The ancient name of Pahang was Indrapura. It is mentioned in the history of Hang Tuah, the great Malacca brave, who flourished in the 16th century, and succeeded in abducting a daughter of the then ruling house of Pahang for his master, the History. sultan of Malacca. Prior to this, Pahang had been ruled by the Siamese. When Malacca fell into the hands of the Portuguese in 1511 the sultan, Muhammad Shah, fled to Pahang, and the present ruling house claims to have been descended from him. The title of the ruler of Pahang was Bendahara until 1882, when the present (1902) ruler, Wan Ahmad, assumed the title of sultan, taking the name of Sultan Ahmad Maatham Shah. Up to that time the Bendahara had been installed on his accession by the sultan of Riau, and held his office by virtue of that chief’s letter of authority. About 1855 the father of the present sultan died at Pekan, and his son Bendahara Korish, who succeeded him, drove Wan Ahmad from the country. After making three unsuccessful attempts to conquer the land and to dethrone his elder brother, Wan Ahmad at last succeeded in 1865 in invading the state and wresting the throne from his nephew, who had succeeded his father some years earlier. From that time, in spite of two attempts to shake his power by invasions from Selangor which were undertaken by his nephews Wan Aman and Wan Da, Bendahara Ahmad ruled his country with a rod of iron. In 1887 he consented to enter into a treaty with the governor of the Straits by which he accepted a consular agent at his court. This treaty was finally signed on the 8th of October 1887. In February of the following year a Chinese British subject was murdered at Pekan in circumstances which pointed to the responsibility of the sultan for the crime, and in October 1888 a Resident was appointed to assist the sultan in the administration of his country, that being, in the opinion of the British government, the only guarantee for the safety of the life and property of British subjects which it could accept. In December 1891 disturbances broke out in Pahang, the nominal leaders of which were certain of the sultan’s most trusted chiefs. The sultan himself took no part in the outbreak, but it undoubtedly had his sympathy, even if it was not caused by his direct commands. The rebels were driven to seek safety in flight in November 1892, but in June 1894 they gathered strength for a second disturbance, and raided Pahang from Kelantan, in which state they had been given shelter by the Mahommedan rulers. This event, added to the occurrence of other raids from across the border, led to an irregular expedition being led into Trengganu and Kelantan by the Resident of Pahang (Mr Hugh Clifford) in 1895, and this had the desired result. The rebel chiefs were banished to Siam, and no further breach of the peace has troubled the tranquillity of Pahang since that time. Pahang joined the Federated Malay States by a treaty signed in 1895, and the sultan and his principal chiefs were present at the federal durbar held at Kuala Kangsar in Perak in 1897.

The census taken in April 1901 gave the total population of Pahang at 84,113, of whom 73,462 were Malays, 8695 Chinese, 1227 Tamils and other natives of India, 180 Europeans and Eurasians, and 549 people of other nationalities. The population Population. in 1905 was estimated at 100,000, the increase being due to immigration mainly from the states on the western seaboard. In former days Pahang was far more thickly populated than in modern times, but the long succession of civil wars which racked the land after the death of Bendahara Ali caused thousands of Pahang Malays to fly the country. To-day the valley of the Lebir River in Kelantan and the upper portions of several rivers near the Perak and Selangor boundaries are inhabited by Pahang Malays, the descendants of these fugitives. The Pahang natives are almost all engaged in agriculture. The work of the mines, &c., is performed by Chinese and foreign Malays. In the Lipis valley the descendants of the Rawa Malays, who at one time possessed the whole of the interior in defiance of the Pahang rajas, still outnumber the people of the land.

The revenue of Pahang in 1899 amounted to only $62,077; in 1900 to $419,150. In 1905 it was $528,368. The expenditure in 1905 amounted to $1,208,176. Of this sum $736,886 was expended on public works. Pahang is still a source of expense Finance and Trade. to the federation, its progress having been retarded by the disturbances which lasted from December 1891 until 1895, with short intervals of peace, but the revenue is now steadily increasing, and the ultimate financial success of the state is considered to be secure. Pahang owes something over $3,966,500 to Selangor and $1,175,000 to Perak, which have financed it now for some years out of surplus revenue. The value of the imports in 1905 was $1,344,346, that of the exports was $3,838,928, thus making a total trade value of $5,183,274. The most valuable export is tin, the value of which in 1905 amounted to $2,820,745. The value of the gutta exported exceeded $140,000, that of dried and salted fish amounted to nearly $70,000, and that of timber to $325,000.

