Ch. 11: How a Game of Sepak Raga Turned Deadly

The chapter begins with Sultan Mansur Syah deciding to invade Siak, a territory which used to be a great kingdom ruled by the descendants of the Raja of Pagar Ruyung, who was a descendent of Sang Sapurba, who had came down from Bukit Si Guntang Maha Miru (a sacred place that had similarly been cited as proof of pedigree here). Sultan Mansur Syah was miffed with Siak because Siak did not pay obeisance (“tiada ia menyembah”) to Melaka.

So the king orders Seri Awadana to invade Siak, and 60 great war-​chiefs are sent on the mission, which is also accom­panied by Seri Jaya Pikrama and Sang Surana. Seri Awadana is the Prime Minister of Melaka and he is the grandson of Bendahara Seri Amar Diraja. Seri Awadana’s fief (“pegangan”) is the territory of Merbau, which at this time has a fleet of 30 three-​masted vessels. Once these ships are ready, Seri Awadana sets forth. Khoja Baba also goes along on this mission.

After a few days, they arrive in Siak. The king of Siak is named Maharaja Peri Sura and his Prime Minister goes by the hilarious name of Tun Jana Muka Bebal (Tun Jana the Dumb-​Faced.) How is someone supposed to take a Prime Minister seriously with a name like that? When they hear of the arrival of the Melakan forces, they prepare themselves by manning the fort and calling the troops. The men of Melaka go upriver. The Siak fort is on the river’s edge. The Melakan forces bring their ships right alongside the fort, and then pour down (“ditumpahinya”) their weapons until they seem like water rushing down from a hill. Many Siak men are killed. Maharaja Peri Sura stands at the head of the fort and orders his men to fight on. But when Khoja Baba sees him, he shoots his arrow, which pierces Maharaja Peri Sura in the chest, killing him. When the Siak men see their king dead, they run helter-​skelter; this enables the Melakans to break into the fort and loot it, getting a lot of booty — and no, it’s not this kind:

The son of the late Maharaja Peri Sura is named Megat Kudu. He is captured and brought to Seri Awadana, who takes him back with him to Melaka to present to Sultan Mansur Syah. The king of Melaka is mighty pleased and rewards Seri Awadana, Khoja Baba and everyone else on the mission. He gives robes of honour to Megat Kudu, and then marries him to a daughter of his. (Megat Kudu is obviously not the type of seek revenge for his father’s death; or maybe they didn’t get along?) Megat Kudu is made the new king of Siak with the title Sultan Ibrahim, and Tun Jana Muka Bebal continues to serve as Prime Minister. Sultan Ibrahim then gets a son (and Sultan Mansur Syah gets a grandson) named Raja Abdul.

Sultan Mansur Syah has two sons: Raja Muhammad and Raja Ahmad. When they are grown up, the king wants to appoint Raja Muhammad as his successor, because he’s more fond of this son. One day, the two princes go horse-​riding. At that moment, on a nearby road, Bendahara Paduka Raja’s son Tun Besar is playing sepak raga with his young chums. When Raja Muhammad and Raja Ahmad pass by, Tun Besar kicks the ball and it hits Raja Muhammad’s head-​cloth (“dastar”), knocking it off. Raja Muhammad says, “My head-​cloth has fallen!” And then the men who carry the royal betel-​bowl (“membawa puan”) rush up to Tun Besar and stab him in the heart, killing him.

The people nearby cause a big commotion. Bendahara Paduka Raja comes out and asks, “What’s all this fuss about?” And his people say, “Your son is dead, he’s been killed by Raja Muhammad!” The Bendahara is told the whole story, and he asks, “Why are you all getting armed?” And his people say, “All of us want to avenge your son’s death!” But the Bendahara says, “No Malay will ever be disloyal to royalty. It would be like being disloyal to the hills and mounds around us! Get a grip! Stop it! But … we will also never want this prince to be our king.” The Bendahara’s men are silent when they hear this, and then they bury Tun Besar.

