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PAIHANG
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PAIHANG , on the See also:east See also:coast of the See also:peninsula, is situated between See also:parallels 2° 28' and 3° 45' N. and Ior° 30' and 'of 30' E. It is bounded on the N. by the See also:independent native states of See also:Kelantan and See also:Trengganu; on the S. by the See also:Negri Sembilan and See also:Johor; on the E. by the See also:China See also:Sea; and on the W. by the protected states of See also:Perak and See also:Selangor. The coast-See also:line is about 112 M. in length; the greatest length is about 210 m., and greatest breadth about 130 M. The See also:state is the largest in the peninsula, its See also:area being estimated at 15,000 sq. m. The ports on the coast are the mouths of the Endau, Rompin, Pahang and Kuantan See also:rivers, but during the See also:north-east See also:monsoon the coast is not easy of approach, and the rivers, all of which are guarded by difficult bars, are impossible of See also:access except at high tides. xvIl. 16 its name. At a distance of 180 m. from the coast this See also:river is formed by two others named respectively the Jelai and the Tembeling. The former is joined 20 M. farther up stream by the Lipis, which has its rise in the mountains which See also:form the boundary with Perak. The Jelai itself has its rise also in a more northerly portion of this range, while its two See also:principal tributaries above the mouth of the Lipis, the Telom and the Serau, rise, the one in the See also:plateau which divides Perak from Pahang, the other in the hills which See also:separate Pahang from Kelantan. The Tembeling has its rise in the hills which See also:divide Pahang from Kelantan, but some of its tributaries rise on the Trengganu frontier, while the largest of its confluents comes from the hills in which the Kuantan River takes its rise. The Pahang is navigable for large boats as far as Kuala Lipis, 200 M. from the mouth, and See also:light-See also:draught launches can also get up to that Jpoint. Smaller boats can be taken some 8o m. higher up the elai and Telom. The river, however, as a waterway is of little use, since it is uniformly shallow. The Rompin and Kuantan rivers are somewhat more easily navigated for the first 30 M. of their course, but taken as a whole the waterways of Pahang are of little value. The interior of Pahang is chiefly noted for its auriferous deposits. Gunong Tahan is situated on the boundary between Pahang and Kelantan. Its height is estimated at 8000 ft. above sea-level, but it has never yet been ascended. Pahang, like the states on the See also:west coast, is covered almost entirely by one vast See also:forest, but in the Lipis valley, which formerly was thickly populated, there is a considerable expanse of open grass See also:plain unlike anything to be seen on the western sea-See also:board. The coast is for the most See also:part a sandy See also:beach fringed with See also:casuarina trees and there are only a few patches of See also:mangrove-swamp throughout its entire length. The See also:ancient name of Pahang was Indrapura. It is mentioned in the See also:history of Hang Tuah, the See also:great Malacca brave, who flourished in the 16th See also:century, and succeeded in abducting a daughter History. of the then ruling See also:house of Pahang for his See also:master, the See also:sultan of Malacca. See also:Prior to this, Pahang had been ruled by the Siamese. When Malacca See also:fell into the hands of the Portuguese in 1511 the sultan, Muhammad Shah, fled to Pahang, and the See also:present ruling house claims to have been descended from him. The See also: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 See also:time the Bendahara had been installed on his See also:accession by the sultan of Riau, and held his See also:office by virtue of that See also:chief's See also:letter of authority. About 1855 the See also:father of the present sultan died at Pekan, and his son Bendahara Korish, who succeeded him, drove Wan Ahmad from the See also:country. After making three unsuccessful attempts to conquer the See also:land and to dethrone his See also:elder See also:brother, Wan Ahmad at last succeeded in 1865 in invading the state and wresting the See also:throne from his See also:nephew, who had succeeded his father some years earlier. From that time, in spite of two attempts to shake his See also:power by invasions from Selangor which were undertaken by his nephews Wan Aman and Wan Da, Bendahara Ahmad ruled his country with a See also:rod of See also:iron. In 1887 he consented to' enter into a treaty with the See also:governor of the Straits by which he accepted a consular See also:agent at his See also:court. This treaty was finally signed on the 8th of See also:October 1887. In See also:February of the following See also:year a See also:Chinese See also:British subject was murdered at Pekan in circumstances which pointed to the responsibility of the sultan for the See also:crime, and in October 1888 a See also:Resident was appointed to assist the sultan in the See also:administration of his country, that being, in the See also:opinion of the British See also:government, the only See also:guarantee for the safety of the See also:life and See also:property of British subjects which it could accept. In See also:December 1891 disturbances See also: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 out-break, but it undoubtedly had his sympathy, even if it was not caused by his See also:direct commands. The rebels were driven to seek safety in See also:flight in See also:November 1892, but in See also:June 1894 they