Most sources stated that Raja Ali Haji died in 1872 at Penyengat Island[2] in Riau, but the date of his death was being debated as scattered evidences surfaced to oppose this claim. Among the best-known evidences was a letter written in 1872 when Raja Ali Haji wrote a letter to Herman Von De Wall, a Dutch cultural expert, who later died at Tanjung Pinang in 1873.[8] He was elevated to National Hero of Indonesia status in 2004.