Rather than pursuing aggressive military action, they increasingly relied on political influence, a strategy that eventually led to the Treaty of Pangkor in 1874 and the establishment of the 'Resident System'.

[1] It, along with Sungai Ujong, Rembau, Kelang, Johol, Jelai (Inas), Jelebu and Ulu Pahang, was one of the nine luaks that made up the first iteration of Negeri Sembilan.

[1] This relationship was formalized in 1757 when the Sultan of Johor ceded his nominal rights of suzerainty over Naning and its neighboring chiefdoms around Malacca to the Dutch.

[2] By 1765, the Dutch commuted the tenth to a nominal yearly tribute of 400 gantangs of paddy, which was about one one-thousandth of the total crop produced in Naning at that time.

[7] However, Dol Said contested the British juridical claims over Naning and the imposition of the ten percent tax and chose to continue sending the traditional payment of 400 gantangs of rice instead.

[13] Garling's assessment was supported by the acting Resident-Councillor of Penang, Anderson, who felt that the British right to subject Naning to the same government as Malacca was "not very clearly established".

[11] This was manifested in different understandings by both sides regarding the exact nature of the land jurisdiction over Naning that Britain had inherited from the Dutch, which was the cause of the conflict.

[19] However, the British officials had been largely contemptuous or condescending towards the importance placed on these Malay customs in their reports, dismissing it simply an excuse to act against a centralizing authority.

[22] However, Abdullah claimed that when the EIC had decided to impose a tax of one-tenth of all the produce of Naning and its dependent villages instead of the annual tribute, Dol Said considered this to be an excessive demand and he refused to comply with it.

As Cave highlighted, Lewis did not appear to have taken into account the situation on the ground such as the variations in soil and types of crop nor did he conduct a topographical, cadastral or agronomic survey.

[27] Coupled with this was the widely held belief among ordinary Britons that their empire would be imperiled without the vigorous assertion of British power and influence in Asia.

Various British colonial officials, were able to exercise power disproportionately greater than their positions and often at their discretion, given the administrative delays made by long-distance communication between them in Malaya and their superiors in India and Britain.

[31] In particular, the decisions made by British Governor Fullerton and his successor Ibbetson and the then-Superintendent of Lands at Malacca Lewis with regards to Naning, served to create the conditions necessary for the conflict to break out.

This was despite advice from other colonial officials such as Garling and Anderson who had more local experience and who disagreed with Fullerton's assessment regarding the nature of Malacca's jurisdiction over Naning.

[34] However, Ibbetson had justified the need to dispatch troops to apprehend Dol Said as the latter's successful defiance of the British could similarly encourage other Malaccans to refuse to pay their taxes.

These include inflating the amount of potential taxes collectible from Naning and translating letters from Dol Said in a manner that made the latter sounded belligerent.

[37] However Dol Said had refused and limited himself to corresponding through letters, which as Cave established, lent itself open to incorrect translations of key phrases and interpretations of meaning.

[43] The expedition soon began to run out of rations and upon learning that Naning had received help and troops from neighboring states including Rembau, a decision was made to retreat to the borders of Malacca.

The British government also made logistical preparations to ensure the success of their second expedition including expanding parts of the narrow road between Malacca and Naning.

[62] A Malaccan of Dutch descent, J.B. Westerhout, was appointed as the new superintendent of Naning and charged with the responsibility of administering the territory and collecting the overdue land tax.

[64] However, the high cost, difficulties encountered as well as limited monetary returns from the conflict resulted in the British adopting a less aggressive and military-based policy towards dealing with the rest of the Malay states for the next few decades.

Instead, the British sought to expand their influence politically among the Malay rulers, culminating in with the signing of the Pangkor Treaty and the creation of the "residential" system in 1874.

[66] He has been portrayed in Malaysian history textbooks and the Malacca state government as a hero who had defiantly stood up to world power and resisted the unlawful imposition of taxation by the British on his territories.

By re-looking at the set of colonial documents produced during the conflict, Mills assessed that the entire Naning war had been an "egregious blunder" due to "hasty actions" taken by the British officials on the spot based on insufficient and incorrect information.

This has resulted in a growing trend to review and understand the conflict as a clash between two different systems during that particular period of time as well as providing greater agency and voice to the Malay actors involved.

Instead he argued that the conflict was the result of a "collision of systems" between the British's ideas of sovereignty during the onset of its early territorial expansion in Malaya and the Malay leaders who continued ascribing to their traditional customs and concepts of governance and rulership based on adat.

Chew went beyond the usual colonial records and examined new secondary sources that shed light on the nature of state and society in the Malay world.

He argued that the Naning War should be understood as part of a deeper indigenous resistance and protest against the early onset of Western colonialism in the region.

[73] In particular, Chew argued that the conflict could be regarded as an example of the preliminary clash between the new ideas of colonial sovereignty being imposed by the British and the traditional notions of Malay rule which was being threatened.

British officials in London, India, and the Straits Settlements became increasingly mindful of Asia's strategic importance for trade and industry, and the need to secure Britain's expanding vital interest in resource-rich areas.