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The Johor Sultanate (Malay: Kesultanan Johor or کسلطانن جوهر; also called the Sultanate of Johor, Johor-Pahang-Riau-Lingga, or the Johor Empire) was founded by Sultan of Malacca Mahmud Shah's son, Alauddin Riayat Shah II in 1528.
Prior to being a sultanate of its own right, Johor had been part of the Malaccan Sultanate before the Portuguese captured its capital in 1511. At its height, the sultanate controlled territory in what is now modern-day Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, territories stretching from the rivers of Klang to the Linggi and Tanjung Tuan, situated respectively in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Malacca (as an exclave), Singapore, Pulau Tinggi and other islands off the east coast of the Malay Peninsula, the Karimun Islands, the islands of Bintan, Bulang, Lingga and Bunguran, and Bengkalis, Kampar and Siak in Sumatra.
During the colonial era, the mainland part was administered by the British, and the insular part by the Dutch, thus breaking up the sultanate into Johor and Riau.
In 1511, Malacca fell to the Portuguese and Sultan Mahmud Shah was forced to flee Malacca. The sultan made several attempts to retake the capital but his efforts were fruitless. The Portuguese retaliated and forced the sultan to flee to Pahang. Later, the sultan sailed to Bintan and established a new capital there. With a base established, the sultan rallied the disarrayed Malay forces and organised several attacks and blockades against the Portuguese position.
Frequent raids on Malacca caused the Portuguese severe hardship which helped to convince the Portuguese to destroy the exiled sultan's forces. A number of attempts were made to suppress the Malay but it was not until 1526 that the Portuguese razed Bintan to the ground. The sultan then retreated to Kampar in Sumatra and died two years later. He left behind two sons, Muzaffar Shah and Alauddin Riayat Shah II.
The Johor Sultanate was founded in 1528 by Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II (1528–1564) and was based at Pekan Tua. Muzaffar Shah went on to establish Perak. Although Alauddin Riayat Shah II and his successor had to contend with attacks by the Portuguese in Malacca and by the Acehnese in Sumatra, they managed to maintain their hold on the Johor Sultanate.
Alauddin Riayat Shah II established a new capital by the Johor River and from there continued to harass the Portuguese. He consistently worked together with his brother in Perak and the Sultan of Pahang to retake Malacca, which by this time was protected by the fort A Famosa.
Around the same time, the Aceh Sultanate in northern Sumatra was beginning to gain substantial influence over the Strait of Malacca. With the fall of Malacca to Christian forces, Muslim traders often skipped Malacca in favour of Aceh or to Johor's capital Johor Lama (Kota Batu). Therefore, Malacca and Aceh became direct competitors.
With the Portuguese and Johor frequently in conflict, Aceh launched multiple raids against both sides to tighten its grip over the strait. The rise and expansion of Aceh encouraged the Portuguese and Johor to sign a truce and divert their attention to Aceh. The truce, however, was short-lived and with Aceh severely weakened, Johor and the Portuguese had each other in their sights again. During the reign of Sultan Iskandar Muda, Aceh attacked Johor in 1613 and again in 1615.
The strength of Aceh was brought to an end with a disastrous campaign against Malacca in 1629, when the combined Portuguese and Johor forces managed to destroy the fleet and 19,000 Acehnese troops according to the Portuguese account. Johor later grew stronger and formed an alliance with the Dutch to attack Portuguese Malacca and conquered it on January 14, 1641, ending the triangular war. In the following month, Iskandar Thani of Aceh died and was succeeded by Queen Taj ul-Alam. Her reign marks the beginning of the decline of Aceh's position as a regional power.
In the early 17th century, the Dutch reached Southeast Asia. At that time the Dutch were at war with the Portuguese and allied themselves to Johor. Two treaties were signed by Admiral Cornelis Matelief de Jonge on behalf of the Dutch Estates General and Raja Bongsu (later to be Sultan Abdullah Ma'ayat Shah) of Johor in May and September 1606. In January 1641, the Dutch and Johor forces headed by Bendahara Skudai, captured Malacca from the Portuguese. By the time the fortress at Malacca surrendered, the town's population had already been greatly decimated by famine and disease (the plague). As per the agreement of May 1606, the Dutch took control of Malacca and agreed not to seek territories or wage war against Johor. Malacca then became a territory under the control of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and formally remained a Dutch possession until the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 was signed.
With the fall of Portuguese Malacca in 1641 and the decline of Aceh due to the growing power of the Dutch, Johor started to re-establish itself as a power along the Strait of Malacca during the reign of Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah III (1623–1677). Its influence extended to Pahang, Sungei Ujong, Malacca, Klang and the Riau Archipelago. During the triangular war, the Jambi Sultanate emerged as a regional economic and political power in Sumatra. Initially there was an attempt of an alliance between Johor and Jambi with a promised marriage between the heir Raja Muda and daughter of the Pengeran of Jambi. However, the Raja Muda instead married the daughter of the Laksamana Abdul Jamil who, concerned about the dilution of power from such an alliance, offered his own daughter for marriage instead. The alliance therefore broke down, and a 13-year war then ensued between Johor and the Jambi beginning in 1666. The war was disastrous for Johor as its capital, Batu Sawar, was sacked by Jambi in 1673. Abdul Jalil Shah III escaped to Pahang and died four years later. His successor, Sultan Ibrahim Shah (1677–1685), then engaged the help of the Bugis in the war with Jambi. Johor won the war in 1679, but in a weakened position as the Bugis refused to go home, and the Minangkabaus of Sumatra had started to assert their influence.
