THE DESTRUCTION OF THE A'FAMOSA BY WILLIAM FAQUHAR AND THE BRITISH AS TOLD BY MUNSYI ABDULLAH This story was

extracted from the book "The Hikayat Abdullah" translated in English by A.H. Hill. It describes the appearance and the destruction of the fort "A Famosa" based on the narration of Abdullah bin Abdul adir also known as !unshi Abdullah who was born in !alacca in "#$# a legendary !alay writer in the "$th century and who once work as %ir %tamford &affles assistant and translator in %ingapore and !alacca. The !alacca Fort A Famosa There came a time when I had nothing else to do except read and write. All of a sudden there arose a rumour in !alacca that the English intended to destroy the Fort. 'obody belie(ed that the Fort could be easily destroyed. )ne said "The work will not be finished during the &esident*s lifetime." Thus e(eryone thought+ for the Fort was strongly built with breastworks and hard stone and co(ered no small area. Therefore it did not occur to anyone that the Fort could be ,uickly broken up. !any were the thoughts that passed through people*s minds. %ome said+ "At last all the poor people of !alacca can become rich for the money they earn demolishing the Fort." )ne man said "If they so much as touch the Fort many men will die- for there are many .inns and de(ils in it." /ut a few said "These English are (ery cunning and that is why they are going to destroy the Fort. %upposing it were to fall into the hands of another power it would ne(er be recaptured in war+ for it is strong and well0built." The appearance of the Fort as I had noted it during my walks and inside the place was as follows. There were big blocks of granite+ dark brown in colour+ some six feet and others about three feet long. The stonework was smooth and flat as if it had been planed. I ha(e heard that the stones were fashioned by 1hinese masons from /atu 2ahat under the orders of the 2ortuguese and for that reason the place is called "1hiselled %tone" to this day. The bulwarks of the Fort sloped slightly inwards+ with an ornamental stone pro.ection running round its four sides. There were eight bastions (arying in width from sixty to eighty feet+ which ser(ed as emplacements for artillery. The walls all round were about fifteen feet thick. /elow each bastion there were underground li(ing ,uarters fully pro(isioned+ with wells and stables for horses. There was a pathway running round inside the walls+ by which people could mo(e from bastion to bastion where there were exit doors. The height to the top of the Fort was about sixty feet+ and it was rumoured that the foundations were the same in depth. At the time when they were preparing to destroy it I noticed that they had dug down some forty0fi(e feet without reaching the foundations. The Fort had four gates+ one a big one in line with the large bridge and ha(ing in it a small door through which people went in and out after eight o*clock at night. %ome twenty or thirty yards to the right there was another gate for taking goods in and out of the Fort+ and all the horse0carts used to lea(e from here. These two gates were guarded by sepoy sentries in rotation. There was a small gate on the /ukit 1hina side and on the /andar Hilir side another gate looking more or less like the large one. There were three bridges- first+ a large one on the town0side- second+ a small one leading to /ukit 1hina- and third+ one to /andar Hilir. The bridges were constructed so that they could be pulled up and down+ and they used to be raised at night0time and during periods of riots or hostilities. 3arge (essels wishing to enter or lea(e the ri(er used to pay a toll. &ound the Fort they built an earth breastwork twel(e feet thick and at its feet they placed

pro.ecting stakes with sharp iron points. %kirting it there was a moat about thirty feet wide and as deep. The water could be let in and out by a sluice at the bridge on the /ukit 1hina side+ and ran out into the sea by the bridge on the /andar Hilir side. The banks of the moat were planted all round with angsena trees and in the water were found crocodiles+ perch+ grey rnullet and lobsters. At inter(als of twel(e feet all round the fort they placed guns and sentry0boxes known as "monkey0houses" where the %epoy stood on guard. After six o*clock in the e(ening they allowed no one inside the Fort+ and one could only walk round the outside. At eight o*clock they fired a gun and the draw0bridges were raised. Then anyone walking about without carrying a light was arrested+ and anyone not answering a challenge was fired on from the Fort abo(e. &ound the Fort there was a carriage0way some sixty feet wide leading to the ri(er4s edge. Fronting the ri(er they had had constructed an artificial embankment and planted it with angsena trees at inter(als of forty feet extending as far as the small bridge. A Famosa Inside the !alacca Fort there was a rise of moderate ele(ation+ at the summit of which was the 5utch church. )riginally it had been a 2ortuguese church and had been taken o(er by the 5utch as their own church. /elow it was the 5utch cemetery. The original Fort was the work of the 2ortuguese. I disco(ered this from a picture of its builders on the front of the main gate. I noticed that the people in the picture had European features. It was a bas relief in plaster+ standing about as high as a child. The picture I ha(e mentioned exists to this day on the /andar Hilir gate+ the one on the town side ha(ing been destroyed by !r. Far,uhar. The church at the top of the hill was