Seri Rambai

Coordinates: 5°25′16″N 100°20′37″E / 5.421022°N 100.343677°E / 5.421022; 100.343677

The Seri Rambai
cannon
The Seri Rambai cannon at Fort Cornwallis, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
The Seri Rambai cannon at Fort Cornwallis, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Country Malaysia
State Penang
City George Town
Cast 1603, by Jan Burgerhuis
Material Brass
A decorative band in front of the trunnions features three pairs of heraldic lions. Each pair faces an urn filled with flowers.

The Seri Rambai is a 17th-century Dutch cannon displayed at Fort Cornwallis in George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and capital of the Malaysian state of Penang. It is the largest brass gun in Malaysia, a fertility symbol and the subject of legends and prophecy; its history has been discussed in the Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. In 2013 the Sunday Times described the cannon as "something rather special".

The cannon's history in the Malacca Straits began in the early 1600s when Dutch East India Company officers presented it to the Sultan of Johor in return for trading concessions. Less than ten years later Johor was destroyed, the sultan captured and the Seri Rambai taken to Aceh. Near the end of the eighteenth century the cannon was sent to Selangor, where it became the focus of a curious legend about a white snake said to be living in its barrel. In 1871 a British Royal Navy warship was dispatched to Selangor to arrest a band of pirates who had seized a junk and murdered its passengers and crew. After a series of skirmishes British troops burned the town and took the Seri Rambai to Penang. A legend tells how the cannon was then thrown into the sea off George Town and left for almost a decade before being coaxed ashore by a Selangor nobleman. The gun was originally displayed on Penang's Esplanade; in the 1950s it was moved to the ramparts at Fort Cornwallis.

Background

Southeast Asia abounds with tales of historic cannon: many are said to be imbued with supernatural powers; some are revered for their cultural and spiritual significance; others are notable for having been present at defining moments in the region's history.[1] The Hmannan Yazawin, the first official chronicle of Burma's Konbaung Dynasty, recounts a story about the Burmese-Siamese war (1765–1767) that illustrates the divine properties ascribed to certain cannon. After attempts to repel Burmese attacks on the Siamese capital had proved unsuccessful, the King of Siam ordered the city's guardian spirit, a great cannon called Dwarawadi, be used to halt the advance. The gun was ceremoniously hoisted and aimed at the enemy's camp, but the powder failed to ignite. Fearing the guardian of the city had abandoned them, the king's officials implored their sovereign to surrender.[2][lower-alpha 1] One of Jakarta's best known fertility symbols is the Si Jagur, a large Portuguese cannon exhibited next to the city's History Museum.[4][lower-alpha 2] Aldous Huxley saw the gun during the 1920s and commented on the rituals it inspired:

Women desirous of offspring sit on the prostrate God, rub themselves against his vergidrised sides and pray to him for increase. Even white ladies, it is said, may be seen at evening alighting inconspicuously from their motor cars at the Penang Gate. They hurry across the grass to where the God is lying. They drop a few gardenias and a supplication, they touch the God's unresponsive muzzle; then hurry back again through the twilight, fearful of being recognised, of being caught in the flagrant act of worshipping at the shrine of a God
— Aldous Huxley, Jesting Pilate: an Intellectual Holiday, 1926.[6]

Near the entrance to Thailand's Ministry of Defence headquarters in Bangkok is a cannon known as the Phaya Tani, an enormous gun captured from the Sultanate of Pattani in 1785.[7] The cannon is a symbol of cultural identity in Pattani and the profound sense of loss caused by its seizure is still felt today: when Bangkok refused to return the gun and in 2013 sent a replica instead, suspected insurgents bombed it just nine days later.[8]

The Seri Rambai

The Seri Rambai is a Dutch cannon displayed on the ramparts at Fort Cornwallis in George Town, Penang's historic capital and since 2008 a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[9] Two articles about the cannon have been published in the Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. The first was a brief summary of the gun's history in the Malacca Straits; the second a detailed study researched by Dr Gibson-Hill, a former director of Singapore's National Museum and president of the city-state's Photographic Society.[10] Popular newspapers have also discussed the cannon: in 2013 the Sunday Times began a feature about Penang with the opinion "Cannons don’t often have names, but the Seri Rambai, on the walls of Fort Cornwallis, is something rather special".[9]

