Royal Correspondence and Appeals for Help, 1824–1905

Chapter 2 Royal Correspondence and Appeals for Help, 1824–1905

After the sixteenth century contacts documented in Chapter 1, there is no evidence of direct connections between the Ottoman Empire and Southeast Asia until the early nineteenth century, when in 1824 the sultan of Kedah on the Malay peninsula sent an appeal for help against the Siamese, although commercial and intellectual contacts continued in the intervening period (see Reid 2014: 87–91; Peacock and Gallop 2015b: 12–13; Peacock 2015; Fathurahman 2015). From the mid nineteenth century on- wards, contacts became increasingly frequent as Southeast Asian rulers, especially the sultans of Aceh, sought Ottoman aid against European and particularly Dutch encroachment (see in general Reid 1967; Göksoy 2011; Kadı 2015). As a result, the Istanbul archives house a rich treasure trove of letters from Southeast Asian rulers.

1 Documents pertaining to the letter of the Sultan of Kedah, Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah requesting aid against the Siamese from the Ottoman government, 1824

The petition of Kedah to the Ottomans came as a result of the Siamese intervention there. Siam had traditionally regarded the Muslim states of the northern Malay peninsula as her tributaries, and of these the closest relationship was with Kedah, which was regarded as a crucial buffer state to protect Siam from attack from the South. In particular, Siam feared a Burmese invasion; in 1767 the Burmese had sacked the Siamese capi- tal, Ayutthaya, and Burmese attacks in the later eighteenth century had sought to weaken Siam by breaking its hold over the peninsula through attacking the west coast of the peninsula, especially Kedah (Skinner 1985: 1–2, 3–4.) As Siam attempted to reassert control over Kedah in the first years of the 19th century, sultan Ahmad Tajuddin sought British support, the British base at Penang being located on territory leased from Kedah (Skinner 1985: 4; Suwannathat-Pian 1988: 70). Siam invaded Kedah in 1821 and ruled the territory directly as a province until 1839 (Suwannathat-Pian 1988: 71–2, 82). Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin’s appeal to the Ottomans thus was

written some years after the Siamese invasion, when the sultan, in exile in British-controlled Penang, doubtless had despaired of any British aid. Unfortunately for the sultan, his letter arrived in Istanbul just as the Greek revolt (1821–32) reached a critical phase, and no action was taken. These documents have not previously been published; for a discussion see Kadı 2015: 155–9.

1.1 Letter of the Sultan of Kedah, Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah requesting aid from the Ottoman government against the Siamese In the name of God the merciful the compassionate; praise be to God lord of both worlds, blessings and peace upon the seal of prophets and messengers, his family and companions; praise to him who built this religion of Muhammad through his victory, and who singled out for him slaves to uphold his promise until the day of Judgement and put their unsheathed swords on the necks of his enemies, the accursed infidel; and who singled them out from among the human race to be kings over all men, common and noble; and he brought forth from among their line this king who qualities amaze the perceptive, and whose virtues even intelligent men cannot [fully] appreciate. Through the serious- ness of his resolution, he renewed this religion after it had declined until he conquered God’s Sacred House, the City of the Prophet and the rest of the land of Islam, and made every unbeliever taste the cup of death with his sword, I mean the king of Arabs and non-Arabs (ʿajam), bearer of the banner of most noble glory, sultan of Islam and the Muslims, leader of the ghazis and those who wage holy war, helper of the nation of Muhammad, suppressor of rebels, king of the two lands and the two seas, servant of the two holy shrines, aider of the sharia, lord of all creation, the sultan, son of the sultan son of the sultan ⟨…⟩, I mean the sultan of all sultans may God protect him and keep him and aid him and destroy anyone who opposes him, resists him or betrays him. I send greetings more delicate than the breeze and sweeter than good health to the sick body, salutations more deeply perfumed than musk or ambergris, prayers at every time, and a charm from one afflicted whose sorrow has been inflamed, and whose pain and lamentation at what has happened in the land of Islam has endured too long, with the unbelievers, the enemies of religion, gaining power. Oh God, who possesses fervour and zeal for the umma of the best of men [the Prophet]? The reason for having these letters written is the [divine] saying “collabo- rate in piety and godliness”, for the Prophet said, “Believers are tied to each other like the bricks of a building”. What made it necessary to describe this to your Exalted State and Imperial Majesty was that we had heard of your Hashemite zeal for the rest of the land of Islam. God exalted prompted us