Raja Haji Fisabilillah
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Raja Haji Fisabilillah | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Yang di-Pertuan Muda of Riau | |
| Reign | 1777 – 1784 |
| Predecessor | Daeng Kemboja |
| Successor | Raja Ali |
| Full name | Raja Haji Fisabilillah ibni Daeng Chelak |
| Born | 1727 Ulusungai, Riau |
| Died | 18 June 1784 (aged 56–57) Teluk Ketapang, Malacca |
| Buried | Bukit Kursi, Penyengat Island, Riau |
| Issue | Raja Ja'afar |
| Father | Daeng Chelak |
| Occupation | nobleman, warrior |
Raja Haji Fisabilillah (full name Raja Haji Fisabilillah ibni Daeng Chelak) (1727 – 18 June 1784) was a Bugis-Malay warrior, and also the 4th Yang di-Pertuan Muda of Riau from 1777 to 1784.[1]
Born in Ulusungai, Riau in 1727 to the Bugis warrior Daeng Chelak, Raja Haji was a younger brother of Raja Lumu.[1]
Raja Haji helped put together the recently fragmented territory of Johor. Known as a great hero by the Tuhfat al-Nafis, from 1760 he coerced the rulers of Jambi and Indragiri and married their daughters, while forcing Sultan Mahmud II of Perak to allow the marriage of his niece to Raja Haji's brother Raja Lumu in 1766, who later became Sultan Salehuddin Shah of Selangor.[1]
In 1771 he also became a kingmaker, installing his preferred person, Syarif Abdurrahman Alkadrie, to be crowned the 1st sultan of Pontianak. He defeated the Siak Sultanate and was widely feared by the Dutch. Former Dutch Governor of Malacca Thomas Schippers in 1773 secured a plan to prevent the strength of Raja Haji's pirate bands.[1]
After his uncle Daeng Kemboja died around December 1777, Raja Haji was immediately appointed by Bendahara Tun Abdul Majid as the 4th Yang di-Pertuan Muda of Riau. Tun Abdul Majid sent a letter to Sultan Mahmud Ri’ayat Shah regarding this news and received a good response from the Dutch Governor of Malacca, Pieter Gerardus de Bruijn, who sent a letter on 28 December of the same year.[1]
The Dutch, fearful of an invasion of Riau, (the Bugis fought the Dutch in Malacca to a standstill back in 1757) they invaded it in 1784 but securing no victory, had to call off their siege after three long months. Once the Dutch returned to Malacca, they found out that the city was invaded by the combined Selangor and Bugis factions. The Dutch national fleet had to be called for backup which eventually led to Raja Haji's death and a major dispersal of Bugis around the Riau islands.[2]