called %an 2aulo in 2ortuguese. /y the side of the church there is a garden belonging to the East India 1ompany. In it there used to be some (ery fine fruit0trees+ flowers and all kinds of (egetables. In the garden there was a well+ its depth I know not how many hundreds of feet+ for it was so deep that one could not see the water in it. If one threw a stone down there was a few seconds pause before one heard the splash. Another well+ e,ually deep+ lay outside the garden. In line with the hill stood the residence of the 6o(ernor+ a building of elaborate design. To reach it one could walk through a tunnel built into the hill. There was also a door gi(ing direct access to the ri(er. At the back of the 1ompany*s garden lay the gra(e of &a.a Ha.i+ a powerful !alay ra.a of /ugis descent whose wife was named &atu !as. He it was who came and made war on !alacca during the time of the 5utch. That was slightly o(er sixty years ago. He almost captured !alacca+ ha(ing occupied all the surrounding suburbs and (illages. )nly the centre of !alacca itself remained unsubdued. Then all races in !alacca took to arms to help the 5utch- the !alays+ Indians+ 1hinese+ and Eurasians+ each race under its apitan and its leaders. After many years fighting &a.a Ha.i was killed by a shot at Tan.ong 2alas. The 5utch took his body and buried it at the back of the garden. I ha(e heard a story that the place was a pig0sty. Twenty or thirty years later the descendants of &a.a Ha.i came from 3ingga and &iau to !alacca asking permission of the English &esident to transfer the gra(e to &iau. This permission was gi(en and the gra(e was taken away. The story of &a.a Ha.i*s fighting is a (ery long one+ too long for me to tell here. It will ha(e to wait. )n one side of the hill was a prison which the !alacca folk called mishurdi+ or in the 2ortuguese language "!isericordia"+ meaning a place of penitence. There was also the terongko+ or place of chains+ and inside it there was a special chamber called terongko gelap 7The 5ark 5ungeon8 where men who had committed (ery serious offences were put+ and where no daylight could penetrate. Ad.oining it was a room where they kept instruments for killing and torturing men. It was called teratu. Here men used to be placed on a raised slab and their .oints struck with hard blows until they were broken+ after which they were hanged at 2ulau 9a(a. There were branding instruments as well. A piece of iron rather larger in si:e than a sil(er dollar was heated red0hot and applied to a man*s back between the shoulder0blades. A thick yellow smoke rose+ and there

was a smell of burning flesh+ after which the man would be chained up. There was also a place where men were strangled- and a barrel in which people were rolled. The barrel had nails dri(en into it so that their points pro.ected inwards. Those who had committed unnatural offences were rolled about inside it until their bodies were torn to shreds. I myself ha(e ne(er seen such tortures being inflicted+ ha(ing heard of them only from (ery old men. /ut the instruments were certainly there+ and the barrel I saw all studded with nails. All sorts of instruments were kept there+ used by the 5utch to torture and punish people. All the apparatus+ the torture chambers and the like were thrown away and burnt+ and the 5ark 5ungeon itself was destroyed+ at the time when 3ord !into came to !alacca for the war in /ata(ia. These wicked and frightful things he ordered to be cast into the sea. 'ow I must return to my story about how !r. Far,uhar set about demolishing the !alacca Fort. He called coolies of all races together and bid them smash the Fort first from the /ukit 1hina side. Hundreds of coolies tried to break the stone+ but after two or three days they were unable to do so. For they were afraid because they fully belie(ed that there were ghosts and de(ils in the Fort. /ecause of their belief many had all sorts of nightmares+ and there were rumours of men slapped by de(ils+ (omiting blood+ suffering sudden death or (arious kinds of illness. And as their terror grew+ so the price paid for their labour increased+ but ob(iously their fears were groundless the (ery strength of their beliefs and superstitions being responsible for their in.uries. 'ow the mortar which was sticking to the stone looked and smelt as if it were newly put on. ;hen !r. Far,uhar saw how difficult it was to smash the stone he ga(e instructions to dig down to the foundations of the Fort. /ut howe(er deep they dug still the foundations were not reached+ e(en after they had gone down to a depth e,ual to the height of the Fort. %o they stopped trying to work down to the foundations. Then !r. Far,uhar ordered them to start demolition from the seaward side. !any were the spades+ picks+ crowbars and other instruments broken in the attempt. The work caused sickness and there were many who were afraid to go on because of the deaths and in.uries. Their pay rose from half a rupee to a whole rupee a day but they would not take it. The task of destroying the Fort was a most difficult one+ and many thought that it would ne(er be demolished by the English+ because it was so strong and because so many ghosts inhabited it. After about three months of illness and trouble+ with many men dying or breaking their arms and legs+ news was suddenly heard that the &esident was ordering a hole to be dug under the bastion on the seaward side+ in which boxes of gunpowder were to be placed for firing. E(eryone was astonished saying ";hat manner of thing