Bharu by the Government,
where education in reading, writing, and arith-
metic, and in the elements of geography, were
provided free. This venture has prospered ; the
school now contains eighty-three pupils, and,
after four years of existence, is turning out
boys with sufficient education to fit them for
clerkships in the Government offices. A school
with a Government grant-in-aid has also been
started in connection with the central Musjid,
where mixed secular and religious education is
provided, and the Chinese merchants have
subscribed to form a school for their sons,
GENERAL 117
where English is taught in addition to the
elements.
There is a good demand for education among
the townspeople of Kota Bharu, but little or
none amongst the country folk. The experiment
of Government village schools has not yet been
tried.
Sports and Pastimes. Sir Frank Swettenham,
in his recent monumental work on the States
of the Malay Peninsula, very truly observes
that a striking peculiarity about Kelantan is
that the capital is given up to various forms
of relaxation in a way unknown to any other
State in the Peninsula.
The Malay is a thorough sportsman, and
would doubtless devote a great part of his
time to games everywhere did the same facili-
ties, or rather encouragements, prevail as in
Kelantan. The fact is that bull-fighting, buffalo-
fighting, ram-fighting, cock-fighting, fish-fighting,
and boat-racing, are the delight of the Raja
and the nobility, and are freely encouraged and
supported by them. One of the uncles of the
Raja is the official organiser of these sports,
and in his office are maintained registers of all
the fighting bulls, buffaloes, and rams in the
State. He is constantly kept informed of the
Il8 KELANTAN
training and condition of the animals, and
arranges, in their due season, the matches which
are fought at the tournaments held both at the
capital and at various places in the interior.
At the present time bull-fighting is the most
popular sport, that being the favourite form
of amusement of the Raja. Since gambling
by Malays, with cards or dice, is strictly
forbidden, the people find an outlet for their
gaming proclivities in staking money on the
issue of bull-fights, and very large sums are
frequently laid on these events. The conduct
of a bull-fight is surrounded by considerable
etiquette. The animals which are about to
engage are paraded, snorting and pawing, round
the ring, and the sportsmen outside the ropes
are invited to back their fancy. All bets must
be supported with ready money, the stakes
are entered in a book, and are laid before the
highest noble present, who acts as President of
the games, and also as umpire. When all the
bets have been satisfactorily arranged a small
green tree-branch is stuck into the ground in
the middle of the ring, the bulls are led forward
and are released, when they immediately engage
with much fury. The contest which ensues
consists in steady, determined pushing, head to
GENERAL 119
head, alternating with sudden butts, by which
the bulls try to get inside each other's guard
with the sharp points of their horns. Every
movement is watched with the most intense
interest by the crowd, which by now is densely
packed, sitting and standing round the ring,
and who hail each thrust or turn of a horn
with shouts of delight or groans of dismay.
At length one of the animals, feeling itself
no match for the other, suddenly turns tail
and makes off, breaking wildly through the
ring and flying in any direction, closely pursued
by the victor. This is the signal for an
outburst of enthusiasm from the onlookers,
which expresses itself by leaping and dancing,
singing and shouting, His Highness himself, if
backing the right animal, not disdaining a few
steps of fantastic dance. Meanwhile a brass cup
with a small hole in the bottom has been set
floating in a jar of water beside the umpire,
and the trainers of the bulls have gone to
retrieve their animals. In former days, when
the fights were held on the village green, the
bulls frequently chased each other through the
streets, to the complete demoralisation of
traffic, before they were recaptured. Now the
arena is outside the town and surrounded by
I20 KELANTAN
open country. If the worsted bull can be
induced to come up to the green branch before
the brass cup has filled with water and sunk,
the fight is continued ; if not, then that animal
is declared to have been beaten and the stakes
are handed over. Bullock-fighting is not in-
dulged in all the year round, but is mainly
confined to the months of May, June, July, and
August.
Buffalo-fights are similar to bull-fights except
that the buffalo is a much heavier and stronger
animal than the bull, whence it often happens
that combats terminate fatally, to the huge
delight of the audience.
Careful breeding for many generations, and
generous feeding, have made of the fighting
ram an animal from whose rudimentary mind
the overmastering desire to butt something is
never absent. Consequently his chief delight
consists in a nice level pitch with a line across
the middle and his enemy at the far end of it,
straining to get loose and to charge, with an
impatience equal to his own. A ram-fight
consists of a series of astonishing charges with
crashing impact of horn on horn, repeated until
one or other combatant is too weak and dazed
to continue.
