Old Pahang Kingdom (
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
: ''Kerajaan Pahang Tua'') was a historical polity centred in the
Pahang
Pahang (;Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a ...
region in the east coast of
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...
. The polity appeared in foreign records from as early as the 5th century and at its height, covered much of modern state of Pahang and the entire southerly part of the peninsula. Throughout its pre-Melakan history, Pahang was established as a
mueang
Mueang ( th, เมือง ''mɯ̄ang'', ), Muang ( lo, ເມືອງ ''mɯ́ang'', ; Tai Nuea: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ''muang''), Mong ( shn, ''mə́ŋ'', ), Meng () or Mường (Vietnamese), were pre-modern semi-independent city-states or principali ...
or
naksat of some major regional Malayic
mandalas
A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...
including
Langkasuka
Langkasuka was an ancient Hindu-Buddhist kingdom located in the Malay Peninsula. The name is Sanskrit in origin; it is thought to be a combination of ''langkha'' for "resplendent land" -'' sukkha'' for "bliss". The kingdom, along with Old Ke ...
,
Srivijaya
Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...
and
Ligor
Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality ( th, เทศบาลนครนครศรีธรรมราช, ; from Pali ''Nagara Sri Dhammaraja'') is a municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') in Southern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat prov ...
. Around the middle of the 15th century, it was brought into the orbit of
Melaka Sultanate
The Malacca Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: ) was a Malays (ethnic group), Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King o ...
and subsequently established as a vassal Muslim Sultanate in 1470, following the coronation of the grandson of the former
Maharaja
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...
as the first
Sultan of Pahang
Sultan of Pahang () is the title of the hereditary constitutional head of Pahang, Malaysia. The current sultan is Al-Sultan Abdullah ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah. He is the Head of Islam in the state and the source of all titles, honours and dignitie ...
.
Names
The naming of Pahang relates to the ancient practice in Malayic culture of defining territorial definitions and apportioning lands by water-sheds. The term 'Pahang' in referring to the kingdom thus, is thought to originate from the name of
Pahang River
The Pahang River ( ms, Sungai Pahang) is a river that flows through the state of Pahang, Malaysia. At 459 km in length, it is the longest river on the Malay Peninsula. The river begins at the confluence of Jelai and Tembeling rivers on t ...
. There have been many theories on the origin of the name. According to Malay legend, across the river at Kampung Kembahang where the present stream of the Pahang parts company with the Pahang Tua, in ancient time stretched a huge ''mahang'' tree (''
macaranga
''Macaranga'' is a large genus of Old World tropical trees of the family Euphorbiaceae and the only genus in the subtribe Macaranginae (tribe Acalypheae). Native to Africa, Australasia, Asia and various islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, ...
'') from which the river and kingdom derived their name. This legend agrees with oral tradition among
Proto-Malay
The term Proto-Malay, which translates to ''Melayu Asli'' (aboriginal Malay) or ''Melayu Purba'' (ancient Malay) or ''Melayu Tua'' (old Malay), refers to Austronesian speakers, possibly from mainland Asia, who moved to the Malay peninsula and ...
Jakun people
Jakun people or Orang Ulu/Orang Hulu (meaning "people of the upstream") are an ethnic group recognised as Orang Asli (indigenous people) of the Malay Peninsula in Malaysia.
The Malaysian government recognises 18 different sub-groups of Orang As ...
s that say their forefathers called the country ''Mahang''.
Other notable theory was espoused by William Linehan, that relates the early foundation of the kingdom to the settlers from ancient
Khmer civilisation, and claims its naming origin to the word saamnbahang (
Khmer: សំណប៉ាហាំង) meaning 'tin', based on the discovery of prehistoric tin mines in the state.
There were many variations of the name Pahang in history. The ''
Book of Song
The ''Book of Song'' (''Sòng Shū'') is a historical text of the Liu Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties of China. It covers history from 420 to 479, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories, a traditional collection of historical records. I ...
