Originally built under

the

main

administration of

of

Kelantan was located at Pulau Saba which was the administration Sultan Muhammad I. Pulau Saba was located at the east riverside of Sungai Kelantan. It became the administration capital for almost 42 years from 1800 to 1842. After the civil war between Long Jenal and Long Senik ended which was won by Long Senik, he became the ruler of Kelantan using the name of Sultan Muhammad II in 1839. Due to the large size of Sungai Kelantan and also the frequency of flood occurring every year, Pulau Saba was slowly eroded after 10-20 years and it raises the concern of Sultan Muhammad II. During the year 1840, he commanded for the excavation of a stream situated on the west side of the river. The stream was supposed to be excavated from Kampung Kutan to Bendang Mokrat which was situated near to what is known today as Kampung Palekbang. The reasons for the excavation is to divert the river flow of Sungai Kelantan from the east side of the river. The stream excavation was completed in 1841 and is considered as one of the branches from Sungai Kelantan which was estimated to be three miles long. However, the stream was buried down after flood occurred due to the sand and mud which was carried by the river flow. Though the remnants of the stream still remains and it is famously known as Sungai Raja Gali. When Sungai Raja Gali was buried, the east side of the Sungai Kelantan started to eroded once again when flood occured. The erosion of the riverside became a security thread towards the city at Pulau Saba including the area which was called "Kebun Mengseta" where various royal families houses was located at that time. As a result, Sultan Muhammad II had chosen an area within the rural area next to the east side of Pulau Saba and Kebun Mengseta to develop a new city. The construction of the city begun in 1844. The city and the new castle was built on a plot of land estimated to be around four acres wide and wooden gate was built surrounding it. The rear side of the castle (back of the audience hall) is a large house made from timber designated for the king. A musolla and also the noble houses

was built on the upstream of the castle. In 1855, Sultan Muhammad II built a house in the complex solely for the production of gold flowers, which the sultanate was obligated to provide annually to the Government of Siam under whose suzerainty Kelantan was loosely incorporated. This 30 by 17 foot structure with six doors at the back of the complex was said to house artisan who crafted the flowers. According to the story of the old folks of Kelantan, the person in charge of administrating the construction of the castle is a famous craftsmen from Trengganu named Muhamad Salleh which was living in Kampung Kangkung, which was in the Pasir Mas colony. He was the only craftsmen and carver which is smart and premier in the 19th century. As for the castle site, it is part of a large area covering about forty acres which was called "Buluh Kubu" because the area is surrounded by a row of bamboo trees planted as a large fence.the inner area of "Buluh Kubu" consist of the castle's site which was under the property of the reigning sultan who ruled by hereditary. "Buluh Kubu" was also known as "Dalam Kubu". After the city construction was completed in 1844, Sultan Muhamad II embarked and resided in the city as well as in the new castle. The city and the castle was originally called as Kota Bharu which was named after the completion of both the city and the castle. It quickly rise up to become the capital administration of Kelantan. However, due to the misunderstanding between the castle as well as the capital city which was both named Kota Bharu, Sultan Muhamad II ordered the castle name to be replaced and later it was called as Istana Balai Besar in order to differentiate between the city and the castle's name. Since the completion of Istana Balai Besar and the city of Kota Bharu in the year 1844, the citizens were starting to build their own houses and residential village on the upstream and downstream of Buluh Kubu or Dalam Kubu until it had slowly become a highly populated village. During its early days, Kota Bharu was a small city and also crowded and might only be habituated by around 3000-5000 people only. The important and most populated area during the early days was known as Kampung Masjid, Kubang Pasu, Balik Hilir and also Jalan Haji Cik Su (Kampung Gajah Mati) as well as Jalan Tok Hakim. The trade centre in Kota Bharu was originally located at the riverside of Sungai Kelantan around the area which is now known as Taman Sekebun Bunga. Outside of the area are shrubs and open fields.

Istana Balai Besar was occupied by various ruler of Kelantan. Sultan Muhamad II which ruled Kelantan from the year 1839 to 1886 was buried there. 3 more sultan later live in the very same castle afterwards. They are Sultan Ahmad which was in power from 1886 to 1889, Sultan Muhamad III which reign from 1890 to 1891. During the reign of Sultan Ahmad, he had given a part of the land within the area of Buluh Kubu to his daughter, Tuan Kembang or also known as Tengku Puteri which would later married Tengku Besar that would become the ruler of Patani from the year 1890 to 1899. The land wich was given to Tuan Kembang would later be inherited to Tengku Ahmad Zainal Abidin or also known as Tengku Seri Akar Raja, father to Tengku Nurulaini, wife of Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen. The land is now known as Kampung Tengku Seri Akar.another plot of land which was situated on the upstream of Istana Balai Besar was said to be given by Sultan Ahmad to one of his other prince.

At the end of Sultan Ahmad reign, his son and daughters had already built their own town situated next to the upstream of Kota Bharu. The towns consist of Kota Temenggong which Tuan Salleh (Tengku Temenggong) lived in; Kota Tengku Seri Pekerna, home of Tuan Sulaiman (Tengku Seri Pekerna Raja); Kota Tengku Seri Maharaja which is the home of Tuan Mahmud (Tengku Seri Maharaja); Kota Tengku Merah where Tuan Merah lived in; and Kota Istana Tengku Bendahara, home of Tuan Chik Abdullah (Tengku Ghafar). The next ruler to be buried at Istana Balai Besar was Sultan Muhamad IV. Sultan Muhamad IV was the one who had given two plot of land within the compound of Buluh Kubu or Kubu Dalam to Imam Haji Abdullah bin Haji Jalaluddin and Encik Abu Bakar which the land would later be known as Kampung Imam Haji Abdullah and Kampung Cik Bakar. Another plot of land was given by Sultan Muhamad IV to Datuk Hassan bin Mohd Salleh, the chief minister of Kelantan during the year 1900 to 1920. The land is now situated at the corner of Jalan Kubang Pasu and Jalan Tengku Puteri. The land was later inherited to Nik Abdul Rahman bin Nik Yusof (Datuk Amar Diraja).

On the 25th of July 1903, Sir William Armstrong Graham and his assistant Sir H.W. Thomson arrived in Kota Bharu from Bangkok to act as the Resident And High Commissioners of Kelantan. The new administration which was known as "Graham Administration" was carried out for seven years from 25 July 1902 until 15 July 1909 when Kelantan was officially given to the English under the Agreement of English-Siam 1909. During the seven years, many changes had happen in the administration of Kelantan as well as to Kota Bharu. Several government bodies were established such as Khazanah (treasury) which was situated in a small house within the compound of the upstream of Istana Balai Besar; Low, Middle, and High Court was located in a new building near to the residence of the Chief Minister, Datuk Hassan bin Muhd. Salleh. In 1916, the Chief Minister Residence was bought by the Islamic Religion and Malay Customs Council of Kelantan; the Prison Office was located at the old prison building which was situated between the residence of Tengku Kalsom and Tengku Meriam and during that time, the prison was known as "Gok Burok"; the police office and station was situated at the same spot where the Customs and Excise Department was situated; and the Education office as well as the Land Office was situated in front of Istana Balai Besar on the upstream side of it. From the chronology above, it was clearly understood that what started as an administration residential had slowly became the stepping stone of a greater development. It all began with the completion of Istana Balai Besar and would later influence the current City of Kota Bharu that we know. In addition, it should also be noted that the development of Kota Bharu was strongly influenced by the inheritance of lands amongst the nobles.