^►tVp«
-^ >^- mei !
GENERAL 121
Cock-fighting is conducted on lines similar
to those customary in other lands, the mains
being fought without steel spurs or other adven-
titious arms.
Fish-fighting consists of the absurd struggles
and contortions of two flushed and angry little
red fish in a bottle full of water, a contest
seemingly of entirely uninteresting nature, but
which for hours on end commands the absorbed
attention of true votaries of the sport.
The daily occupation of many thousands of
Kelantan Malays calls for skill in the use of
the paddle. Consequently when the boat-racing
season comes round, after the floods are over,
there is no lack of men, many of whom are
among the finest paddlers in the world, to man
the boats. The racing craft of Kelantan are
long graceful canoes with sharp-pointed prow
and stern, built to seat, usually, a dozen men.
The crew faces the prow and the bow-man sets
the stroke and keeps the time. The stern-man
steers with his paddle. The boats and the
broad blades of the paddles are gaily painted,
and the sight of the latter flashing together to
the stroke in perfect unison is a stirring one.
There are three strokes, the slow, the fast, and
a compound of three rapid strokes and a wait.
Q
122 KELANTAN
The slow stroke is used at the beginning of a
race, the compound stroke as the pace warms
up, and the fast stroke towards the end. Very
frequently there is no winning post, a race
continuing until the rhythnnical swing of the
crew and the force of the fast stroke force one
or other boat under water amidst the wildest
excitment of both spectators and performers.
The great occasion for boat-racing is the annual
opening of the fishing season by the Raja,
when His Highness, accompanied by a large
following, goes down to the mouth of the river
and camps out for a fortnight on one of the
sand-banks of the lagoon, holding high revel
all the time and on a propitious day putting
out to sea in a fishing boat and catching the
first fish of the season.
The kite-flying season begins in December
and continues until March, when the north-west
wind drops and the land and sea breezes begin.
At this season large numbers of kites are to
be seen flying above the capital on every after-
noon, filling the air with a loud humming pro-
duced by a bow-like arrangement which is
fastened to each kite. The kites are flown late
into the night, and rows of little lights are then
suspended from the kite strings with pretty effect.
GENERAL 123
The game of " Raga," the kicking of a cane
ball into the air, is played by almost every
young man in the State. The best exhibitions
are to be seen on the Kota Bharu " Padang" ;
but the players do not show as much dexterity
at the game as the Siamese and Burmese,
who are also much addicted to this form of
amusement.
There is a sporting club outside the town
of Kota Bharu, whither the young men of the
better class, chiefly Government officials, proceed
on their bicycles in the evenings to play tennis,
badminton, or cricket, where clay-pigeon-shooting
meetings are held on Friday afternoons, and
where football matches are played. There is
also a sporting club at Kuala Lebir, the head-
quarters of the Duff Development Company.
Snipe are the only form of game to be found
in the neighbourhood of Kota Bharu. They are
fairly plentiful, and the snipe-shooting season
lasts from September to February. In the
interior of the State game of all kinds is very
abundant. Elephant, tiger, bear, leopard, sladang
(Burmese Tsine), rusa (Hindi Sambhur), pig, and
barking deer are all fairly common, while rhino
and tapir are occasionally met with. A wild
goat of the species known in India as " Serao"
124 KELANTAN
was obtained a short while ago near Kuala Lebir,
this being in all probability the only specimen
e\*er secured in the Malay Peninsula.
Of birds, jungle-fowl, peacock, the argus, fire-
back, red-head and other pheasants, the lesser
francolin, quail, and many kinds of pigeon are
fairly common.
Ver>- little game shooting has been done in
Kelantan. The Sakeis and the few Malays who
live in the jungle are accomplished trappers,
but none of the former, and but few of the latter,
possess firearms of much value for sporting
purposesw The sporting proclivities of the Malay,
which makes him an excellent shikari, and the
abundance of game, would ensure good sport
to the European sportsman who should visit the
State with plenty of time at his command to
penetrate far into the interior.
