A translation from a research and writings by:
Aziz Bin Anuar
Norashid bin Mohd Yassin
Jamilah Binti Idris
Rozana Binti Abdul Rahman
Form IV Higher Arts "D"
Muar High School, Johor (1980)

GEOGRAPHICAL ASPECTS OF PARIT JAWA.
Parit Jawa is a small town located about one meter from the shores of the Straits of Malacca and about 11 kilometers from Maharani town. This area have a size of about 20 sq km with a population of about 10,000 people. It has been around for the last 120 years, from a thick forest into a village, with basic utilities and facilities such as clean water supply, electricity, schools, medical centres, post office etc.

VILLAGES IN PARIT JAWA.
Parit Jawa area consist of a few villages, Kampung Parit Pulai, Parit Samsu, Parit Limbong, Parit Kassim, Parit Sri, Parit Gantong, Parit Nipah and Bukit Mor. Administration of Parit Jawa was headed by a Penghulu (village leader) appointed by government, Penghului Hassanbin Hj. Abdul Samad. Parit Jawa have got one Wakil Rakyat.

OUR RESEARCH WORK ON PARIT JAWA.
Parit Jawa have got an interesting early history for analysis and reference. Malaysians especially residents of Parit Jawa, should now this history of how Parit Jawa was opened. Not many people know this history. Perhaps it is because some residents of Parit Jawa now are not the original settlers. If there are somebody who knows, it is always incomplete.

However, our group was very fortunate to have met two original settlers of Parit Jawa. We have discussed with them in their own houses and we feel their explanation was very sufficient. They are Tuan Hj. Anuar Bin Hj. Bon and Tuan Hj. Simon Bin Hj. Mohd. Nor. We did not managed to meet Tuan Hj. Siraj Bin Ahmad, who knows a lot about Parit Jawa's history, as at that time he was busy managing with the arrival of a government minister to Parit Jawa.

FOUNDING HISTORIES OF PARIT JAWA.
Tuan Hj. Simon, 60, was previously a headmaster of Sekolah Kebangsaan Parit Jawa (public school). He studied in Maktab Perguruan Sultan Idris (MPSI) in early 1030s. He like to write and collect reading materials and references as we saw there was a lot of books regarding his genealogy that he wrote and binded it himself, religious, history, and general knowledge books and books with newspaper cuttings.

According to Tuan Hj. Simon, this town was named "Parit Jawa" because the canal here was dug by the Javanese from Jawa island in Indonesia. The place was originally opened near the beach, and in 1916 it shifted to the place now which is about half kolimeter from the beach. This is to avoid the rise in water level during rain and high tides.

The date of when Parit Jawa was opened was not know as there was no written account.However, the name Parit Jawa was know to people since 1870/1871, because at that time, a famous Malay writer, Muhammad Ibrahim Munsyi came to visit here while the canel was under construction, it still have reach Bukit Mor. The visit by Muhammad Ibrahim Munsyi was in 6th. April 1871, and before that the place was probably known as "Kampung Baru". Kampung Baru was opened between 1860 to 1870.

Tuan Hj. Anuar told us about the event around the opening of Parit Jawa. At that time Parit Jawa was a thick forest. The first person to arrive was Haji Jabar Madjati, he was attracted by the conditions on Parit Jawa. He came with a big boat with his people from Java island, Indonesia. He had with him around 40 people, most of them men and a few pahlawan.

The group consist of his assistants and pahlawan. They were Haji Shamsuri, Haji Amir, Said Demak dan Haji Samad. Haji Jabar heads the group.

The group sailed along the Straits of Malacca towards north. They surveyed and choosed the best place for them to settle down. They found a place with white sandy beaches with beautiful trees.

A story from a gardener of Sekolah Kebangsaan Cina, Parit Jawa, Encik Aziz, after Haji Jabar and his group docked at the beach of Parit Jawa, he and a few of his men went upland, the rest stayed on the boat. They surveyed the area looking for suitable place to settle. For three days and three nights they stayed in the jungle, and every night his people who were still in the boat, heard chaotic sounds as if thousand of people ran out of the jungle towards the shore. According to Encik Aziz, that was the sounds of jins and ghosts of the jungle who were chased away by Haji Jabar and his men. This was told to Encik Aziz by his father.

