The Kelantan Rebellion, also known as the Tok Janggut Uprising, was an anti-colonial uprising in 1915 in the British Protectorate of Kelantan in northeastern Malay Peninsula, now a state of Malaysia.
The outbreak of the Kelantan Rebellion in 1915 has attracted much attention from scholars but there was much disagreement over what actually was the cause of the rebellion. It remains an area of Malaysian history that is still debated amongst scholars, regardless of where scholars have studied the rebellion through the British colonial perspective or that of the locals. Both versions present very different interpretations of the motivations behind the rebellion. However, what is agreed upon by both sides was that the rebellion was centered on a venerable-looking bearded gentleman - Haji Mohd Hassan bin Munas, nom de guerre Tok Janggut (Old Long Beard).
Background After the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, Britain took over the jurisdiction of Kelantan from Siam without the consultation of the Sultan. The change in administration saw significant changes in the state's political system, and foreign relations was handled by Britain from 1910.
The local government of Pasir Puteh in Kelantan was taken over by British administrators. British officer Encik Abdul Latiff took over the administration of Kelantan from the local leader, Engku Jeram. Latiff was viewed as an outsider by the Kelantan locals, both for his subservience to the British colonial administration and for the fact that, although Malay, he was not from Kelantan, which has a culture and dialect distinct from other Malay areas of Southeast Asia. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests that Latif perhaps considered himself above the largely rural Kelantanese and was notably stern in his tax collection duties.
Administration of Kelantan (1902 - 1915) Earlier, while still a Siamese province, the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1902 allowed British officers W.A. Graham and H.W. Thomson to assist in the administration of Kelantan. Significantly, the British administration was able to bring under its control, 1,904 square miles of mineral-rich land previously leased by the Sultan of Kelantan to British entrepreneur R.W. Duff.
Graham soon began modernising the state administration. While reaffirming the status of the Sultan, he restructured the civil service and created several new departments, including the State Treasury. The State Treasury oversaw all payments and receipts collected for the administration. Graham also transformed the existing police force into a more efficient force. A Western-style judiciary was established and operated in parallel with the Islamic courts. Kelantan was also reorganised into three districts - Kota Bharu, Ulu Kelantan and Pasir Puteh to streamline the state's administration. Each district will have its own magistrate, land officer as well as revenue collector.
These changes eventually eroded the power and privileges of the traditional leaders; previously, collection of tax revenue was done exclusively by the Sultan, his family or the nobility, but with Graham's reforms, the Sultan would have to be satisfied with what the British allocated to him.
Anticipating discontent, Graham appointed several members of the royal family to lead several government departments. This arrangement continued until 1909 when Kelantan formally became a British protectorate, taking over from Siam upon signing of the Anglo-Siamese treaty that year.
Graham's successor, J.S Mason continued with new developments in Kelantan's administration. Among these changes was that Britain would oversee Kelantan's foreign relations and defence, and the Sultan would appoint a British Adviser and to follow and give effect to the advice of the Adviser....in all matters of administration other than those touching the Mohammedan religion and Malay customs.
Regional administration Graham's reforms provided for district officers to oversee the district and village chiefs. In the past, these district and village chiefs were directly responsible for tax collection; under British administration, tax collection was now the responsibility of the State Treasury functioning via the District Officers.
In land administration, Graham had devised a system that categorized land parcels throughout the state into royal grants and ordinary parcels traded between consenting parties. His successors, Mason and J.E. Bishop continued with the system, albeit transferring legal disputes involving land from the civil courts to the Land Office.
When W. Langham-Carter assumed the position of Adviser, he introduced a land register which included the names of all land owners in Kelantan. This was meant improve collection of property taxes, and to encourage the peasants to cultivate rice and cash crops on the land. In 1915, a new taxation system was introduced; land parcels were categorised into four classes, with different tax rates levied for each class. This mean that all land owners were subject to property tax regardless if the land was being developed or not. The new tax rates came into force on 1 January that year.
Political conspiracy Scholars have also pointed out that there was much intrigue within the Kelantan palace.
Prince Long Senik succeeded his uncle, Sultan Mansur, in June 1899, and assumed the title of Sultan Muhammad IV, after the latter's death, but his ascension was not welcomed by other members of the royal family. Among them would be Prince Long Senik's other uncle, Prince Long Jaafar, who was bypassed for the position, as well as Tungku Chik Penambang who was overlooked for the position of Raja Muda – the next in the line of succession. The new Sultan was rendered as a figurehead, as his relatives were allowed to veto his orders and amassed large tracts of land. The grudge against the Sultan by the other princes was evidently apparent to W.A. Graham, who mentioned that "Seven of the most powerful of his uncles and other relatives formed a league by the strength of which combination, they extracted from him privileges to which, without such cohesion, they could never have aspired".
