Raja Temenggung of Muar - History

History

During the mid-seventeenth century, the Sultan of Johor took the hand of Marhum Bakal, the sister of Bendahara Tun Habib Abdul Majid and Sayyid Ja'afar, the Dato' Pasir Raja. As a dowry, Dato' Pasir Raja was granted the fief of Muar. The first Raja Temenggung of Muar is Sa Akar di-Raja whose mausoleum is found Kampung Lubuk Batu, Segamat next to the mausoleum of Bendahara Tepok founder of Segamat; his descendants were similarly buried at Kampung Lubuk Batu. The 7th Raja Temenggung, Engku Abdul Salleh, was buried in Pengkalan Kota, their administrative centre.

In the early nineteenth century, the fief was divided into eight hamlets, each ruled by a chieftain with the Raja Temengung of Muar as the head of the "federation". Muar was caught in a power grab by the Maharaja of Johor, Abu Bakar after its puppet ruler, Sultan Ali died. The British "offered" its good services to restore calm. Without the British pressure, recognition of Tengku Alam was a foregone conclusion. As the British sided with the Maharaja, the Raja Temenggung and the chieftains were captured and coerced into accepting the Maharaja's lordship. An election which at the suggestion of the British, was held in which the chieftains voted in favour of joining Johor, but Sultan Ali's son, Tengku Alam and the Muar Temenggung were indignant and made vociferous claims upon Muar (even though the Muar Temenggung later relented under heavy pressure). Continued claims by Tengku Alam and his supporters resulted in the outbreak of the Jementah Civil War the following year, in which the British forces (allied with the Maharaja) subdued Tengku Alam's supporters. The Muar Temenggung was subsequently paid an annual stipend by the Maharaja (Sultan after 1885) as part of a settlement treaty made on 5 February 1879 with the annexation of the Muar fiefdom. The office of the Temenggung of Muar was later abolished in 1902.