'' referred to the kingdom as ''Pohuang'' or ''Panhuang''. The Chinese chronicler
Zhao Rugua Zhao Rukuo (; 1170–1231), also read as Zhao Rugua, or misread as Zhao Rushi, was a Chinese historian and politician during the Song dynasty. He wrote a two-volume book titled ''Zhu Fan Zhi''. The book deals with the world known to the Chinese in t ...
knew it as ''Pong-fong''. According to the continuation of
Ma Duanlin
''Mă Duānlín'' () (1245–1322) was a Chinese historical writer and encyclopaedist. In 1317, during the Yuan Dynasty, he published the comprehensive Chinese encyclopedia ''Wenxian Tongkao'' in 348 volumes.
He was born to the family of Southern ...
's ''
Wenxian Tongkao
The ''Wenxian Tongkao'' () or ''Tongkao'' was one of the model works of the ''Tongdian'' compiled by Ma Duanlin in 1317, during the Yuan Dynasty.
References
*Dong, Enlin, et al. (2002). ''Historical Literature and Cultural Studies''. Wuhan: Hubei ...
'', Pahang was called . By Arabs and Europeans, the kingdom was variously styled ''Pam, Pan, Paam, Paon, Phaan, Phang, Paham, Pahan, Pahaun, Phaung, Phahangh''.
History
Prehistory
Archaeological evidences revealed the existence of human habitation in the area that is today Pahang from as early as the
paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
age. At Gunung Senyum have been found relics of mesolithic civilisation using paleolithic implements. At
Sungai Lembing
Sungai Lembing is a small town in Kuantan District, Pahang, Malaysia. It is about northwest of Kuantan. The town was founded in the 1900s as a tin mining community when the British company Pahang Consolidated Company Limited (PCCL) set up the t ...
,
Kuantan
Kuantan ( Jawi: ) is a city and the state capital of Pahang, Malaysia. It is located near the mouth of the Kuantan River. Kuantan is the 18th largest city in Malaysia based on 2010 population, and the largest city in the East Coast of Penin ...
, have been discovered paleolithic artefacts chipped and without trace of polishing, the remains of a 6,000 years old civilisation. Traces of
Hoabinhian
Hoabinhian is a lithic techno-complex of archaeological sites associated with assemblages in Southeast Asia from late Pleistocene to Holocene, dated to c.10,000–2000 BCE. It is attributed to hunter-gatherer societies of the region and their ...
culture is represented by a number of limestone cave sites. Late
neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
relics are abundant, including polished tools, quoit discs, stone ear pendants, stone bracelets and cross-hatched bark pounders. By around 400 BC, the development of bronze casting led to the flourishing of the
Đông Sơn culture
The Dong Son culture or the Lạc Việt culture (named for modern village Đông Sơn, a village in Thanh Hóa, Vietnam) was a Bronze Age culture in ancient Vietnam centred at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the ...
, notably for its elaborate
bronze war drums.
The early
iron civilisation in Pahang that began around the beginning of
Common Era
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...
is associated by prehistorians with the late neolithic culture. Relics from this era, found along the rivers are particularly numerous in Tembeling Valley, which served as the old main northern highway of communication. Ancient
gold workings in Pahang are thought to date back to this early Iron Age as well.
Early period
The
Kra Isthmus
The Kra Isthmus ( th, คอคอดกระ, ) in Thailand is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailand. The ...
region of the
Malay peninsula
The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...
and its peripheries are recognised by historians as the cradle of Malayic civilisations. Primordial Malayic kingdoms are described as tributaries to
Funan
Funan (; km, ហ៊្វូណន, ; vi, Phù Nam, Chữ Hán: ) was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states ''(Mandala)''—located in mainla ...
by the 2nd century Chinese sources.
Ancient settlements can be traced from Tembeling to as far south as Merchong. Their tracks can also be found in deep hinterland of Jelai, along the
Chini Lake
Chini Lake, better known locally as Tasik Chini, is a lake in Pekan District, Pahang, Malaysia. The lake shores are inhabited by the Jakun branch of the Orang Asli.
The Tasik Chini is the second largest fresh water lake in Peninsular Malaysia a ...
, and up to the head-waters of the
Rompin
The Rompin District is a district located in the southeastern corner of Pahang, Malaysia. Rompin is currently under the Rompin District Council.
The district covers an area of 5,296 km and located 130 kilometres from Kuantan, the capital ci ...
. A polity identified as ''Koli'' in ''
Geographia
The ''Geography'' ( grc-gre, Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις, ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'', "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as the ' and the ', is a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, com ...
'' or ''Kiu-Li'', centred on the estuary of
Pahang River
The Pahang River ( ms, Sungai Pahang) is a river that flows through the state of Pahang, Malaysia. At 459 km in length, it is the longest river on the Malay Peninsula. The river begins at the confluence of Jelai and Tembeling rivers on t ...
south of Langkasuka, flourished in the 3rd Century CE. It possessed an important international port, where many foreign ships stopped to barter and resupply. In common with most of the states in the Malay Peninsula during that time, Kiu-Li was in contact with
Funan
Funan (; km, ហ៊្វូណន, ; vi, Phù Nam, Chữ Hán: ) was the name given by Chinese cartographers, geographers and writers to an ancient Indianized state—or, rather a loose network of states ''(Mandala)''—located in mainla ...
. The Chinese records mention that an embassy sent to Funan by the Indian King Murunda sailed from Kiu-Li's port (between 240-245 CE). Murunda presented tot the Funanese King Fan Chang four horses from the
Yuezhi
The Yuezhi (;) were an ancient people first described in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat ...
(
Kushan
The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...
) stud farms.
By the middle of the 5th century, another polity suggestive as ancient Pahang, was described in the ''
Book of Song
The ''Book of Song'' (''Sòng Shū'') is a historical text of the Liu Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties of China. It covers history from 420 to 479, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories, a traditional collection of historical records. I ...
'' as ''Pohuang'' or ''Panhuang'' (婆皇). The king of Pohuang, ''She-li- Po-luo-ba-mo'' ('Sri Bhadravarman') was recorded to have sent an envoy to the
Liu Song
Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...
court in 449-450 with forty one types of products. In 456-457, another envoy of the same country, led by a ''
Senapati
Senapati (Sanskrit: सेनापति; ''sena-'' meaning "army", ''-pati'' meaning "lord") is a title in ancient India denoting the rank of military commander or general of the army.
It was a hereditary title of nobility used in the Maratha ...
'', arrived at the Chinese capital,
Jiankang
Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Chen dynasty (557–589 CE). Its walls ...
. This ancient Pahang is believed to had been established later as a
mueang
Mueang ( th, เมือง ''mɯ̄ang'', ), Muang ( lo, ເມືອງ ''mɯ́ang'', ; Tai Nuea: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ''muang''), Mong ( shn, ''mə́ŋ'', ), Meng () or Mường (Vietnamese), were pre-modern semi-independent city-states or principali ...
to the
mandala
A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...
of
Langkasuka
Langkasuka was an ancient Hindu-Buddhist kingdom located in the Malay Peninsula. The name is Sanskrit in origin; it is thought to be a combination of ''langkha'' for "resplendent land" -'' sukkha'' for "bliss". The kingdom, along with Old Ke ...
-
Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area ...
centred in modern-day
Patani
Patani Darussalam ( Bahasa Malayu Arabic : , also sometimes Patani Raya or Patani Besar, "Greater Patani"; th, ปาตานี) is a historical region in the Malay peninsula. It includes the southern Thai provinces of Pattani, Yala (Ja ...
region that rose to prominence with the regression of Funan from the 6th century. The Langkasuka-Kedah with its city states that controlled both coastal fronts of Malay peninsula, assumed importance in the trading network involving
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The growth in trade brought in foreign influence throughout these city states. The discovery of many Buddhist votive tablets and Hindu icons points toward strong Indian influence during this period.
By the beginning of the 8th century, Langkasuka-Kedah came under the military and political hegemony of
Srivijaya
Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...
. However, the gradual domination of Langkasuka-Kedah was not achieved by conventional warfare, and no records of major seaborne naval expeditions exist. The submission of Langkasuka-Kedah to the might of Srivijaya was of benefit and interest to the former for, as a commercial centre, it was useful to be allied to a powerful with a navy strong enough to protect them.
