The Larut Wars were a series of four wars that began in July 1861 and ended with the signing of the Pangkor Treaty of 1874. The conflicts were fought among local Chinese secret societies over the control of mining areas in Perak which later involved a rivalry between Raja Abdullah and Ngah Ibrahim, making it a war of succession.
First war (1861–1862) The First Larut War began in July 1861 when arguments over control of watercourse to their mines escalated and led members of the Hai San Secret Society to drive the members of the Ghee Hin society out of Klian Baharu (now Kamunting).Notes on the Larut Disturbances by Khoo Kay Kim, A history of Perak, Sir Richard Olof Winstedt, Richard James Wilkinson, Sir William Edward Maxwell, republished by Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1974, PPiv&vHistory of Malaya, 1400-1959, Joginder Singh Jessy, Jointly published by the United Publishers and Peninsular Publications, 1963, P151A portrait of Malaysia and Singapore, Soo Hai Ding Eing Tan, Oxford University Press, 1978, , , PP78&123The Malayan tin industry to 1914: with special reference to the states of Perak, Selangor, Negri, Sembilan, and Pahang by Lin Ken Wong, Published for the Association for Asian Studies by the University of Arizona Press, 1965, P27 The Governor of the Straits Settlements, Orfeur Cavenagh intervened and the Menteri of Larut, Ngah Ibrahim, was made to compensate the Ghee Hin with $17,447 on behalf of the Sultan of Perak.A portrait of Malaysia and Singapore, Soo Hai Ding Eing Tan, Oxford University Press, 1978, , , PP79The Western Malay States, 1850-1873: the effects of commercial development on Malay politics, Kay Kim Khoo, Oxford University Press, 1972, P129A history of Malaya, Joseph Kennedy, Macmillan, 1970, P138A short history of Malaya, Gerald Percy Dartford, Longmans, Green, 1963, P128The Making of Modern South-East Asia: The European conquest, D. J. M. Tate, Oxford University Press, 1971, P276
Second war (1865)
The Second Larut War took place in 1865 and was sparked by a gambling quarrel in June between members of the two opposing secret societies. The Hai San members took 14 Ghee Hin as prisoners, 13 of whom were killed. The 14th escaped to inform his clan causing the Ghee Hin to retaliate by attacking a Hai San village, razing it to the ground and killing 40 men in the process. The battle continued back and forth and spread to Province Wellesley and the island of Penang while other secret societies started to join the fray. Both sides were later exhausted and came to terms. An official inquiry took place and both the Hai San and Ghee Hin societies were fined $5,000 each for violating the peace of Penang and their leaders exiled.History of Malaya, 1400-1959, Joginder Singh Jessy, Jointly published by the United Publishers and Peninsular Publications, 1963, P152Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 64, MBRAS, 1991, P10A portrait of Malaysia and Singapore, Soo Hai Ding Eing Tan, Oxford University Press, 1978, , , P79The impact of Chinese secret societies in Malaya: a historical study, Wilfred Blythe, Royal Institute of International Affairs, Issued under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs [by] Oxford U.P., 1969, P115
So Ah Chiang, leader of the Ghee Hin was captured by Ngah Ibrahim at Teluk Kertang (Kuala Sepetang) and executed.The Making of Modern South-East Asia: The Western Impact - Economic and Social Change V. 2 By D. J. M. Tate Published by Oxford University Press, 1971 p. 300
By around 1870, there were a combined total of about 40,000 Hakka and Cantonese mine workers in the Larut district and the mining areas between the two groups were near to each other. It is this proximity that might explain how the next battle began.Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 36, Part 2, MBRAS, 1968, P44The dynamics of Chinese dialect groups in early Malaya, Lau-Fong Mak, Singapore Society of Asian Studies, 1995, P72
Third war (1872) In February 1872 Cheng Sheng miners had a dispute with Sin Neng miners over the boundaries of some mining lands. Lee Ah Kun (Lee Ko Yin) represented the Sin Neng and attempted to negotiate but was murdered on 16 February on the pretext of an adulterous affair.
It has been believed that The Third Larut War erupted in 1872 over a scandal involving the Lee Ah Kun (李亞勤 / 李亚勤), the attorney at Larut (for the Ghee Hin leader Ho Ghi Sui) and the wife of a nephew of the Hai San leader, Chung Keng Quee. It is said that upon discovery, the allegedly adulterous couple was caught, tortured, put into a pig basket () and thrown into a disused mining pond where they drowned.Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor By Keat Gin Ooi Contributor Keat Gin Ooi Published by ABC-CLIO, 2004; A History of Perak By Richard Olof Winstedt, Richard James Wilkinson, William Edward Maxwell, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Malaysian Branch Published by Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1974. Previously published as volume XII, part 1, Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in June 1934, and in volumes 2, 9 & 12 of the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1878, 1882 and 1883.History of Malaya (1400-1959): 1400 - 1959 By Joginder Singh Jessy Published by Jointly published by United Publishers and Peninsular Publications, 1961 p. 153
Supposedly to avenge the death of their leader, the Ghee Hin had 4,000 professional fighting men (brought in from China via Penang) attack the Hai San. For the first time, the Hai San were driven out of Larut. About 10,000 Hai San men sought sanctuary in Penang. Months later, the Hai San, supported by Ngah Ibrahim, recovered their Matang and Larut mines.
