istana balai besar

7/29/2019 Istana Balai Besar

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Originally the main administration of

Kelantan was located at Pulau Saba which was

built under the administration of Sultan

Muhammad I. Pulau Saba was located at the

east riverside of Sungai Kelantan. It became the

administration capital for almost 42 years from

1800 to 1842. After the civil war between Long

Jenal and Long Senik ended which was won by

Long Senik, he became the ruler of Kelantan using the name of Sultan

Muhammad II in 1839.

Due to the large size of Sungai Kelantan and also the frequency of flood

occurring every year, Pulau Saba was slowly eroded after 10-20 years and it

raises the concern of Sultan Muhammad II. During the year 1840, he commanded

for the excavation of a stream situated on the west side of the river. The stream

was supposed to be excavated from Kampung Kutan to Bendang Mokrat which

was situated near to what is known today as Kampung Palekbang. The reasons

for the excavation is to divert the river flow of Sungai Kelantan from the east

side of the river. The stream excavation was completed in 1841 and is

considered as one of the branches from Sungai Kelantan which was estimated to

be three miles long. However, the stream was buried down after flood occurred

due to the sand and mud which was carried by the river flow. Though the

remnants of the stream still remains and it is famously known as Sungai Raja

Gali.

When Sungai Raja Gali was buried, the east side of the Sungai Kelantan

started to eroded once again when flood occured. The erosion of the riverside

became a security thread towards the city at Pulau Saba including the area

which was called "Kebun Mengseta" where various royal families houses was

located at that time. As a result, Sultan Muhammad II had chosen an area within

the rural area next to the east side of Pulau Saba and Kebun Mengseta to

develop a new city. The construction of the city begun in 1844.

The city and the new castle was built on a plot of land estimated to be

around four acres wide and wooden gate was built surrounding it.

The rear side of the castle (back of the audience hall) is a large house

made from timber designated for the king. A musolla and also the noble houses


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was built on the upstream of the castle. In 1855, Sultan Muhammad II built a

house in the complex solely for the production of gold flowers, which the

sultanate was obligated to provide annually to the Government of Siam under

whose suzerainty Kelantan was loosely incorporated. This 30 by 17 foot structure

with six doors at the back of the complex was said to house artisan who crafted

the flowers. According to the story of the old folks of Kelantan, the person in

charge of administrating the construction of the castle is a famous craftsmen

from Trengganu named Muhamad Salleh which was living in Kampung

Kangkung, which was in the Pasir Mas colony. He was the only craftsmen and

carver which is smart and premier in the 19th century.

As for the castle site, it is part of a large area covering about forty acres

which was called "Buluh Kubu" because the area is surrounded by a row of

bamboo trees planted as a large fence.the inner area of "Buluh Kubu" consist of

the castle's site which was under the property of the reigning sultan who ruled

by hereditary. "Buluh Kubu" was also known as "Dalam Kubu".

After the city construction was completed in 1844, Sultan Muhamad II

embarked and resided in the city as well as in the new castle. The city and the

castle was originally called as Kota Bharu which was named after the completion

of both the city and the castle. It quickly rise up to become the capitaladministration of Kelantan. However, due to the misunderstanding between the

castle as well as the capital city which was both named Kota Bharu, Sultan

Muhamad II ordered the castle name to be replaced and later it was called as

Istana Balai Besar in order to differentiate between the city and the castle's

name.

Since the completion of Istana Balai Besar and the city of Kota

Bharu in the year 1844, the citizens were starting to build their own houses andresidential village on the upstream and downstream of Buluh Kubu or Dalam

Kubu until it had slowly become a highly populated village. During its early days,

Kota Bharu was a small city and also crowded and might only be habituated by

around 3000-5000 people only. The important and most populated area during

the early days was known as Kampung Masjid, Kubang Pasu, Balik Hilir and also

Jalan Haji Cik Su (Kampung Gajah Mati) as well as Jalan Tok Hakim. The trade

centre in Kota Bharu was originally located at the riverside of Sungai Kelantan

around the area which is now known as Taman Sekebun Bunga. Outside of the

area are shrubs and open fields.


