Pahang

Pahang lies on the eastern Malay Peninsula, its great river draining a vast interior of forested mountains and valleys. Gold from the upper river country and products of the forests passed downriver to settlements near the coast. The Pahang River opened onto the South China Sea, linking the region with the ports of the peninsula and the wider maritime world.

In the fifteenth century Pahang came within Malacca's sphere and acquired a Muslim ruling dynasty connected to the Malaccan court. Gold remained an important commodity; Portuguese writers described it being mined in Pahang and sold at Malacca. After Malacca fell in 1511, Pahang's fortunes became closely tied to Johor, its successor. In 1623 the two states entered a dynastic union under Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah, while the rulers of Johor and their neighbours competed for control of trade and allegiance throughout the region.