PUTERI SAADONG

NORJANATUL ATHIRAH BINTI MOHD HEZRI

The legendary tale of Puteri
Saadong has been recorded in a
few Kelantanese viewpoints. The
story tells us of the sacrifice made
for her motherland, willing to

agonize herself for the sake
of her people.

Based on the story, Puteri
Saadong was the daughter to
King Loyar from Jembal Rule.

In order to honor the
friendship, Puteri Saadong
was surrendered to Wan
Kembang, the ruler of Chinta
Wangsa Rule.

Che Siti
Wan Kembang

When she grew
up, her beauty had
become the talk of the town
until it reached the Siamese
King who in turn sent her
matrimonial proposal.

Nonetheless, the proposal was
courteously declined by Che Siti
and King Loyar.

Offended by the rejection,
The Siamese King decided to
use his military capacity on
Chinta Wangsa and Jembal

Rule.

In Puteri Saadong’s protection, Che
Siti and King Loyar had arranged to
marry her off to her cousin, King
Abdullah in the most regal wedding
celebration.

King Abdullah and his
newly wedded
wife had been
bestowed a
constituency
named Jelasin
and they were
proclaimed as
the Ruler. The
constituency
existed in
between
Pasir Puteh
and Kota
Bharu
constituency.

Despite of his knowledge that Puteri
Saadong had already become the

Queen to King Abdullah, it did not stop
the Siamese King’s wish to own the
beauty.

The Siamese King’s delegation which
was represented by his states’
executives, the monks and his armour
finally arrived in Jelasin. They bowed
before King Abdullah, conveying King
Siamese message to surrender Puteri
Saadong to them.

“We will not be
parted with our

Queen,”

King Abdullah relayed his
message to the messengers.

Therefore, came morning the
following day, the Siamese King’s
troop battled against Jelasin
constituency with the hope they could
capture Puteri Saadong from King
Abdullah and set sail to Siam.

King Abdullah commanded all his
people to defend the state to their last
blood. Henceforth, the pristine
constituent witnessed the most epic
battle of all time. The Siam force had
to retreat.

Once the situation was under control,
King Abdullah and his queen, Puteri
Saadong examined the degree of
destruction caused by the crusade.
The Queen was distraught by the
injury and the downfall of her people.
The wives’ withered of husbands and
mothers of their sons.

Not long after that, the news
circulated about the second wave
strike by the Siamese with magnitude
force artillery. The Kelantanese Rules
at did not have the capacity of such
and did not even stand a chance of
winning the battle that time.

Upon witnessing King Abdullah
and her people’s grief over the
news,

Puteri Saadong at long last
requested to be given in to

King of Siam

with the condition that
her Jelasin people
and her husband not
to be conquered with
the advantage of
being safeguarded
from any threats
from the King.

The tale depicted that King
Abdullah,

agreed to the condition
without slightest hesitation,

and assumed this is the only way
out. He therefore sent out for the
Siamese messengers without
haste.

Broken-hearted and in
tears, Puteri Saadong
cruised to Siam.

Puteri Saadong’s arrival to
Siam had been jubilantly
embraced.

However, soon as Puteri
Saadong set her foot on her

new palace ground, the King
fell ill.

A few days went by, yet the King’s
malady had never recovered. He
charged his men to carry him to
Puteri Saadong’s chamber. The
King’s entrance had been greeted
by Puteri Saadong with full of
respect and nobility.

“I could see the scabies on
your chest, Your Highness.
How long have you suffered?”
asked the Queen.

“Yes,” the King replied he
contracted the ailment
immediately after Puteri
Saadong arrived at his palace

“Though it is tiny, it is
poisonous. Due to this
unbearable illness,
I could not see you
earlier as expected”.
The King whispered.

The longer The King was in
Puteri Saadong’s chamber, the
sore became so agonizing that
he almost lost his sanity. Thus,
he was compelled to leave the
room.

Hence, the shamans and healers
from all over the country were
summoned to cure the King.
Despite the treatments done, the
King’s scabies swelled even
more.

The pain was
overwhelming especially
when he came close to

Puteri Saadong.

