Getting to know Shaik Eusuff bin Shaik Latiff

Assalamualaikum Good Day. 

In this article I am very excited to share the history of  our prominant ancestor Shaik Eusuff and his family. The narration and genealogy of Shaik Eusuff's family were prepared by my uncle Shaik Mohamed Noordin intended for future reference, especially for our younger generations to know more about their family history. I hope all my readers will get some benefits and enjoy reading this  series of articles about our family history.

By Shaikh Mohamed Noordin

Shaik Eusoff Bin Shaik Latiff was my great great-grandfather on my grandmother's paternal side. Recently, his name has cropped up again because of a court case involving his land in Ayer itam. Shaik Eusuff was a man ahead of his time. In 1896, Shaik Eusuff took an unprecedented step. He made Will in respect of his properties, one of which was his land in Ayer Itam. He bequeathed the land in such a way that any income generated from this particular land must be managed under an endowment scheme, and this income was intended solely to pay for the expenses for another piece of land of his in Dhoby Ghaut that he had endowed for the Islamic caused.

21 years after the death of his youngest child, the land must be returned to his next heirs, whomever is still living at that time. Unfortunately, his well-intentioned scheme as stipulated in his Will has been disputed and contested in the Syariah court to obtain Islamic legal interpretation of the issue.

Shaik Eusoff was formerly a businessman in the construction industry and was actively involved in helping his father-in-law, Mohamed Noordin Merican in the development of Penang. Shaik Eusuff was the only son of Shaik Latiff Bin Shaik Nattar Sahib. His grandfather Shaik Natar Sahib was an army officer, a soldier in the East India Company and held the rank off Jemadar. In the British army, the rank of Jemadar is equivalent to Lieutenant.

Shaik Nattar Sahib was of Gujerati descent who had come from India along with Captain Sir Francis Light who had opened up Penang in 1786. He later took up residence in Penang and became a well-respected and revered community leader at the time.

When the Sepoy soldiers came to Penang, he was the host of them. The 'Boria' show as we know it today was started by him through the Sepoy soldiers. He constructed a building and endowed it as a surau and also a place of boria performance called 'Hasharah Khana' located at Jalan Masjid. Hasharah Khana was also used to celebrate Ashura Day of the 10 Muharram. During that time boria was a religious ritual full of remembrance and prayers.

Shaik Nattar Sahib was the first person to highlight boria as a Peranakan culture and to this day, it is a unique cultural heritage of the Jawi Peranakan community of Penang. Therefore, we should proudly continue the legacy of Shaik Nattar Sahib, namely boria as part of the national’s cultural heritage As at today, there have been ten generations in Penang since the time of Shaik Nattar Sahib.

Apart from Hasharah Khana, Shaik Nattar Sahib has also endowed the cemetery behind the building and restoration work on the cemetery is still in the planning.

My great-granduncle Shaik Sathuck. He was my great-grandfather's elder brother. Both of them were the only boys of Shaik Eusuff's children.

My granduncle Shaik Natarsah @ Buchak, a grandson of Shaik Eusuff.

Shaik Eusoff had continued the charitable work of his father and grandfather by building up a house in the 1850s. This house is still magnificent and is now known as Yeng Keng Hotel in Leboh Chulia. According to available records, Shaik Eusoff was born in 1833 and died on 23 April 1894. He was married to Mah Wan Bee @ Hajee Bee Binti Mohamed Noordin Merican and had eight children, two boys and six girls.

My grandmother Che Wan Chik @ Safar Bee bte Shaik Mohd Noordin with her second husband Abu Backer Merican @ Chik Md Din who was also her cousin. Both of them were grandchildren of Shaik Eusuff and also great-grandchildren of Mohamed Noordin Merican.

 

Mah Wan Bee or per her real name, Che Ahmad Nachair was from a prestigious Merican family in Penang at that time. Her father was Mohamad Noordin Merican a wealthy and successful entrepreneur in the fields of shipping, textiles and spices. Noordin’s business empires stretched as far as Singapore, Acheh, Phuket, Burma and India. He was the younger brother of Cadre Mohideen Merican, Kapitan Kling of Penang.

Kapitan Kling's family, @ Abdul Cader @ Kadir Merican used Merican as their family name, while his younger brother Mohamed Noordin's family used Noordin's name as their family name. The tomb of Mohamed Noordin and his family was located within the Kling Mosque area.

