( 44 ) 
Saperba, who is said to have appeared on a mountain 
in the interior of Sumatra and to have founded the 
Menangkabau line of kings. He is stated to have 
been a direct descendant of Alexander the Great I 
Nominally Malay sultans were absolute : actually 
the power of the territorial chiefs was very great, 
as was also that of the custom of the country. In 
Negri Sembilan, where old customs retain much 
vigour, the form of government was almost demo- 
cratic. 
In former days the sultans and their chiefs 
lived largely upon export taxes on tin, which were 
collected at the mouths of the larger rivers. They 
also made their subjects work for them for nothing. 
Thus if a reigning prince wished to build a new 
palace, the men of one village would be told off to 
cut the necessary timber in the jungle, those of 
another to dress it, of a third to erect the posts, 
and so on. Padi was also planted by the aid of 
forced labour and, in war, the man-at-arms had not 
only to fight without pay, but to bring his own 
provisions with him. Other sources of revenue, 
chiefly in later years, were the letting of opium and 
gambling monopolies to Chinese, and head-taxes. 
Trade in the early days seems to have been 
largely by barter, but tin ingots gradually became 
a recognized medium of exchange and, in Pahang, 
a curious type of currency was evolved which was 
derived from the ingot. The coins were of three 
sizes, large, medium and small, and are sometimes 
called “ hat-money ” by collectors. Though of tin 
they are of little intrinsic value and are true coins. 
Other states copied the Chinese “ cash ” in tin, but 
the inscriptions were in the Arabic character and 
usually partly Malay, partly Arabic. Small gold 
coins were also in use. 