Cost of Uvins. The cost of living in Kelantan
is now alike for Asiatics and Europeans ; good
rice, fish, meat, and supplies of all kinds are
abundant and cheap at Kota Bharu, where almost
anj-thing in the way of stores can also be
obtained. The wages of Chinese servants are
20% higher than in Singapore, but are lower
than in Bangkok.
Opmiiicn for BBplojmeBt. Neither Europeans
GENERAL i->5
nor educated Asiatics are advised to seek eti\-
ployment in Kelatitan. The employees of the
different companies are usually engagjed by their
agents in Sinerapore and elsewhere, and it very
seldom happens that they are able to give
employment to chance comers. There is, how-
ever, a constant and growing demand for un-
skilled manual labour, ami coolies coming to
Kelantan in search of labour arc pretty sure
to obtain work.
126 KELANTAN
APPENDIX (A).
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE OF KELANTAN.
Ruler — His Highness the Raja Snik bin Almorhom Sultan
Ahmat (Phaya Phi Pit Pakdi).
His Siamese Majesty's Resident Commissioner and
Adviser to H.H. the Raja, - W. A. Graham.
Assistant do. do., - H. W. Thomson, B.A.
THE COUNCIL OF STATE.
President, . - . . His Highness the Raja.
The Resident Commissioner and Adviser.
His Highness the Raja Muda (Phra Yudi Pradiyut).
The Assistant Resident Commissioner and Adviser.
The Tungku Sri Indra (Phra Ratsada Tibodi But).
The Tungku Petra Dalam Kabun (Phra Phitak Detcha
Rat).
The Tungku Chik Penambang (Phra Amnat Amnoe Kit).
The Tungku Sri Maha Raja (Phra Phichai Rat Riticharn).
The Tungku Petra Semarak (Phra Nakaret Noraraks).
The Tungku Sri Perkurma Raja (Phra Rachanukorn
Prasit).
APPENDIX
127
The Tungku Temanggong.
The Tungku Besar Tuan Yusof.
The Tangku Chik Tuan Lah.
The Datoh Mintri (Luang Rachanumat Boribun).
The Mufti.
OFFICERS ENGAGED FROM ABROAD BY THE
STATE.
H. E, Pennington, B.A.,
Luang Tammarat Toraton,
C. A. H Keenlyside,
P. S. Nairn, -
Khun Saman Tat Wicharn,
- Secretary to the Resident
Commissioner.
- Judge of the High Court.
- Superintendent of Lands.
- Superintendent of Police.
- State Medical Officer.
128
KELANTAN
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APPENDIX 129
APPENDIX (C).
STEAMER COMMUNICATION ON THE KELANTAN
RIVER.
The Duff Development river steamers (under contract
with the Government).
PVequent communication between Tumpat (Kuala
Kelantan) and Kota Bharu.
Fares, ist Class, - - . . $3.00.
,, Deck, ----- 0.50.
Weekly service between Kota Bharu and Batu
Mengkebang (40 miles), calling at Pasir Mas and Tanah
Merah, and vice versa : *
Fares.
ist Class. Deck.
Kota Bharu to Pasir Mas, - - $10 $0.50
Kota Bharu to Tanah Merah, - $10 $1.50
Kota Bharu to Batu Mengkebang, $18 S2.0
Goods freight on application. No return tickets issued.
The East Asiatic Company, Ltd.
A steamer arrives from Bangkok and ports every
Friday, and leaves for Singapore at midnight on every
Saturday.
A steamer arrives from Singapore at midnight on every
Monday, and leaves for Bangkok and ports on every
Tuesday afternoon.
Fares.
ist Class. Deck.
Kelantan-Singapore, 2^ days, - $30 $3- 5°
Kelantan-Bangkok, 7 days, - $65 $7.00
Deck passengers pay 50 cents a day each for food,
extra.
* This steamer carries the Government mails.
R
130
KELANTAN
APPENDIX (D).
KELANTAN POSTAL AND TELEGRAPH TARIFF,
STEAMER FARES, ETC.
Postal Tariff.
Local letter postage,
Letter postage to any
other part of Siam.
Foreign letter postage,
Inland post-cards, -
Foreign post-cards, -
- 19 Kepings (equal to 4 atts
Siamese) forevery 15 grammes
or part of 1 5 grammes.
