I have just discovered something very interesting (actually, I knew it long before but did not realise the extent of it). My husband's family on his mother's side has a long history that can be traced back to an Indonesian freedom fighter. Like I said I knew about it much earlier but only realise the significance of it recently.
It all started when one of his cousins mentioned about wanting to trace their family history, since he had also known about the relationship with the freedom fighter. And as a result of of his search, a big gathering of all the suku-sakat was held sometime the third week of Raya in Seremban.
It turned out that his moyang (to the power of?) was one Tuanku Tambusai (or his real name Fakeh Muhammad Salleh Tambusai, aka Tok Ungku), a respected religious teacher and freedom fighter in Indonesia. He came over to this country sometime in the 1800s, fleeing the Dutch after they had defeated or killed most of his comrades. The Tuanku Tambusai came to settle in Kg Rasah in Negeri Sembilan with some of his followers. He did not get involved in the politics of the region after that but his followers did, which had an impact on the history of our country. Jalan Raja Laut was named after one of his followers ..... so it seems.
The Tuanku Tambusai died in Kg Rasah in mid-1800s and was buried there. His makam is on a small hill, and has now been turned in a historical site by the NS goverment. The Indonesian govt has also recognised the Tuanku Tambusai as a national hero, and a plaque was place at his makam to announce this. Some of my husband's other ancestors/relations were also buried there, some as recent as within ten years ago.
By strange coincidence, I remember watching an Indonesian film on TV years ago about Tuanku Tambusai. At that time I did not know about this history so I did not say anything to my husband about it. I was watching alone and it was shown late at night. I was getting sleepy and did not wait to see the ending. Later I found out that the producer filmed his makam in Kg Rasah and inserted in the closing minutes of the film.
I visited his makam some Raya back (about 15 years ago) and visited it again recently after the clan gathering. My husband managed to get a copy of the Indonesian film and I noticed that the scene of the makam in the film was as when I first visited it. The place looks better now since it has been declared a historical site. You can drive up to the site, whereas before that we had to walk up the hill for about 150 metres.
Just for the record my husband is the 5th generation and the youngest of the clan is of the 7th generation ....... I think.
There are a lot of info about Tuanku Tambusai on the Indonesian websites but I have not seen any on Malaysian websites.
Well ...... just thought I'd share some history with you all.
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2 comments:
Very interesting, Jon. I, too, have been trying to trace my roots back to my indonesian ancestors who were orang istana and also said to have migrated here after fighting the Dutch.
Nanti lah, bila ada masa.
Hi there...!!!
Terjumpa your site while searching for info on Tuanku Tambusai. Just to let you know that I'm the 6th generation (rumpun rasah) and I was there during the reunion. I ada the family tree tapi tak ingat from which line... Ahmad rasanya. My great grandpa and great grandma were cousins. So, I ada dua sub-clan la. Anyway, I'm glad we had that reunion but wished that those attended minggle with others outside their circle rather than stick to the familiar faces.
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