The Pahang Civil War (Malay: Perang Saudara Pahang, Jawi: ڤرڠ ساودارا ڤهڠ), also known as the Brothers War or the Bendahara War, was a civil war fought from 1857 to 1863, between forces loyal to the reigning Raja Bendahara of Pahang Tun Mutahir, and forces loyal to his brother Wan Ahmad, over the succession to the throne of Pahang.
When the Johor Empire waned in the early nineteenth century, the Bendahara in Pahang, Tun Ali, asserted his autonomy in Pahang, just as the Temenggong had in the state of Johor. Peace and prosperity reigned in Pahang under his rule which lasted until 1857. After his death that year, his eldest son, Tun Mutahir, succeeded him as Bendahara, but did not execute his father's wish of granting tax revenues of Kuantan and Endau provinces to his younger brother, Wan Ahmad. Wan Ahmad resented and, along with his supporters, moved to Tekong Island just outside Singapore, planning his attack.
Tun Mutahir received the backing of Johor ruler Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim, and his son Abu Bakar, who, because of their close ties with Singapore's business community, convinced many of them that British commercial interests lay with Tun Mutahir. On the other hand, Wan Ahmad enlisted the support of Sultan Ali, based in Muar, a rival claimant to the Johor throne, who saw an opportunity for revenge against the Johor Temenggong. The Siamese Rattanakosin Kingdom also weighed in on the side of Wan Ahmad, viewing the disorder as an opportunity to exercise greater control over their southern provinces and extend their influence farther south into Pahang. Sultan Baginda Omar of Terengganu also supported Wan Ahmad, seeing him as a tool to counter the rise of the Temenggong. The province of Kemaman in southern Terengganu was the primary base for many of Wan Ahmad's offensives into Pahang.
Hostilities began in November 1857, when Wan Ahmad's forces attacked Pekan town and nearby Ganchong, but failed to make significant permanent gains. In the second campaign, carried out in March 1861, the invading forces managed to fortify their position in Endau in southern Pahang, after overrunning Kuala Pahang and Kuantan. They also made significant incursions further inland, occupying more provinces further upstream on the Pahang River. However, in November, their advances were again halted by the Johor/Bendahara coalition. Wan Ahmad and his men retreated to Terengganu, rallying his disarrayed forces for another invasion.
At the early stage of the war, a mediation offer by Major General William Orfeur Cavenagh, the Governor of the British Straits Settlements, was rejected by both sides. Wan Ahmad felt that Cavenagh was biased in favor of his older brother due to the influence of the Temenggong and Singapore merchants. Tun Mutahir rejected the mediation because he was winning the war.
In 1862, Wan Ahmad launched a full-scale offensive from Terengganu, when he crossed the border from Kemaman to Ulu Tembeling (Jerantut). With the support of more Pahang chiefs who switched sides, he successfully overran the Bendahara's positions at Temerloh, Batu Gajah and Chenor. Wan Ahmad emerged victorious, with a successful final offensive against the state capital Pekan. Tun Mutahir retreated to Temai and in May 1863, he fled to Kuala Sedili in Johor, where he died with his son Wan Koris.
The six year-long conflict had destroyed much of the modicum of prosperity which Pahang had enjoyed in the heyday of Bendahara Tun Ali's rule. As noted by Sir Hugh Clifford, prior to the war, Pahang was far more populated than in modern times, but warfare which ravaged the land caused thousands of Pahang Malays to leave their country. The valley of the Lebir river in southern Kelantan, and the mountainous regions in western Pahang, near the Perak and Selangor borders, became inhabited by many Pahang Malays. As a result of the conflict, Pahang also permanently lost the area south of Endau River (corresponding to modern day Mersing province) and several islands off the coast of Endau including Aur and Tinggi, that were ceded by Tun Mutahir to Johor in return to military assistance.
Causes of the dispute A will dated May 25, 1856, issued by the fourth Raja Bendahara of Pahang, Bendahara Siwa Raja Tun Ali, is regarded as the central cause of escalating tensions in Pahang in the 1850s. Long before his death, Tun Ali had retired from active participation in the government and removed his official residence to Lami where he spent his declining years. Upon his retirement, he handed over administration to his eldest son Tun Mutahir. The old Bendahara had stated in his will that tax revenues from the Kuantan and Endau provinces were to be allocated to his favourite son Wan Ahmad. Tun Mutahir subsequently professed ignorance of this clause in the will, and failed to execute it. Wan Ahmad retaliated, believing that he had a stronger claim since his mother was Tun Ali's principal wife and claimed that his father had given him the governorships of Kuantan and Endau provinces, effectively partitioning Pahang between himself and his brother.
Tun Mutahir failed to appear at his father's death-bed to receive the last solemn injunctions which, according to Malay customs, a dying laid upon his heir. The old Bendahara's wishes, in the absence of Tun Mutahir, were communicated to Wan Ahmad who was thus provided with a pretext for attacking the validity of his brother's succession, and claiming that, he was the rightful successor to his father as Bendahara. At the funeral, the two brothers appeared with bands of fully armed followers; thanks to intervention of older Chiefs, the obsequies were carried out without bloodshed. The late viceroy was buried at the royal cemetery in Kuala Pahang, a suburb of Pekan.