Classical period
In the centuries that followed, up to the final decline of Srivijaya, Langkasuka-Kedah was one of its closest allies and
Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area ...
rose to become a principal port and even the seat of the Srivijayan Maharaja. Langkasuka-Kedah's fortune were, therefore intertwined with Srivijaya's, and the former's decline only came after the fall of the latter to
Chola raids from
South India
South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...
in the 11th century. The power vacuum left by the collapse of Srivijaya was filled by the rise of
Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom
Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom ( th, อาณาจักรนครศรีธรรมราช ), Nagara Sri Dharmarashtra or Kingdom of Ligor, was one of the major constituent city states (''mueang'') of the Siamese kingdoms of Sukhothai an ...
, commonly known in Malay tradition as 'Ligor'. By the 13th century, the kingdom succeeded to incorporate most of the Malay Peninsula including Pahang under its mandala. During this period, Pahang, designated as ''Muaeng Pahang'' was established as one of the twelve
naksat city states of Ligor. In the early 14th century, the fortune of Ligor was in turn eclipsed by the rise of Thai Buddhist power, and the expansion southwards by
Ram Khamhaeng
Ram Khamhaeng ( th, รามคำแหง, ) or Pho Khun Ram Khamhaeng Maharat ( th, พ่อขุนรามคำแหงมหาราช, ), also spelled Ramkhamhaeng, was the third king of the Phra Ruang Dynasty, ruling the Sukhot ...
of
Sukhotai who brought it under Thai hegemony.
The 14th century, was the time of the earliest recorded evidence of Islam in the east coast of Malay peninsula. The period also coincides with Pahang, began consolidating its influence in the southern part of the Malay peninsula. The kingdom, described by Portuguese historian,
Manuel Godinho de Erédia
Manuel Godinho de Erédia, or Emanuel Godinho de Erédia (16 July 1563 – 1623), was a Bugis-Portuguese writer and cartographer. He wrote a number of books, including an early account of the Malay Peninsula that is a source of information on th ...
as ''Pam'', was one of the two kingdoms of ''
Malayos'' in the peninsula, in succession to
Pattani, that flourished before the establishment of
Melaka
Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...
in the 15th century. The Pahang ruler then, titled Maharaja, was also the overlord of countries of ''Ujong Tanah'' ('land's end'), the southerly part of the peninsula including
Temasek
Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ). ...
. The Majapahit chronicle, ''
Nagarakretagama
The ''Nagarakretagama'' or ''Nagarakṛtāgama'', also known as ''Desawarnana'' or ''Deśavarṇana'', is an Old Javanese eulogy to Hayam Wuruk, a Javanese king of the Majapahit Empire. It was written on lontar as a ''kakawin'' by Mpu Prapan ...
'' even used the name Pahang to designate the
Malay peninsula
The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...
, an indication of the importance of this kingdom.
The ''
History of Ming
The ''History of Ming'' or the ''Ming History'' (''Míng Shǐ'') is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the ''Twenty-Four Histories''. It consists of 332 volumes and covers the history of the Ming dynasty from 1368 to 1644. It ...
'' records several envoy missions from Pahang to the Ming court in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the year 1378, Maharaja Tajau sent envoys with a letter on a gold leaf and bringing as tribute six foreign slaves and products of the country. In the year 1411, during the reign of Maharaja ''Pa-la-mi-so-la-ta-lo-si-ni'' (transliterated by historian as 'Parameswara Teluk Chini'), he also sent envoys carrying tributes. The Chinese returned the favour in 1412 by sending the legendary Admiral
Zheng He
Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferred ...
as an envoy to Pahang, and in the year 1414, Pahang sent tribute again to China. In the year 1416, they sent tribute together with
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...
and
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
envoys, and in return Zheng He was again ordered to go to Pahang.
Melakan invasion
The 15th century witnessed the rise of
Melaka Sultanate
The Malacca Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: ) was a Malays (ethnic group), Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King o ...
, which under the
Sang Sapurba Sri Maharaja Sang Sapurba Paduka Sri Trimurti Tri Buana, (1245–1316) also known as Sri Nila Pahlawan, is a figure in the Malay Annals, highly revered as the legendary great ancestor of some of the major dynasties of the Malay world: Singapura, Mal ...
dynasty had aggressively consolidated its influence on the west coast of Malay peninsula. Earlier, at the end of the 13th century, the dynasty wrested the small trading outpost at
Temasek
Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ). ...
from Pahang influence and established the short-lived
Kingdom of Singapura
The Kingdom of Singapura (Malay: ''Kerajaan Singapura'') was an Indianised Malay Hindu-Buddhist kingdom thought to have been established during the early history of Singapore upon its main island Pulau Ujong, then also known as Temasek, from ...
which was sacked by the Javanese a century later. The renegade last king
Seri Iskandar Shah established Melaka to succeed Singapura.
