Ahmad Muazzam Shah

Sultan Ahmad al-Muadzam Shah and his personal servants, 1897.

Sultan Ahmad Al-Mu'azzam Shah Ibni Al-Marhum Bendahara Sri Maharaja Tun Ali ( Arabic أحمد المعظم شاه; full title :, Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia, Paduka Seri Baginda, Sultan, Ahmad Al-Mu'azzam Shah Ibni, Al-Marhum Bendahara Sri Maharaja, Tun Ali , b. May 23, 1836; died May 9, 1914) was the sixth Raja Bendahara of Pahang and the founder and first modern ruler of the Sultanate of Pahang . Until he came to power he was Tun Wan (Prince) Ahmad. He was involved in various wars and eventually came to terms with the British Straits Settlements , which resulted in the Federated Malay States .

Life

youth

Wan Ahmad was born on May 23, 1836 in Pulau Maulana, Pekan . He was the son of Che Puan Long , a wife of the 22nd Bendahara of Johor , Tun Ali . An Arab fortune teller, Habib Abdullah ibni Omar Al-Attas predicted a great future for him. Wan Ahmad is thus a direct descendant of the male line of the 13th Bendahara, Abdul Jalil Shah IV , who became the tenth Sultan of Johor . When Abdul Jalil took office, Pahang became the special property of the Bendaharas, who also ruled the state as vassals of the Johor Empire. However, during the reign of Tun Abdul Majid the empire slowly disintegrated and the status of Pahang was converted from provincial status (Tanah Pegangan) to fiefdom (Tanah Kurnia) , whereupon the ruling Bendahara assumed the title of Raja Bendahara ('King-Grand Vizier') assumed. It was not until 1853, when his father Tun Ali ruled Pahang, that the prince formally declared independence.

Wan Ahmad received private lessons at court and received Kuantan and Endau as a separate fief from his father at an early age . When his brother Tun Mutahir came to power, however, he wanted to withdraw these powers again (1857).

Civil war

The dispute over the territories of Kuantan and Endau resulted in Wan Ahmad interfering with his brother in government. Tensions between the two brothers escalated into a bitter civil war, shortly after her father's death in 1857. The elder, Tun Mutahir, backed by Johor in the south and from the British Straits Settlements, which at the time also against the Siamese Rattanakosin Kingdom fought . Wan Ahmad, who was 22 years old at the time, received help from the Terengganu , a Malay sultanate in the north, and the Siamese. Both parties, whose foreign supporters each had their own goals, carried out mainly small raids and ambushes and from time to time fought skirmishes near fortifications along the extensive river systems of Pahang. Siamese ships dispatched to assist Wan Ahmad in 1862 were sunk by British gunboats. The war subsided soon after Wan Ahmad's forces took control of numerous important inland cities and regions and ultimately took the capital, Pekan. Tun Mutahir retired to Temai and in May 1863 he fled to Kuala Sedili , where he died with his son Wan Koris .

Ahmad owed his victory in the war in large part to his outstanding skill as a commander in battle. As the winner, he was awarded the title Bendahara Siwa Raja Tun Ahmad by his chiefs . Tun Ahmad then assumed the title of Sri Paduka Dato 'Bendahara Siwa Raja Tun Ahmad . The new Raja Bendahara completed his victory by issuing an amnesty to those chiefs and persons who had helped his enemies. He also rewarded the wealthy businessmen who had supported him financially by leasing them the state monopoly of salt and opium.

The ensuing wars, in which the country was devastated, resulted in the ruling class and territorial chiefs being divided and adhering to different parties. In the early years of his reign, Pahang sank into unrest as the surviving sons of Tun Mutahir, who still lived in Selangor , repeatedly tried to overthrow him. Ultimately, at a crucial point, Pahang became embroiled in the Selangor (Klang War) civil war. In 1881 Tun Wan Ahmad tried to counteract his loss of power in Pahang and the western Malay states by assuming the title of Sultan Ahmad al-Muazzam Shah and being proclaimed by his chiefs two years later. This event marked a revival of Pahang as a sultanate after more than two centuries of union with the Crown of Johor . Ahmad received formal recognition of the Straits Settlement in 1887 in exchange for signing a contract with the British, after which he had to take on a British agent at his court.

Sultan Ahmad al-Muadzam Shah with the Acting Resident of Pahang , Frederic Duberly, ca.1902.

During his reign, Pahang came increasingly under the influence of the British colonialists . Over time, the Residing British Agent put increasing pressure on the Sultan to lead the state according to British ideals of “just rule” and modernization. In reality, however, this caused the state to boil between the traditional chiefs and the British. The British finally convinced Ahmad in 1888 to place his state under the British Protectorate and John Pickersgill Rodger was appointed Pahang's first resident . The establishment of a state administration began with the creation of a Supreme Court , a police force, and a state council . In 1895 the Sultan signed a Treaty of Federation creating the Federated Malay States . He transferred his executive and administrative powers to his eldest son Tengku Long Mahmud in 1909 , but retained his position and title as head of state until his death in 1914.

family

Women:

• Cik Besar Yang Atur binti Abdullah
• Cik Amah binti Jamut
• Engku Besar of Terengganu
• Tengku Ampuan Tua Tun Besar Fatima bt Tun Muhammad
• Che 'Ungku Pah binti Dato' Temenggong Sri Maharaja Tun Ibrahim
• Encik Besar Zubaida bt Abdullah (Tan Lai Kim)
• Cik Hajjah Fatima binti Haji Muhammad Talib
• Cik Kusuma binti Tok Minal Daeng Koro
• Cik Santoma
• Cik Wan Mandak Kiri
• Cik Halima
• Cik Bakai
• Cik Mah binti Awang Tukang
• Cik Maimuna
• Cik Fatima Selat

Children: Tengku Long , doing Muda Besar , Tengku Mahmud Long , doing Salama , Tengku Ali , Tengku Dalam , Tengku Abdullah , Tengku Nong Fatima , Tengku Sulaiman , Tengku Jusoh , Tengku Hajjah Kalsum , Tengku Umar , Tengku Hajjah Mariam , Tengku Muhammad .

Awards

• 1902: Honorary Knight Commander des Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Royal Ark
2. ↑ In 1623 Abdul Jalil Shah III was proclaimed Sultan of Pahang and Johor.

Web links

• Coinage .
• Tracing Pahang's three capitals. www.nst.com.my

predecessor	Office	successor
Do mutahir	Sultan of Pahang 1881-1909	Mahmud of Pahang