Noticing his ailment had already
compromised his reign over the
Siamese Kingdom, the master of
the monks bowed before his King
to offer his view. After kneeling
and asking for his pardon, the
monk master asked for
permission to speak.

In his view, the King’s illness
was related to Puteri
Saadong’s presence to the

Siamese Kingdom. The monk
advised the King to summon
for the queen and asked him
to listen to the queen’s
opinions about his ailment.

Therefore, on the King’s
command, Puteri Saadong was
requested to meet him. As it
was, previously, the queen’s
presence made his illness grew
more intense.

The King then asked enquired
Puteri Saadong whether the
predicament he had to endure
was affected by the queen.

“Pardon me My Lord, but in
my humble opinion, this

predicament was initiated by
your own doing,” Puteri
Saadong affirmed.

“I do not have any revenge
nor any ill intention
towards you My Lord
because my presence
here is at my own will.”
She resumed.

“Yet, I am heart-
broken and
saddened by the
fact that I had to
leave my husband
and my people
behind and they
are tormented by your
soldiers”.

“I am incapable of having ill
feeling towards you whereas all
of my feelings had been
entombed as I left my
constituency and my people”.

“I am only physically present
before you without any
affection,” Puteri Saadong
continued.

Upon listening to the Queen’s
words who remain quiet and
sat politely on the floor, The
King wept, because of his
ordeal aside from his regret
and sorrow.

“I am in no virtue (position) to
cure this disease.”

“Yet, if you respect my dignity
as the Queen to Raja Abdullah,
and promise to return me to my
beloved husband, when you are
healed Your Majesty,”

“I, at my willpower, seek to
treat you until you parted with
your illness and regain your
health, Your Highness.”

From that moment onwards,
Puteri Saadong had become a
loyal concierge to The King of
Siam, he was well taken care of,
carefully nursed and his
scabies were promptly dressed.

Not long after that, The King
regained his health .

The King therefore assembled his
noble men and mandated them to
liberate Puteri Saadong and had
her sailed off to Jelasin.
When the King had fully recovered,
without haste, he fulfilled his
promise.

As a token of his gratitude to
Puteri Saadong, he bestowed
upon her pairs of silk, precious
gemstones and jewellery as

well as silverware.

Thenceforth, Puteri Saadong
navigated to her realm.

Upon reaching Jelasin with her envoy,
her contentment was instantaneously
substituted. The Queen could sense
forthcoming disappointment.

The Queen’s homecoming was
not passionately welcomed by
King Abdullah, her husband.

The Queen found out that King
Abdullah had reinstated her place
with a new wife and Puteri Saadong
was devastated when accused of
being unfaithful by her own husband,
King Abdullah.

Incapable of tolerating the accusation,
when she had already forfeited
everything for her husband and her
homeland, the Queen arose from her
frustration, this time to defend her
honour and fight for her self-respect.

The tale narrated that there was an
argument between King Abdullah and
Puteri Saadong which ended in a tragic
death of King Abdullah being pierced
with the Queen’s hairpin.

After the incident, Puteri
Saadong left her throne in Jelasin
and it was handed over to her
brother in law, Raja Rahim.

Puteri Saadong was claimed to
be in seclusion along with her
custodian, Awang Selamat in
Bukit Marak, near Bachok and
was last seen at Gunung Ayam,
close to Sungai Nenggiri.

During her commission in Bukit
Marak, legend told that the locals
would borrow her silverware for
any feast in that vicinity. The
silverware found in one of the
caves was believed to belong to
Puteri Saadong.

As expected, the silverwares were
not well taken care of, some of
them were broken,others were not

returned. The Queen was sad,
offended and led her to isolate
herself in Gunung Ayam.

As narrated, Gunung Ayam was the
place where Puteri Saadong last
spotted and vanished. The tale also
mentioned Puteri Saadong would be
spotted before any massive
catastrophe heeded over Kelantan.
The Queen was claimed to be seen
before massive flood in 1926 and prior
to Japanese invasion in Malay
Penisular.

“The legend of Puteri Saadong
dictated resemblance over
the legend of Mahsuri and
Laksamana Hang Tuah
in Malay folklores where it
revolved around loyalty and
defamation.”