Linggiu, the site of an ancient Malay kingdom now taken over by Singapore?

Peace be upon you all. Previous articles in this blogspot related to my travels to the south in November 2009 have so far covered places in Pontian, Singapura and Kota Tinggi although the actually travelling also included places in Muar, Batu Pahat and Johor Bahru. Now, let us visit one more place in Kota Tinggi before we move on to the next Johor district, Kluang.

On the way to Kluang from the town of Kota Tinggi, one could take a right turn pass the small town of Bandar Tenggara and get into this dusty road...

Actually the road started quite normal and decent before one gets to the dusty parts apparently because of heavy vehicles used mostly for plantation works. The road heads to the east. To the north one could see the 3,300-feet high or so Gunung (Mount) Belumut situated in Kluang near the district borders of Kota Tinggi and Mersing.


Thank God, soon the dusty parts began to gave way to normal road again...



In fact the road a few kilometres later turned out to be rather smooth and of good quality...








Soon we could see the intended destination...

Welcome to the Linggiu Dam which if I'm not mistaken is situated on top of the site of an ancient Malay kingdom which have existed more than 1,000 years ago!

However entry is restricted. I understand the whole area is under Singaporean hands because it provides water for most of the island republic.

So I have no choice but to turn back and at least find a point where I can see the dam from afar...

There, a close-up picture from where I was standing. Can you see the waters of the dam?


OK. This Google Earth satellite picture should give an idea how big is the area covered by water. You see, a few years back there was a big hoo-haa when a local private researcher claimed to have found the site of an ancient Malay kingdom around here. He referred to verses from the old Malay text Sulalatus Salatin (also known in Malay as Sejarah Melayu, in English the Malay Annals) where it is said that a Hindi conqueror called Raja Suran (believed to be a certain Rajendara Chola who attacked Peninsular Malaysian 1000 years ago) once defeated a kingdom called Gelanggayu or something like that. The kingdom is said to lie somewhere inland of Kota Tinggi and the site in Linggiu fits the description. However for reasons not so clear, his findings was soon dismissed. Nevertheless, I do believe that the kingdom once existed and its main location is now submerged in the waters of the Linggiu dam.

For those who wonder why do I start this article using the Malay word Singapura while at the end I used the Anglicised Singapore? Well, as I've mentioned in some articles before, I've always preferred to used the word Singapura. But here, in the context of a selfish republic controlling land in another sovereign country, the word Singapore is more apt bearing in mind that it is the creation of the English colonialists who turned a once Malay-controlled Singapura into a main centre to destroy Islam and undermine the original Malay population of the whole Malay Archipelago. There, I've said my mind. Enough...