Muzaffar Shah, the fifth Sultan of Melaka, who reigned from 1445 to 1458, refused to acknowledge the suzerainty of
Ligor
Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality ( th, เทศบาลนครนครศรีธรรมราช, ; from Pali ''Nagara Sri Dhammaraja'') is a municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') in Southern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat prov ...
over his country. The Ligorians, in assertion of their claim, sent an invading army led by Awi Chakri, overland to Melaka. The invaders, who were aided by Pahang auxiliaries, followed the old route by the Tembeling, Pahang and Bera rivers. They were easily defeated and fled back by the same route. Subsequently, they attempted a naval invasion, but were again beaten. Muzaffar Shah then conceived the idea of checking Ligorian pretensions by attacking the Ligor vassal state of Pahang. An expedition was organised by Muzaffar's son,
Raja Abdullah and was personally led by the Melakan
Bendahara
Bendahara ( Jawi: بنداهارا) is an administrative position within classical Malay kingdoms comparable to a vizier before the intervention of European powers during the 19th century. A bendahara was appointed by a sultan and was a heredit ...
Tun Perak
Bendahara Paduka Raja Tun Perak (died 1498) was the fifth and most famous bendahara, a Malay rank similar to a prime minister, of the Sultanate of Malacca. He served under four sultans ( Sultan Muzzafar Shah, Sultan Mansur Shah, Sultan Alauddin ...
with two hundred sail, big and small, accordingly proceeded to Pahang and conquered it in the year 1454. The reigning ruler of Pahang, Maharaja Dewa Sura, fled to the interior while his daughter Putri Wanang Seri was captured. The victors, anxious to gain the goodwill of the Bendahara, hastened in pursuit of the fugitive king until he was captured and carried together with his daughter to Melaka.
In the year that Pahang was conquered, Raja Abdullah married Putri Wanang Seri, the daughter of the captive king, whose name had been changed, probably on conversion to Islam, to Putri Lela Wangsa. By her he had two sons
Raja Ahmad and
Raja Muhammad.
Administration
Little is known on the administrative system used in Pahang, but throughout its history, several government titles are recorded. The government was headed by a '
Maharaja
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...
' (literally 'emperor') as an absolute monarch, a similar title held by its overlord in Ligor. Towards the end of the kingdom, the Maharaja was recorded by de Erédia belong to the same dynasty that ruled Ligor. A title known as ''
Senapati
Senapati (Sanskrit: सेनापति; ''sena-'' meaning "army", ''-pati'' meaning "lord") is a title in ancient India denoting the rank of military commander or general of the army.
It was a hereditary title of nobility used in the Maratha ...
'' was recorded in the ''
Book of Song
The ''Book of Song'' (''Sòng Shū'') is a historical text of the Liu Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties of China. It covers history from 420 to 479, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories, a traditional collection of historical records. I ...
'', a Sanskrit word literally means 'lord of the army'. The ''Senapati'' was recorded in the Chinese chronicle to had headed several envoy missions to China. Other than that, a Pahang ''
Shahbandar
S̲h̲āhbandar ( fa, شهبندر, , Harbourmaster), was an official of the ports in Safavid Persia and one also known on other shores of the Indian Ocean. The Shahbandar (Port Master) was in charge of the traders and the collection of taxes.
...
'' was known to have ruled
Temasek
Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ). ...
before the island was wrested from Pahang by the
Sang Sapurba Sri Maharaja Sang Sapurba Paduka Sri Trimurti Tri Buana, (1245–1316) also known as Sri Nila Pahlawan, is a figure in the Malay Annals, highly revered as the legendary great ancestor of some of the major dynasties of the Malay world: Singapura, Mal ...
dynasty. The word Shahbandar is a title adopted from Persian that literally means 'lord of the port'.