The geological formation of the states lying to the eastward of the main range of mountains which splits the peninsula in twain differs materially from that of the western states. At a distance of about a dozen miles from the summits of General. the mountains the granite formation is replaced by slates, which in many places are intersected by fissures of quartz, and in others are overlaid by vast thicknesses of limestone. Those of the quartz fissures which have been exploited are found to be auriferous, and several mining companies have attempted to work the deposits. Their efforts, however, have not hitherto been successful. A magnificent road over the mountains, with a ruling grade of 1 in 30, joins Kuala Lipis, the administrative capital of Pahang, to Kuala Kubu, the nearest railway station in Selangor. The road measures 82 m. in length. Pekan, where the sultan has his residence, was the capital of Pahang until the middle of 1898, when the administrative headquarters were transferred to the interior as being more central. None of these towns is of any size or importance. In the Kuantan valley, which lies parallel to the Pahang River, a European company is working tin lodes with considerable success. These lodes are the only mines of the kind being worked in the Federated Malay States. Pahang is fertile and well suited for agriculture of many kinds. The rainfall is heavy and regular. The climate is cooler than that of the west coast, and the full force of the monsoon is felt from October to February in each year. For administrative purposes Pahang is divided into four districts—Ulu Pahang, in which the present capital is situated; Temerloh, which includes 80 odd miles of the Pahang valley and the Semantan River; Pekan, which includes the coast rivers down to Endau; and Kuantan. Each of these is under the charge of a district officer, who is responsible to the resident. The boundary with Johor and the Negri Sembilan was rectified by a commission which sat in London in 1897-1898.

Authorities.—Journal of the Eastern Archipelago (Singapore); Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Singapore); Maxwell, Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute, vol. xxiii.; Swettenham, ibid. vol. xxvii; Clifford, ibid. vol. xxx. (London, 1892, 1895, 1899); Swettenham, About Perak (Singapore, 1893); Malay Sketches (London, 1895); The Real Malay (London, 1899); British Malaya (London, 1906); Clifford, In Court and Kampong (London, 1897); Studies in Brown Humanity (London, 1898); In a Corner of Asia (London, 1899); Bush-whacking (London, 1901); Further India (London, 1904); De la Croix, Les Mines d’etins de Perak (Paris, 1882); Bluebook, C. 9524 (London, 1899); The Straits Directory (Singapore, 1906); Skeat, Malay Magic (London, 1900); Skeat and Blagden, Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula (London, 1906).

(H. Cl.)

II.—Non-Federated States

In 1909 a treaty was made between Great Britain and Siam, one provision of which was the cession to the former of the suzerain rights enjoyed by the latter over certain territories in the Malay Peninsula. These territories consisted of the four Siamese Malay States: Kelantan, Trengganu, Kedah and Perlis, very ancient dependencies of Siam, all of which except Trengganu, were in a flourishing condition and had been administered by British officers in the service of Siam for some years prior to their transference. Though the four states were loyal to Siam and wished to retain their former allegiance, the change was effected without disturbance of any kind, the British government on assuming the rights of suzerainty placing an adviser at the court of each raja and guaranteeing the continuance of the administration on the lines already laid down by Siam so far as might be compatible with justice and fair treatment for all. The four states lie to the north of the Federated Malay States, two on the east and two on the west side of the peninsula.

Kelantan.—This state on the east coast, bounded N. and N.E. by the China Sea, E. by Trengganu, S. by Pahang and W. by Perak and Ra-ngé, lies between 4° 48′ and 6° 20′ N. and 101° 33′ and 102° 45′ E. The greatest length from north to south is 115 m. and the greatest breadth from east to west 60 m. The area is about 5000 sq. m. The northern part of the state is flat and fertile, but the southern district which comprises more than half the total area, is mountainous and uncultivated.

Next to the Pahang, the Kelantan River is the largest on the east coast. It is 120 miles long and is navigable for shallow-draft launches and big country boats for about 80 miles, and for vessels of 8 ft. draft for about six miles. Its principal tributaries are the Galas, Pergau and Lebir. The Golok and Semarak rivers water the west and east parts of the state, falling into the sea a few miles on either side of the mouth of the Kelantan River. The climate of Kelantan is mild and singularly healthy in the open cultivated regions. The population is about 300,000 of which 10,000 are aboriginal tribes (Sakeis and Jakuns), 10,000 Siamese and Chinese and the rest Malays. The Chinese are increasing and natives of different parts of India are resorting to the state for purposes of trade. Kota Bharu (pop. 10,000) is the only town in the state. It lies on the right bank of the river, about six miles from the sea. Since 1904 it has been laid out with metalled roads and many public and private buildings have been erected. The town is the commercial as well as the administrative centre of the state. Tumpat and Tabar on the coast, with population 4000 and 3000 respectively, are the places next in importance after Kota Bharu. A network of creeks render communication easy in the northern districts, the river and its tributaries afford means of access to all parts of the south; 20 miles of road have been made in the neighbourhood of Kota Bharu. Kelantan is connected by telegraph with Bangkok and Singapore, and maintains regular postal communication with those places. Rice cultivation is the principal industry and is increasing rapidly. Coco-nut and betel-nut growing are also largely practised. Much livestock is raised. About 400,000 acres of land are under cultivation. Though reputed rich in minerals, past misrule prevented mining enterprise in Kelantan until, in 1900, a large concession was given to an Englishman and the country was opened to foreigners. In 1909 three mining syndicates were at work, and several others were in process of formation. Gold, tin and galena have been found in several localities and during the years 1906-1909 28,000 ounces of gold were dredged from the Kelantan River. The Kelantanese are expert fishermen, some 30,000 finding employment in fishing and fish-drying. Silk-weaving is a growing industry. Foreign trade, which in 1909 reached the value of two and a half million dollars, is chiefly with Singapore. Principal exports are copra, rice, fish, cattle and gold; chief imports are cotton goods, hardware and specie. The currency is the Straits Settlements dollar and small silver coin, supplemented by a locally made tin coin of low value.