Battle of Lidah Tanah (1836)

Battle of Lidah Tanah
Part of Initial phase of the Sarawak Uprising of 1836

Location of the battle
Date2 June 1836 (1836-06-02)
Location
Lidah Tanah
Result Rebel victory
Belligerents
Rebels Bruneian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Datu Patinggi Ali Pengiran Indera Mahkota
Strength
Unknown 900-1,200 men
Casualties and losses
Unknown Heavy

The Battle of Lidah Tanah on 2 June 1836, was the first major military action between the Bruneian and Sarawakian armies during the Sarawak Uprising of 1836.

Background

Antimony ore was discovered in Siniawan and Jambusan in 1823.[1] The Bruneian sultan had appointed Ali as the governor of Sarawak in the 1820s.[2] The Chinese mined antimony ore in Siniawan,[3] while the Malays who resided in the Tonga Tanah used Bidayuh laborers. However, as soon as Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II Brunei realised that antimony ore and gold had been discovered in the Bau area, the Sultan named Pengiran Indera Mahkota as the new Governor of Sarawak in 1827,[4][5] replacing Datu Patinggi Ali, allowing Brunei to take control of the antimony mines and commerce. The administrative centre of Sarawak was relocated by Pengiran Indera Mahkota in 1826 from Lidah Tanah to Santubong and subsequently to Kuching.[6][7] It is said that he moved the administrative centre to Kuching using the fear of pirates as justification. However, a deliberate measure was taken to lessen Ali's influence and authority. The full control of mining activities and antimony trade in Bau was made feasible by Pengiran Indera Mahkota when they seized power from Ali to govern Sarawak.[8] The uprising began with open hostilities near Lidah Tanah, a fortified rebel position along the Sarawak River. Rebel forces led by Datu Patinggi Ali, Datu Patinggi Abdul Gapur, Datu Temenggong Mersal and other chiefs established fortifications to resist Brunei authority.[9]

Rebel and Bruneian forces assemble

Mahkota immediately targeted for the rebel's main base of operations of Lidah Tanah, the most strategic citadel out of all of them.[10] Meanwhile the Sultan sent his uncle, Pengiran Muda Hashim to quell the rebellion,[11] with Mahkota immediately assembling levies.[12] There was also a reliance on armed retainer or retainers.[13] These levies used muskets and traditional weapons.[14][15][16][17] Meanwhile armed retainers and soldiers were usually armed with muskets, spears and pisau pedang[18]

Mahkota made a fatal mistake in not bringing cannons likely assuming the takeover of the fort would be easy or found it difficult to carry them since the cannons of the time were swivel guns made of bronze, brass and other materials.[19]

Meanwhile in the rebel fort, the rebels were made up of Malay minutemen, similar to the levies of the Bruneian forces though had more confident mobility and was familiar to the land than the levies especially musketry as even the indigenous population had access to muskets and there were also armed retainers of the Malay chiefs armed similarly to the armed retainers of Brunei.[20][18][21] And also a few Bidayuh volunteers.[22] The Bidayuh were armed with the mandau,[23][24] the kliau,[25][26] spears[27] and muskets.[28]

Rebel fortifications

The rebels built wooden stockades using heavy hardwood timber. These fortifications consisted of palisades embedded deep in the ground with sharpened tops to prevent climbing and elevated firing platforms behind the walls,[19] the rebels also blocked parts of the Sarawak River via using felled trees, put stakes made from wood driven into the riverbed and other methods.[29]

Assault

As soon as Ali heard the approach of the Bruneian forces, he immediately commanded the Bidayuh to hide in the jungles near the river to ambush the Bruneian forces, he likely predicted that the Bruneian forces would go the river.[29][28]

As Ali predicted the Bruneian forces said prediction, going to the Sarawak River and met obstacles made by the rebels,[29] they were ambushed by the Bidayuh while stuck in the Sarawak River and exposed to heavy gunfire by the Malays.[28][19] Forcing the Bruneian forces to flee the battlefield.

Aftermath

The battle ended with a quick Bruneian defeat, with rebels maintaining control over much of the upriver territory. This demonstrated the inability of Brunei's governor to suppress the rebellion quickly.[30] However the rebels could likely not do much even after the defeat as they could not expand likely due to the threat of the Iban who opposed Ali.[31][32] In spite of this, Ali advanced to Siniawan as it was strategic for the rebels.[33]