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Istana Balai Besar was occupied by various ruler of Kelantan. Sultan

Muhamad II which ruled Kelantan from the year 1839 to 1886 was buried there.

3 more sultan later live in the very same castle afterwards. They are Sultan

Ahmad which was in power from 1886 to 1889, Sultan Muhamad III which reign

from 1890 to 1891. During the reign of Sultan Ahmad, he had given a part of the

land within the area of Buluh Kubu to his daughter, Tuan Kembang or also known

as Tengku Puteri which would later married Tengku Besar that would become the

ruler of Patani from the year 1890 to 1899. The land wich was given to Tuan

Kembang would later be inherited to Tengku Ahmad Zainal Abidin or also known

as Tengku Seri Akar Raja, father to Tengku Nurulaini, wife of Tengku Ahmad

Rithauddeen. The land is now known as Kampung Tengku Seri Akar.another plot

of land which was situated on the upstream of Istana Balai Besar was said to be

given by Sultan Ahmad to one of his other prince.

At the end of Sultan Ahmad reign, his son

and daughters had already built their own town

situated next to the upstream of Kota Bharu. The

towns consist of Kota Temenggong which Tuan

Salleh (Tengku Temenggong) lived in; Kota TengkuSeri Pekerna, home of Tuan Sulaiman (Tengku Seri

Pekerna Raja); Kota Tengku Seri Maharaja which is

the home of Tuan Mahmud (Tengku Seri Maharaja);

Kota Tengku Merah where Tuan Merah lived in; and Kota Istana Tengku

Bendahara, home of Tuan Chik Abdullah (Tengku Ghafar).

The next ruler to be buried at Istana Balai Besar was Sultan Muhamad IV.

Sultan Muhamad IV was the one who had given two plot of land within thecompound of Buluh Kubu or Kubu Dalam to Imam Haji Abdullah bin Haji

Jalaluddin and Encik Abu Bakar which the land would later be known as Kampung

Imam Haji Abdullah and Kampung Cik Bakar. Another plot of land was given by

Sultan Muhamad IV to Datuk Hassan bin Mohd Salleh, the chief minister of

Kelantan during the year 1900 to 1920. The land is now situated at the corner of

Jalan Kubang Pasu and Jalan Tengku Puteri. The land was later inherited to Nik

Abdul Rahman bin Nik Yusof (Datuk Amar Diraja).


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On the 25th of July 1903, Sir William Armstrong Graham and his assistant

Sir H.W. Thomson arrived in Kota Bharu from Bangkok to act as the Resident And

High Commissioners of Kelantan. The new administration which was known as

"Graham Administration" was carried out for seven years from 25 July 1902 until

15 July 1909 when Kelantan was officially given to the English under the

Agreement of English-Siam 1909. During the seven years, many changes had

happen in the administration of Kelantan as well as to Kota Bharu. Several

government bodies were established such as Khazanah (treasury) which was

situated in a small house within the compound of the upstream of Istana Balai

Besar; Low, Middle, and High Court was located in a new building near to the

residence of the Chief Minister, Datuk Hassan bin Muhd. Salleh. In 1916, the

Chief Minister Residence was bought by the Islamic Religion and Malay Customs

Council of Kelantan; the Prison Office was located at the old prison building

which was situated between the residence of Tengku Kalsom and Tengku Meriam

and during that time, the prison was known as "Gok Burok"; the police office and

station was situated at the same spot where the Customs and Excise

Department was situated; and the Education office as well as the Land Office

was situated in front of Istana Balai Besar on the upstream side of it.

From the chronology above, it was clearly understood that what started as

an administration residential had slowly became the stepping stone of a greater

development. It all began with the completion of Istana Balai Besar and would

later influence the current City of Kota Bharu that we know. In addition, it should

also be noted that the development of Kota Bharu was strongly influenced by the

inheritance of lands amongst the nobles.

istana balai besar

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