Saiful Rijal

Reign

Ascension

Pengiran Muda Chuchu Besar Saiful Rizal was the eldest son of Pengiran Bendahara Pg Muhammad Tajuddin Ibni Sultan Bolkiah. A significant statement from the Boxer Codex, likely written by a Tagalog merchant who lived in Brunei, describes Saiful Rijal as a cheerful and stout man, noting that he was fifty-eight years old in 1589. This suggests that Saiful Rijal was born in 1531. Given the timeline, a direct father-to-son succession between 1514/15 and 1531 is genetically implausible. Therefore, if these dates are accurate and considering the four sultans from Sharif Ali to Abdul Kahar, it indicates that there must have been a succession of brothers at some point in the royal lineage. There is no information of when Saiful Rijal began to govern, but he was co-regnant with his uncle, Abdul Kahar, in 1578.

Castilian War

Main article: Castilian War

Exchanges between the Bornean port cities and the Spaniards who had taken control of the Philippine islands by seizing Manila in 1571 and Cebu in 1565. Manila charged Brunei of conducting Muslim missionary activities in the Philippines because of the Spaniards' zealous proselytising efforts to convert the entire archipelago to Christianity. In a letter dated 13 April 1578, to Brunei's Sultan Saiful Rijal, the Spanish Governor of the Philippines, Francisco de Sande, made the following accusation and gave the following order.

Brunei disregarded the order as well as the accusations. In revenge, the Spaniards attacked and took control of Brunei in the same month in 1578. Additionally with the assistance of two defectors, Pengiran Seri Lela and Pengiran Seri Ratna. When the Spaniards captured the capital, he chose to move the country's capital to Saragua, further emphasizing the importance of Sarawak. He also had to retreat to Piragong, in Ulu Sungai Brunei to strengthen the Brunei army. Moreover, to demonstrates the significant impact Brunei had on the nearby areas at the time, the Sultan ordered the reconstruction of their capital city when the Spaniards left Brunei probably in late July 1578.

Death

Sultan Saiful Rijal reportedly became ill near Bintala, but he later reportedly recovered and went back to Brunei. He resided in Istana Mazagong in Sungai Kedayan, where he allegedly died. He is buried at Kianggeh Muslim Cemetery.

Personal life

Sultan Saiful Rijal had the following issue:

• Sultan Shah Brunei, 8th Sultan of Brunei
• Sultan Muhammad Hasan, 9th Sultan of Brunei
• Pengiran Anak Kasim
• Raja Bonda (Puteri Lamturak), consort to Sultan Abdul Ghafur Muhiuddin Shah

Legacy

• IBTE Sultan Saiful Rijal Campus, school in Bandar Seri Begawan.

Notes

References

before= Abdul Kahar | title= Sultan of Brunei | years= 1533–1581 | after= Shah Brunei

References

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