gathered strength for a second disturbance, and raided Pahang from Kelantan, in which state they had been given shelter by the See also: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 See also:Hugh See also:Clifford) in 1895, and this had the desired result. The See also:rebel chiefs were banished to See also:Siam, and no further See also:breach of the See also:peace has troubled the tranquillity of Pahang since that time. Pahang joined the Federated See also:Malay States by a treaty signed in 1895, and the sultan and his principal chiefs were present at the federal See also:durbar held at Kuala Kangsar in Perak in 1897. The See also:census taken in See also:April 1901 gave the See also:total See also:population of Pahang at 84,113, of whom 73,462 were See also:Malays, 8695 Chinese, 1227 See also:Tamils and other natives of See also:India, 18o Europeans and Eurasians, Popu/ation. and 549 See also:people of other nationalities. The population in 1905 was estimated at See also:Ioo,000, the increase being due to See also:immigration mainly from the states on the western seaboard. In former days Pahang was far more thickly populated than in See also:modern times, but the See also:long See also:succession of See also:civil See also:wars which racked the land after the See also:death of Bendahara See also:Ali caused thousands of Pahang Malays to See also:fly the country. To-See also:day the valley of the Lebir River in Kelantan and the upper portions of several rivers near the Perak and Selangor II boundaries are inhabited by Pahang Malays, the descendants of these fugitives. The Pahang natives are almost all engaged in See also:agriculture. The See also:work of the mines, &c., is performed by Chinese and See also:foreign Malays. In the Lipis valley the descendants of the Rawa Malays, who at one time possessed the whole of the interior in See also:defiance of the Pahang rajas, still outnumber the people of the land. The See also:revenue of Pahang in 1899 amounted to only $62,077; in 1900 to $419,150. In 1905 it was $528,368. The See also:expenditure in 1905 amounted to $1,208,176. Of this sum $736,886 was expended See also:Finance on public See also:works. Pahang is still a source of expense and See also:Trade. to the federation, its progress having been retarded by the disturbances which lasted from December 1891 until 1895, with See also:short intervals of peace, but the revenue is now steadily increasing, and the ultimate See also: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 See also:tin, the value of which in 1905 amounted to $2,820,745. The value of the See also:gutta exported exceeded $140,000, that of dried and salted See also:fish amounted to nearly $70,000, and that of See also:timber to $325,000. The See also:geological formation of the states lying to the eastward of the See also:main range of mountains which splits the peninsula in See also:twain See also:General . differs materially from that of the western states. At a distance of about a dozen See also:miles from the summits of the mountains the See also:granite formation is replaced by slates, which in many places are intersected by fissures of See also:quartz, and in others are overlaid by vast thicknesses of See also:limestone. Those of the quartz fissures which have been exploited are found to be auriferous, and several See also: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 I in 30, joins Kuala Lipis, the administrative See also:capital of Pahang, to Kuala Kubu, the nearest railway station in Selangor. The road See also:measures 82 m. in length. Pekan, where the sultan has his See also:residence, was the capital of Pahang until the See also:middle of 1898, when the administrative See also:head-quarters were transferred to the interior as being more central. None of these towns is of any See also:size or importance. In the Kuantan valley, which lies parallel to the Pahang River, a See also:European See also:company is working tin lodes with considerable success. These lodes are the only mines of the See also:kind being worked in the Federated Malay States. Pahang is fertile and well suited for agriculture of many kinds. The rainfall is heavy and See also:regular. The See also:climate is cooler than that of the west coast, and the full force of the monsoon is See also:felt from October to February in each year. See also:Por administrative purposes Pahang is divided into four districts—Ulu Pahang, in which the present capital is situated; Temerloh, which includes 8o See also: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 See also:charge of a See also:district officer, who is responsible to the resident. The boundary with Johor and the Negri Sembilan was rectified by a See also:commission which sat in See also:London in 1897–1898. 1906). (H. CL.) II.—NON-FEDERATED STATES In 1909 a treaty_ was made between Great See also:Britain and Siam, one See also: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 See also:condition and had been administered by British See also: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 See also:allegiance, the See also:change was effected without disturbance of any kind, the British government on assuming the rights of See also:suzerainty placing an adviser at the court of each See also:raja and guaranteeing the continuance of the administration on the lines already laid down by Siam so far as might be compatible with See also:justice and See also:fair treatment for all. The fourstates See also:lie to the north of the Federated Malay States, two'on thh east and two on the west See also:side of the peninsula. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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