Tun Mutahir's side however, questioned the very existence of such will and the validity of Wan Ahmad's claim, which they claimed as never been proven. They went on further stating that in a written affidavit dated 2nd Safar 1273 AH (corresponding to 2 October 1856), Tun Ali had actually ordered the execution of Wan Ahmad, his favourite son.Surat sumpah Bendahara Siwa Raja Tun Ali, National Archives Malaysia dated 2 Safar 1273
Mobilization Not long after the funeral, Wan Ahmad proceeded to Tekong Island, off Singapore, to make preparations for an attack upon Tun Mutahir who had taken over as Bendahara of Pahang, assuming the title of Bendahara Sri Maharaja. In July 1857, Temenggung Ibrahim of Johor requested the Governor of the Straits Settlements to prevent Ahmad from fitting armed vessels at Tekong Island for an attack on Pahang.
In 1857, Mahmud Muzaffar Shah of Riau-Lingga, recently deposed by the Dutch, began intriguing to get himself recognized as Sultan of Pahang, a territory historically part of the Johor Empire and ruled by his ancestor, but declared independent in 1853 by the late Tun Ali. He initially sided with Bendahara Tun Mutahir, but after getting no encouragement, sided with Wan Ahmad for his own ends.
Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim, then ruler of the remainder of Johor, calculated that if the former Sultan, the head of the old Johor royal family, would to reassert his authority in Pahang, it would have spelt danger to his administration in Johor, hence his opposition to Wan Ahmad. The Temenggong also believed that Tun Mutahir had a stronger claim to the Bendahara-ship, and that he himself had designs of a united Johor-Pahang commonwealth. The Temenggong also reckoned that Tun Mutahir was of advanced age, and his sons - opium addicts - were of little account, it would not be difficult to dominate them.
To add to the political complications, the Siamese, who indirectly controls the autonomous states of Kalantan and Trangkanu to the north, also aspired to revive its ancient suzerainty over Pahang, and covertly supported the pretensions of the former Sultan of Riau-Lingga and Wan Ahmad. Terengganu, too, was brought in the game, and supported Wan Ahmad with men and arms. Tun Mutahir, in turn, was supported by the Temenggong of Johor, Daeng Ibrahim. The British colonial authorities in the Straits Settlements too opposed the Siamese pretensions, and, for fear of offending the Dutch, countered the intrigues of the former Sultan of Riau-Lingga. The British were also attempting to prevent any interruption of growing British trade with Pahang.
Wars
War of the Kemaman men In July 1857, while Wan Ahmad was in Singapore preparing for his offensive, conflict between his followers and those of the Temenggong of Johor were narrowly averted, and both parties went around with arms concealed on their person. Wan Ahmad soon proceeded to Kemaman in southern Terengganu, where he recruited more men for his venture. The Sultan of Terengganu gave Wan Ahmad his full support, to the extent of ordering penghulus of Kemaman province, under the threat of punishment, to give every kind of assistance to Wan Ahmad's forces.
In October 1857, Tun Mutahir received a letter, purportedly from Terengganu, in which the Sultan denounced Wan Ahmad's plans. The authenticity of this letter was doubtful, but it had the effect of putting the Bendahara and his supporters off their guard, since they were unaware of recent events in Kemaman. Confident of their position, Tun Mutahir sent his eldest son, Engku Muda Koris (Wan Long) to Singapore for his marriage to Enche' Engku Puan Besar, daughter of Temenggong Ibrahim, which took place in November 1857. Koris was accompanied by two of his brothers, Wan Aman and Wan Da, and their followers. Pahang was thus unprepared for a seaborne offensive which Wan Ahmad launched via Terengganu that month.
The invasion was known in Pahang history as the War of the Kemaman Men (Perang Orang-Orang Kemaman), in which Wan Ahmad's forces successfully overran Pekan, of which Tun Mutahir's brother-in-law is the governor. He then attacked Ganchong, the Bendahara's stronghold located 15 km west of Pekan city, which too fell easily. There was an attempt at peace negotiations, headed by Penghulu Haji Hassan, to a detachment of Wan Ahmad's forces led by Che Lambak of Benta. But neither side trusted the other. It was reported that as soon as Che Lambak's detachment departed, Haji Hassan began conscripting soldiers from villages in northern Pahang.
Tun Mutahir fled west to Chenor in central Pahang, where he recruited more men. Supported by reinforcements from Maharaja Perba Jelai Wan Idris and his sons, Tun Mutahir counterattacked, forcing Wan Ahmad and his men to retreat to Kemaman. Wan Ahmad counterattacked Tembeling area in northeastern Pahang, bordering Terengganu. The invaders pressed the natives in Tembeling into their service and made their way downstream as far as the village of the Penghulu Raja where they threw up stockades on both banks. The Penghulu Raja was absent but the Bendahara's forces, led by Maharaja Perba's eldest son, Wan Embong and his men, Che Yahya, Che Embok, Che Uda and Che Mat Merah, engaged the invaders. After fighting for three days, the raiders fled back to Terengganu. The Tembeling chiefs were fined for deserting their station and Penghulu Raja was dismissed, and recalled to Pekan.
Endau campaign
An event in October 1858 was a major turning point. Wan Embong, the eldest son and heir of Orang Kaya Indera Maharaja Perba of Jelai Wan Idris - the most powerful of the four senior nobles of Pahang - was falsely accused of rebellion and murder, and was executed. The incident caused Wan Idris to switch his support to Wan Ahmad. Wan Aman, the Bendahara's second son, also fined the people in Ulu Jelai, Lipis, Tembeling and Semantan provinces. Those who were unable to pay the fine, were carried off as debt-slaves to Pekan. The tyranny and injustice wrought by the Bendahara's son resulted in inhabitants of the provinces going en masse to Wan Ahmad's camp.