Lukut is an interesting location historically-speaking. Up until 1880 it was part of Selangor state, noted for its Bugis population. Then it was ceded to the Minangkabau kingdom, which ultimately became Negeri Sembilan in 1895. Capitan Yap Ah Loy stayed in Lukut between 1856 and 1868, before he has appointed Kapitan Cina of Kuala Lumpur. Back in the early 1800’s a Selangor prince, Raja Busu, opened up Lukut as a tin mining area, inviting in the Chinese to work in the mines. By 1834 the Chinese were fighting against high taxes on tin production and the Raja and his family were killed. This allowed a Bugis prince (Raja Jaafar ibni Almarhum Raja Ali) to come in and take over.
The fort (Kota Lukut) was built by Raja Jumaat in 1847 on a strategic hill top, with a great view. The hill is known as Bukit Mati (Dead Elephant Hill). To the left of this photo is the sea (Malacca Straits) and the solid concrete buildings are swiflet homes, as nowadays Lukut is more noted for its Bird’s Nest industry than for tin mining.
Although the fort is in ruins, you can still see the outline of the defensive ditches and walls. The dry stone walls are made of laterite, a stone rich in iron which made them bullet-proof.
There are a couple of interesting wells within the fort. The water supply for the royal princess who lived here was well protected. She had a purpose-built well into which water was stored and heavily guarded (photo below left). In the photo below right, Lawrence is eyeing up the Poisonous Well. This is where guilty convicts were dropped!
Today there is a museum located at the base of the fort, and I think that Lawrence will cover the history of Lukut in more detail in his vlog.
Outside the museum are the obligatory cannon… including this monster, lost from a British ship and dragged up from the Malacca Straits. The ornamentation on this cannon is something special.
Of course there are boats, with distinctive Chinese features, and bullock carts.
Click here to return to Lukut, Negeri Sembilan.
Click here to return to Travels in Malaysia 2020.
Click here to return to Helen Gray’s homepage.