Tahmid Allah II

Tahmidullah II, (1727 – 19 April 1801) also known as Tamjidillah III, Sulaiman Saidullah I, and Sunan Nata Alam was the Sultan of Banjar who ruled from 1761 to 1801, succeeding his cousin, Muhammad of Banjar. His reign succeeded in maintaining the sovereignty and absolute influence of the sultan, which led to his recognition as one of the best Banjar Sultans.

At first, he was only appointed as Sultan while waiting for Sultan Muhammad's young sons to reach a suitable age. However, his ambition for the throne and the murder of Sultan Muhammad's sons caused him to be confronted with a rebellion from Prince Amir, Sultan Muhammad's third son who claimed the throne and intended to take revenge. Despite not receiving support from the people due to his cruelty, Prince Amir was supported by the alliance of the Bugis and Paser, which forced Tahmidullah II to ask for help from the Dutch East Indies to crush Prince Amir's rebellion.

After Prince Amir's rebellion was put down with a little help from the Dutch, the Dutch demanded that the Sultan make Banjar a protectorate of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In return, the Sultan handed over a number of territories to the Dutch as a favor for their assistance during Prince Amir's rebellion, an act that was fundamentally unpopular with the Sultan himself. Tahmidullah II, a distinguished diplomat, made an agreement with the Dutch that the Banjar region would remain intact and the ruler of the sultanate would remain in his line. This ended the succession dispute between the descendants of Sultan Hamidullah and Tamjidillah I. However, due to his dislike of the Dutch, Tahmidullah II hired pirates and river bandits, and reduced pepper production to slowly disrupt VOC trade and eventually forced the VOC to abandon Banjar in 1797.

The success of Tahmidullah II's ambition to rule the throne, by ensuring that the ruler of the sultanate was in his line, and his success in expelling the Dutch who had dominated Banjar's economic policies for years, made him recognized as one of the best Sultans of Banjar. Even though he was not a sultan who led the golden age, Tahmidullah II's diplomatic achievements are believed to be one of the achievements that almost no other kingdoms in the Nusantara archipelago could achieve at that time.

Prince Nata Dilaga used the title Akamuddin Saidullah for the first time in October 1762, previously he had used the title Panembahan Kaharuddin Halilullah since 1761.

In 1767, Tahmidullah II initiated the construction of the Bumi Kencana Palace in Martapura. However, this palace was later destroyed shortly after the Banjarmasin War ended.

Titles According to Anggraini Antemas, Prince Nata or Sunan Nata Alam had the title Sultan Tahmidillah II, this is an officially recognized title. However, according to Helius Sjamsuddin, Prince Nata had the title "Tamjidillah II", or according to other sources, especially Dutch sources, called "Tamjidillah III".

The other titles used by Tahmidullah II are as follows: Panembahan Kaharuddin Halilullah (since 1761) Prince Wira Nata Prince Nata /Pangeran Nata Dilaga Nata Nagara Panembahan Batuah. Panembahan Batu (since 1798, posthumous name) Sultan Batu Prince Tahmidillah Sulaiman Saidullah I (1787–1797)

Appointment of heir Lithograph of the Bumi Selamat Palace complex (previously called Bumi Kencana) in Martapura which was completed in 1766. In 1767, Sultan Tahmidulah II appointed his 6-year-old son born in 1761 which was the year of Sultan Muhammad's death, January 16, 1761. Prince Sulaiman with the title Prince Ratu Sulaiman as his successor. Prince Sulaiman who was considered the heir to Queen Lawiyah, the daughter of Sultan Muhammad of Banjar. So, or Tahmidullah II is the Son-in-law of Sultan Muhammad of Banjar. This appointment was carried out to ensure that the successor to the throne of the Banjar Sultanate remains in his direct line of descent. Sultan Tahmidulah II then gave his eldest son the title "Sultan Sulaiman Saidullah II" and he himself then had the title sunan which he considered a higher title, thus becoming "Sunan Sulaiman Saidullah I"

Fifteen years later, in 1782, Sultan Tahmidilah II again elevated his grandson who was born in 1782 with the title "Pangeran Ratu Adam al-Watsiq Billah". This title was given to Prince Adam as the heir or Crown Prince of Banjar since 1782. This appointment process, according to Tahmidullah II, shows the importance of maintaining the continuity and stability of the dynasty in the Banjar Sultanate, by ensuring that the successor to the throne has been prepared early on.

Prince Amir's Rebellion Background In 1759, news of the arrival of Prince Muhammad who would attack Martapura shocked the palace family, but Sultan Tamjidillah I remained calm over the critical situation. Based on the consideration that there would be no bloodshed between the families themselves, especially since Prince Muhammad was his own nephew and son-in-law, Tamjidillah I handed over the throne of the Banjarmasin Sultanate, so that Prince Muhammad had power over the Banjarmasin Sultanate. Outwardly, Tamjidillah I was happy to hand over the throne to his nephew, Prince Muhammad, but secretly, Tamjidillah I was not happy about the throne being transferred from his hands, especially since most of the nobles supported him as Sultan. This is what caused Prince Tamjidillah to make a cunning strategy, to return the throne to his hands. When Tamjidillah I handed over the throne to Prince Muhammad, in front of the nobles he said: "Let the throne be seized by Ratu Anom (Prince Muhammad), anyway he will die soon anyway".

Some time later, Sultan Muhammad suffered from continuous illness and in 1761 he died leaving behind a young crown prince, it is suspected that the Sultan died of poisoning.

