Abu Bakar of Johor - Family

Family

Abu Bakar married his first wife, Engku Chik during his stay in Pahang in 1857. Abu Bakar was related to Engku Chik by family ties; Engku Chik was the sister of Tun Koris, who was also a brother-in-law to Abu Bakar. Abu Bakar had a daughter with Engku Chik, Tunku Besar Putri. He also had a son, Tunku Ibrahim, and a daughter, Tunku Mariam with his second wife Cecilia Catherina Lange, who was the daughter of a Danish trader, Mads Johansen Lange and his Chinese wife Nonna Sangnio. Lange met Abu Bakar while she was in Singapore, and adopted the Muslim name of "Zubaidah" after her marriage to Abu Bakar in 1870. In 1885, Abu Bakar married a Chinese woman of Cantonese heritage, Wong Ah Gew, with whom he had a daughter, Tunku Azizah. Wong took on the Muslim name of "Fatimah" at her marriage to Abu Bakar, and was crowned the Sultanah in July 1886. Abu Bakar held Wong in very high esteem, who became Abu Bakar's confidant pertaining to his involvement in state affairs. Wong became a close friend of Abu Bakar's building contractor, Wong Ah Fook as they shared a common surname and dialect group. Wong died in 1891. During his state visit to the Ottoman Empire in September 1893, Abu Bakar married his fourth wife, Khadijah Khanum, who was of Circassian heritage. (Khadijah's sister, Ruggyah, became the wife of Abu Bakar's brother and later the wife of the first Menteri Besar of Johor, Dato' Jaafar.) He had a daughter, Tunku Fatimah with Khadijah the following February, who was later crowned as the Sultanah of Johor.