History Buff : Constantia

Shaikh Abdurahman Matebe Shah's Kramat in Klien Constantia, Cape Town (Source: Rajab Stevens FB)

On 13.5.1668, the Dutch ship Zuid-Polsbroek from Batavia arrived at the Cape with three deportees arrested after the 1667 Battle of Soeroesoeang. One of them, Shaikh Abdurahman Matebe Shah is said to be the last Malaccan Sultan. Matebe Shah, a hafez, became the first Cape teacher of the Quran. Next to the Spaansgemat River in Klein Constantia, his fellow prisoner and religious advisor, Shaikh Mahmud and Shaikh Abdul Mutalib, would meet with the slave community and preach Islam to them. Matebe Shah passed away in either 1682 or 1685. Cape Malay legend has it that the location of his body was lost for 100 years, until a farmer accidentally stumbled upon his burial spot i.e. Klein Constantia, where his shrine or Kramat now stands.

Shaikh Abdurahman Matebe Shah's Kramat in Klien Constantia, Cape Town (Source: Rajab Stevens FB)

Nevertheless, there is no direct historical evidence to show their background. Few books and websites states Matebe Shah was the last Sultan of Malacca, a claim which is based on folklore and oral history passed through generations. Based on this folklore, a tablet was erected in 1927 which stated the deportees' affiliation to "Castle Soeroesoeang" and "West Sumatra".

One of 4 tablets at the Shrines of Saints of Islam, Cape Town.

Soeroesoeang or Surasoan is in Banten which is located in West Java and not West Sumatra as per the tablet's inscriptions. Banten, established by Sunan Gunungjati (Sharif Hidayatullah) in 1526, has its own Sultan in Surasoan of which lineage continues until today. Upon the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511, Banten gained popularity amongst Muslim traders many of whom opted to use the Sunda Straits instead of the Portuguese-controlled Straits of Malacca. If Matebe Shah indeed hailed from Soeroesoeang, perhaps he was a Banten royalty instead of Malacca. See a 1590 drawing of Malaccans in Banten by Theodore de Bry (1528-1598):

1590 drawing of Malaccans in Banten by Theodore de Bry (1528-1598)

Another version is that although they fought in Soeroesoeang, the deportees originated from the West Cost of Sumatra. If we are to refer to documented history, at that point in time, the area was ruled by the Sultanate of Aceh under Sultanah Taj ul-Alam Safiatuddin Syah (1612–1675) (r. 1641-1675), the daughter of Sultan Iskandar Muda of Aceh and his wife Sultanah Kamaliah (Putroe Phang), a princess from the Sultanate of Pahang. Portuguese Malacca fell to the Dutch in 1641 with the help of the Johor Sultanate. Sultanate of Aceh was at that time an enemy of the Sultanate of Johor in a triangular war with Portuguese Malacca.

History also shows that the last Sultan of Malacca i.e. Sultan Mahmud Shah (r. 1488-1511) passed away in Kampar, Sumatra, in 1528. In the same year his children Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II (r. 1528-1564) and Sultan Muzzafar Shah I (r. 1528-1549) established the Sultanate of Johor and Perak respectively. Therefore the claim that Matabe Shah was the last Malaccan Sultan would not be correct.

Be that as it may, it is pertinent to note that
the spouse of Sultanah Taj ul-Alam i.e. Sultan Iskandar Thani Alauddin Mughayat Syah (1610-1641) (r.1636-1641) has a direct lineage to the Malacca royal house. It is for a fact that Iskandar Thani was the son of the 11th Sultan of Pahang, Ahmad Shah II (r. 1590-1592) who was brought to Aceh in the conquest of Pahang in 1617 by Iskandar Muda. Iskandar Thani married the sultan's daughter, the later Sultanah Taj ul-Alam, and succeeded Iskandar Muda as the 13th Sultan of Aceh in 1636.

Iskandar Thani's lineage can be traced to the first Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Muhammad Shah ibni Sultan Mansur Shah (1455-1475) (r. 1470-1475), who was initially appointed as heir apparent to the Malacca throne by his father, Sultan Mansur Shah (r.1459-1477). Muhammad Shah was banished for committing murder following a feud in a Sepak Raga game and went into exile in Pahang, later installed as its first Sultan in 1470.

Sultanah Taj ul-Alam was replaced by 3 consecutive Sultanahs i.e. Sultanah Nurul Alam Naqiatuddin Syah (r. 1675-1678), Sultanah Inayat Zakiatuddin Syah (r. 1678-1688), & Sultanah Zainatuddin Kamalat Syah (r. 1688-1699).

It is recorded that Sultan Iskandar Thani and Sultanah Taj ul-Alam had no son to inherit the Aceh throne. It is possible that such claim is made to justify the rule of the 3 subsequent Sultanahs who had no direct connection to the lineage of the Aceh Sultanate. It is also possible that such version of history is supported by the Dutch to avoid any opposition resulting out of a succession claim.

Thus, if Sultan Iskandar Thani and Sultanah Taj ul-Alam did in fact had a son, he would have been in his 30s when Soeroesoeang fell to the Dutch in 1667. Although not a Malacca Sultan per se, this heir to the Sultanate of Aceh had a valid claim of lineage to the Malacca royal house through his father (Sultan Iskandar Thani) as well as his maternal grandmother (Sultanah Kamaliah).

In terms of lineage, this 1470 Pahang branch of the Malacca royal house descended from the sons of the senior queen Putri Onang Seri i.e Sultan Muhammad Shah ibni Sultan Mansur Shah (r. 1470-1475), and Sultan Ahmad Shah I ibni Sultan Mansur Shah (r. 1475-1495). In comparison, the lineage of post-1477 Malacca throne descended from the son of a junior queen Raden Galoh Cendera Kirana i.e. Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Mansur Shah (r. 1477-1488).

Sources:

1. http://www.muslim.co.za/tourism/placestovisit/kramat_shaykh_abdurahman_matebe_shah

2. https://id.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesultanan_Banten

3. https://id.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keraton_Surosowan

4. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iskandar_Thani

5. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_II_of_Pahang

6. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Kadir_Alauddin_Shah_of_Pahang