Others hold that the alleged "intrigue" never happened and was merely a political fiction to justify the murder of Ah Kun (aka Lee Coyn) in a manner that would permit Tokong to save face for the death sentence passed down on their leader Khoo Thean Tek for his part in the Penang Riots of 1869 where Ah Kun apparently got off without punishment.- Triad And Tabut - Triad societies: western accounts of the history, sociology and linguistics of Chinese secret societies by Mervyn Llewelyn Wynne, Kingsley Bolton, Christopher Hutton, James K. Chin, edited by Kingsley Bolton, Christopher Hutton, published by Taylor & Francis, 2000, , Pg 276"The story of his "intrigue with the wife of a near relative of Chang Keng Kwi" is difficult to accept as genuine, when we consider the conditions at the mines in those days. The trade in women was part and parcel of the Triad-Tokong system and the Chinese women at the mines probably went to the highest bidder. Chinese coming overseas did not bring their wives with them and it is highly improbable that "the near relative of Ah Kwi" whose name is not given but who will have been a Hakka and a Tokong, would have had any woman in his household but a Cantonese (Triad) prostitute, whose death meant nothing to the Tokongs and was merely an added sacrifice incidental to the death of Li Ah Kun upon the altar of Tokong vengeance." - Triad and tabut: a survey of the origin and diffusion of Chinese and Mohamedan secret societies in the Malay Peninsula, A.D. 1800-1935, Parts 1800-1935 by Mervyn Llewelyn Wynne, Government Printing Office, 1941, Pg 276
At this time, Raja Abdullah, a claimant to the royal throne of Perak and an enemy of Ngah Ibrahim, took sides against the Hai San and Ngah Ibrahim.
On 26 September 1872, Chung signed a petition together with 44 other Chinese leaders, seeking British interference following the attack of 12,000 men of Chung Shan by 2,000 men of Sen Ning.The Making of Modern South-East Asia: The European conquest, D. J. M. Tate, Oxford University Press, 1971, PP274&276A gallery of Chinese kapitans, Choon San Wong, Ministry of Culture, Singapore, 1963, P72The journals of J. W. W. Birch, first British resident to Perak, 1874-1875, James Wheeler Woodford Birch, Oxford University Press, 1976The Chinese in Malaya, Victor Purcell, Oxford Univ. Press, 1948, P107Chinese secret societies in Malaya: a survey of the Triad Society from 1800 to 1900, Leon Comber, Published for the Association for Asian Studies by J.J. Augustin, 1959, P158A portrait of Malaysia and Singapore, Soo Hai Ding Eing Tan, Oxford University Press, 1978 , , P80The impact of Chinese secret societies in Malaya: a historical study, Wilfred Blythe, Royal Institute of International Affairs, Oxford U.P., 1969, P179Triad and tabut: a survey of the origin and diffusion of Chinese and Mohamedan secret societies in the Malay Peninsula, A.D. 1800-1935, Parts 1800-1935, Mervyn Llewelyn Wynne, Govt. Print. Off., 1941, PP267,270
Fourth war (1873) The Fourth Larut War occurred in 1873. Weeks after the Hai Sans regained Larut, the Ghee Hin, supported by Raja Abdullah, counter-attacked with arms and men from Singapore and China. Ngah Ibrahim's properties in Matang were destroyed. Local Malay residents were also killed and their property, destroyed. The attack spread to Krian, Pangkor and Dinding.
The Malay chiefs who had taken sides in the Larut Wars were now alarmed at the disorder created by the Chinese miners and secret societies. The Straits Settlement Penang Chinese, seeing their investments destroyed in the Larut Wars, sought intervention form British. Over 40,000 Chinese from the Go-Kuan and Si-Kuan were engaged in the war.Triad and tabut: a survey of the origin and diffusion of Chinese and Mohamedan secret societies in the Malay Peninsula, A.D. 1800-1935, Parts 1800-1935, Mervyn Llewelyn Wynne, Govt. Print. Off., 1941, P270,275History of Malaya, 1400-1959Joginder Singh Jessy, Jointly published by the United Publishers and Peninsular Publications, 1963, P158A portrait of Malaysia and Singapore, Soo Hai Ding Eing Tan, Oxford University Press, 1978, , , PThe first 150 years of Singapore, Donald Moore, Joanna Moore, 1969, P361Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 64, MBRAS, 1991, P11
In August 1873, Edward Anson, the last lieutenant-governor of Penang, sought to bring about a ceasefire between the two parties and convened a meeting at the beginning of the month attended, apart from Anson, by Chung (Hai San), Ho Ghi Sui (Ghee Hin), Foo Tye Sin (pro-Hai San), Ngah Ibrahim (pro-Hai San), Abdullah (pro-Ghee Hin), Tengku Kudin (pro-Abdullah) and a British Naval Captain.Chinese Secret Societies in Malaya: A Survey of the Triad Society from 1800 to 1900 By Leon Comber Published for the Association for Asian Studies by J.J. Augustin, 1959 pp. 102, 158, 165 The two sides agreed to keep the peace pending British arbitration with Ngah Ibrahim taking responsibility for the Hai San and Abdullah taking responsibility for the Ghee Hin. Abdullah failed to ensure that the Ghee Hin kept the peace prompting British to back Ngah Ibrahim and the Hai San.
On 3 September 1873 outgoing Straits Settlements governor Sir Harry Ord recognised Ngah Ibrahim, through a proclamation, as the independent (i.e. independent of Perak rule) ruler of Larut. On 5 September he temporarily lifted an arms embargo (imposed since February) just long enough for Hai San in Larut to receive munitions. In the middle of that month a British vessel got into an entanglement with some Ghee Hin junks which led to British bombardment and capture of Ghee hin stockades at Matang and Kuala Selinsing.
Ngah Ibrahim's Penang residence was blown up on 16 September 1873. A week later a similar attempt was made on Chung Keng Quee's house and Abdullah and his Ghee Hin cohorts were arrested at sea and brought back to Penang where they were eventually released but forbidden to return to Perak.Governor's Despatch 271, 19 September 1873 (C.111, p. 46)
Pangkor Treaty