‘ in li w nw 1 d ~1 1 l I W i U n L l i l n l n , On l V L O U i A IF RNIA U JOLLA. C L O SAKEI TRIBES IN SELANGMOR . ” N ‘m m “ w . " KUALA LANGAT DISTRICT . OR I GI N . HE tradition of most S akeis in this district is that they come b confir from Jo or , and this account receives at least striking “ ” of a trumba mation from a species composition which is c lled , of of and which consists a number short lines , setting forth in ” the u S akeis . trumba order vario s places settled by the Of this , i of which I believe w ll be new to most students the Sakei dialects , I collected a good many fragments while I was in charge of the sub d of i n nume1 ou s istrict Sepang , which was formerly settled a and “ important colony of the Orang Laut . The passage dealing with the of r ed immigration these t ibes , though to some extent corrupt , is of still fairly clear as regards the main outlines their story . It runs as follows u Gobang Goben B luh Bohal , Hendau S embatan Tanah jati , Tanah , Sumah mukah g Semu Terj atoh ka - tanah Jobor ; jong (Naning) Naneng Batin Barnis ; Adik Bertechap Penghulu Klam u Batin Banggai punya asal b + mu S e on . Bukit Nuang, Mukah Tanah j g chel ui " u uanda k (Turun) Batin Galang, 1 Lep baj jala j kal aut J Jéboh m Tolak jadi raiat laut , adi Re bau , ’ ‘ chaka Raiat laut j adi Bajau . Lep baju blah p Sisi . of e Some this is very obscure , but I would att mpt to translate as follows Gobang Goben , Buluh Bohal , Tanah Jati From the valley of the Endau we came upon the Johol di strict . In Naming (settled) ’ g B an i s 13t . Batin Barnis . Batin gga first origin was at Nuan Batin Galang descended and pushing to the sea - board founded the h . W o Orang Laut , and the Orang Laut became Bajau (pirates) opened S emuj ong ? The younger sister of Penghulu Klambu Opened the of S emu on w ho be region j g, Those donned the undivided coat ' th Mal a s of e . came the sons of the soil (beduanda) , became y Rembau h ” ” w o . Those donned the open (lit . divided ) coat speak Besisi of Loba n Gobang Goben , taken as a corruption g Goben , was once explained to me as the name of a hole in a large bamboo called the Re a G Mr W W S a D t Ofli ce i port forw rded to overnment by . ke t , Acting istric . ' 1 Acco1 ding to one acco u n t Batin ( Temenggong) S :11 ibu Jaya founded the B1 s 1s 1 a11dB 1ti11 Ga a a Ba m 1 i i a Sm11 J a 11 O w B a . l ng, son of tin y , the g l nd s fl icle a N \ 01. 112 . lso ewbold , II p 2 of Buluh Bohal in Sumatra , from which the founder the Sakei race l u sl o y issued ; from Sumatra , according to this account , the k is S a e passed to Johor , and from thence gradually spread up the Peninsula until they came to Sungei Ujong and Selangor . But the Buluh Bohal appears to be the name applied to the Sakei reg alia th r in ra and t u fu e . ( v . f ) the mat er req ires investigation E . The Sungei ndau is of course well known , as is Naning Batin Banggai is said to have afterwards founded the settlement at Sepang e Kechil . Batin Galang probably m ans Batin Merak Galang , once well known , as was also Penghulu Toh) Klambu , on the Sungei Bertecha Techa Ujong borders . p , also given as Nyai p , looks like a the title borrowed from the Malays , as is certainly case with the word ” s uceeded of Penghul u . I have not in finding out the exact meaning b a ” l aj u j la , but I be ieve it is quite true that the Sakei element in Rembau is more important than the Malay . The poem proceeds with f e a long string o lines which appear quit unintelligible at first sight . but prove on examination to consist of the names of a number of places in the vicinity of the Langat River and in Sungei Uj ong . Next I give an account which was given me by one of the Sepang S akeis , in whose family the tradition had been handed down from o generati n to generation , and who was brought to me as an authority b . w y members of his tribe This tradition , hich I took down at the a o time , upwards of two years g , and now give for what it may be We worth , runs as follows first came from a country lying at the w r edge of the