Tamjidillah I's strategy was successful, because when Sultan Muhammad died, he left the Crown Prince still a child, because of that Mangkubumi was back in his hands as the guardian of the Sultan who was not yet an adult, and he appointed his son Prince Nata Alam as the Guardian of the Sultan. The old story that Prince Muhammad experienced after his father, Sultan Kuning died, was repeated after Sultan Muhammad died. The Sultan's Guardian Nata Alam tried to keep the throne and the heir was in his line. Nata Alam began to plan a strategy to carry out his ambition. First he tried to gain the support of the nobility, and it turned out that support was easily obtained. Then he appointed his son as his successor with the title Sultan Sulaiman Saidullah who was only 6 years old at that time (1767). This action was the realization of his strategy to maintain the throne of his lineage and gain support from the nobility which he easily obtained. The children who were entitled to the throne died one by one, Prince Abdullah died of poisoning and strangulation, possibly on the orders of Tahmidullah II, then followed by Prince Rahmad killed on the orders of Sultan Tahmidullah II. The third son, Prince Amir realized what happened to his brothers, therefore before it was too late he asked to be allowed to leave the Banjar Sultanate on the grounds of performing the pilgrimage to Mecca. Tahmidullah II allowed it, because it meant that the only heir to the throne was no longer there. It turned out that Prince Amir did not go to Mecca to perform the hajj but he stopped at Paser to his uncle Arung Tarawe's place. Arung Tarawe agreed to provide assistance to Prince Amir, to attack Martapura, to seize the throne from Prince Nata Alam. This agreement caused the war and was the worst event for the Banjarmasin Sultanate, because in this war for the throne the Dutch and the Bugis people intervened. Thus, this war involved conflict between tribes, namely the Banjar people and the Bugis people, also involving the Dutch as a nation that wanted domination over Banjar.

In 1785, Prince Amir with the help of Arung Tarawe attacked Martapura. His troops with 3000 Bugis people with a strength of 60 boats departed from Paser via Cape South and landed at Tabanio, the largest pepper port of the Banjarmasin Sultanate. In Tabanio, Bugis troops killed commoners, destroyed pepper plantations, a potential source of trade for the Banjarmasin Sultanate and a source of income for the people, captured people and then made them into slaves by the Bugis people, this caused tribal conflict between the Bugis and Banjar tribes. Hal ini pula menyebabkan hilangnya simpati rakyat Banjar terhadap Pangeran Amir, sehingga rakyat Banjar tidak ada yang membantu perjuangan Pangeran Amir, suatu siasat yang merugikan Pangeran Amir sendiri. Although Prince Amir's attack was aimed at realizing revenge for the deaths of his father and brothers. This attack by Prince Amir caused Tahmidullah II to make a new contract with the VOC in 1787 to maintain the stability of his power so that it would remain in his hands and his lineage. The important things in the agreement were 4 points:

These agreements were written in two languages, namely Dutch and Malay written in Jawi script. The contents of the agreement describe an important political situation, namely the time of the Bugis invasion led by Prince Amir. The name of Prince Amir was not found in the invasion that shook the kingdom, but the invasion of the Bugis people was the assistance of Prince Tarawe, Prince Amir's uncle. The presence of the Dutch Company troops to help Tahmidullah II, was a savior against the destruction of Tahmidullah II's government. That is why in the points of the agreement the position of the Dutch Company shows a dominant position. Even more tragic is the position of the Banjar Sultanate as only a borrowed kingdom from the Dutch East Indies Company. In the Acte van Afstand it is stated that the position of the Banjar Sultanate as a borrowed kingdom, was actually the result of deliberations of all the kingdom's dignitaries.

Dutch aid and the capture of Prince Amir The Dutch sent aid under the leadership of Hoffman, in addition to being the Dutch representative in the newly made contract issue, also as the leader of aid to expel the Bugis troops from the Banjarmasin Sultanate. Tahmidullah II's troops together with the Banjar people and assisted by the VOC troops succeeded in expelling the Bugis troops, and capturing Prince Amir and then exiled to Ceylon. The victory of this war meant victory for Tahmidullah II to obtain the inheritance rights for the lineage of Sultan Kuning. The end of the war against Prince Amir also meant the end of the conflict during the 18th century between the descendants of Sultan Kuning and the descendants of Tamjidillah I of Banjar in the Banjar Sultanate. The victory of this war for the Dutch, was also a great advantage because, the Dutch aid was not in vain and the prize of the victory for the Netherlands was very large. Political rights were in the hands of the Dutch over the Sultanate of Banjarmasin even the Sultanate of Banjar was no more than a vassal of the Dutch. The exile of Prince Amir and political support for Tahmidullah II in 1787 was the first evidence of direct Dutch intervention in the kingdom. Although in reality, the victory that the Dutch obtained was only temporary, because Prince Nata now began to plan a strategy to expel the Dutch power from the Sultanate of Banjarmasin. Not with armed force but with trade tactics.

Agreements with the Netherlands

In the Treaty of 13 August 1787, which consisted of 36 articles, the position of the Banjar Sultanate as a borrowed kingdom was further detailed, so that the territory of the Banjar Sultanate was not as large as the previous territory. But in fact, Tahmidullah II had died in 1801 . In the , namely the deed of inauguration of Sulaiman of Banjar, son of Putra Tahmidullah in 1802, article 1 states that "Panembahan Batu", the posthumous name of Tahmidullah II, had died and was replaced by his son.ACTE VAN RENOVATIE as of 19 APRIL 1802 entitled: