Pushtun founders of Bagan Dalam, forgotten for 250 years

Two traders and preachers who came here from Afghanistan and changed the lives of the local community.

BUTTERWORTH: Not many people are aware that located in Kampung Bagan Dalam is the final resting place, for 250 years, of two ethnic Pushtun brothers who had contributed much to the history and development of the village and surrounding area.

The old graves with their marker stones have been left neglected. Few know the remarkable story of the two brothers, traders and Islamic preachers Sheikh Akhil Khan Mohammad and Sheikh Ghulam Khan Mohammad, who came here from Afghanistan.

Penang Malays Tourism and Heritage Association (Sahabat) president, Syed Kamalrul Sufian Syed Kadiron Mustafa said few, especially among the young, knew about the life of these two brothers.

“The only thing left to remind us of their significant contribution to the local community are their graves located in Kampung Bagan Dalam. Unfortunately, these have been neglected into oblivion.

“It is sad that their graves, identified as the oldest in the village, are also now surrounded by undergrowth. Once in a while, the Rohingya community living nearby would clean up the grave area.

“There should instead be a narrative on the two brothers and a signboard to say that Kampung Bagan Dalam was founded by these two Islamic preachers. We have to admit that we have now lost a lot of the history of the local communities in Penang,” he lamented.

Syed Kamalrul urged the relevant authorities in the state or federal government to put up a signboard at the grave site and build a lane leading to it to enable students, history researchers and tourists to visit the site.

He also urged that the centuries-old graves be gazetted as a state heritage site.

Bagan Dalam was a well-known Malay settlement, located near the mouth of the Prai river to the south and facing Tanjong Penaga and the Penang harbour to the north.

Bagan Dalam also used to be synonymous with external and domestic trade, especially with the populace living in and around George Town, the then Province Wellesley and the northern part of the peninsula.

Its proximity to the river mouth and sea also made it strategic for ships and boats to berth at the jetty.

Waka Mohd Nor, 72, a fifth generation descendant of the two brothers, said it was not just trade that was significant to the area at that time, but the presence of Sheikh Akhil Khan and Sheikh Ghulam Khan had also changed the lives of the Malay community there.

Waka said he got to know the history of Bagan Dalam from a 100-year-old granny called Nek Ya when he was in his twenties, and she said the two brothers had contributed much to its growth.

He said Sheikh Akhil Khan and Sheikh Gulam Khan came to Penang by ship in 1765 and later married local women and stayed on until their death.

A reminder of the rapid growth of Bagan Dalam, propelled by the two traders and preachers, was the building of the Bagan Dalam Jamek Mosque, he added.

– BERNAMA