The old court name was
Inderapura
Inderapura was the capital city of the medieval kingdom of Old Pahang Kingdom, Pahang that existed from 5th to 15th century. The city was mentioned several times in the Malay Annals in narrating the conquest of Pahang in 1454. The word Inderapura ...
, and the capital has always been known as 'the town'. The pre-Melakans calling it by Sanskrit name Pura, the Malays 'Pekan', the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
'a Cidade', while the people of Rompin and Bebar described the capital as ''Pekan Pahang''. Pura may have covered a much larger than the town known as
Pekan
Pekan Town is a town in Pekan District, Pahang, Malaysia. It is also the royal capital of the state. Its name comes from a flower, the '' Bunga Pekan''. Pekan is also the name of the district the town is situated in, and a parliamentary const ...
today. In addition to modern Pekan, it appears to have comprised the land on the banks of Pahang river as far as Tanjung Langgar.
Culture
The culture of ancient Pahang was the result of amalgamation of various Mon-Khmer and Malayic cultures. The pre-Melakan inhabitants of the country, together with people of
Isthmus
An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...
region's civilisation further north, were collectively referred as 'Siamese' in the
Malay Annals
The ''Malay Annals'' (Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: سجاره ملايو), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and demise of the gr ...
of Melaka Sultanate, although they were identified culturally as Malays by Portuguese historian, de Erédia. On the other hand, de Erédia adopted the term 'Siam' and applied it in a broader context, referring to the overlord of these historical 'Siamese' people, that is the Thai kingdom of
Ayuthaya. This broad Portuguese application of the term was later popularised as
exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
for successive Thai kingdoms by other European writers.
In the classical Malay text, ''
Hikayat Hang Tuah
''Hikayat Hang Tuah'' ( Jawi: حکاية هڠ تواه) is a Malay work of literature that tells the tale of the legendary Malay fiction warrior, Hang Tuah and his four warrior friends - Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu - who ...
'', it was noted that although the Pahang people regarded themselves as Malays, they spoke and sang their folk songs in
an outlandish language that differs from the Malay language spoken in Melaka, which would indicate a mixture of tongues and races. The pre-Melakan Pahang people were also described by
Fei Xin
Fei Xin (; - after 1436) was a member of the military personnel of the fleet of the Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He, known as the author of a book about the countries visited by Chinese ships.
Biography
Little is known about Fei Xin's life. His ...
as the adherents of
Mahayana Buddhism
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
, on which were superimposed tantric orgies involving
human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...
s. Its influence in Pahang, though it waned with the introduction of Islam, may be traced up to the beginning of the 17th century.
Economy
The most important product of ancient Pahang was gold. Its auriferous mines were considered the best and the largest in the whole peninsula. It was from here that there came the gold which formed the subject of the ancient trade with
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
. The peninsula as a whole was known to the world as a source of the precious metal to the extent that it was proclaimed ''
Chrysḗ Chersónēsos'' (the golden peninsula) by Ptolemy. According to
Fei Xin
Fei Xin (; - after 1436) was a member of the military personnel of the fleet of the Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He, known as the author of a book about the countries visited by Chinese ships.
Biography
Little is known about Fei Xin's life. His ...
, Pahang also produced rice, salt which was made by boiling the sea water, and wine by fermenting the sap of the coconut tree. Fei Xin also mentioned on rare and valuable forest products like
camphor
Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel ('' Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the k ...
barus,
olibanum
Frankincense (also known as olibanum) is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus ''Boswellia'' in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality incense').
There are several species o ...
,
agarwood
Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood or gharuwood is a fragrant dark resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small carvings. This resinous wood is most commonly referred to as "Oud" or "Oudh". It is formed in the heartwood of aquilaria trees when ...
,
sandalwood
Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...
,
sapanwood,
pepper
Pepper or peppers may refer to:
Food and spice
* Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant
** Black pepper
* ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae
** Bell pepper
** Chili ...
and many others. Pahang, in turn, imported
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
, coloured
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
,
Java cloth,
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
and ironware,
gong
A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...
s and boards.
References
Bibliography
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* {{citation , author = Zakiah Hanum , title = Asal-usul negeri-negeri di Malaysia (The Origin of States in Malaysia) , publisher = Times Books International , year = 1989 , isbn = 978-9971-654-67-2
History of Pahang
Former countries in Malaysian history