 

During his lifetime Shaik Eusoff was a respected community leader and was appointed a ‘juror’ by the British authorities. He was a Muslim who spent his life living and breathing Islamic principles and had endowed a piece of land of five acres for the building of a mosque named as the Shaik Eusoff Mosque in Dato Keramat. He had also entrusted a 14 -acre plot of land in Air Itam for the benefit of his family. On this land are located the Penang Orphanage and also the Syed Hussin Aidid Malay Boys Home Building.

My granduncle Shaik Emam @ Buchik and his children.

May Allah shower His blessings, Mercy and Grace on their souls and forgive their sins and place them among the people of Solihin. Amen.

Special Thanks

I am especially indebted to Dato Ahmad Rodzi bin Pawanteh, the former President of Ikatan Kasih @ Pertubuhan Perikatan Allahyarham Shaik Eusuf Keluarga Shaik Eusuff Hajee Bee for his input and other relevant information materials as my main source of reference in developing the family trees of Shaik Eusuff.

Family tree Indicators:

           Names in green boxes - stand for male descendants 

2.     Names in pink boxes - stand for female descendants

3.     Names in red font - stand for female names

4.     Names in bold - stand for direct descendants

     Names in italic - stand for spouses 

5

Who is Mohamed Noordin Merican?

By Shaikh Mohamed Noordin

Many of the younger generations, even among our own family are not aware of who Mohamed Noordin Merican @ M.M. Noordin was, although his name may tickle them sometimes. Hence, let me therefore, verify who M.M. Noordin was and his relationship with us. M.M. Noordin was in actual fact, the ancestor of my grandmother, Che Wan Chik @ Safar Bee.

M.N.N.Noordin @ Che Din Bukit Kecit, my 2xgreat-granduncle. 

As we retrieve back to the family tree, Che Wan Chik was the daughter of Shaik Mohamed Noordin Meah, who was the son of Mah Wan Bee @ Hajee Bee @ Che Ahmad Nachair. Mah Wan Bee was the daughter of M.M. Noordin with his fourth wife, Nonya Ngah Eh @ Ugay Eh. In fact, my name “Noordin” was actually taken after the name of my great-grandfather, whose name was Shaik Mohamed Noordin, who also used his grandfather's name, M.M. Noordin.

M.M. Noordin I, my 2xgreat-granduncle, elder brother of my 2xgreat-grandfather M.N.N. Noordin. 

Meanwhile, Che Wan Chik's mother was Che Chak @ Khadijah Nachair Merican, the daughter of Mohamed Nashoorudin Merican @ M.N.N. Merican, who was also famously known as Che Din Bukit Kecit. He was also the son of M.M. Noordin with his third wife Nyonya Soo Eng. There were many intermarriages between cousins of the Merican’s family and the Shaik’s family, which had set to form the present generation as it is now.

For example, Mah Wan Bee was married to Shaik Yusuf bin Shaik Latif, a well-known wealthy man in Penang, who was also my ancestor from my paternal side. To facilitate the understanding of possible connection or relationship with M.M. Noordin, attached below are genealogical diagrams (family trees) of him and his children, of whom may be possibly related to you.

MM Noordin II, son of MNN Noordin, my gread-granduncle. 

For reference, M.M. Noordin was an extremely affluent and a well-known public figure in Penang in the nineteenth century. He was born in 1778 in Pondicherry, India. However, M.M. Noordin was not of an Indian descent, but was said to originate from Turlekan, a district in Turkey. The word "Merican" itself comes from the word "Marikalayar", which means "people from the ocean". Apparently, this associates with their activities, which are mostly related to navigation and shipping.

 Nevertheless, other sources had indicated that the Merican descendants were said to have originated from Samarkand, an old city located along the ‘sister route’ or silk road in Central Asia. The old city was formerly known as Maracand or Maracanda. It is the capital of Uzbekistan, which was once part of the Soviet Union. They migrated to the Arabian Peninsula and later to the Indian subcontinent before reaching the Malay Peninsula.

 M.M. Noordin moved to Penang from Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu in 1820 with his mother Fatimah or Pathma and his brother Abdur Cauder Moheedin Merican in search of a brighter future. They landed in Batu Uban and stayed there for a while before moving to Kampong Kolam in Georgetown, Penang.

 M.M. Noordin started his business as early as the 1820s and by the 1830s he had already emerged as one of the most influential and respected business figures in Penang. His business includes the textile and spice trade. He also provides shipping services to transport immigrants and pilgrims.

Habib Merican, my 2xgreat-granduncle, he was my 2xgreat-grandfather's elder brother.

