HOW REMBAU WAS WON!

Kg. Padang Lekok: Dato' Laut Dalam was said to have landed here, about 200 meters down stream from the place where Dato' Lela Balang first landed.


The upper Sungai Rembau (the meeting of two rivers - Sg. Rembau and Sg. Kendong. Sumateran (Minangkabau) Chief, Dato' Lateh and Dato' Lela Balang (who came later) were said to have landed here and founded Rembau and the Negeri Sembilan Federation. The place where he landed is now named Kota Lama.

REMBAU

BRIEF HISTORY
Rembau, one of the component states of the Negri Sembilan federation, dates from 1540. Two Minangkabau chiefs, Dato' Laut Dalam and Dato' Lela Balang founded the state. They agreed a pact whereby the headship of the state would alternate between their descendants in the female line. The former was invested with the family title of Dato' Setia Raja, and the latter with that of Dato' Lela Maharaja by the Sultan of Johor. The ruler is styled the Undang Luak, he is selected by the great noble title-holders within the state. An attempt to establish a superior hereditary ruler (Yang di-Pertuan Muda) proved a failure. The northern districts, centred on Tampin, became a new principality, ruled by the family of the Yang di-Pertuan Muda. The southern districts continued under the traditional form of elective head of state and retained the original name of Rembau.

STYLES AND TITLES:
The ruler: Yang Teramat Mulia Undang Luak Rembau, i.e. the Undang of Rembau.
Wife of the ruler: Toh Puan.

RULES OF SUCCESSION:
The Undang may be selected from one of two great families known as the Waris Jakun (who hold the hereditary title of Dato' Lela Maharaja) and the Waris Jawa (who hold the hereditary title of Dato' Sedia di-Raja). Although officially elected by the great nobles of the state, the office of Undang alternates between the heads of the two houses. Succession to the titles of Dato' Lela Maharaja and Dato' Sedia di-Raja is through the female line. Generally, the son of the eldest sister of the deceased title-holder, succeeds him.

ORDERS AND DECORATIONS:
None, see Negri Sembilan.

GLOSSARY:
See under Malaysia, main page.

SOURCES:
Ensiklopedia Sejarah dan Kebudayaan Melayu, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 1995.
R J Wilkinson, Papers on Malay Subjects, Malay History, Part V, Notes on the Negri Sembilan, FMS Government Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1911.

SPECIAL SCKNOWLEDGEMENT:
Dato' Hj. Zulkipli bin Hj. Shamsudin.

The Waris Jakun
Datuk Lela Balang, 1st Dato'Lela Maharaja. m. Datuk Bungkal binti Batin Sekudai. They had issue:
• 1) Datuk Pundong, who left descendants at Kampong Kota ->
• 2) Datuk Makraman, who left descendants at Kampong Chengkau ->
• 3) Datuk Siti, who left descendants at Kampong Gadong ->
• 4) Datuk Lijah, who left descendants at Kampong Tebat Chembong ->
• 5) Dato' Sri Rama, 2nd Dato'Lela Maharaja - see below.

The Waris Jawa
Datuk Laut Dalam, 1st Dato' Sedia di-Raja, by his wife, Jawa. They had issue:
• 1) Datuk Malidi, who left descendants at Kampong Bukit ->
• 2) Datuk Norimah, who left descendants at Kampong Pulau ->
• 3) Datuk Shamsiah, who left descendants at Kampong Tengah ->
• 4) Siti Hawa. m. Dato' Sri Rama bin Datuk Lela Balang, 2nd Dato' Lela Maharaja (d. 1555), son of Datuk Lela Balang, 1st Dato' Lela Maharaja, by his wife, Datuk Bungkal binti Batin Sekudai.

Komen:
A state within a state, I mean "once upon a time". Having said that Mukim Gadong will be further blessed when the famous Egypt's University of Al-Azhar will set its first ever branch campus overseas at Bukit Sembilan, Chengkau Ulu, just a few kilometers north of Kota, a small hamlet discovered by Sumatran Dato Lela Balang and wife Dato' Bungkal in the 15th century.