Hak Cipta Terpelihara © 1970 Persatuan Sejarah Malaysiamyrepositori.pnm.gov.my/bitstream/123456789/3551/1/MIH_1970_Dis_06.pdf · the South of Istana Badariah. The work of di smantling

Hak Cipta Terpelihara © 1970 – Persatuan Sejarah Malaysia


/11'(1 I"/"I' .. ·.\" of' ISlantl TI'lIgJ..u Nil.. ' 011 /11/' old .• ifl'. //lui II elosl' III) of vile oj fIll' eGrl"ul

PCII1I'/j, "'prodllrillg (I PIlSjllg.' (rolll fll(' "'0,,11/.

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The Rescue of ' Istana Tengku Nik '

Trengganu

D USUN NYIOR

When the Great Fire, which was known locall y as 'Api PI'ciwh GI'doIlK', swept through Kuala Trengganu in 1:S:S2, it destroyed at least 1,600. houses, including the Su ltall 's Pal:lee. -'[stano I)m'-" which stood al the foot of Hulit Puteri,

A mode~t timber building was erected as quidly as possible on the ~ite of the previous palace, and "as occupied by Sultan Zainal Abidin III who had o nly succeeded hi s fathcr as Ruler a "car before the Great Fi re. The Mentri of TrengS:lllu. Sycd Abdullah. th en summoned the mo~t ~killcd carpenters and \\ood ca rvcrs in the State and put them 10 worl on a larger tim be r huilding which lIas completed in 1888, and lIas named 'Rurnah Telc' (pronou nced 'Te ler'): it follolled the traditional East Coast ~-lala\' House Form lno\\11 as 'Rllmoh Tiang' Ollo·be/as· 'the house with the t"cl,'c supporting pillan,:, It W;IS cmbdlished \\illt numerous lindy carved panel s. filled ItlIO the oute r \\,l1ls to admit li ght and air.

Wh en the Kin g of Thailand vi~ited Kuala Trengganu in 1889 the senior mcmbcrs of his rvl ission sta yed in the ' Rurnah Tele', II was later occu pied by Che Kalthom. one of the Sult:Ln's wivcs, and she continued 10 live thcrc until she died many years later. Hcr two daughtcrs. who werc known as Tengk u Ngah Haji and Tengku Nik Haji. who accornranied the Sultan on the Pilgrimage to Mecca in 1914. con tinued to li l'e there after their mother's death. and Te ngku Nik Haji was still in residence until early in 1970.

\lut the si te of this hi~ t t)r i c building was required by th e Trcn gganu Government. to en:Lble Ihe brid ra1,Ice - ' b l<Lna

Maziah' - which was built early in 1896. 10 be extended. and not ice was issued by thc GOl'crnmcnt to the len joint owners of the 1stana. to dcmolish and removc it.

The palace. which had been know n for many years prel'iously as 'Istana Tcngku Nik·. was 60 fec t long. 36. feet wide and the peak of the roof gable was 16, feet from the ground. The fl oo r was 7,fcet abo"c thc ground. The joint owners were unable 10 mOl'e the building elsewhere. and expressed their wi llingness to sell it as it stood for thc sum of Seven Thousand Dollars. Tan Sri h'1ubin Shcppard made an appeal. through the Press. for public contribu tions towards the cost of purchasing and remol'ing th e palace, and within 48. hours the Managing Director of Eastern Mining and Metal s Compa ny of Sura. Dungun. had pro mised \ 0 meet the total cost of purchasing. removi ng and re-erecti ng the bu ilding, prol'ided that the State Government made a new site a~' ail<lble.

The Execllti l'c Council subseq uently approved an excellent sit e beside thc main road !cading South out of Kuala Trcngganu. opposite the Su ltan Su laiman Seco ndary School. a short distance to the South of Istana Badariah. The work of di smantlin g the old building was unde rtaken by Haji Wan Sulong bin Wan Ahmad of Chabang Tiga. a master builder with more than 50. years experience. He was assisted by Wan Muda bin Nik Mat and 11.Trcngganu Malay carpen ters.

Work began late in January 1970. and in March the six main pi llars we re reerected on the new site, preceded by a

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( L ) Jlu}1 II'UII Slilollg: r R) Wall MlIllll bill Ail.: Mm, Ihl' [It'O head erajISIIl!'1I who rehlli/l lit" palan', ill 1970,

ft' -f'ft' etillg the lIlaill pillars all Ihe 1/('11 ' si/t',

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simple ccremony. and reconstruction of the two halves of the palace was completed in August 1970. a t a lOla I additional cost of eight thouS<l nd dollars. All the lim ber was Trengganu Chen gal. and most of it was still ill good condition when it was di smanlled. The main pillars had been buried in Ihe ground on the origina l sile. and when Ihey were remo\'ed it was found that the base of some of the pillars had been affected by stagnant water which had accumulated from time (0 time under the building. The pillars wen: therefore ~hortened before they were re..erccted. and the pillar bal>Cs nO\~ stand on ee menl blocl-s. Hoth Ihe Willl and floor planl..s "'ere found to be in good condition. and

Ihe absence: of nails in the original structure made the work: of remova l easier.

The nUlllerous rectangular ca n 'ed panels. I\~ ent)' of which contain delicately trace:d passages from the Koran. have also been moved without damage or loss. The original \~ ooden rain gutler, which had been lixed betwccn the roof of the front and rea r h:.h'es of the palace. had deteriorated, and has been replaced by a metal gutter.

There \\ as a bnck stair way leading up \ 0 the double doors of the front entrance, and another brid: stai rway at the back.

the hlli/dillK (JurillK rt' -COllstrUClioll . showillg SOIl1(' of ,h(' cun'ed pOllels

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ncar [he I..itchell. These ha\'t" been rcplaccd by tHnber .. tair ways. made of Chen gal and deslgncd 111 the for m \\hich IHLS in II!.C hefore the Great Fire of I IH~:!: - it d ou ble ~ tain'::I ~ in front. and a si ngle st:J.i rca;;c at the bad, nOE projecting lIut a t right angles but runnmg paratld lI .. th the maLI! huildlllg.

Oa to J .t\.LC\\IS, the retL ring Man:lgmg Dlrcctur of Ea~[crn Mming and ~k[ab

Cmnpany I ISLled the buddi ng on ;a number of occ;"i on~ during its rccon~ tructiun. and it II;h a ma il er for satisfa ct ion that thi s hi~ t .... ri e R~'~cue Operation. which \I<luld lint halc been p0~~ib lr: \Ii ,holll [he gt"neru~i t ) of his com pan) . was comple ted before Ihe CUll1 pan)'s Iron Mille :11 Aukit ResL I\a~ dO!K'd. and the l"ll l! and hcncfici:d a~~oclat ion between the-Com pan) iL!ld thl' SI.LtC 0.::11111." to an l·nd.

Til" Istal/(J a/ler re-en'clio" (11/ t/r(· 11( .... siu', 011 Pae/anT! SCf:;af{/. 11)70 .

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Documents

Hak Cipta Terpelihara © 1970 Persatuan Sejarah Malaysiamyrepositori.pnm.gov.my/bitstream/123456789/3551/1/MIH_1970_Dis_06.pdf · the South of Istana Badariah. The work of di smantling