- 39 Kepings (equal to 8 atts)
for every 15 grammes or
part of 15 grammes.
- 44 Kepings (equal to 9 atts)
for every 15 grammes or
part of 15 grammes.
- 10 Kepings (equal to 2 atts)
each.
- 19 Kepings (equal to 4 atts)
each.
Note. — Postage stamps and post-cards in use are the ordinary
stamps and post-cards of Siam, but must be bought in Kelantan,
the import of postage stamps and post-cards from other parts of
Siam being forbidden.
APPENDIX 131
Telegraphs Tariff.
To any part of Siam, - First ten words or less, 5
Kupangs and 12 Kepings.
Every additional word after
ten, 39 Kepings.
To Singapore, - - 3 Kupangs per word.
To any part of the Feder- 44 Kepings per word,
ated Malay States.
To Penang, - - - 44 Kepings per word.
To the British Isles, - $2.3 Kupangs, 45 Kepings
per word.
Note. — A charge of 10 Kepings is made on every message on
account of receipt for the same issued by the dispatching office.
Kelantan Currency, - 60 Kepings equal to one Kupang.
8 Kupangs equal to one Dollar.
The Dollar in use is the Straits Dollar.
K 2
132
k?:lantan
APPENDIX (E)
EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF THE STATE OF
KELANTAN FOR THE YEAR 1324.
Imports.
Quantities.
Value in Dollars.
Remarks.
Aerated Waters, -
72 cases
763.0.00
Ammunition and Ex-
plosives, -
13 ..
449.0.00
—
Arms, - - - -
—
—
—
Animals —
Horses,
—
—
—
Elephants,
—
—
—
Sheep and Goats,
—
—
—
Cattle,
—
—
—
Poultry, -
2 dozen
5.0.00
—
Others, -
195
585.0.00
Monkeys
Books & Printed Matter,
—
—
Bricks and Tiles, -
409,595
3,615.0.00
—
Cement,
3,361 casks
7,717.0.00
Includes
Lime
Chemical Products and
Drugs,
236 cases
4,410.0.00
—
China and Earthenware
(Coarse^ -
134,892 pieces
2,663.0.00
—
China and Earthenware
(Fine), -
3,588 pges.
18,458.0.00
Includes
Glass
Clothing (Ready-made,
Foreign), -
—
—
Cotton tjoods.
1,843 cases
158,761.0.00
—
Cotton (Raw),
7,610 btiles.
99,068.0.00
—
Coals, - - - -
13 bags
42.0.00
—
Charcoal,
—
—
—
Cycles and Accessories,
I case
195.0.00
—
Damar,
—
12,023.0.00
—
Fireworks, including
Joss Sticks & Crackers,
6,830 pges.
12,360.0.00
—
Gambier,
12,690 baskets
31,125.0.00
—
Glassware, -
—
—
—
Gunny Bags and Tin-ore
Bags,
—
—
—
Hardware and Cutlery,
1,814 cases
31,362.0.00
Includes
Lamps
APPENDIX
APPENDIX {^).— Continued.
133
Imports.
Household Furniture, -
Jewellery —
Gold and Silverware,
Precious Stones,
Lamps and Parts,
Leather and Leather
Goods,
Lime, - - - .
Linen Goods,
Machinery and Parts, -
Matches,
Matting, Rotan, Bam-
boo and Straw Goods,
Metals-
Brass and Brassware,
Copper and Copper-
ware, -
Iron (Bar, Angle,
Bolt, or Rod),
Iron (Sheets & Plates),
Iron (Wire and Cable),
Iron (Cast),
Iron (Wrought),
Lead and Lead Goods,
Steel and Steel Manu-
factures,
Other Metals and
Manufactures,
Oil (Kerosene), -
Oils other than Kero-
sene,
Paint, Colours and Dyes,
Paper (Writing and
Printing), -
Paper (other sorts),
Provisions (Salt), -
Rope, Cable, Twine,
and Hemp Yarn,
Salt, - - - .
Silk Goods, -
Soap, - - - .
Quantities.
1.354 pes.
55 cases
362 pges.
1,318 cases
4, 104 pges.
963 cases
304 Pgs.
7,614 pes.
355 rolls
Value in Dollars.
168 tins
144 tins
14,834
174 balls
469,275
535 pges.
161
Remarks.