Then Haji Jabar called his people on the boat to come ashore. He assured them the place is now safe. They clear up the place and settle down there.

They new settlement was called "Kampung Baru". Haji Jabar and his people worked hard to develop Kampung Baru. A lot of new areas were opened and were planted with sugar cane, bananas, tapioca, pineapple, vegetables and fruits. They had very good harvest due to the fertile soil. These natural resources were not only used locally but also were sent elsewhere, especially pepper, betel nut, coconut, gambier and other harvests. They also did sea fishing. Here we can tell that those people who came and opened this area knows not only to plant and fish but also knows how to trade them.

EARLY DEVELOPMENT FOR PARIT JAWA.
Tuan Haji Simon further told us the development of Kampung Baru. After a few years, a lot of people came to settle to this new area after they heard about it. They came not only from Java island, but also from mainland Chinese. The Kek Chinese, came to build up new life by doing agricultural activities. They also became tin miners.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF PARIT JAWA.
Near the sea shore, a lot of Hokkien Chinese worked as fisherman and retailers. The fishes we wold to the farmers and miners. The excess we dried to make salted dried fish. These were also sold in Malacca and singapore.

Kampung Baru continue its growth. A lot of boats stopped by the shores of Parit Jawa. Its commercial activities grew from the support of agricultural, mining and fishing activities. More people came to migrate and bacame farmers and cooly.

The shift of settlement from the shores to inner land in 1916 brought more change and development. They planted fruits such as durian, duku (lansium) and rambutan.

Tuan Haji Anuar told us that there are durian trees that were planted by Haji Jabar that exist today. One was named Encik Yusof, it is still alive, and another one was named Cik Minah, this tree died. The names were used in remembrance of an officer and his wife who serves in Parit Jawa.

EARLY WRITTINGS OF PARIT JAWA.
Tuan Haji Simon showed us a book of syair (Malay poem) that was written by his late father. This syair was handwrittened and was called "Syair Abdul Rahman". It tells the story of Haji Abdul Rahman and his ancestors, and some stories regarding Parit Jawa town. The syair have 3,323 phrases. in our opinion, the syair were of high quality. It was written on 15th. Sya'aban 1327 Hijrah (Islamic Calender). Tuan Haji Simon took the initiative to continue writting the syair.

The syair tells the story of haji Abdul Rahman (grandfather of Tuan Haji Simon) who originated from Java island. He was one of the five children. His parents had died and he was raised by his auntie. One day, he and his cousin travelled to Singapore. In Singapore, he met Haji Jabar (founder of Parit Jawa) who also visited Singapore. Haji Abdul Rahman followed Haji Jabar to Kampung Baru. Here, he was given a piece of land to work on. He workd on it with a few friends but the land were flooded and plants were destroyed. They requested Haji Jabar to build a canal. So, a canal was built between the shore until Bukit Mor. Those who built the canal were from Javanese and therefore they called the canal "Parit Jawa". The canal was built between 1870 to 1871. This stories was taken from an extract of the following syair:

Bermuafakat dengan saudara sendiri
Mulai kerja inilah hari
Kawan semua sudah menanti 
Bekerja dengan suka hati

Setelah sudah demikian peri
Kawan bermuafakat pula lagi
Hendak bekerja bagaimana ini
Kerana air tidak pergi

Kepada penghulu kita pintai
Pinta jalan air yang pasti
Supaya tanah tidah ditelenggami
Dibuat kebun boleh menjadi

Kepada penghulu semua berkata
Ada suatu kehendak kita
Kawasan sudah ditebang semua
Hendak dikerjakan banyak airnya

Kehendak kawan kita semua
Satu jalan air sangat dipinta
Datuk Penghulu lalu berkata
Permintaan kamu sudah diterima

Penghulu mengumpas dan memancing 
Melalui kebun dan hutan
Parit digali bukan kepalang
Semua suka orang sekelian

Dibuat parit lebar sedepa
Dinamakan orang Parit Jawa
Sempena Jawa yang menggalikannya
Supaya tidak dilupa yang muda

The syair shown by Tuan Haji Simon explained us the origins of the name Parit Jawa. Other than the name Kampung Baru, the place was also known as Padang. This might relates to the meaning of padang that is "field", a place of flat land. This has some truth as we found the area from the shores of Muar to Batu Pahat are flat.

