Sayyid Ali — the Penghulu of Jelebu in the Malay Peninsula — is mentioned by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese in a footnote on the Malay title penghulu. He is cited as a historical example of the manner in which a sayyid, by virtue of the reverence attaching to his descent from the Prophet, could raise himself to the position of a ruling chief in a Malay state.
Snouck Hurgronje introduces the figure of Sayyid Ali in explanation of the word penghulu, which, as he notes, “has a wide range in Malay, just as ‘imeum’ in Achehnese.” The Penghulu Masjid is a humble individual, “a sort of sacristan of the mosque”; the headmen of large villages are also called penghulus; “but in some states the same title is given to an official whose position somewhat resembles that of the uleebalang in Acheh. Such for example was Sayyid Ali the Penghulu of Jelebu in the Malay Peninsula, who revolted against the hereditary Yam Tuan and became the ruler of that small independent state before it came under British protection.” The notice is supplied by the translator, A. W. S. O’Sullivan, as a marginal explanation of the range of the Malay title.
The history of Jelebu itself, in the inland of what is now the state of Negeri Sembilan, is a record of recurring conflict between the hereditary Yam Tuan — the paramount chief of the district — and the ambitious penghulus who, from time to time, challenged or displaced him. Sayyid Ali’s revolt belongs to the series of such upheavals in the first half of the nineteenth century, by which the authority of the Yam Tuan was reduced and the office of the Penghulu raised to a quasi-sovereign position. His success in establishing himself as ruler is one of the clearest instances in the modern history of the Peninsula of the political advantage that could be gained by a sayyid from the religious prestige attaching to his descent.
The example is of interest in the context of The Achehnese because it illustrates, by comparison, the position of the sayyids in Acheh itself. Snouck Hurgronje observes that in Acheh too, “names of various sayyids appear in the list of the sultans of Acheh, and in several places members of the families of sayyids have succeeded in raising themselves to the position of a kind of uleebalangs.” The most successful of these, in Acheh, was Sayyid Abdurrahman Zahir (Habib Abdurrahman), who “employed the great respect of the Achehnese for his descent with more political tact and more success than any other.” Sayyid Ali’s revolt in Jelebu is the Malay parallel to the Achehnese rise of the Habib.
The example also illustrates the wider truth, repeatedly emphasised by Snouck Hurgronje, that the veneration paid to sayyids throughout the Indian Archipelago — a veneration which “commands a deeply-rooted respect and fear” — was not merely a religious sentiment but a political force of the first importance, capable of altering the succession of states and of raising a religious noble to the rank of a temporal ruler.
See Also
- Sayyid Abdurrahman Zahir
- Mohammad (the Prophet)
- Sayyid Abu Bakar bin Husain Bil-Faqih
- Acheh
- C. Snouck Hurgronje
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
Sayyid Ali — the Penghulu of Jelebu in the Malay Peninsula — is mentioned by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese in a footnote on the Malay title penghulu. He is cited as a historical example of the manner in which a sayyid, by virtue of the reverence attaching to his descent from the Prophet, could raise himself to the position of a ruling chief in a Malay state.
Snouck Hurgronje introduces the figure of Sayyid Ali in explanation of the word penghulu, which, as he notes, “has a wide range in Malay, just as ‘imeum’ in Achehnese.” The Penghulu Masjid is a humble individual, “a sort of sacristan of the mosque”; the headmen of large villages are also called penghulus; “but in some states the same title is given to an official whose position somewhat resembles that of the uleebalang in Acheh. Such for example was Sayyid Ali the Penghulu of Jelebu in the Malay Peninsula, who revolted against the hereditary Yam Tuan and became the ruler of that small independent state before it came under British protection.” The notice is supplied by the translator, A. W. S. O’Sullivan, as a marginal explanation of the range of the Malay title.
The history of Jelebu itself, in the inland of what is now the state of Negeri Sembilan, is a record of recurring conflict between the hereditary Yam Tuan — the paramount chief of the district — and the ambitious penghulus who, from time to time, challenged or displaced him. Sayyid Ali’s revolt belongs to the series of such upheavals in the first half of the nineteenth century, by which the authority of the Yam Tuan was reduced and the office of the Penghulu raised to a quasi-sovereign position. His success in establishing himself as ruler is one of the clearest instances in the modern history of the Peninsula of the political advantage that could be gained by a sayyid from the religious prestige attaching to his descent.
The example is of interest in the context of The Achehnese because it illustrates, by comparison, the position of the sayyids in Acheh itself. Snouck Hurgronje observes that in Acheh too, “names of various sayyids appear in the list of the sultans of Acheh, and in several places members of the families of sayyids have succeeded in raising themselves to the position of a kind of uleebalangs.” The most successful of these, in Acheh, was Sayyid Abdurrahman Zahir (Habib Abdurrahman), who “employed the great respect of the Achehnese for his descent with more political tact and more success than any other.” Sayyid Ali’s revolt in Jelebu is the Malay parallel to the Achehnese rise of the Habib.
The example also illustrates the wider truth, repeatedly emphasised by Snouck Hurgronje, that the veneration paid to sayyids throughout the Indian Archipelago — a veneration which “commands a deeply-rooted respect and fear” — was not merely a religious sentiment but a political force of the first importance, capable of altering the succession of states and of raising a religious noble to the rank of a temporal ruler.
See Also
- Sayyid Abdurrahman Zahir
- Mohammad (the Prophet)
- Sayyid Abu Bakar bin Husain Bil-Faqih
- Acheh
- C. Snouck Hurgronje
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.