Kandis - Kuantan Kingdom

1. History

a. Kandis

There is small amount of data confirming the exact time of Kandis Kingdom establishment. What is sure is the existence of the Kingdom which constituted the old Kingdom and preceded the Kuantan Kingdom. Book of Negara Kartagama (kitab) inscribed several areas in Sumatra which were under the Majapahit rule. Kandis was one of these areas. Other mentioned areas were Keritang (Indarigiri Hilir), Siak, Kampar, Rokan which nowadays are part of Riau Province. These Kingdoms were located in the riverbanks streaming in all along the Riau. In addition, the historical evidences of the Kandis Kingdom can be traced from the indigenous folklores. 

Supposedly, the capital of the Kandis Kingdom was in the present Padang Candi settlement, a place in the outskirts of Batang Kuantan (name of Indragiri upstream). Since the settlement was germane to the existence of Kandis Kingdom, it was called then as Padang Candi settlement. The number of debris and wafer-shaped bricks were found in the village. Those remnants are assumed to be part of sacred precinct for prayer. Therefore, the settlement was named as Padang Candi.

Kandis was a sovereign Kingdom with arable lands that mainly produced spices such as pepper. There is little information about Kandis Kingdom especially after being defeated by Jambi. The naming of Lubuk Jambi was associated with the military attack by Jambi forces against Kandis. At that moment, Jambi military forces docked their ships at lubuk (middle of the river), and made it as the harbour for attacking Kandis. Thus, the local people named the lubuk as Lubuk Jambi. The time of the attack is still unknown         

Indeed, the attack brought about the decline of Kandis. However, the kingdom afterwards was continued by the establishment of Kuantan Kingdom. The story about the Kingdoms was reflected in the legendary poetry of society; Kandis-Kuantan poetry which still recited till now. The poetry depicted that when Kandis was on the road to ruin, the Kuantan emerged as the continuation.

b. Kuantan

The commencement of Kuantan Kingdom history can be traced back to the expedition of Sang Sapurba. In his journey for upholding the Malay culture, Sang Sapurba arrived in Bintan to arrange the marriage for his son “Sang Nila Utama” to the princess of Bintan Kingdom. Afterwards, he continued the journey heading to the south-west for discovering the newly spacious land where the Malay people live.

Eventually, Sang Sapurba fleets reached the estuary in a big river; Indragiri river, and headed to its upstream. The fleets then experienced the water shortage in the meantime the river water was salty. Sang Sapurba commanded his followers to create an encircled rattan resembling to a shield that put on the surface of salty water. Then, he put his feet in the centre of rattan. All of sudden, the salty water turned out to be tasteless water. This event occurred in Sapat area, Indragiri downstream. The fleets took much water for their drinking supply and continued the journey to the upstream of Kuantan River. They arrived at the centre of Kuantan in Sintuo. The Kingdom possessed a picturesque harbour that located in the middle of chain of valley. There were several Chinese and Indian trade ships carrying the commodities which usually were exchanged with gold.

Kuantan was a kingless Kingdom when Sang Sapurba was coming. For that reason, Kuantan people, the noblemen, and the clergies appreciated Sang Sapurba‘s arrival. Then, they agreed to install him as their King with a condition that Sang Sapurba was able to slaughter the Naga Sakti Muna (dragon) that inflicted the damage to people garden.

The Hulu Balang (commandant), Permasku Mambang, was commissioned by Sang Sapurba to slaughter the dragon using a sundang (sword) which was given by Sang Sapurba. Since Hulu Balang successfully carried out the order, Sang Sapurba was throned as Kuantan King titled Trimurti Tri Buana. This occurrence led Kuantan having a King and preserving the Kandis heritage.         

2. Genealogy

In the process of data collecting

3. Kingdom Period

There is no exact estimation for the period of Kandis-Kuantan existence. The limited availability of the evidence makes it difficult to describe the story of the Kingdom in detail. However, it has been said that when Kandis was replaced with Kuantan, the capital of Kingdom which initially was in Padang Candi moved to Sintuo, and to present Taluk Kuantan

4. Kingdom Territory

The Kandis-Kuantan territory encompassed recent Kuantan; from Hulu Batang Kuantan, Negeri Lubuk Ambacang to Cerenti

5. Kingdom Structure

In the process of data collecting

6. Socio-Cultural life

This region was also well known as Rantau Nan Kurang Esa Dua Puluh. In every settlement, there was a land called Tanah Koto. Tanah Koto is a shared land owned by all people. Every Tanah Koto was surrounded by wide and deep ditch in its three sides, meanwhile another side was bordered directly by Batang Kuantan River

In Tanah Koto, there was Rumah adat (house of adat) belonged to the tribe. Meanwhile land for farming, gardening, shepherding (grass area), were outside of Tanah Koto. As the Kingdom developed and flourished, many people were attracted to build houses within the farmland. Henceforth, many new banjar (sub-villages) emerged as the population grew.

In its development, the indigenous people which used to life far from the Kuantan River, moved to the new banjar and became accustomed to life in farmland.

Tanah Koto was divided into four parts as the number of tribes in each Banjar. In each tribe, there were four Pemangku Adat (adat leader); Penghulu (tribe leader), Monti or Menti (minister), dubalang/hulubalang (commander) and clergy. Hence, the government in a region Rantau Nan Kurang Esa Dua Puluh consisted of 16 people. However, in regional meeting, merely Penghulu who had privilege to speak meanwhile Menti, Dubalang and Clergy served as the counsellors. They will speak if were asked for it. In tribal meeting, these three positions had equal authority with Penghulu position due to their representative for the tribe.

