Reign (1826-1828)
Background
He was the son of Sultan Muhammad Kanzul Alam who reigned from 1807 until his death in 1826. Upon his father's death, he succeeded the throne and became Sultan Muhammad Alam. Prior to his succession, he holds the title of Pengiran Muda (Prince). He established himself as Sultan and seized control of Brunei, under an exceedingly strict rule.Civil War
His rise to power as the Sultan was disliked by most of the population of Brunei and ignored royal Bruneian tradition. In an attempt to shift public opinions on him, he began to remove people who went up against him but it backfired and made him even more unpopular. The second civil war broke out after the population began to rebel in support of his nephew Pengiran Omar Ali Saifuddin in becoming the Sultan. Sultan Muhammad Jamalul Alam's young son grew up, and Raja Nur (Noor) Alam, who was Raja Api's sister, was able to use her influence to stop her father, Muhammad Kanzul Alar, from being fully installed as the Sultan of Brunei. She resisted Raja Api's attempts to seize control after Muhammad Kanzul Alam's death with the same ferocity. He may have briefly assumed the title of Sultan because he portrays Sultan Muhammad Alam, who ruled from 1826 to 1828, in the 1986 family trec. When a third civil war broke out between him and Raja Noor Alam in the period between 1826 and 1828, the Malay Islamic institution of the Royal Brunei once more had a harsh ordeal.Aftermath
According to Pengiran Muda Hassim, who was Raja Api's brother and involved in the unsuccessful uprising in the 1820s, Raja Api's fall signified the end of solid, though strict, authority in Brunei, according to Brooke.Death
After his defeat in 1828, he was given the choice of either surrendering or to be executed, he was garroted publicly and later succeeded by Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II. Despite that according to a number of accounts, Raja Api passed away in or around 1824, which the subsequent changes to Brunei's policies appear to support. Whatever the reason, Raja Api was unpopular and had a reputation for harshness. He was strangled to death on Pulau Chermin by his sister Raja Nur Alam and those who backed her son's legal claims. Pengiran Muda Hashim and Pengiran Muda Mohamed, as well as his siblings and other relatives, scattered, with some migrating toReferences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad, Alam 19th-century Sultans of Brunei 1828 deaths