4,447.0.00 —
511. 0.00
1,757-0.00
15,740.0.00
11,842.0.00
1,305.0.00
26,183.0.00
1,713.0.00
12,370.0.00
2,525.0.00
897 cases 14,684.0.00
62,077 tins 71,470.0.00
009. 0.00
950.0.00
14,294.0.00
1,434.0.00
18,199.0.00
48,463,0.00
790.0.00
Nails
134 KELANTAN
APPENDIX {E).— Continued.
Imports.
Quantities.
Value in Dollars.
Remarks.
Stationery, •
14 cases
918.0.00
Sugar (Refined), -
4,309 pkls.
40,810.0.00
—
Sugar (Unrefined),
_
—
Sundries,
6,121 pges.
186,394.0.00
—
Tobacco —
Raw,
1,411 pkls.
61,261.0.00
—
Manufactured, -
"4 ,.
3,661.0.00
—
Cigarettes, - \
Cigars, - - J
363 cases
3,409.0.00
—
Wood-
Planks, -
Rafters. -
Scantlings, • j-
69,231
42,653.0.00
_
Chan gal Logs, -
Other kinds,
Articles of Manufactured
Wood other than
Furniture,
Woollen Goods —
Piece,
—
—
Other than PieceGoods,
Beer, - - - .
Wine, ....
Spirits,
458 cases
I 1,821.0.00
Includes
Wine and
Beer
Samshop,
718 cases
5,281.0.00
—
Gold Leaf, -
—
Opium,
35 cases
29,643.0.00
—
Treasure (Gold and Sil-
ver Coin),-
—
228,770.0.00
—
Treasure (Copper Coin),
—
—
—
Boats, ....
14
778.0.00
—
Rubber Plants, -
134 l)dles.
2,180.0.00
Rubber Seeds,
114 cases
6,798.0.00
—
Tools, - - - -
896 pes.
14,683.0.00
—
Motor Launch,
I
4,000.0.00
—
Carts and Carriages,
•5
843.0.00
—
Fruit, - - - -
Grand Toul,
37.0.00
—
1.388,4350.00
APPENDIX
135
APPENDIX {^).— Continued.
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF THE STATE OF
KELANTAN FOR THE YEAR 1324.
EXPORTS.
Articles Expokted.
Quantities.
Value.
1. Agricultural Produce —
Cardamums,
—
—
Pepper, - - - -
72.46 pkls.
1,528
Rice, - - - -
118,077 gantangs.
I9.4S9
Paddi, - - - -
1 = 274,313
89,702
Cotton, - - - -
—
Durien Cake, -
—
—
Betel-nuts (Jeroh), -
65,563,600 nuts.
33.000
Betel-nuts (dried).
26,434 pkls.
120,691
Kopra, . - - -
41,150 ,,
298,458
Coconuts,
136,500 nuts.
3,704
Coconut Oil, -
384 pkls.
4,534
Sago, . - . .
—
—
Beans, - - . -
.
Molasses,
—
—
Fruit, . - . .
—
1,701
Other kinds,
—
40
2. Jungle Produce —
Gettah, - - - .
210.16 pkls.
25,288
Ivory, - - - .
—
—
Tree Cotton, -
—
—
Palm Sago,
2,530 pkls.
4,960
Wax, ....
—
—
Eagle Wood, -
9.33 pkls.
3,005
Rhino Horns, -
Armadillo Skins,
Rotans, . . - .
—
752
Damar Mata Kuching,
—
Damar Batu, -
Other kinds, -
—
137
136
KELANTAN
APPENDIX {¥).— Concluded.
EXPORTS.
Articles Exported. | Quantities.
Value.
3. Live Slock, etc. — j
Buffaloes,
—
—
Bullocks, -
3.762
83,922
Hides, ... -
1,717 pkls.
46,507
•Horns, . - - -
142.25 ..
2,026
Tallow, ... - I 323.77 ,.
3.497
Sheep, - - - 1 705
2,530
Hgs, ....
967
14,466
Fowls, ....
88,503
20,074
Other kinds, -
—
—
4. Fish, etc. —
Sharks' Fins, -
8.90 pkls.
387
Small Dried Fish, .
—
—
Ikan Kicheh, - - - —
—
Ordinary Dried Fish, - 11,507 pkls.