M.M. Noordin was also very successful in the barter trade, namely textiles brought in from India to be exchanged for black pepper from Acheh. His shipping services between the ports along the Straits of Malacca, including Acheh and North Sumatra, also covered Burma and India. By the late 1830s M.M. Noordin had already established himself as the largest shipping operator in Southeast Asia.

For example, in 1838, his shipping records showed that he had sent 17 merchant ships to Deli, Acheh, Pudu, Pedir, Chittagong, Arakan, Cuddalore, Nagapatnam, Calcutta, Cochin China and Singapore. In 1852, his ships had even shipped merchandise all the way to China.

By the end of the 1860s, M.M. Noordin had already built the reputation as a well-known plantation entrepreneur and trader who ran his business operations at Chulia Street in Penang. With such remarkable and distinguished accolades, he was elected to lead various socio-economic organizations. Among his notable accomplishments, include his appointment as a committee member of the Penang Chamber of Commerce in 1838. He was also the first Indian Muslim to be appointed as the Municipal Commissioner and Justice of the Peace.

M.M. Noordin replaced his brother Cauder Moheedin who died in 1834 as Captain Kling, and had continued the legacy of his brother by attaining excellent record. He is also a major contributor to the infrastructure development in Penang.

As a successful merchant and community leader, M.M. Noordin also played an active and significant role in looking after the welfare of the community in Penang. His generosity was prevalent through his various charity works for the well-being of the local community. He had also built the first school for the Muslim community to learn the Quran, Islam, Arabic, English and other languages. The school is located adjacent to the Kapitan Keeling Mosque, which was built by his late brother.

He was also known as the largest landowner in Penang, owned many shops and rental houses as well as the largest farm in Seberang Perai, ‘Noordin Estate’. He had built a water supply line from the waterfall area in the city, namely in the Light Street/Leith Street area. This water channel was the first irrigation system in Penang before the water pipeline system was introduced.

Although he practised and had a strong adherent to the teachings of Islam, his charity deeds and donations were also extended to other religious institutions, including to the Christian institutions to facilitate their worship. The sentiment in maintaining harmony and good relations among the communities with multi religions had been practiced and nurtured since his time. Today's generation should be ashamed of not being able to emulate the attitude shown by a prominent community figure who had already charted a glorious history in this state.

Family's mosque, built up by first Kapitan Keling, Abdul Kadir Merican, my 3xgreat-grandfather's @ Mohamed Noordin Merican's elder brother. 

M.M. Noordin died in 1879 at the age of 92. He was buried in the Noordin family cemetery located at Chulia Street in Penang. The tomb was built in the 1880s, which was the site where his mother was supposed to be buried. His brother was, however, not buried at the same site but in Kampong Kolam where they first migrated to Penang. The tomb was abandoned for some time before it was repaired. Presently, it has been turned into the Art Gallery of the Malay Painters Association of Penang.

Noordin Family Mausoleum. 

M.M. Noordin has also a street named after him, Noordin Street or Lebuh Noordin. After his death, his business was taken over by his children. He was survived by six sons and six daughters, who have now inherited one large family. He emulated the way the Chinese carries the "family names", a legacy which is passed down to the grandchildren and future generations. It is my utmost intention that this brief narration about M.M. Noordin Merican will be able to serve as a source of inspiration to his descendants. Amen.

Special Thanks

I am especially indebted to Encik Wan Noordin Haris, the former President of Persatuan Anak Cucu Cicit Noordin Merican for providing me the original works of the family trees of Mohamed Noordin Merican and his decedents as my main source of reference.

Family tree Indicators:

1. M.M. Noordin - stands for Mohamed Noordin Merican

2. Names in green boxes - stand for his first wife’s (Fatimah (Echee)@ Che Mah) decedents        

3. Names in blue boxes - stand for his second wife’s (Che Chik) decedents 

4. Names in yellow boxes - stand for his third wife’s (Nonya/Nonia Soo Eng) decedents

5. Names in pink boxes - stand for his fourth wife’s (Nonya/Nonia Ngah Eh @ Ugay Eh) decedents

6 Names in red font - stand for female names

7. Names in bold - stand for direct decedent

8. Names in italic - stand for spouses  

History of Dato Panglima Kinta

Assalam Salam Sejahtera. Selamat datang ke blog saya. Untuk konten blog saya kali ini saya ingin berkongsi susur galur berkenaan keturunan saya dan bagaimana sejarah hubungan keluarga saya dengan Dato Panglima Kinta ke sepuluh Kulup Alang Mohamed Yusuf di Negeri Perak Darul Ridzuan. Ikuti kupasan lanjut daripada Bapa Saudara saya Shaikh Mohammed Noordin.