is this<" Hundreds of people went to see it+ and I myself went out of my way to do so. I saw that they had in fact dug a (ery deep hole+ about six feet s,uare. They measured off a distance of about six feet to one side at the bottom and dug out a shallow niche. Then they filled it with gunpowder and placed in contact with it below the ground a fuse more than sixty feet long made of cloth impregnated with gunpowder. The wick was as thick as a man*s big toe. Then orders were gi(en to close the hole+ and stones and earth were rammed down tight inside. It had taken a score of workmen fi(e or six days to dig one hole. Then a gong was sounded and it was announced that the next morning at eight o*clock no one was to cross the ri(er+ and tbose li(ing in houses close by were told to mo(e to others far away. The next morning !r. Far,uhar appeared on horseback holding a slowmatch in his hand. He sent men to clear out e(eryone on the Fort side and they ran away in all directions. Then he touched off the fuse and at once spurred his horse away. After about ten minutes the gunpowder exploded with a noise like thunder+ and pieces of the Fort as large as elephants+ and e(en some as large as houses+ were blown into the air and cascaded into the sea. %ome went right o(er the ri(er and struck the houses on the other side. E(eryone was startled when they heard the noise+ their surprise all the greater because ne(er in their li(es had they heard such a sound or seen how the power of gunpowder can lift bits of rock as big as houses. At last they realised that the Fort could be destroyed by the English+ and they shook their heads saying "6reat indeed is the skill and ingenuity of these white men. /ut what a pity that a building as fine as this should be brought low in an instant of time. For if they wished to repair it there is no knowing how many years it would take before it was finished." For the Fort was the pride of !alacca and after its destruction the

place lost its glory+ like a woman berea(ed of her husband+ the lustre gone from her face. /ut now by the will of Allah it was no more+ showing how ephemeral are the things of this world. The old order is destroyed+ a new world is created and all around us is change. The stonework of the destroyed Fort was carried away by people to all parts- some to build houses in !alacca+ some to /ata(ia when the 5utch reoccupied !alaeca recently+ and some to &iau. The English too loaded pieces into ships to make warning buoys. %ome pieces sank in the ri(er and others lie about up to the present time in large mounds from which e(ery day people help themsel(es. ;illiam Far,uar blowing up the fort %ix or se(en days later they decided to blow up the bastion on the side of ampong ling+ and they sounded a gong+ warning people to mo(e well away from their houses. )n that side of the ri(er was hatib !usa*s house+ about forty yards away or more. %o they all mo(ed away from the place except his sla(e+ a man named /asir+ another man called !ebarak and his child Ibrahim. These three all hid under a scaffolding so that they could see the performance. A match was applied to the fuse and the men mo(ed off ,uickly. After a few moments the gunpowder blew up with a loud bang and boulders as big as elephants came flying through the air and crashed onto the scaffolding+ collapsing it. Those hiding under it were co(ered in stones and smothered by sand. There was confused shouting and people cried "Four or fi(e men ha(e been killed struck by bits of rock." Then e(eryone ran forward together+ and I too went to see what had happened+ for I had been warned by my mother to go at least half a mile away. ;hen I reached the house I found that a 2ulikat Indian named Abdul %atar had been ha(ing a meal when he was struck and wounded on the temple by a fragment of rock. ;hen I went inside I found /asir. I could see only his legs. His body was weighted down+ I saw+ by bits of rock+ some six feet others four feet across. Eight or nine bits lay on top of him. He was extricated with the help of many hands+ but there was little life left in him. Ibrahim*s legs were found to be pinned by three pieces of rock each about six feet across+ and he was buried in rubble. ;hen the stones and earth had been lifted they found that one of his legs had been broken in three places. He was lifted up and carried away to ampong 2ali. As for his companion !ebarak+ he was completely buried in earth and stones. He was extricated+ but the bones of his leg were crushed and hung limp. He was taken to the house of an English doctor. /asir soon died. Ibrahim and !ebarak were gi(en treatment and by the grace of Allah are ali(e up to the present+ although both are lame. /ut what could be done< For by their own carelessness they had courted danger+ and e(eryone knew that they had only themsel(es to blame. ;hen the people of !alacca saw what had happened they were all (ery frightened. ;hene(er parts of the Fort were to be blown up they left their houses and ran in all directions+ and all the children were dri(en a long way off. Thus it was that !r. Far,uhar destroyed the Fort with ease. All those who did not belie(e that it could be destroyed were dumbfounded and held their peace. All the ghosts and de(ils who featured in the minds of the people took flight and (anished+ terrified by the smoke of the gunpowder. Thus was the beautiful Fort of !alacca utterly annihilated+ blasted to pieces by gunpowder. If they had broken it up stone by stone they would not ha(e finished e(en by now.