REFERENCES

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lela_Pandak_Lam
• http://sejarahting2bab7.blogspot.com/2009/07/kronologi-penentangan-datomaharaja-lela.html
• http://sejarahtokoh.wordpress.com/dato-maharaja-lela/
• Perak State Anthem - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBlQ3nWRmeo

PERAK NOWADAYS

Dato Maharaja Lela has managed to restore the rights of the Malays and the rights of the Malays in Perak remains until now. Perak has also become one of the developed states in Malaysia.

PERAK FLAG

PERAK STATE ANTHEM

CHIEF MINISTER OF PERAK
YAB DATO' SERI DIRAJA DR. ZAMBRY BIN ABDUL KADIR

CHRONOLOGY OF COUNTERACTION OF DATO MAHARAJA LELA

• Sultan Abdullah , Dato Sagor , Dato Maharaja Lela , Pandak Lam and Ngah Ibrahim met in Durian  Sebatang and make decisions to kill Birch. 
• Dato Maharaja Lela and his followers Dato Sagor , Pandak Indut and Sepuntum have volunteered to kill Birch and drove the British from Perak.
• On 2 November 1875 , JWW Birch in Pasir Salak has come to spread the right to collect the tax declaration letter .
• The opportunity has been taken by Lela Dato Maharaja and his followers to kill Birch .
• Birch eventually killed lead to British counter-attack by sending troops led by Captain Innes to Pasir Salak.
• The war continued for 6 months and is known as the Perak War .
• Finally , the British fighter beat Perak with military aid from India and Hong Kong .
• Action taken by the British because of the Birch murder :

a) Dato Maharaja Lela , Dato Sagor , Pandak Indut and Sepuntum was sentenced to death .

b ) Ngah Ibrahim and  Sultan Abdullah was exiled to the Scychelles Island .

c ) Raja Ismail was exiled to Singapore.

CONTRIBUTION OF DATO MAHARAJA LELA

Dato Maharaja Lela fortress

Dato Maharaja Lela struggle should be remembered to this day. It also must be a stimulus for us to add a sense of love towards the country. Birch murder shows that Dato Maharaja Lela has fought hard to restore the rights of the Malays until he eventually sentenced to death. This event should be fresh in the memory of every person to arise awareness so that together we can keep the peace of the country.

Bends, challenges, pays the labor painful to get independence until now and we as Malaysians should be grateful and thankful for the peace that has been obtained. Therefore, let us together to embed a sense of patriotism in the hearts and deeds appreciate fighters who have fought tooth and nail to get independence.

THE FACTORS AND EFFECTS OF J.W.W BIRCH MURDER

J.W.W BIRCH

Birch was murdered on 2 November 1875 Dato Maharaja Lela and his assistant Sepuntum, who speared him to death while he was taking his bath, nearby a river, in Pasir Salak, near today's Teluk Intan (Teluk Anson).

There is inconsistency as to the reason why Birch was assassinated. One view is that Birch's assassination was because he outlawed slavery in Perak. Dato Maharajalela, whose income depended on capturing and selling the indigenes of Perak or Orang Asli as slaves, was then incensed and plotted with some of the slave-traders to kill Birch by spearing him when he was taking his bath in the river.

The more popular view among right wing Malay historians was that Birch was assassinated because of his disrespect of the local customs and traditions, which created conflict with local Malay chiefs. This is because modern Malay historians generally refuse to accept that the Orang Asli were being traded as slaves in the pre-Colonial era. Some accounts claimed that Birch even entered the palace of the ruling Sultan of Perak without removing his shoes.

The murder of JWW Birch led the British army to attack Pasir Salak, and following several days of battle, the leaders of the rebellion surrendered. In a subsequent trial held between December 14 and December 22 in Matang, Perak, Sultan Abdullah and Ngah Ibrahim was deposed and sent to exile in Seychelles.

However his act was considered heinous and he was convicted by the court, which takes place on 14-22nd December 1876. He was sentenced to death by hanging on 20th January 1877. Here it can concluded that Dato’ Maharaja Lela is a warrior that fought for interest of his nation and the country but ultimately betrayed by his own king and people.

BACKGROUND OF DATO MAHARAJA LELA

DATO MAHARAJA LELA

Dato' Maharaja Lela Pandak Lam is one of the 8 ‘pembesar delapan’ of Perak. His father, Pandak Lam is the descendant of Daeng Salili, the son of a Bugis King who hailed from Luwuk District, Sulawesi. Daeng Salili came to Perak during the reign of Sultan Muzaffar Shah III. He was appointed as the mufti of Perak and was given the title Dato’ Maharaja Lela Tan Lela with the power to wield the sword and to use it at will. 

He led the resistance of the locals against the British in Perak. Together with other leaders such as Orang Kaya-kaya Seri Agar Diraja (better known as Dato' Sagor) and Ngah Kandin he had plotted to resist the intervention of the British in Perak by killing the British Resident, James Wheller Woodfird Birch (J.W.W. Birch).