Balai Penghulu (house of penghulu) which called Balai Adat was in Koto which typically used for meeting of Penghulu Nan Berempat to resolve several problems and formulate policies concerned with Banjar interest. The coming of Islam had no significant influence on the structure of government. Therefore, Koto was the only place for conducting the Jumah and Hari Raya (big day) prayer. Both Balai (house) and Masjid (mosque) were the very requirements for establishing a village.

In each Banjar, there was Balai Tua Banjar, a place where these four people meet to solve the Bajar-related problems. A person called Tua Banjar (old people) served as a vice of Penghulu but excluded from the circle of adat people. It means that this official position was not a hereditary post. The number of Tua Banjar was equal to that of Penghulu (four people). To appoint a Tua Banjar, Penghulu were obliged to confer with the rest of Pemangku Adat.                          

Each regions retained wewenang penuh (ultimate authority), genting memutuskan (self-problem solving), and bebiang mencabiakkan. Initially, there was a Gedang Sekoto in a region. However, this position was contested with the spirit of democracy which in turn led to the diminishing of Gedang Sekoto function to merely as Orang Tua (Penghulu Adviser). Eventually, Gedong Sekoto was abolished from official adat within classical Kadis-Kuantan society.

Since there was a Gedong Sekoto, one of the tribes had two Penghulu; Penghulu Suku (tribe leader) and Orang Gedang Sekoto. Hence, this position disappeared eventually.   

Several federations were created for dealing with neighbouring region affairs. At the onset, Kuantan Kingdom had three Federations:

1. Four Koto in the upper side, encompassed Sumpurago, Lubuk Abacang, Koto Tuo, and Sungai Pinang.
2. Five Koto in the middle, encompassed Negeri Kari, Taluk, Simandolak, Siberakun, and Sibuaya.
3. Four Koto in downstream; Pangian, Baserah, Inuman, and Cerenti.
   

Orang Gedang titled Datuk Patih in Lubuk Ambacang, Datok Bendaro Lelo Budi in Kari, and Datuk Ketumanggungan in Inuman were in charge for administering four Koto in upper side, Five Koto in the middle, and Four Koto in downstream respectively. These federations established simultaneously with another federation; Federation of Rantau Kuantan or Rantau Nan Kurang Dua Puluh Esa. There were other Koto joining the federation; Teluk Ingin, Toar, Gunung, and Lubuk Tarontang which formed another federation called Empat Koto Gunung or Empat Koto Mudik. The last federation was under the command of Datok Bendaro  

Comment of "kandis kuantan kingdom"

16 May 2011. Sutan Indra Kesuma Oesman Redaksi Yth, Sebagai masukan bahwa menurut silsilah keluarga kami, pucuknya berasal dari Tuanku Raja Pandak yang berasal dari Kuantan, Riau (tanpa menyebutkan apakah dari Beserah, Cerenti dll). Menurut silsilah, dari saya ke pucuk adalah 11 generasi. Jika satu generasi adalah 25 s/d 30 tahun maka diperkirakan Tuanku Raja Pandak memerintah: 11x(25 s/d 30)tahun = 275 s/d 330 tahun yll atau antara tahun 1680 - akhir 1725. Mohon tanggapan, terima kasih. Wass wr wbr.

26 Jun 2011. hasrinaldi Teman saya pernah melihatkan foto2 mengenai kerajaan Kandis dan dia mendapatkan photo tersebut dari ahli waris kerajaan kandis yang berada di Lubuk Jambi. Salah satu photonya di share di Museum Virtual Kuantan Singingi (Facebook).. http://www.riaudailyphoto.com/

10 Dec 2012. Datuk Perpatih 1. Sang Nila Utama mendirikan singapura tahun 1299; sumber_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sang_Nila_Utama: Sutan Indra Kusuma mungkin nenek moyangnya Raja Pagarruyung/ Dharmasraya. 2.Sang Nila Utama (literally the "main indigo" or could also be, if pronounced differently, "Nila=Moon or Neela=Blue or Indigo in Tamil and Utama=Primary) was a Srivijayan prince from Palembang who founded the Kingdom of Singapura in 1299 .[1] He was officially styled as Sri Maharaja Sang Utama Parameswara Batara Sri Tri Buana (meaning: "Lord Central King Batara of Three world Realms", signifying his lordship over Palembang, Bintan and Singapura). Sang Nila Utama strengthened his position by establishing powerful relationships with China, and officially recognised as the ruler of Singapore by an envoy of Chinese emperor in 1320.

27 Jun 2013. Derichard H. Putra Sutan Idra Kesuma Oesman, kami dari TIM Ekspedisi Kebudayaan Sungai Kuantan (Kerjasama ATL Riau, P2KK Universitas Riau, dan Pemprov Riau), saat ini sedang melakukan penulisan sejarah rantau kuantan. Boleh kami minta no kontak sdr, atau bisa menghubungi kami di 081268141985

30 Nov 2016. aditya komang Penulis Yth, masukan dari kami untuk lima koto ditengah ada salah penulisan bukan sibuaya tapi SENTAJO terima kasih

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