Penyenyat Island, Riau Islands - "That is a great island and is an important part of Indonesia`s history," an elderly resident of Tanjung Pinang in Riau Islands province said as he pointed a crooked and shaking finger out to sea.
At first glance it seems unlikely that such a small island could have an important role in the country`s history. But it soon becomes clear the island in is in fact very significant.
The tiny island of Penyengat can quite easily, but rather regrettably, be overlooked as people travel between the islands of Riau.
At around just three square kilometers, Penyengat is not difficult to circumnavigate, but access to it is only available via small boats from Tanjung Pinang.
From the wharves at Tanjung Pinang, narrow wooden boats powered by noisy outboard motors regularly set out on the 20 to 30 minute trip across to Penyengat. In fact, there is no need to wait for a boat. Hiring one can quickly be arranged with just a modicum of negotiating skills.
The waters here are thankfully calm, but they are busy with numerous ferries going to and fro from the port of Tanjung Pinang between Indonesian, Singaporean and Malaysian destinations.
The long, slender concrete jetties that are met regularly by the narrow wooden boats all lead to the same small road which is the primary public entry point to Penyengat.
Immediately ahead sits the bright yellow and green Sultan of Riau Grand Mosque.
This mosque is unusual and important. It is home to an antique collection of Islamic texts.
It is claimed, in what some describe as a "fairy-tale", that the mosque was built "with egg whites", however it is not entirely clear where the egg whites were supposed to have been used. It is claimed they were used as mortar, to cement the building together.
Upon completion in 1818, the mosque was presented to the loyal subjects of the island as a gift on the eve of the then sultan`s wedding.
Whatever the truth behind the walls of the mosque, it is today an outstanding building. Its bright yellow walls with pale green trimmings and a huddle of minarets shimmer in the sun, making it the most eye-catching building on the island.
The mosque`s bright yellow is said to represent the royalty that once resided here, descendants of whom apparently still live in the pile houses on the shore of the island.
Penyengat was the seat of power for the Riau-Johor royal family and in their time grew in influence and importance.
Penyengat grew as a cultural center of the Malay world and this is represented by one of the many tombs on the island. Raja Ali Haji was born and is buried on Penyengat. He was the creator of the first Malay language grammar and compiled a dictionary of the language.
The island, then, became so significant that literally thousands of people traveled to it and many eventually settled on it. It has been estimated the island population grew to as many as 10,000 inhabitants, but today that population has shrunk back to between 2,200 and 2,500.
Penyengat was also a focal point in the resistance to the Dutch in the Riau wars of 1782 to 1784. But like so many of the archipelago of islands that make up modern-day Indonesia, it eventually fell into Dutch hands.
The Dutch, it seems, arrogantly and dismissively wished to usurp the powers and authority of the last sultan of the Riau-Lingga kingdom. But this sultan, Abdul Rahman Muazzan Shah, refused to sign the contract that would hand over power to the colonizers.
The colonial authorities then chose to inform the sultan that palaces, other buildings and land would be taken away from him, so he fled to the island of Singapore, still unprepared to kowtow to the Dutch and even more determined not to allow them to gain what he was leaving behind.
The departing sultan gave orders to the people of Penyengat to destroy anything the Dutch might find useful. It seems the islanders followed this order to some considerable extent. At two houses that still stand on the island, there is evidence of the complexes around them originally being much more extensive.
Much then was lost at this time and by 1911 the Dutch had effectively subjugated and suppressed the powers of the once defiant and rebellious Riau sultans. This left Penyengat scarred, but fine features remained and are still there today for us to appreciate.
There are, for example, tomb complexes dotted around the island which contain the remains of Riau royalty. Significant amongst these is the tomb of Engku Puteri Permaisuri, who received the island as a gift from her husband, the Sultan Mahmud, in the early 19th century. The island became part of a dowry for the queen, who was also a Bugis princess.
But the island was no mere offering for this Bugis princess who resided and ruled on the island until her death in 1844. Her tomb and others on the island are revered, with visitors offering prayers at gravesides and even asking for blessings.
There is also a spiritual element in other parts of the island. A number of fresh water spring wells, whose water is believed to possess healing powers, are found there.
Whether or not Penyengat does possess such spiritual power may be debatable, but it is certainly a place of historical note and great importance. Simon Marcus Gower
Source:
http://old.thejakartapost.com (November 11, 2008)
