Pahang (; , , ), officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific (), is a state of Malaysia. It is the third largest state in the country and the largest state in Peninsular Malaysia, covering a total land area of , and the ninth most populous. The state occupies the basin of the Pahang River, and a stretch of the east coast as far south as Endau. The state borders the Malaysian states of Kelantan and Terengganu to the north, Perak, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan to the west and Johor to the south, with the South China Sea is to the east. Pahang is separated from the west coast states by the Titiwangsa Mountains that forms a natural divider between the peninsula's east and west coasts from north to south, and from Terengganu in the east by the Pantai Timur Range. The state's highest elevation culminates at Mount Tahan in the eponymous Tahan Range, which is high. Although over 56.8% of the state is covered by permanent forest reserves, its central plains are intersected by numerous rivers, and along the coast there is a wide expanse of alluvial soil that includes the deltas and estuarine plains of the Kuantan, Pahang, Rompin, Endau, and Mersing Rivers.
The state is divided into 11 districts () – Pekan, Rompin, Maran, Temerloh, Jerantut, Bentong, Raub, Lipis, Cameron Highlands, Bera and Kuantan – which are administered by 12 local authorities. The largest district is Jerantut, which covers and serves as the main gateway to the Taman Negara national park. Pahang's capital and largest city, Kuantan, is the eighth largest urban area by population in Malaysia. The royal capital and the official seat of the Sultan of Pahang is located at Pekan. Pekan was also the old state capital and its name translates literally into 'the town', it was known historically as 'Inderapura'. Other major towns include Temerloh, Raub, Bentong, Jerantut, Kuala Lipis and its hill resorts of Genting Highlands, Bukit Tinggi, and Cameron Highlands. The head of state is the Sultan of Pahang, while the head of government is the Menteri Besar. The government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system. The state religion of Pahang is Islam, but allows other religions in its territory.
Archaeological evidence shows that humans have inhabited the area that is now Pahang since as early as the Paleolithic age. The early settlements gradually developed into an ancient maritime trading state by the 3rd century. In the 5th century, the Old Pahang Kingdom sent envoys to the Liu Song court. During the time of Langkasuka, Srivijaya and Ligor, Pahang was one of the outlying dependencies. In the 15th century, the Pahang Sultanate became an autonomous kingdom within the Malacca Sultanate. Pahang entered into a dynastic union with the Johor Sultanate in the early 17th century and later emerged as an autonomous kingdom in the late 18th century. Following the bloody Pahang Civil War that concluded in 1863, the state under Tun Ahmad of the Bendahara dynasty, was eventually restored as a sultanate in 1881. In 1895, Pahang became a British protectorate along with Perak, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. During the World War II, Pahang and other states of Malaya were occupied by the Empire of Japan from 1941 to 1945. After the war, Pahang became part of the Malayan Union before being absorbed into the Federation of Malaya which gained full independence from the British.
Modern Pahang is an economically important state with main activities in the services, manufacturing and agricultural sectors. As part of the East Coast Economic Region, it is a key region for the manufacturing sector, with the local logistics support network serving as a hub for the east coast region of Peninsular Malaysia. Over the years, the state has attracted much investment, both local and foreign, in the mineral sector. Important mineral exports include iron ore, gold, tin and bauxite. Malaysia's substantial oil and natural gas fields lie offshore in the South China Sea. At one time, timber resources also brought much wealth to the state. Large-scale development projects have resulted in the clearing of hundreds of square miles of land for oil palm and rubber plantations and the resettling of several hundred thousand people in new villages under federal agencies and institutions like FELDA, FELCRA and RISDA.
Etymology The Khmer word for tin is () and it is phonetically identical to (note that the Jawi spelling, literally, "phŋ", deviates from modern Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka rules although its sound is unmistakably , note that the long ā sound is not explicitly rendered or stressed in old Jawi, just like ). Since the tin mines at Sungai Lembing had been known since ancient times and that the Malay Peninsula was within the sphere of influence of Khmer civilisation, William Linehan hypothesized that the name of the state was named after the Khmer word for tin (note that tin-rich Perak is also etymologically linked to tin).
This lexemic starting point can be used to explain other derivatives terms such as the Pahang River, Mahang the place (name given to Pahang by Jakuns), Mahang the tree (Macaranga, a common tree species in secondary forests, likely named after the toponym of the same phoneme). The Proto-Malays of Sungai Bebar who interacted with Trito-Malays likely acquired the term from their city counterparts. The theories that the state was named after the river or tree are unsatisfactory as they do not explain how the river or the tree got their names.
There were many variations of the name Pahang outside the Malay world. For examples, Song dynasty author Zhao Rukuo () wrote in Zhufanzhi () (circa 1225) that Phong-hong ( romanised according to Southern Min dialect since Zhao was from Quanzhou) was a dependency of Srivijaya. The transition from Inderapura to Pahang, approximately around the Song period indicates that Khmer influence on the state was weakened and displaced by that of Srivijaya and Majapahit.
During the Yuan dynasty, Pahang was known as Phenn-Khenn () in Daoyi Zhilue () (circa 1349), and in Ming Shilu () (circa 1378), it was transliterated as Pen-Heng (), and in Haiguo Wenjianlu () (circa 1730), compiled in the Qing period, Pahang was transliterated as () (Pang-hang).
