Taiping – The historically rich town in Perak, Malaysia

Source : MalaysiaCentral.com


Taiping is a town in the state of Perak, Malaysia. It has a population of 198,112 (2000). It is the largest town in Perak after Ipoh, the state capital. It is also the first Perak’s state capital city which was then replaced by Ipoh. Its development was slowed down after the replacement, but in recent years the town has developed rapidly.


Taiping sits on a coastal plain at the foothills of the Bintang Range. The town also receives some limelight as the wettest town in Peninsular Malaysia. The average annual rainfall is about 4,000mm in Taiping while the peninsula’s average is 2,000mm – 2,500mm. Its unusual rainfall has also blessed its Lake Gardens with a fertile and splendid collection of flora and century-old raintrees.


History


The name Taiping is made up of two Chinese characters (tai – ‘great’) and (ping – ‘peace’). The area developed quickly in the 19th century when tin was discovered. The discovery of tin deposits in the area attracted settlers from China, who were organised into two feuding groups around the Cantonese Ghee Hin society and the Hakka Hai San society. British intervention in the early 1870′s put an end to the feuding and the town, which used to be known as Klian Pauh, acquired its present name. The British made Taiping the administrative centre for the state of Perak in 1875. The town served this function until 1937 when the state capital was moved to Ipoh.


Taiping town in the early 1880s. All buildings were with attap roofs, and Taiping town was partly gutted by fire twice in the early 1880s.
Taiping was the town center for the districts of Larut, Matang and Selama in Perak. Before 1937, Taiping was the capital of the state of Perak and was the center of a long drawn out war resulting in a change of rulership for the state. Taiping used to be known as Klian Pauh – Klian means mine and Pauh is a type of small-sized mango. Before the arrival of the British, the district (known in its earlier days as the The Larut Settlement) was governed by the Minister of Larut, Dato’ Long Jaafar (and later by his son Ngah Ibrahim) who was empowered by the Sultan of Perak at that time, to govern that territory.


Long Jaafar has been historically credited with the discovery of tin in Larut in 1848. According to legend, Long Jaafar had an elephant named Larut and he used to take this elephant with him when journeying between Bukit Gantang and Lubok Merbau. One day the elephant went missing and when the elephant was eventually found three days later Long Jaafar noticed tin ore embedded in the mud that was on the elephant’s legs. It is said that this is how Larut got its name. Eventually in 1850, Larut district was bestowed on Long Jaafar by Raja Muda Ngah Ali and the Chiefs of Perak, Temenggong, Panglima Bukit Gantang, Panglima Kinta, Syahbandar and Seri Adika Raja. Some time later, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Abdullah, died in 1857 and a series of Sultan succession disputes ensued. Unhappy with the abuse and favoritism of various royalties, rival Malay camps took sides with one or the other of the two great Chinese secret societies present in that place.


Long Jaafar established and developed his administrative center at Bukit Gantang and made Kuala Sungai Limau at Trong the principal harbour of the Larut Settlement. In 1857 Long Jaafar was succeeded by his son Ngah Ibrahim. Sultan Jaffar Muazzam Shah presented an acknowledgement letter to Ngah Ibrahim on 24 May 1858. This letter was signed by Sultan Jaffar, Raja Muda Ngah Ali and the Raja Bendahara of Perak. In the time of Ngah Ibrahim the Chinese increased in number and in early 1860 two large groups were formed by the Chinese, the “Five Associations” whose members worked in the mines of Klian Pauh and the “Four Associations” whose members worked in the mines of Klian Baharu.


Mining rights were given to the Hakka “Five Associations” or Go-Kuan and the Cantonese “Four Associations” or Si-Kuan. Chung Keng Quee was leader of the Hakka Go-Kuan and the Hai San society they belonged to and began to operate his tin mines in Larut in 1860. Larut was destined to be plagued by four major wars between members of both the Ghee Hin Society that owned the Cantonese Go-Kuan and the Hakka Hai San society. Many Hakka fled China when the Taiping Rebellion broke out there and found work in the mines of Chung Keng Quee establishing his position over the mining area in Larut as leader of the Hai San from 1860 to 1884.

The picture shows the surface mining at Kelian Pauh, by the early Chinese miners. This was the first area where tin-deposits were found. The Founder was the Malay chief, Long Jaafar who is known as (Bapa Bijih Timah, Larut). The rest is all history, and Taiping (known in Chinese as ‘Everlasting Peace’) was given in 1874.
The capital of Perak was moved from Bandar Baru (New Town) to Taiping after Datok Maharaja Lela killed the first British Resident of Perak Mr. James Wheeler Woodford Birch at Pasir Salak in 1875. In 1937 the capital of Perak was moved from Taiping to Ipoh.


The town’s mining industry continued to thrive; the country’s first railway was built to transport tin from Taiping to the coast (Port Weld. Now is known as Kuala Sepetang) for export. The first train in Malaysia took its schedule was at June 1st 1885. By 1900, an English language school, a newspaper, and the Perak Museum (the oldest in Malaysia) had been established.


Although Taiping’s economy declined with the dwindling tin deposits, the metal still remains an important industry in the area as do rubber and rice.