Jementah Civil War

Jementah Civil War happened in 1879 in Jementah, Sultanate of Johor when Tengku Alam, the heir of Sultan Ali of Muar refused to give the district of Muar under temporary administration of Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor. The final result of the civil war became a factor of the opening of the town of Muar.

Before Sultan Abu Bakar became the ruler of Johor, Johor was ruled by Temenggong Ibrahim which was more favored than Sultan Ali. To settle the problems of administration, Sultan Ali was given the district of Muar while Temenggong Ibrahim ruled the remaining districts in Johor.

The war was triggered on 25 October 1879 because Sultan Ali crowned his 11-year-old son named Tengku Mahmood as his successor after his death, resulting Tengku Alam's fury and envy. He also felt unsatisfied when Colonel Archibald Anson put the district of Muar under Sultan Abu Bakar's temporary administration.

He began his moves by asking his cousins Tengku Nong and Tengku Mat to spread false information to the residents of Muar district to be on his side. He also gathered some powerful warriors for the battle.

Tengku Alam and his followers launched the first blow of the war by attacking Jementah on 25 October 1879 and won the battle. As a result, the headman of Jementah sent reports to the ruler of Johor and Sultan Abu Bakar responded by sending a powerful army of soldiers lead by his cousin, Ungku Ahmad. Ungku Ahmad was a great tactician which contributed to the victory of Johor side sooner.

Dato' Mohammed Salleh bin Perang which also known as Dato' Bentara Luar was sent to the battlefield by the government on 2 December 1879 to rendezvous with the government army. As a strategy, he split the Johor government army into four teams to fight enemies easier. Each team contained about 100 soldiers.

During the middle of December 1879, the government army conquered more enemy strongholds and finally gained total victory on 30 December 1879 after a surprise attack on the enemy's final stronghold at dawn. Since then, the original District of Muar which included Segamat was re-occupied by the government of Johor.

The aftermath of war

The most notable event happened as a result of Johor government's victory in Jementah Civil War is the opening of the town of Muar by Sultan Abu Bakar. Besides of this event, the soldiers from both sides who later resided in the areas of Jementah and Segamat opened the residencies "(mukim)" of Pogoh, as well as some villages there.

References and external link

*YM Ungku Mohd. Zaman bin Tahir (1996). "Segamat: Sejarah dan Mitosnya". Al-Kafilah Enterprise.
* [http://mediumnetwork.tripod.com/perang.html Perang Jementah] - the complete explanation of Jementah Civil War in Malay