Kramat of Shaykh Abdurahman Matebe Shah details

Kramat of Shaykh Abdurahman Matebe Shah
Constantia,
Western Cape
Oblique view
Photographer: Francois Swanepoel - 2014

Date: n.d.
Type: Kramat
Status: Extant
Street: Klein Constantia Rd

Coordinates:
Alt: 83m
Notes:
On the 24th January 1667, the ship the Polsbroek left Batavia and arrived at the Cape on the 13th of May 1668, with three prisoners in chains captured after the defeat at the Castle of Soeroesang in 1667. One of them was incarcerated on Robben Island, while the other two were banished to the Company's forest at Constantia.

Shaykh Abdurahman Matebe Shah, the last of the Malaccan Sultans, was one of the two. He was regarded as Orang Cayen, a title which means 'man of power and influence'; and viewed as particularly dangerous to the interest of the Company. (Cape Mazaar Society)

In 1667, after a fierce battle, Soeroesang fell. The Sultan, Shaykh Abdurahman Matebe Shah, and his two religious advisors were captured. His execution would have made him a martyr, and thus an inspiration to his people to continue the war. The three were therefore banished to the Cape, becoming the first political exiles here. Oral history relates that Shaykh Abdurahman Matebe Shah soon befriended the slave population he met at Constantia, teaching them of the spot near the river where he took his ablutions, meditated and said his prayers.

His shrine, originally housed in a wooden shack, is at the gateway to the farm Klein Constantia. It is quaintly situated amongst the trees and has a serene atmosphere of tranquility.