Arabs and Europeans, transliterated Pahang to Pam, Pan, Paam, Paon, Phaan, Phang, Paham, Pahan, Pahaun, Phaung, Phahangh.
History
Prehistory Archaeological evidence shows that humans have inhabited the area that is now Pahang since as early as the Paleolithic. Relics of a of Mesolithic civilisation that used using paleolithic implements have been found at Gunung Senyum. Chipped Paleolithic artefacts without traces of polishing have been discovered at Sungai Lembing, Kuantan, from the remains of a 6,000 years old civilisation. Traces of Hoabinhian culture are represented by a number of limestone cave sites. Late Neolithic relics are abundant, including polished tools, quoit discs, stone ear pendants, stone bracelets and cross-hatched bark pounders. By around 400 BCE, the development of bronze casting led to the flourishing of the Đông Sơn culture, notably for its elaborate bronze war drums.
The early iron civilisation in Pahang that began around the beginning of Common Era is associated by prehistorians with the late neolithic culture. Relics from this era, found along the rivers are particularly numerous in the Tembeling Valley, which served as the old main northern highway of communication. Ancient gold workings in Pahang are thought to date back to this early Iron Age as well.
Hindu-Buddhist Era
The Kra Isthmus region of the Malay Peninsula and its peripheries are recognised by historians as the cradle of Malayic civilisations. Primordial Malayic kingdoms are described as tributaries to Funan by the 2nd century Chinese sources. Ancient settlements in Pahang can be traced from Tembeling to as far south as Merchong. Their tracks can also be found in the deep hinterland of Jelai, along the Chini Lake, and up to the head-waters of the Rompin. One such settlement was identified as Koli in Geographia or Kiu-Li, centred on the estuary of Pahang River south of Langkasuka, that flourished in the 3rd century CE. It possessed an important international port, where many foreign ships stopped to barter and resupply. In common with most of the states in the Malay Peninsula during that time, Kiu-Li was in contact with Funan. The Chinese records mention that an embassy sent to Funan by the Indian King Murunda sailed from Kiu-Li's port (between 240 and 245 CE). Murunda presented to the Funanese King Fan Chang four horses from the Yuezhi (Kushan) stud farms.
By the middle of the 5th century, a polity suggested to be ancient Pahang, was described in the Book of Song as Pohuang or Panhuang (). The king of Pohuang, She-li Po-luo-ba-mo ('Sri Bhadravarman'), was recorded to have sent an envoy to the Liu Song court in 449–450. In 456–457, another envoy of the same country arrived at the Chinese capital, Jiankang. This ancient Pahang is believed to have been established later as a mueang to the mandala of Langkasuka-Kedah centred in modern-day Patani region that rose to prominence with the regression of Funan from the 6th century. By the beginning of the 8th century, Langkasuka-Kedah came under the military and political hegemony of Srivijaya. In the 11th century, the power vacuum left by the collapse of Srivijaya was filled by the Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom, commonly known in Malay tradition as 'Ligor'. During this period, Pahang, designated as Muaeng Pahang was established as one of the twelve naksat city states of Ligor.
In the 14th century, Pahang began consolidating its influence in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula. The kingdom, described by Portuguese historian, Manuel Godinho de Erédia as Pam, was one of the two kingdoms of Malayos in the peninsula, in succession to Pattani, that flourished before the establishment of the Malacca Sultanate. The Maharaja of Pahang, was also the overlord of countries of ('land's end'), on the southern part of the peninsula including Temasek. The Majapahit chronicle, Nagarakretagama even used the name Pahang to designate the Malay Peninsula, an indication of the importance of this kingdom. The History of Ming records several envoy missions from Pahang to the Ming court in the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1378, Maharaja Tajau sent envoys with a letter on a gold leaf and sent six foreign slaves and products of the country as tribute. In 1411, during the reign of Maharaja Pa-la-mi-so-la-ta-lo-si-ni (transliterated by historian as 'Parameswara Teluk Chini'), he also sent envoys carrying tribute.
Old sultanate
The Old Pahang Sultanate centred in modern-day Pekan was established in the 15th century. At the height of its influence, the sultanate was an important power in Southeast Asia and controlled the entire Pahang basin, bordering the Pattani Sultanate to the north and the Johor Sultanate to the south. To the west, its jurisdiction extended over parts of modern-day Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
The sultanate has its origin as a vassal to the Malacca Sultanate, with its first sultan, Muhammad Shah having been a Malaccan prince, and was the grandson of Dewa Sura, the last pre-Malaccan ruler of Pahang. Over the years, Pahang grew independent from Malaccan control and at one point even established itself as a rival to Malacca until the latter's demise in 1511. In 1528, the last Sultan of Malacca, Mahmud Shah died. Pahang joined forces with his successor, Alauddin Riayat Shah II who established himself in Johor to expel the Portuguese from the Malay Peninsula. Two attempts were made in 1547 at Muar and in 1551 at Portuguese Malacca. However, in the face of superior Portuguese arms and vessels, the Pahang and Johor forces were forced to retreat on both occasions.