“TIADA SEKALI-KALI AKAN MAHU MENYEMBAH …”: PANGLIMA CHAO TING DAN PERANG KEMERDEKAAN PERLIS KEDUA

“WE SHALL NEVER BOW …”: PANGLIMA CHAO TING AND THE PERLIS SECOND WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

Abstract

Pada tahun 1821 sehingga 1842, Kesultanan Kedah telah diserang oleh Raja Ligor sehingga tercetus Perang Kedah-Siam. Perlis tidak terkecuali daripada menerima kesan secara langsung daripada peperangan besar yang memakan banyak korban sepanjang lebih dua dekad ini. Manuskrip MS85 Salasilah Perlis telah mendokumentasikan penentangan daripada seorang pahlawan bergelar Panglima Chao Ting yang melawan penjajahan Siam di Perlis. Signifikan kebangkitan Panglima Chao Ting atau nama sebenarnya adalah Tokku Qiyam, adalah amat bermakna sehingga perjuangan beliau wajar digelar sebagai Perang Kemerdekaan Perlis Kedua. Walau bagaimanapun, tidak seperti Penghulu Dol Said di Melaka, Dato’ Maharaja Lela (Perak), Tok Janggut (Kelantan), Rentap (Sarawak) dan sebagainya, Panglima Chao Ting tidak didendang sebagai wira kemerdekaan Perlis, jauh sekali dikenang dalam saf pejuang negara Malaysia yang menghadapi gelombang imperialisme. Oleh yang demikian, makalah ini mengusahakan pembentangan identiti Panglima Chao Ting, persepsi berkenaan beliau dan juga perjuangan beliau, yang natijahnya tertegaklah sebuah Kerajaan Wangsa Jamalullail Perlis yang berdaulat. 

Between 1821 until 1842, the Kedah Sultanate was invaded by Governor of Ligor or Nakhon Si Thammarat, hence the Kedah-Siamese War erupted. Without exception, Perlis state also received direct consequences from this catastrophic war that has claimed many innocent lives throughout two decades. The MS85 Salasilah Perlis Manuscript has documented the resistance from a Perlis warrior known as Panglima Chao Ting in combatting the Siamese colonialism. This Chao Ting uprising whose real name is Tokku Qiyam, is very significant that it deserves to be addressed as the Perlis Second War of Independence. However, unlike Dol Said in Malacca, Maharaja Lela (Perak), Tok Janggut (Kelantan), Rentap (Sarawak) and others has been revered, Panglima Chao Ting still remains an unsung independence hero of Perlis that is far from being best appreciated in the ranks of Malaysian independence patriots that stood bravely against the wave of imperialism. Therefore, this paper strives to present the identity of Panglima Chao Ting, the perception surrounding him as well as his bloody struggle that enabled the foundation of an independence Perlis Jamalullail Kingdom.