Sultans of Brunei Series I - Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin

[For my Golden Legacy column on Brunei Times, I am currently writing about the Sultans of Brunei. This is what I wrote about Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin, Brunei's 27th Sultan three weeks ago on BT.]

HIS Royal Highness Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Akhazul Khairi Waddien ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam II was born at the palace in Pekan Brunei on 4th June 1913. His father His Royal Highness Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam II was coronated the Sultan of Brunei in 1918 even though his father Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam died in 1906. During that time, Brunei was ruled by a Council of Regency until Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam was coronated as the Sultan of Brunei in 1918.

His Royal Highness Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam II had encouraged the teaching and learning of Islam in Brunei. He also built a mosque in the capital even though during his reign, Brunei's revenue from oil had not yet materialised.

The mosque was popularly known as Masjid Marbut Pak Tunggal but it was officially known as Masjid Pekan Brunei — the Brunei Town Mosque. The mosque was used by Bruneians staying in the capital before it was destroyed by Allied bombings during the Second World War.

His Royal Highness Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam died young. He died in 1924 at the age of thirty five and his son, Pengiran Muda Ahmad Tajuddin, ascended the throne.

His Royal Highness Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin was only eleven years old when he ascended the throne and became the 27th Sultan of Brunei. Similarly like his father when he ascended the throne, being a minor, the reign was again temporarily held by a Council of Regency on his behalf until he came of age. The Council then consisted of Pengiran Bendahara Pengiran Anak Abdul Rahman and Pengiran Pemancha Pengiran Anak Mohammad Yassin. The Council reigned Brunei from 11th September, 1924, to 19th September, 1931.

His Royal Highness was the first Sultan to receive formal education at the palace. From a very young age, His Royal Highness studied Islamic Knowledge under a specially appointed religious official. He was also taught English by a European teacher from the age of fourteen.

His Royal Highness was very active. In 1927, he officially opened the Brunei-Tutong Highway. It was during his rule that the conglomerate of British Malayan Petroleum Company and Shell struck oil in Padang Berawa, now known as Seria.

In 1929, he opened the first modern hospital in Brunei Darussalam. It was a thirty-bed hospital. Before that hospital was opened, there was no government doctor or hospital in Brunei. In 1932, he also managed to visit England.

The year before that His Royal Highness had assumed the throne. On 19th September 1931, he was only eighteen years old. The official coronation however took place almost nine years later on 17th March 1940. Even though it would take almost nine years when he was officially coronated, he was still the Sultan of Brunei.

As Sultan he had married Tengku Ampuan Raihani binti Sultan Alaudin Sulaiman Shah, the daughter of Sultan Alaudin Sulaiman Shah, the Sultan of Selangor. The nikah ceremony was held at the Jame Rahmah Mosque in Klang, Selangor. The wedding took place on 6th May 1934. Slightly more than a year later in October 1935, Her Royal Highness gave birth to a princess named Pengiran Anak Puteri Noorehsani.

During the World War II, in 1941, the Japanese landed in Brunei. His Royal Highness Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin retained his throne during the war and was bestowed with a pension and Japanese honours. However he had very little to do with the Japanese during the occupation and he together with the royal family left Brunei to stay at a temporary palace at Tantuya in Limbang towards the end of the Second World War. In 1945, the allied army landed and liberated Brunei from the Japanese. The British Military Administration (BMA) took over the running of the government. It was in 1946, before the government took over from British Military Administration.

Like his father before him, His Royal Highness too was concerned with the expansion and improvement of formal education as well as that of religious education.

His Royal Highness was also a keen writer. Among others he wrote a book called the "Panduan Keselamatan" which contained useful advice. These were some of His Majesty's contribution during his reign.

It was also during the reign of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin that saw Brunei Darussalam having her own national anthem "Allah Peliharakan Sultan" or "God save the Sultan". In 1947, the national anthem was composed by Awang Besar Sagap and lyrics written by Pengiran Mohammad Yussof Bin Pengiran Haji Abdul Rahim.

That same year, Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin bestowed the title "wazir" to his brother, Pengiran Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien.

On 20th September 1949, His Royal Highness Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin celebrated his Silver Jubilee or the 25th anniversary of ascending the throne. At the ceremony His Royal Highness was knighted and bestowed with the KBE by the British High Commissioner to Brunei on behalf of King George VI.

The ceremony was attended by the Commissioner General of Southeast Asia and representatives from neighbouring countries.

A few months after the celebration, His Royal Highness Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin was on his way to Britain for an official visit. Unfortunately he was taken ill and later died in Singapore of a haemorrhage. It was 4th June 1950 and His Royal Highness died at the young age of thirty six.

After his untimely death from natural causes, he was succeeded by his brother who became His Royal Highness Sultan 'Omar Ali Saifuddin III, the 28th Sultan of Brunei. His Royal Highness Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin did not have a male heir.

His Royal Highness reign represented the start of a new era in Brunei. The discovery of oil changed the whole course of Brunei's history and enabled faster development in all sectors of the country. The expansion and improvement of formal education and his encouragement of religious education were some of his additional contributions to Brunei Darussalam.