62,104
Blachan, - - . - | 853 pkls.
3.990
Shrimps, " ' " ' —
—
Budu and Ikan Budu, - —
—
Bras Hudang, -
599 pkls.
2,061
Other kinds, -
—
—
5. Minerals —
Gold, - - 6,461 oz.
212,984
Tin Ore, - - - 7.50 pkls.
500
Iron and Manufactures, —
—
Brass and Manufactures, - —
—
Copper and Manufactures,
—
—
Other Minerals,
71 tons.
9,732 (galena)
6. Sundries —
Earthenware, -
9,170 pes.
391
Silk Goods,
7,201 ,,
22,210
Kain Benan, .
6,827 „
15.149
Treasure,
—
24,845
Timber, -
—
—
Provisions,
1,986 cases.
14.973
Boats,
4
931
Other Sundries,
Total Exports,
3.709
»i, 153.948
APPENDIX 137
APPENDIX (F).
LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL COMMERCIAL, MINING,
AND PLANTING ENTERPRISES IN KELANTAN.
The Duff Development Company, Limited.
Offices, 15 George Street, London, E.G.
Agents in Singapore, Messrs. Patterson, Simons and
Co., Ltd.
General Manager, J. T. Marriner, Esq.
General Trading, Mining, Planting, etc.
The Kelantan Rubber Syndicate (Subsidiary to the
D.D.C.L.).
Manager, F. H. Staples, Esq.
Area, 4000 acres.
The Pasir Jingi Rubber Estate (Subsidiary to the
D.D.C.L.).
Lessees and Managers, Messrs. W. G. Anderson
and L. Tait Bowie.
Area, 2000 acres.
The Taku Rubber Estate (The D.D.C.L.).
Manager, J. Anderson, Esq.
Area, 2000 acres.
The Kluat Rubber Estate (Subsidiary to the D.D.C.L.).
Lessee, J. T. Marriner, Esq.
Area, 600 acres.
138 KELANTAN
The Bagan Rubber Company, Ltd.
Head Offices, lo Collyer Quay, Singapore.
Manager, Hilton M'Gill, Esq.
Area, looo acres.
The Bagan Rubber Estate.
Lessees, Messrs. Tilleke and Mackay, Bangkok.
Manager, Hilton M'Oill, Esq.
Area, 4000 acres.
The Bukit Marah Planting Estate.
Lessee, The Tuniiku Petra Dalam Kabun.
Area, 200 acres (approximately).
The Batu Mengkebang Planting Estate.
Lessees, The Tungku Petri.
Manager, Haji Yusof.
Area, 5000 acres.
The Kubang Yu Coconut Estate.
Lessees, Messrs. Agar, Agar and Paxon.
Manager, C W. Agar, Esq.
Area, 1000 acres.
The Bukit Ator Estate.
Lessee, Hilton M'Gill, Esq.
Area, 1900 acres.
The Pasir Putteh Coconut Estate.
Lessee, F. O. Rasmussen, Esq.
Area, 500 acres.
The Kelantan Exploration Syndicate, Ltd.
Head Offices, 10 Neville St., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
General Manager, N. Stoltz, Esq.
General Mining and Planting.
OF Kelantan
Planl-ing Estates.
Boundaries oPConcessions.
APPENDIX 139
The Galas River Syndicate, Ltd. (Mining).
Head Ofifices, London.
Agents in Singapore, Messrs. Guthrie and Co., Ltd.
Chief Engineer in Kelantan, F. Bramwell, Esq.
The Nenggiri Prospecting and Mining Concession.
Concessionary, P. F. Wise, Esq.
The Bukit Merbau Mining Syndicate, Ltd.
Office, Kuala Lumpor, Selangor, F.M.S.
Manager, W. de L. Brooke, Esq.
The Singapore Cattle Trading Company, Ltd.
Kelantan Agent, Inche Ali.
Teo Eng Hock Co., Singapore.
Kelantan Agent, Sheik Abdollah.
Glasgow : Printed at the University Press by Robert MacLehose & Co. Ltd.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angeles
This book is DL'E on the last date stamped below.
'5"?
DEC J 3 198b
APR ^"^Jh
MOV 6)924
QL OCT 021^^^
JAN 151
IQI
JAN 3
FEB 5 1987
Form L9-Series 4939
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