The Seri Rambai was cast in 1603. It is the largest brass gun in Malaysia and, like Jakarta's Si Jagur, has long been considered a fertility symbol.[11] The cannon is a 28-pounder, 127.5'' (3.245 m) long with a calibre of 6.1'' (15 cm). The barrel measures 118.75'' (3.016 m). In front of the dolphin handles is a decorative band featuring three pairs of heraldic lions with long, spiraling tails. Each pair faces a vase containing flowers. Between the handles and the Dutch East India Company's seal is a Javi inscription, inlaid with silver, celebrating the gun's capture in 1613. The base ring is incised with the gunsmith's signature and date of manufacture.[12][lower-alpha 3]

History

The Santa Catarina Incident

Holland's bid to control southeast Asia's spice trade hinged on two principle strategies: the first was to attack Portuguese interests in the region, including their ships and regional strongholds; the second was to forge alliances with local rulers and offer protection in exchange for trading concessions.[17] An important alliance was consolidated in 1603 when Dutch East India Company ships joined forces with the Sultanate of Johor to capture the Santa Catarina, a Portuguese carrack transiting the Singapore Straits.[18] The vessel's pillaged cargo was later sold in Europe for approximately 3.5 million florins, equivalent to half the Dutch East India Company's paid capital and double that of the British East India Company.[19][lower-alpha 4] Soon after this triumph, possibly in 1605, a Dutch commander presented the Seri Rambai cannon to Johor's sultan.[21][lower-alpha 5]

Sultanate of Aceh

One of Johor's main rivals at the time was the Sultanate of Aceh, a cosmopolitan entrepòt and centre for religious and ideological learning. Aceh's rise to power began in the early 1500s: during the following decades the sultanate expanded its territories in Sumatra and sought military assistance from Suleiman the Magnificent in a quest to banish the Portuguese from Malacca.[22] In 1613 Aceh launched an attack of Johor, destroying its capital and taking prisoner the sultan, his family and entourage. The Seri Rambai was captured during the assault: a Javi inscription on the gun's barrel records the event and senior Acehnese officers involved.[23][lower-alpha 6]

The former Kings of Acheen were on very friendly terms with the Salengore Chiefs, and the King now possesses many large Guns which he procured at Acheen. In a large piece of brass ordnance, a long 32 Pounder, I believe, which was presented to him by the King of Acheen, which is mounted on the Hill, the Natives say there is a White Snake, which comes out every Sunday, and goes to sleep inside the remainder of the Week. They fancy this is a Spirit, and if any person touches it, he is sure to fall sick. The Malays have always some remarkable or superstitious story concerning their particular Guns, and invent the most incredible Tales.
John Anderson, Political and Commercial Considerations Relative to the Malayan Peninsula and the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca, 1824.[25]

The Selangor Incident

In 1795 the Acehnese sent the Seri Rambai to Sultan Ibrahim of Selangor in return for his brother's services in a military campaign. The gun was duly mounted and displayed next to one of Selangor's hilltop forts.[26] Almost thirty years later a British East India Company civil servant visited Selangor and recounted a bizarre tale about a white snake said to be living inside the cannon's barrel.[27] The Selangor incident began in June 1871 when pirates commandeered a Penang junk, killing its thirty four passengers and crew, and taking the vessel to Selangor. The British colonial government responded swiftly: a steamer and Royal Navy warship were dispatched to Selangor with instructions to arrest the pirates and recover the stolen junk.[28] After a series of skirmishes and the arrival of support troops and artillery, the town was burned, the forts demolished and the Seri Rambai taken to Penang.[29] The loss of the cannon was deeply felt in Selangor: a local prophecy maintains that only when the gun is returned will the town regain its former greatness.[30]

