Bendahara dynasty

The Bendahara dynasty (Malay: Wangsa Bendahara, Jawi:وڠسا بندهار‎) is the current ruling dynasty of Pahang, Terengganu and Johor – constituent states of Malaysia. The royal house were of noble origin, holding the hereditary position of bendahara (the highest rank in Malay nobility) in the courts of Singapura, Malacca and Old Johor since at least from the end of the 13th century.^[1]

The ascendancy of the family as a royal house began in the late 17th century, when the last ruler of Johor from the Malacca dynasty, Mahmud Shah II died without a male heir. In 1699, the reigning bendahara at that time, Tun Abdul Jalil was proclaimed Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah IV of Johor, beginning the consolidation of Bendahara rule in the sultanate, with different family members holding both the titles of sultan and bendahara, and later the title of temenggong.^[2]

At the same time, Pahang was established as the special province, with successive bendaharas ruling the state as their personal fief. In 1770, following the gradual dissolution of the Johor Empire, the state of Pahang was transformed into an autonomous kingdom under the grandson of Abdul Jalil IV, Tun Abdul Majid, whose descendants continue to rule Pahang. Another break-away state, the Riau-Lingga Sultanate was ruled by the descendants of Abdul Rahman Muazzam Shah, a great-great-grandson of Abdul Jalil IV, until its dissolution in 1911. A cadet branch, the House of Temenggong, has been ruling modern Johor, through the descendants of Temenggong Abdul Jamal, another grandson of Abdul Jalil IV.^[2]

Another branch, the royal house of Terengganu represents one of the junior male lines of the Bendahara dynasty. In 1717, Tun Zainal Abidin, the younger brother of Abdul Jalil IV established control over Terengganu with the title of Maharaja. He secured the recognition as the first sultan of the state from his nephew Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah of Johor in 1725.^[3]