Raja Kecil

Raja Kecil (d. 1746), or Raja Kecik, also known as Sultan Abdul Jalil Rahmat Shah (r. 1722–1746), was the first sultan of the Sultanate of Siak Sri Indrapura. A controversial figure, due to his origin tales and the rebellion he led, Raja Kecil united a multi-ethnic force in eastern Sumatra to defeat the Johor Sultanate in 1718. He then ruled Johor for four years, before retreating to eastern Sumatra, where he established a new state along the Siak River in 1722.^[1] The rulership of Johor was then passed to Sultan Sulaiman under the heavy dominance of the Bugis elites headed by, among others, Daeng Marewa.^[2]

Raja Kecil continued to oversee periodic attacks on Johor for another decade, while he consolidated control over trade routes between the Strait of Malacca and the resource-rich interior of Sumatra. After 1735, he allowed two of his sons, Raja Mahmud (Sultan Muhammad Abdul Jalil Jalaluddin Shah) and Raja Alam (Sultan Abdul Jalil Alamuddin Shah), to oversee the kingdom, which he ruled in name only. Raja Kecil died in Buantan, the capital of Siak Sri Indrapura, and his grave remains an important site for residents of the region.