After the sacking of Batu Sawar in 1673, the capital of Johor was frequently moved to avoid the threat of attack from Jambi. All through its history, the rulers of Johor had constantly shifted their centre of power many times in their efforts to keep the sultanate together. Johor Lama (Kota Batu) was initially founded by Alauddin Riayat Shah II but was sacked by the Acehnese in 1564. It was then moved to Seluyut, later back to Johor Lama during the reign of Ali Jalla (1571–1597) which was sacked by the Portuguese in 1587, then to Batu Sawar, and Lingga (again sacked by the Portuguese). This is followed by a period with no fixed capital (places included Tanah Puteh and Makam Tauhid) during the reign of Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah III before he moved it to Batu Sawar in 1640. After Batu Sawar was sacked by Jambi, later capitals included Kota Tinggi, Riau, and Pancur.
In the 17th century Malacca was declining as an important port, allowing Johor to become the dominant regional power. The policy of the Dutch in Malacca drove traders to Riau, a port controlled by Johor. The trade there far surpassed that of Malacca. The VOC was unhappy with that but continued to maintain the alliance because the stability of Johor was important to trade in the region.
The sultan provided all the facility required by the traders. Under the patronage of the Johor elites, traders were protected and prospered. With a wide range of goods available and favourable prices, Riau boomed. Ships from various places such as Cambodia, Siam, Vietnam and all over the Malay Archipelago came to trade. Bugis ships made Riau the centre for spices. Items found in China such as cloth and opium were traded with locally sourced ocean and forest products, tin, pepper and locally grown gambier. Duties were low, and cargo could be discharged or stored easily. Traders found they did not need to extend credit, as the business was good.
Like Malacca before it, Riau was also a centre of Islamic studies and teaching. Many orthodox scholars from the Indian Subcontinent and Arabia were housed in special religious hostels, while devotees of Sufism could seek initiation into one of the many Tariqah (Sufi Brotherhood) which flourished in Riau.
Sultan Mahmud II, was a person of unstable disposition. When Tun Habib was the Bendahara, he effectively shielded the people from Mahmud II's eccentricities. After Tun Habib's death he was replaced by Abdul Jalil. As the Bendahara was only a cousin, he could not rein in Mahmud II's eccentric behaviour.
Sultan Mahmud II ordered the pregnant wife of a noble, Orang Kaya Megat Sri Rama killed, as she had taken a slice of the royal jackfruit. Subsequently, the sultan was assassinated in 1699 by Megat Sri Rama in revenge, leaving no heirs. The Orang Kayas, who were normally tasked with advising the sultan, went to Muar to meet Sa Akar DiRaja, Raja Temenggong of Muar, Mahmud II's uncle and asked for his counsel. He told them that Bendahara Abdul Jalil should inherit the throne which he did as Sultan Abdul Jalil IV. Many, particularly the Orang Laut, felt that the declaration was improper.
The Bugis, who played an important role in defeating Jambi two decades earlier, had huge influence in Johor. Another influential faction in Johor at that time were the Minangkabau. Both the Bugis and the Minangkabau realised that the death of Sultan Mahmud II had provided them with the chance to exert power in Johor. The Minangkabau introduced a Minangkabau prince, Raja Kecil from Siak who claimed he was the posthumous son of Sultan Mahmud II. The prince met with the Bugis and promised the Bugis wealth and political power if they helped the prince to win the throne. However, Raja Kecil broke his promise and installed himself as the new Sultan of Johor (Sultan Abdul Jalil Rahmat Shah) without the knowledge of the Bugis. Sultan Abdul Jalil IV fled to Pahang where he was later killed by an assassin hired by Raja Kecil.
Dissatisfied with Raja Kecil's accession, the son of Sultan Abdul Jalil IV, Raja Sulaiman, asked Daeng Parani of the Bugis to aid him reclaiming the throne. In 1722, Raja Kecil was dethroned by Raja Sulaiman's supporters with the assistance of the Bugis. Raja Sulaiman became the new Sultan of Johor but he was a weak ruler and became a puppet of the Bugis. Daeng Parani's brother, Daeng Merewah, who was made Yam Tuan Muda (crown prince) was the actual controller of Johor.
Throughout the latter reign of Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah in the mid-18th century, real power was held by the Bugis. By 1760, several Bugis lineages had intermarried into the royal Johor family and gained great power. These Bugis lineages held the office of Yam Tuan Muda, passing the office back and forth between themselves. The death of Sultan Sulaiman triggered a succession dispute, which was lost by the combined Bendahara-Temenggong court elite to the Bugis faction. From 1760 to 1784, the latter group completely dominated the sultanate. The Johor economy was reanimated under Bugis rule, along with the introduction of Chinese traders. However, by the late 18th century, Engku Muda of the Temenggong faction under Sultan Mahmud Shah III gained power at the expense of the Bugis. Engku Muda's son, Temenggong Abdul Rahman and his descendants would soon be responsible for the growth in prospects for the sultanate.
In 1818, Sir Stamford Raffles was appointed as governor of Bencoolen in western Sumatra. He was convinced that the British needed to establish a new base in Southeast Asia to compete with the Dutch. Though many in the British East India Company (EIC) opposed such an idea, Raffles convinced Lord Hastings of the EIC and governor-general of British India, to side with him. With the governor-general's consent, he and his expedition set out to search for a new base.
When Raffles' expedition arrived in Singapore on 29 January 1819 he discovered a small Malay settlement at the mouth of the Singapore River headed by Temenggong Abdul Rahman, son of Daeng Kechil. Though the island was nominally ruled by Johor, the political situation there was extremely murky. The reigning sultan, Abdul Rahman Muazzam Shah, was under the influence of the Dutch and the Bugis. Hence, he would not agree to a British base in Singapore.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Johor Sultanate”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.