Penang

According to legend the Seri Rambai was not formally unloaded in Penang but cast into shallow waters off George Town and left for almost a decade. The story describes how it was eventually retrieved by a Selangor nobleman who tied a length of thread to the gun's barrel and ordered it to float ashore.[31] Until the 1950s the cannon was exhibited on Penang's Esplanade, a verdant enclave near Fort Cornwallis and historic centre of George Town.[32][lower-alpha 7] It was here that the gun acquired its Malay name, Seri Rambai, and reputation as a fertility symbol.[31] The cannon was removed during the Japanese occupation in World War II, but restored to the Esplanade once hostilities had ceased.[13] In 1953 an article in the Straits Times discussed plans to find historic cannon for display at Fort Cornwallis, adding that the cannon then nearest the fort was on the Esplanade, 200 yards away.[34] By 1970 the Seri Rambai was mounted on the ramparts at Fort Cornwallis, albeit missing a wheel for its carriage.[35]

The "Floating Cannon" of Butterworth

Near the ferry terminal in Butterworth is an old, rusted cannon that according to a local Chinese tradition was once the Seri Rambai's female partner. The story tells how it abandoned its "mate" and floated across the channel from Penang to Butterworth. A Malay tradition ascribes a different history to the Butterworth cannon, but believes the Seri Rambai is one of a pair.[36] The possibility that the Seri Rambai might have a twin or "relative" is not without precedent: a researcher studying Jakarta's Si Jagur cannon found a similar gun in Lisbon's Military Museum and surmised that both had been cast by a Portuguese gunsmith in Macao.[37] An oft-told story holds that Pattani's Phaya Tani had a twin, the Seri Negara. Both were captured during Siam's conquest of the sultanate and ordered to be taken to Bangkok. One version of the tale describes how the Seri Negara fell into Pattani Bay while being ferried to the ship; another claims it was lost at sea when the Siamese vessel foundered and sank.[38]

Notes

Jakarta's Si Jagur cannon
The Si Jagur cannon next to Jakarta's History Museum. The cascabel is shaped like a hand making a fig sign, a gesture once considered sexually taboo in Indonesia.
  1. ↑ Another famous gun from Thailand's Ayuthaya period is the Phra Phirun, an episode about which is recorded in the Royal Chronicles of Ayuthaya. The story describes how King Narai sought to demonstrate the resourcefulness of his close friend and confidante, Constance Phaulkon. The king ordered his courtiers to determine the weight of the cannon by whatever means they deemed appropriate. The noblemen discussed the king's request and constructed an enormous set of weighing scales. The attempt ended in failure. Phaulkon solved the problem by loading the gun onto a barge and marking the waterline on the boat's side. He then replaced the cannon with bricks and stones until the barge sank to the same level. By individually weighing the bricks and stones he was able to calculate the cannon's weight. Less than a century later the Phra Phirun was destroyed during the Burmese-Siamese war.[3]
  2. ↑ The cannon features a cascabel shaped like a hand making a fig sign, a gesture once considered sexually suggestive in Indonesia and an affront to Islam. The gesture, its sexual connotations and psychological significance were discussed in an article published in Indonesia's Mudra journal, 2011.[5]
  3. ↑ Dr Gibson-Hill renders the gunsmith's signature as IAN BERGERUS.[13] The correct name is Jan Burgerhuis (also spelled Burgerhuys), a Dutchman whose foundry in Middelburg supplied cannon to the Admiralty of Zeeland and made bells for churches in Scotland.[14] Other ordnance known to originate from the foundry includes two brass cannon displayed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. They were given to Japan by the Dutch East India Company in the late 1600s and captured by American troops after World War II. Both guns were cast in the 1620s by Jan's son, Michael.[15] Another cannon made by Michael was auctioned at Bonhams in 2007. The catalogue noted its "raised band of scrolling foliage centred, at the top, on a vase containing fruit between foliated horses", a design feature similar to that on the Seri Rambai. The gun was part of a private collection and no indication of its provenance was given.[16]
  4. ↑ While the Santa Catarina incident strengthened relations between Holland and Johor, it also sparked controversy and debate in Europe. A Dutch lawyer, Hugo Grotius, justified the incident by claiming it represented a legal challenge to Portugal's control over the Asian spice trade. Grotius' treatises on the subject form the basis of modern maritime law.[20]
  5. ↑ An early eighteenth-century history of Malacca written by François Valentijn records a Dutch commander arriving in Johor towards the end of 1605 and presenting the sultan with two brass guns and a letter from Prince Maurice of Nassau. Dr Gibson-Hill considers it "most likely" that the Seri Rambai was one of the two guns.[21]
  6. ↑ The Javi inscription translates as "Captive of the Sultan. Taken by us, Sri Perkasa Alam Johan Berdaulat, at the time when we ordered Orang Kaya Seri Maharaja with his captains and Orang Kaya Laksamana and Orang Kaya Raja Lela Wangsa to attack Johor, in the year 1023 A.H.".[23] As Professor Anthony Reid notes in his Verandah of Violence: The Background to the Aceh Problem, Sri Perkasa Alam was the formal name for Iskander Muda, the Sultan of Aceh.[24]
  7. ↑ Vintage postcards and an old photograph of the Seri Rambai on Penang's Esplanade are reproduced in Professor Jin Seng Cheah's book, Penang: 500 Early Postcards. In plates 132 and 133 the cannon can be seen next to the bandstand, pointing out to sea; plate 123 shows the gun in the same position shortly after WWII.[33]