Course of the rebellion The deposed local administrator, Engku Besar Jeram, called upon Tok Janggut, Haji Said, Che Sahak Merbol and Penghulu Adam to discuss the tense situation in Kelantan. At the meeting, a pact was signed by the participants which prohibited any one of them to co-operate with the British. Their independence fight gained support from most Kelantan residents, whose refusal to pay taxes meant the revenue of the district dropped by half in one year.
In 1915, Latiff discovered that Janggut was responsible, and sent Sergeant Sulaiman and six other policemen to arrest him. The officers found him surrounded by 2,000 of his followers, many of whom were carrying weapons. Tok Janggut did not try and escape: he stood his ground and refused to go with the officers. In the heat of the argument, Janggut stabbed Seargeant Sulaiman with his keris. Sulaiman shortly died, and the crowd disarmed the other officers, who were sent back to Latif.
Encik Latif attempted to rally the surrounding villages against Janggut, but this failed because Tok Janggut was now marching towards Pasir Puteh with his followers. Latif fled Pasir Puteh to avoid Janggut, and to seek an audience with the Sultan of Kelantan in Kota Bharu. Tok Janggut's forces fought against the British in Pasir Puteh, and the rebels triumphed. They remained in Pasir Puteh for three days and declared the independence of Pasir Puteh from British rule. Engku Besar was selected as Sultan of Pasir Puteh, with Tok Janggut as his chief minister. Having heard about Janggut's rebellion from Encik Latif, the Sultan branded Janggut a traitor and called a meeting with the state officials. The rebel leaders were ordered to surrender themselves within seven days, failing which they would be arrested and sentenced to death. They refused to surrender, and a $500 reward was offered to anyone who arrested Engku Besar, Tok Janggut, Haji Said, Haji Ishak or Penghulu Adam.
In May 1915, 1,500 British troops marched to Pasir Puteh to attempt to quell the rebellion. Tok Janggut got wind of this, however, and advised his followers to flee. He and the other rebel leaders hid in the jungle, avoiding the troops. The soldiers returned to Singapore on 17 May, having failed in their mission. After the British troops withdrew, Tok Janggut came out of hiding. News of this reached the authorities in Kota Bharu, who decided to send Indian troops led by British officers in a second attempt at ending the rebellion. The rebel leaders went into hiding again, and out of anger the troops burnt down Jeram town, including the houses of Tok Janggut and many of his followers. Tok Janggut marched on Pasir Puteh town (where the Indian troops had gone after burning down Jeram) on 25 June 1915, with 1,000 of his followers, armed with guns and traditional weaponry. Even though the rebel forces outnumbered their enemy, the Indian troops were much better-equipped. Many of Tok Janggut's followers fled, and he himself was killed, ending the rebellion against British rule in Kelantan.
Interpretations The Kelantan Rebellion had been portrayed in a wide array because many scholars have disagreed as to what really caused the outbreak of the uprising. The rebellion had been seen and interpreted as; A Jihad (Holy War) against Britain following the outbreak of World War One the previous year. In this war, Britain was part of the Triple Entente (An alliance consisting of Britain, France and Russia) who were fighting against the Triple Alliance (Consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire). The Ottoman Empire was an Islamic nation and had called upon all Muslims to support its efforts against the British, French and Russians. This interpretation is the official one in Malaysia, with school textbooks publishing this assessment of the reason for the Kelantan uprising. A peasant rebellion triggered by discontent against the new property tax rates, and the harsh methods used by the District Officer to collect these taxes As a protest / rebellion against the Sultan for accepting British administration and an attempt to oust him from power. As a political manoeuvre by the Sultan to strengthen his position and oust those against him.
The Rebellion as a Jihad (Holy War) In this interpretation of the rebellion, much of the works done centred on Tok Janggut's biography and life experiences, and how it shaped his worldview to rebel against the British as part of a Jihad. Although there have been scant historical evidence which detailed Tok Janggut's early life, the romanticised image of Tok Janggut as an Islamic warrior still remained strong in the Malaysian psyche. Much of the interpretation stems from folk tales which depict him as a freedom fighter who would resist even the Sultan for fighting for what he believed was a just cause and that he was considered to be "a man of some learning and consequent repute in an unlettered community". His years of sojourn in Mecca implies that he was a religious man; that point was used by later generations of historians to portray him as an Islamic militant who waged jihad, despite there being no historical evidence to show that his rebellion was done in the name of Islam. Nevertheless, the political context in which the rebellion took place did offer a point of argument why some historians portrayed the rebellion as an Islamic struggle.