The Sakai 
Confederacy. 
10 REMBAU HISTORY, ETC. 
Local tradition ascribes the title of the Nine to the des- 
patch by the chiefs of the Darat Sa-bélah Hilir of a force 
commanded by nine chiefs’ to the aid of the Dato’ Klana 
Kawal during the Rawa invasion of Sungai Ujong in 1820 
A.D.: but this expedition would appear long subsequent to 
the formation of the league. 
Against this consolidation of tribal power, extra-tribal in- 
stitutions could make no headway. The Shah-Bandar—a Waris 
chief of early Johor creation—soon lost, if indeed he ever 
possessed in Rembau, the extensive privileges enjoyed by his 
counterpart in the state of Sungai Ujong as head of the Waris- 
di-Ayer. The very rights of the office of Penghulu Dagang, 
once held by a chief of the Séri Mélenggang Menangkabau, 
tribe (Sa’ bélah Darat) are a matter of conjecture, and the 
title exists only in the lively recollection of his descendants, 
whom the supremacy of the tribes has reduced to the rank of 
Penglima, and whose grand heritage has shrunk to the sinecure 
of chief executioner. 
Thus far, attention has been confined to the internal 
politics of Rembau, but from a very early date the Rembau 
federation of tribes formed one state within the old Sakai con- 
federacy of the Negri Sembilan, under the Suzerainty of Johor. . 
The members of this confederacy are stated by Newbold, 
in his work on © The British Settlements in Malacca,” to have 
been: Sungai Ujong, Rembau, Johol, Jelebu, Segamat, Naning, 
Klang, Ulu Pahang and Jelav. 
The inclusion of the two last states in the list has long 
been the subject of criticism. It is argued that Jélai (in Pa- 
hang), and Ulu Pahang are separated by too vast a distance 
from the other seven states to have ever formed integral parts 
of the confederacy. Again the limits of Klang as a member of 
the Negri Sembilan have long been in dispute. 
To solve the difficulty in regard to Jélai it has been 
(1) From To’ Mendelika, (1) Juan Pahlawan, (2) Genta di-awan ; 
From To’ Ngiang, (3) Raja Limada, (4) Raja Nang Seti, e Panglim g 
Dalam; From To’ Maharaja Inda, (6) Genta di Langit, ( 7) Memprana 
Seti, (8) Panglimna Jahia; Krom Thy Dagang, (9) Beeoiine Bongsu. 
Jour. Straits Branch 