sky , here the sun ises , beyond the country of Siam , a ’ country lying at a distance of more than one man s lifetime (mati hidu t d , balik p) ; and we , spread hence ( own the Peninsula) to Johor but were driven north again by a cruel Malay Raja . At the edge of the sky , in the country we first came from , there stood a giant , w a s - whose work to prop the heavens (tongkat kan langit) , and who devoured the clouds (which kept falling downwards from the edge of hi s . the sky) , cutting off those which overhung with knife In those t days we were aller than we are now , and slept in caves of the rocks on a big plain which had no grass or trees growing upon it, and upon which no rain ever fell , and which was not like the earth here , but glittered like silver . The next place we came to was a place called d B erimbun Pa ang , where the whole earth was covered with deep dew which was as cold as ice . Here also we slept among the rocks . Thence we reached the mountains of Kel u ntong which also had no trees or grass upon them , and were very close to the sky ; thence one of - we reached , one by , the hills the giants (Gunong Gasi Gasi) , Mntu h P i e o Ul u Gunong j ( ) , and the h lls of Kelantan , Pahang and r w of Johor ; and in Johor we fi st met ith the Malays . The titles Jinan Jukrah Grunon Batin , g , and were first distributed at g Men P - e . tuj oh ( ) , b yond Siam At Ayer Tawar the Raja Lumba Lumba D Puteh (White olphin) , who had come from Pagar Ruyong, drove S emu on out our Batin , Siamang Puteh (White Ape) , so that he fled to j g , where his daughter married and became the mother of the Toh Klana . From S emuj ong w e came to the land o f Klang and have dw elt there s ince . The shore o f the sea ha s g re atly cha ng e d s ince w e a r riv e d here ; 3 the sea formerly reached inland to Ul u Klang . Bukit Galah and on the - Bukit Benuang were both once sea coast , Bukit Galah takin ” its name from a post to which boats were tied . It will be seen that the one point in which all the precedi ng accounts agree is that the Selangor S akeis immigrated into the State from Johor, probably at no distant period . But the history of the not Sakei tribes previous to their settling in Johor has yet , I believe , t been thoroughly worked out , and the most recent investiga ions would go to show that there are traces of the fusion of at least tw o distinct “ of C races , the Negritos and the Laus southern hina , both in their language and physique , either of which races must have come in the n first instance from the orth . ' f . E . P all o . e Mr S , writing recently for the Journal the w Polynesian Society, states this view as follo s “ Modified remnants of this archaic (Negrito) race are still found n in holes and cor ers over central , southern and eastern India , forming the bases of the Dravidian Sudra and dark uncivilised communities i J and in the Burman Peninsula , m xed with Malay , as the Binua , akun , Andamani Samang , Sakei ; a purer fragment in the isolated and “ - again , Next we find , overlying these Indo Burman Negritos , an ff C ’ extensive di usion of south hina element, or Lau , which slowly ” r . modified , exterminated , or absorbed the fo mer . Peal l of Mr mentions a third ethnic influx , that the taller races m i ” fro east T bet, which passing south and to the islands and amalga of mating with the races Sumatra , Java and Borneo , formed the Pre ” - - D E . Malayan types , such as the Batta, yak and Nias ngano islanders E C E MG S . R NT I RATION t As regards the most recent migrations of the tribes in this distric , . I may mention that a large body of the Sepang and the Rawang S akeis not of , estimated to have been short two hundred souls , crossed the Straits to Sumatra but a few years back to j oin Raja Mahmud (of D of Selangor) at Selat umei , at the back Pulau Rupat (as it is called 2 S akeis on the map) , and ( ) that a large number of Langat have within the last few m0 11 ths - returned to Ayer Itam (in this district) from Johor , a fact which shows that the connection with Johor is still kept up .