The district within which the Yam Tuan's authority extended was from Bandar Berangan up to Sungei Melentang, that is to say, to Batu Gominting (in other words, a portion of what is now Klawang).
Such was the limit of his private and direct rule from that time down to the time of his descendant at the present day.
And should he violate this understanding or the customs of the country he may be deposed by his officers.
"If a king be just he is reverenced if unjust checked."[1]
Such was the order of things in former times, and the boundary of Jelebu with Pahang is the place called Meranti Sembilan,[2] while the boundary with Sungei Ujong is Bukit Tangga.
Now Klawang is said to belong to Sungei Ujong for the following reasons.
Some time ago a son of the Datu Penghulu of Jelebu violated a daughter of the Penghulu of Klambu, and was compelled to marry her. Sufficient money to pay the fine exacted was not forthcoming, and so in place of a money payment the Penghulu of Jelebu gave Klawang (to Sungei Ujong), that is to say, so much of it as is on the right as one goes up stream to Sungei Ujong and down stream so far as Lubok Kerbau Balir. For any measure that the Yam Tuan wishes to take in the district thus defined, he must first obtain the sanction of the Government of Sungei Ujong.
Such is the account of the origin of the present Government which obtains in Jelebu, taken from the lips of those who are most likely to be informed on the subject and who are unanimous in their story.
I may append a short account of the constitution of Jelebu as I found it when I visited it about the middle of the present
- ↑ The headmen hold that the present Yam Tuan has violated the constitution, and he now resides in Klawang, with an allowance from the British Government contingent upon his non-interference in the government of Jelebu.
- ↑ This appears to have been the old Jakun boundary. It is low down on the Triang river, is decidedly Pahang in its tendencies, and does not acknowedge the Penghulu.