TIN MINING IN PARIT JAWA.
According to Tuan Haji Simon, the main natural resource of Parit Jawa in 1871 are tin, as the inland area, there there were tin mined by Chinese. There are still traces of the mine there today.

It was stated that in 1871, tin mine were extracted from Parit Jawa as much as 194 pikul. Ungku Abdul Rahman who came from Teluk Belanga, was appointed as the Sultan's representative to collect tin taxes. Everyone who worked at the mine must pay 10% and each bahara must pay one ringgit to the gurdian of the area. Nobody were allowed to bring tin from land with going through Jalan Othman. The tin were brought to a warehouse, weighted with the Sultan's weigh and labelled "Timah Padang Johor". This mining law were made by Ungku Abdul Rahman himself.

According to Munsyi Ibrahim, the residents of Parit Jawa were mainly Javanese. They live by farming only. There was one leader by the name of Haji Abdul Jabar. There was a surau for prayers and nearby inland, there was a warehouse to store tin to be taxed. At the beach of Parit Jawa, there was built a flag pole. Along the canel and coastline, they built a road called Jalan Othman, taken from name of Engku Abdul Rahman's son, Engku Othman.

Parit Jawa grew from a small agriculture village to a trading centre. A lot of foreigners came to trade with the locals. Haji Jabar was officially appointed by Sultan Abu Bakar as the Penghulu of Parit Jawa. Population increase in numbers, shops, buildings and houses were built.

RAILWAY SERVICE TO PARIT JAWA BY MUAR STATE RAILWAY.
In 1884, the Maharani town was opened. The thick jungle areas from Parit Jawa to Maharani town were opened and turned into plantations. The agricultural resources increased. To transport these natural resources, the Maharani town government started a train service for passenger and goods from Parit Jawa town too Parit Sungai Pulai. In 1890, Parit Jawa was the biggest train station in Maharani town. On the train, it was written "M.S.R." which means "Muar State Railway".

In 1908, the head of Muar State Railway was Encik Mohd. Taib Abdullah, who replaced J.C. Campbell. The passenger train service ceased operation in 1927 due to losses and introduction of faster and simpler mode of transportation. It was then used only to carry rocks and stones to make roads. The stones were taken from Bukit Mor Quarry which is one of the biggest quarry in Johor.

MAIN ROADS IN PARIT JAWA.
Parit Jawa town have four junctions with traffic lights. The road leading to Muar is Jalan Temenggong Ahmad. Temenggong Ahmad was the Commissioner of Muar in 1927. Before that, the road was known as Jalan Keretapi. The road leading to Batu Pahat is Jalan Omar, a name of a local resident who contributed a lot to the development of the area. The road leading to the coast is Jalan Jabar, founder of Parit Jawa area.At the end of this road near the coast, there is a road leading to Muar, the road is Jalan Abdul Rahman, taken from Engku Abdul Rahman, Sultan's representative. Lastly, Jalan Mahmud, name taken from an officer who used to served here. Originally, the road from the coast to Bukit Mor was Jalan Othman, it was then changed to Jalan Jabar and Jalan Mahmud.

ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM OF PARIT JAWA.
After Maharani was opened, Parit Jawa was administer by a Penghulu, and all matters are referred to government office in Muar. The first Penghulu was the founder, Penghulu Jabar. There were then seven other Penghulus. After haji Jabar, was his son, Penghulu Khasran bin Haji Jabar, then Penghulu Shamsuddin bin Khasran, Penghulu Yusuf bin Ibrahim, Penghulu Hussin bin Haji Salleh, Penghulu Jaafar bin Khasiran and the current penghulu is Hassan bin Haji Abdul Samad.