History of Dato Panglima Kinta

by Shaikh Mohamed Noordin

My intention of documenting our family tree is to help you understand how we are connected to our common ancestor, the tenth Dato Panglima Kinta, Kulup Alang @ Mohamed Yusuf. This family tree, therefore, focuses on the descendants of DPK Kulup Alang Yusuf and his first wife Andak Sindik. It helps track the connections with other relatives among Andak Sindik’s grandchildren and their descendants. Andak Sindik was daughter of Uda Kecil, an aborigine chief of the Temiar tribe, who was also an elephant herder of DPK Kulup Alang Yusuf.

At the same time, it will also help you understand how Kulup Alang Yusuf was connected to his ancestors. Probably not many of us know why Bangsa DiRaja was used as the salutation for all Dato Panglima Kinta, including that of the tenth Dato Panglima Kinta, the Orang Kaya-Kaya Panglima Kinta Seri Amar Bangsa DiRaja.

For your information, our genealogy can be traced to the second Sultan of Perak, Sultan Mansur Shah I, who reigned from 1549 to 1577. Sultan Mansur Shah I was indeed the ancestor of DPK Kulup Alang Yusuf. One of the Sultan’s wives was a daughter of an aborigine chief of the Semang tribe. They had a son named To’ Chengkat Piatu @ Kulop Kinta, who was born in 1578.

To’ Changkat Piatu’s older brothers were Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Shah (the third Sultan of Perak, 1577–1584) and Sultan Tajul Ariffin Shah (the fourth Sultan of Perak, 1584–1594). To’ Changkat Piatu married Putri Mazwin, the daughter of the aborigine chief of the Temiar tribe. They had a son named To’ Chendang, who was later conferred the title Seri Maharaja Kinta by Sultan Muzaffar Shah II (the tenth, Sultan of Perak, 1636–1653).

House of the tenth DPK, Kulup Alang Mohd Yusuf

To’ Chendang was reputed to be the only person to have ever held the title of “Maharaja” before it was changed to “Panglima” (Dato Panglima Kinta, or DPK). To’ Chendang’s wife was Putri Fatimah and their son, To’ Tambak, later

held the honour of being the First DPK (1670-1710).

To’ Tambak himself had two wives. The first was the mother of To’ Changkat Saga, while the second was Toh Puan Intan binti Tok Nyior Manis @ Toh Senongsa Seri Nara Wangsa IV, the mother of To’ Changkat Rembiah. Toh Intan’s father, Tok Nyior Manis, was a great-great-grandson of Tun Kelalang bin Tun Saban Balik who, in 1528, was the first Malay ruler of the Kinta district.

The marriage between To’ Tambak and Toh Puan Intan had resulted in the family holding two main positions in the Kinta District: Panglima Kinta Seri Amar Bangsa Di Raja (the eighth Perak Nobleman), who ruled the Kinta District, and Toh Senongsa Seri Nara Wangsa (the sixteenth Perak Nobleman) whose position normally belonged to the Kepayang descendants. Subsequently it became customary for the DPK of the Paloh House to marry aborigine ladies in order to maintain their status as Kulup or Chief or King of the aboriginal people.

Both To’ Changkat Saga and To’ Changkat Rembiah started the two houses of Dato Panglima Kinta, namely the House of Paloh and the House of Kepayang. Each house alternately provided a candidate for the Dato Parglima Kinta (DPK) title on a rotation system.

Andak Sindik's eldest grandson C M Yusuf at Conference of Commonwealth's speakers in London.

The Second DPK (1710-1740) was To’ Changkat Saga, the First DPK candidate for the Paloh House. This was followed by To’ Changkat Rembiah of the Kepayang House as the third DPK (1740-1755). The fourth DPK (1755-1765) was To’ Paloh, followed by the fifth DPK (1765–1795) who was also famously known for his “untraceable disappearance”. His name was Ngah Abdul Gaffar @ Ngah Ghafor @ Tok Hilang Dijalan.

The sixth DPK (1795–1820) was Ngah Sudin of the Paloh House. Unfortunately, the rotation between these two houses was disrupted after the Seventh DPK (1820–1876), Ngah Jabor or Tok Gemok, was deposed by the British for his involvement in the murder of J.W.W. Birch in 1875.

Hence Ngah Jabor’s position was taken over by his second cousin, Ngah Abdul Lasam @ Ngah Sam of Paloh House as the eighth DPK (1795–1820). The rotation was restored by Ngah Sudin’s two grandsons, Ngah Abdul Lasam @ Ngah Sam the eighth DPK (1876–1877), and Uda Zainal Abidin @ Tok Cabut, the ninth DPK (1877–1884), and their descendants.

Although Ngah Abdul Lasam was briefly in the office as DPK which was about a year, his contribution to the state of Perak as Toh Muda to Ngah Jabor was quite remarkable. His knowledge in aboriginal mystics of taming the wild elephants helping him to save Perak from the war with Siam.

In 1821, Siam under King Rama II – Phra Phutthaloela (1809 – 1824) invaded Kedah and Perak in retaliation to friendly relations between Perak and Kedah. Perak was forced to send tributes in the form of gold flowers as a sign of subservience to under Siam just like Kedah. 

However, Sultan Abdul Malik Mansur ibni Almarhum Sultan Ahmaddin Shah, the nineteenth Sultan of Perak (1806–1825) had refused to bow down to Siam’s demands. Nevertheless, after a few years, Sultan Abdul Malik Mansur Shah presented to King Rama II, the King of Siam, a peculiar trait of elephant named Chapang Pileh which means “selection”.

The elephant was found by Toh Muda Panglima Kinta Ngah Abdul Sam then, before he become eighth DPK while in the forest in Kinta. King Rama II was very fond of it and he later liberated Perak from Siamese rule and agreed to exemp Perak from paying tribute of gold flowers to Siam.

Andak Sindik with her first daughter Che Ah. The boy in front was Chik Shamlan. 

Dato Bendahara C M
Yusuf. 

Andak Sindik's sons in law with her eldest grandson, C. M. Yusuf. 

Ngah Lasam’s elder son, Lope Abdul Rani @ Durani, was appointed as Toh Muda DPK and was supposed to have succeeded DPK Uda Zainal. However, he died in 1881 before he could assume the title. As a result, the succession was passed to his younger brother (by a different mother) Kulup Alang Yusuf, our common ancestor who subsequently became the tenth DPK (1884–1903). After Kulup Alang Yusuf, an heir of Uda Zainal’s – an only son, was conferred the eleventh DPK. He was Ngah Abdul Wahab, who held the title for just two years, from 1903 to 1905. 

Ngah Wahab however left no male heir. Kulup Alang Yusuf, on the other hand, had nine wives and abundant potential heirs as candidates for the DPK. Alas, his first wife Andak Sindik also produced no male heirs. This was unfortunate given that all her children were Kulup’s eldest by virtue of her being the first wife. Of Andak Sindik’s three daughters, only Che Mariam had sixteen children. The other two daughters Che Zaliha (Che Ah) and Che Yang Kalsom (Che Yai) were childless. Che Ah and Yang Kalsom had adopted some of Che Mariam’s children.

Sons in law of Andak Sindik

Che Mariam and Yang Kalsom. The child was Wan Fatimah, the youngest daughter of Che Mariam bt Kulup Yusuf. 

Naturally after Ngah Wahab the DPK was monopolized by Kulup Alang Yusuf’s family, from whom three of his sons – Cik Wan, Cik Tak and Mohamed Eusuff – became the twelfth (1905-1947), thirteenth (1947–1951) and fourteenth DPK (1951–1957) respectively. One of Kulup’s grandsons, Tawil Azhar bin Oneh Ahmad, also became the fifteenth DPK (1957-1980) before it passed to his elder brother’s great-grandson, Dato’ Seri Azizul Hassan, as the sixteenth DPK (1980–1999). The seventeenth and present DPK (1999 – current) is Dato’ Seri Dr Abdullah Fadzil bin Che Wan, who is also Kulup Alang Yusuf’s grandson.

PS: Some of the names used in the family tree are only commonly known names to the person. Therefore, the information can always be updated if any corrections need to be made at any time.

Big family gathering at Rumah Besar of Jalan Kuala Kangsar

Special Thanks

I am especially indebted to Tuan Haji Fazil Shuhaimi bin Hi Talib, the President of Persatuan Keluarga Kulup Kinta for providing me the masterpieces of the family trees of Dato Panglima Kinta and other relevant information materials as my main source of reference.

Family tree Guidelines: -

1. DPK = stands for Dato Panglima Kinta

2. Name in green box = stands for male

3. Name in pink box = stands for female

4. Name in Bold = stands for direct decedent

5. Name in Italic = stands for spouses