Elizabeth I the Virgin Queen of
England was not alone as a woman
ruler who remained unmarried
throughout her life.
England was not alone as a woman
ruler who remained unmarried
throughout her life.
Let's begin with the death of
Elizabeth in 1603. Seven years after
her death, a Malay princess
ascended the throne of Kelantan to
eventually reign longer than
Elizabeth. She was Princess Wan
Kembang.
When Wan Kembang was born,
Kelantan was so prosperous that
foreign merchants were said to
intentionally destroy their own
vessels upon arrival so that they
could have an excuse to stay there
forever. Wan Kembang's father
died when she was about four years
old and the sole heiress. A cousin
of Wan Kembang's mother, a prince
of Johor, was appointed to be the
Regent. Wan Kembang's royal
uncle handed over the throne only at
the time of his death, by then she
was in her thirties.
Wan Kembang was apparently wellgroomed
for her job: Kelantan
continued to prosper under her rule.
Arab traders bestowed upon her the
title "Paduka Cik Siti" in which Siti
means honourable woman.
Henceforth, the Queen of Kelantan
came to be known as Cik Siti Wan
Kembang. Like Elizabeth I, Wan
Kembang turned down marriage
proposals to remain single for the
throne.
Her favourite companion was an
adorable barking deer which she
immortalized by stamping its
likeness on her royal coins. The
name Cik Siti Wan Kembang and
her beloved barking deer became
synonymous with Kelantan until
this very day.
Wan Kembang probably retired in
her nineties and was succeeded by
her adopted daughter, Princess
Saadong. After this point, she
became a legend because nobody
knows where and when she died.
It is believed that the mother of Wan
Kembang was a princess of Pattani.
An older contemporary of Wan
Kembang, also ruled Pattani as an
unmarried queen. She was Raja
Hijau or the Green Queen.
She was chosen as a ruler under
tragic circumstances, after all male
heirs in her family died as a result of
power struggle. The people
preferred her to her predecessors,
praising her for making prices of
food cheaper.
Unlike a movie which portrayed the
Green Queen competing with others
to obtain some cannons under the
sea, the historical Green Queen
actually made Pattani a prosperous
trading center in which one of its
hot items was - firearms. Disputes
among traders from Japan and
Holland might had tested Her
Majesty's diplomatic skills.
However, it was these traders who
helped defend Pattani against a
formidable threat, Siam.
Raja Hijau was succeeded by her
sister Raja Biru, the Blue Queen
who was also unmarried. Raja Biru
died after ruling for only eight years.
She was succeeded by another sister
Raja Ungu, the Purple Queen. Raja
Ungu passed the throne to her
daughter Raja Kuning, the Yellow
Queen. I can assure you this is not
fairy tale. This was the golden era
of Pattani under the four rainbow
queens : Raja Hijau, Raja Biru, Raja
Ungu and Raja Kuning. These
ladies ruled Pattani for almost a
century.
If only Elizabeth I were able to
communicate with the Malay
speaking world, she would have
found quite a few women in the
same shoes as she was.
