Tun Mutahir of Pahang

He was born in 1813. His father was Tun Ali, Bendahara Siwa Raja, and his mother was Encik Wan Ngah of the Bendahara family.[1] He was privately educated as was the custom of the nobility then. In 1832, he was proclaimed as Bendahara Muda (Bendahara in waiting) in a ceremony in Lingga, then capital of the Johor empire. He had three wives: Tengku Kechik, daughter of Sultan Abdul Rahman of Johor; Tengku Chik, daughter of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin II of Kedah; and Tengku Chik, daughter of Sultan Muhammad of Johor.[2]

Tun Ali entered into a semi-retirement in 1847 and handed the reins to Tun Mutahir. Tun Mutahir followed the policy of Tun Ali and not much is written about his reign. In 1857 Tun Ali ordered the execution of Tun Ahmad,[3] his son by another wife, Chik Puan Lingga, whom he married in 1832.[4]

Tun Ahmad immediately fled to Singapore,[5] and returned to Pahang when Tun Ali died. Conflict broke out between Ahmad and Mutahir, which became a civil war that engulfed Pahang. This conflict not only involved the Pahang princes but also Temenggung, the Terengganu Sultan of Johore; the British also played a political role.[6] The war was the most decisive in the history of the Old Johore Sultanate. The conflict ended when Tun Mutahir was mortally wounded in 1863.

Tun Mutahir was buried in Bukit Timbalan, Johor Bahru, Johor. Tun Ahmad had no interest of continuing as the Bendahara of Johor. He was proclaimed as Sultan Ahmad I in 1882 and founded the modern Pahang Sultanate, which sealed the breakup of the Johor Sultanate. The Maharajah of Johor Abu Bakar was given recognition by the British and proclaimed the Sultan of Johor three years later.