The killing incident is then recounted to Sultan Mansur Syah, who asks: “And what did the Bendahara say?” He is told that the Bendahara said that no Malay would ever commit treason, but that he also never wants Raja Muhammad to be the king. Sultan Mansur Syah is mighty pissed off and summons Raja Muhammad. When his son arrives, the king is filled with unutterable fury. Sultan Mansur Syah finally says: “Damn you (‘celakalah’) Muhammad! What can I do with you? I can only send you into exile (‘ditolak bumi’)!”

And so Sultan Mansur Syah sends for Seri Bija Aldiraja (remember him?) from Pahang. When Seri Bija Aldiraja arrives, the king of Melaka hands Raja Muhammad over to him and orders him to install the young man as the ruler of Pahang, with territory from Sedili Besar to Terengganu. (Some punishment, eh?) Raja Muhammad is also given qualified men to serve as the Bendahara, Penghulu Bendahari and Temenggong. When the ships are ready, Seri Bija Aldiraja sets off for Pahang, where he installs Raja Muhammad as ruler, with the title Sultan Muhammad Syah. Once the ceremony is over, Seri Bija Aldiraja returns to Melaka.

The fame of Melaka continues to spread far and wide, to lands above and below the wind; and the Arabs call it Malaqat. There are no cities as grand as Melaka, except for Pasai and Haru. The three kingdoms are of equal standing, which means their kings need send only ‘greetings’ (rather than ‘obeisance’) in their letters to one another. But the people of Pasai are so kiasu that they read ‘obeisance’ even when the word on the letter says merely ‘greetings’.

Sep 6, 2010 – 9:40 AM | By Amir Muhammad | Posted in Blog Post | Comments (1,053)

Previous Chapters

  • CH 15–2: How Kampar Got Steamrolled by Melaka
  • CH. 15–1: How a Melakan Warrior Had to Wait Before Kicking Haru Asses
  • Ch. 14–5: Why the Bendahara Mentions Royal Horniness on His Deathbed
  • Ch. 14–4: How Melaka Delivered a Smackdown to Pahang
  • Ch. 14–3: How the Sultan of Melaka Turned into a Kick-​ass Vigilante
  • Ch. 14–2: How a Grandmother From Hell is Stopped from Committing Regicide
  • Ch 14–1: How the People of Campa Ended Up in Melaka
  • Ch. 13: How the Pasai King’s Uppity Words Lost Him a Valuable Ally
  • Ch. 12–3: How the Sultan of Melaka Got Cock-​Blocked
  • Ch 12–2: How The Pasai Philosopher Answers (or Not) a Riddle from Melaka
  • Ch. 12–1: Why the Horny Prince of Mengkasar Goes on a Destructive Spree
  • Ch. 11: How a Game of Sepak Raga Turned Deadly
  • Ch. 10: How the Raja of China Cured His Skin Problem
  • Ch. 9–5: How the Sultan of Melaka Got His Elephant Back
  • Ch. 9–4: How the Raja of China’s Daughter Came to Melaka
  • Ch. 9–3: How Hang Tuah Killed Hang Kasturi
  • Ch. 9–2: How the Melakans Responded to the King of Majapahit’s Practical Jokes
  • Ch. 9–1: How the Queen of Majapahit Chose Her Husband
  • Ch. 8–2: How Melaka Became Siam’s BFF
  • Ch. 8–1: How the Siamese Were Fooled
  • Ch. 7: Why The Bendahara of Melaka Committed Suicide
  • Ch. 6–3: How Melaka was Founded, and Then Became Muslim
  • Ch. 6–2: How a King’s Horniness Got Him into Trouble with His Brother
  • Ch. 6–1: How Islam Came to the Malay World
  • Ch. 5: How Eating Vomit Can Make You A Superman
  • Ch. 4: How Singapura Repaid Majapahit’s Insult
  • Ch. 3: How Singapore Got Its Name
  • Ch. 2: How China Saved Itself
  • Ch. 1: Alexander?

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