Royal Johor Mausoleum Telok Blangah (Makam Diraja Telok Blangah)

Makam Diraja Johor Telok Blangah or The Royal Johor Mausoleum Telok Blangah stands out to visitors as you pass by its premise (opposite Harbour Front MRT -Vivo City) and the first thing you will notice other than the mosque (Masjid Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim Johor Darul Ta'zim) and mausoleum is that the flag raised on the flag pole - it is the Johor State Flag. Indeed the land and buildings on this grounds belong to the Royal Family of Johor. Fortunately i did not need to bring my passport but one should not trespass into this grounds unless for official reasons or invited to visit. Fortunately for me, i was able to visit the cemetery behind the mausoleum to take a peek at the personalities buried here and listen to the interesting nuggets shared by Sarafian Salleh (aka Tuah Bugis) a heritage expert and volunteer guide for MyCommunity whose tour,  MyCommunity Festival - My Last Journey i signed up for. This wasn't my first time visiting the Royal Johor Mausoleum. I joined Sarafian when he conducted a 4 hour walking tour - My Telok Blangah Heritage Tour previously. In that tour, i managed to see the inside of Mausoleum itself but could not go up the hill to visit the tomb of Sultanah Khatijah (the fourth wife of Sultan Abu Bakar). This time around, the situation was the opposite of what i experience, we managed to go uphill to visit but did not get to go inside the mausoleum where Temenggong Abdul Raham and Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim are laid to rest). 

Royal Johor Mausoleum Telok Blangah / Makam Diraja Telok Blangah 

Portrait of Dato’ Temenggong Seri Maharaja Daeng Ibrahim

Really Short History of Telok Blangah. 

The community that grew in the surrounding area of Telok Blangah was said to pre-date Raffles arrival and often understated in the history books, which focus and talks more about the community that grew after Raffles arrival and the growth of Singapore early settlements, migrants, etc with the Singapore River and its surrounding area as the focal story point. Tuah Bugis shared that the name "Blangah" was given by early Bugis settlers which translates to "labuh" or a place for anchorage. The Bugis have already established their settlements in Telok Blangah due to its excellent maritime geography as mentioned by Arabs, Chinese and European navigators. It was a sheltered port where the ships could also get access to fresh water from the river tributary around the area. I will not go into details about the history of Telok Blangah as there are many resources (e.g. a fantastic book by Tuah Bugis available in NLB), youtube and other blog post. 

Royal Johor Mausoleum and the surrounding cemetery

The Royal Johor Mausoleum building host the tombs of Temenggong Abdul Rahman, Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim and other members of the royal family. I won't write much about this personalities , but the Treaty of Singapore with Raffles was signed by no other than Temenggong Abdul Rahman. His son, Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim played an important role in the British’s anti-piracy efforts, and was officially installed as the Temenggung of Johor by the British in 1841.Temenggung Daeng Ibrahim laid the foundation for the modern Johor Sultanate and his son, Sultan Sir Abu Bakr became the first Sultan of "Modern Johor".  Traditionally, the Sultan of Johor visits the mausoleum during the Hari Raya Puasa period each year to pay his respects. Behind the mausoleum is a graveyard where members of the Temenggong’s Telok Blangah community are buried. I was told there is a section where the warriors loyal to the Temenggong who fought at the Pahang civil war are also buried. 

The Pahang Civil War (Perang Saudara Pahang) was a civil war fought from 1857 to 1863, between forces loyal to the reigning Raja Bendahara Tun Mutahir  and forces loyal to his brother Tun Ahmad, over the succession to the throne of Pahang. Tun Mutahir received the backing of Johor ruler Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim, and his son Abu Bakar. On the other hand, Wan Ahmad enlisted the support of Sultan Ali, based in Muar, a rival claimant to the Johor throne, who saw an opportunity for revenge against the Johor Temenggong.

Warriors who fought on the side of the Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim in the Pahang Civil War were said to be buried here 

Sultanah Khatijah (4th wife of Sultan Abu Bakar)

During his state visit to the Ottoman Empire in September 1893, Sultan Abu Bakar married his fourth wife, Khadijah Khanum

Portrait of Sultanah Khatijah, of Turkish descent, fourth consort of Sultan Abu Bakar. She was bequeathed the Woodneuk Palace and land in Singapore.

The tomb of Sultanah Khatijah together with an unknown tomb 

Tomb material culture 

Other than the Temenggong and Sultanah headstone (batu nisan) which were made using marble, I see many batu nisan made from porous granite (likely from local quarry around Singapore). Many of the batu nisan (headstones) carvings have weathered and faded through time. One of the structures that caught my eye was a wall that as seen better days - other than the handmade bricks that gives an indicator that this wall is more than a 100 years old, it had remnants of a ceramic chinese vents / roster ventilation tiles. 

Handmade bricks and a roster ventilation tile

Cemetery grounds behind The Royal Johor Mausoleum Telok Blangah