Inderapura was the capital city of the medieval kingdom of

Pahang Pahang (; 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 sultanate and ...

that existed from 5th to 15th century. The city was mentioned several times 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 g ...

in narrating the conquest of Pahang in 1454. The word Inderapura means "Town of

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

" in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

, Indra being the leader of the

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

s and the lord of Svargaloka in

Dharmic religions Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification of ...

. Throughout Pahang history, the capital has always been known as 'the town'. The pre-Melakans calling it by the short form ''Pura'', while the Melakans refer it as ''Pekan'' ('the town' in Malay language), while the people of Rompin and Bebar traditionally 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 cons ...

today. In addition to modern Pekan, it appears to have comprised the land on the banks of Pahang river as far as Tanjung Langgar. After the conquest of Pahang by

Melaka Sultanate The Malacca Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parames ...

in 1454, the city was established as the seat of the Melakan governor, Sri Bija Diraja Tun Hamzah. The governorate however, was short-lived. In 1470, it was transformed into a vassal

Sultanate This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and continuin ...

under Sultan

Muhammad Shah Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (born Roshan Akhtar; 7 August 1702 – 26 April 1748) was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the ...

, the grandson of

Dewa Sura Dewa Sura was a ruler of the medieval kingdom of Pahang who reigned in the middle of the 15th century CE. His name was described in the ''Malay Annals'' as the last Maharaja of Pahang, whose kingdom was conquered by Melaka Sultanate. Muzaffar Shah ...

, the last Maharaja of Pahang. The

Portuguese Malacca Portuguese control of Malacca, a city on the Malay Peninsula, refers to the 130 year period (1511–1641) when it was a possession of the Portuguese East Indies. It was conquered from the Malacca Sultanate as part of Portuguese attempts to ...

that established relation with the Sultanate in the 16th century, called the capital ''a Cidade'' ('the town'). By this period, the town's name in Malay language has been commonly known as '

Notes

{{reflist History of Pahang