References

  1. ^ Pat Foh Chang (1997). Heroes of the Land of Hornbill (search Siniawan+1823). Chang Pat Foh. ISBN 978-983-9475-04-3 – via books.google.com.
  2. ^ Pat Foh Chang (1997). Heroes of the Land of Hornbill (search Datu+Patinggi+Ali+Governor). Chang Pat Foh. ISBN 978-983-9475-04-3 – via books.google.com.
  3. ^ Alex Ling (2013). GOLDEN DREAMS OF BORNEO. Xlibris Corporation. p. 301. ISBN 978-1-4797-9168-2 – via books.google.com.
  4. ^ Ooi, Keat Gin; King, Victor T. (29 July 2022). Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Brunei. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-56864-6.
  5. ^ Marie-Sybille de Vienne (9 March 2015). Brunei: From the Age of Commerce to the 21st Century. NUS Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-9971-69-818-8.
  6. ^ Pat Foh Chang (1995). The Land of Freedom Fighters (search Lidah+Tanah+1826). Ministry of Social Development.
  7. ^ Alice Yen Ho (1998). Old Kuching. Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-983-56-0050-0 – via books.google.com.
  8. ^ Lawrence Law (2020). PERANG MENENTANG KESULTANAN BRUNEI DI BAU PADA ABAD KE-19 (PDF) (in Malay). Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Batu Lintang.
  9. ^ Lawrence Law (2020). PERANG MENENTANG KESULTANAN BRUNEI DI BAU PADA ABAD KE-19 (PDF) (in Malay). Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Batu Lintang.
  10. ^ Lawrence Law (2020). PERANG MENENTANG KESULTANAN BRUNEI DI BAU PADA ABAD KE-19 (PDF) (in Malay). Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Batu Lintang.
  11. ^ Singh, D. S. Ranjit (2019-11-26). The Indonesia–Malaysia Dispute Concerning Sovereignty over Sipadan and Ligitan Islands: Historical Antecedents and the International Court of Justice Judgment. ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. p. 30. ISBN 978-981-4843-64-5.
  12. ^ "Sarawak Before 1841". sarawak.gov.my. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  13. ^ Hugh, Low Sarawak: Its Inhabitants and Productions (1848)
  14. ^ Hasbullah, Wan Mohd Dasuki Wan (September 2013). "Teknologi Istinggar Beberapa Ciri Fizikal dalam Aplikasi Teknikalnya". International Journal of the Malay World and Civilisation. 1: 51–59.
  15. ^ Barrows, David P., Ph.D. "The Filipino People Before the Arrival of the Spaniards". Artes Delas Filipinas.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) October 7, 2018
  16. ^ Jalil, Ahmad Safwan (2012). South-east Asian cannon making in Negara Brunei Darussalam (MA thesis). Flinders University. pp. 10–11.
  17. ^ Mundy 1846.
  18. ^ a b "Piso Podang Batak or Borneo? - Ethnographic Arms & Armour". www.vikingsword.com. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  19. ^ a b c Henry Keppel, The Expedition to Borneo of HMS Dido (1846)
  20. ^ Robertson, James Alexander. "The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XXXIII, 1519-1522, by Antonio Pigafetta". Project Gutenberg. June 5, 2013
  21. ^ Lawrence Law (2020). PERANG MENENTANG KESULTANAN BRUNEI DI BAU PADA ABAD KE-19 (PDF) (in Malay). Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Batu Lintang.
  22. ^ Collier, L.; Runciman, Steven; Belgrave, Charles (March 1961). "The White Rajahs". The Geographical Journal. 127 (1): 59. doi:10.2307/1793244. ISSN 0016-7398.
  23. ^ Lumholtz, Carl (2013) [1920]. Through Central Borneo. C. Scribner's sons. ISBN 978-1-314-54676-7.
  24. ^ unknown (2003). "Arts of Asia – Volume 33, Issues 4-6". Arts of Asia. Arts of Asia Publications, University of Virginia. ISSN 0004-4083.
  25. ^ Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.); Kjellgren, Eric (2007). Oceania: Art of the Pacific Islands in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 226–227. ISBN 978-1-58839-238-1.
  26. ^ Anton Willem Nieuwenhuis (1994). Di Pedalaman Borneo: Perjalanan Dari Pontianak Ke Samarinda, 1894. Penerbit PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama bekerja sama dengan Borneo Research Council, Indonesia Office. ISBN 978-979-605-051-2.
  27. ^ "BORNEO—SIR JAMES BROOKE". UK Parliament / Hansard.
  28. ^ a b c Graham Saunders, A History of Brunei (1994)
  29. ^ a b c James Brooke, Private Letters and Journals (1853)
  30. ^ Pat Foh Chang (1995). The Land of Freedom Fighters (search Brooke+Lidah+Tanah). Ministry of Social Development – via books.google.com.
  31. ^ The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido for the Suppression of Piracy
  32. ^ ‘The Journal of James Brooke, Esq.’ of Sarawak” Vol. 1 -p. 174-78
  33. ^ Hugh, Low Sarawak: Its Inhabitants and Productions (1848)
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