Citations

  1. ↑ Tarling 1992, pp. 48–49; Watson Andaya 2011, pp. 26–28.
  2. ↑ Phraison Salarak 1914–1915, pp. 47–48.
  3. ↑ Sewell 1922, pp. 22–23.
  4. ↑ Samodro 2011, pp. 193–199; Gibson-Hill 1953, p. 161.
  5. ↑ Samodro 2011, pp. 193-195, 197-199.
  6. ↑ Huxley 1926, pp. 207–208.
  7. ↑ Watson Andaya 2013, pp. 41–45; Sewell 1922, pp. 15–17.
  8. ↑ Watson Andaya 2013, pp. 41–45; Replica Cannon Bombed Nine Days after its Installation (Isranews Agency) 2013.
  9. 1 2 Far and Malay (The Sunday Times) 2013.
  10. ↑ Douglas 1948, pp. 117–118; Gibson-Hill 1953, pp. 157–161; Dr Gibson-Hill Found Dead in Bath (The Straits Times) 1963.
  11. ↑ Gibson-Hill 1953, pp. 157, 161, 172.
  12. ↑ Gibson-Hill 1953, pp. 149, 157–158.
  13. 1 2 Gibson-Hill 1953, p. 157.
  14. ↑ Bouchaud et al. 2014, p. 144; Puype & Van Der Hoeven 1996, pp. 24, 26; Clouston 1947–48, p. 175.
  15. ↑ Bronze Cannon Conservation: Fort Belvoir (Conservation Solutions).
  16. ↑ A Very Fine and Impressive Dutch 24 Pdr. Bronze Cannon (Bonhams).
  17. ↑ Dixon 1991, pp. 64–66; Borschberg 2002, pp. 59–60.
  18. ↑ Borschberg 2002, pp. 60–61; Borschberg 2010, p. 68.
  19. ↑ Borschberg 2010, p. 68.
  20. ↑ Roots of International Law in 1603 Incident off Changi (The Straits Times) 2015.
  21. 1 2 Gibson-Hill 1953, pp. 159–160.
  22. ↑ Reid 2006, pp. 39–41, 47–48, 56–57, 59–60.
  23. 1 2 Douglas 1948, pp. 17–18.
  24. ↑ Reid 2006, p. 55.
  25. ↑ Anderson 1824, pp. 195–196.
  26. ↑ Douglas 1948, p. 118.
  27. ↑ Gibson-Hill 1953, p. 160.
  28. ↑ Affair with Pirates (The Straits Times) 1920.
  29. ↑ Affair with Pirates (The Straits Times) 1920; Gibson-Hill 1953, pp. 160–161.
  30. ↑ Watson Andaya 2011, p. 28.
  31. 1 2 Douglas 1948, p. 118; Gibson-Hill 1953, p. 161.
  32. ↑ Gibson-Hill 1953, p. 157; Bouchaud et al. 2014, p. 129.
  33. ↑ Cheah 2012, pp. 84–85.
  34. ↑ Wanted: Old Cannon for Fort (The Straits Times) 1953.
  35. ↑ Dutch Carriage for Cannon (The Straits Times) 1970.
  36. ↑ Coope 1947, pp. 126–128.
  37. ↑ Guedes 2011, pp. 56–57.
  38. ↑ Syukri 1985, p. 71; Sewell 1922, pp. 15–17.

Sources

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