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History of Pahang
Evidence
of habitation in Pahang dates back to the Mesolithic Era during which
the Mesolithic people lived in caves and mountains of Pahang. According
to anthropologists and historians, Pahang was also home to the Middle
Age men and the Last Stone Age (early Bronze Age men) and the Semang
aborigine tribe.
Long
famous for the deposits of tin and gold found along the upper reaches of
Sungai Tembeling (Tembeling River), Pahang had attracted the interest of
outside powers even before the founding of Melaka in 1400. Under the
control of the maritime empire of Srivijaya (centered around Palembang
in southeast Sumatra), Pahang had expanded to cover the entire southern
portion of the Malay Peninsula in the 8th and 9th centuries.
With the collapse of Srivijaya around 1000, Pahang was claimed first by
the Siamese and then, in the late fifteenth century, by Melaka. After
Melaka fell to the Portuguese in 1511, Pahang became a key part of the
territorial struggles between Acheh, Johor, the Portuguese, and the
Dutch. Repeated raids, invasions, and occupations devastated the state
until the decline of both Achenese and Portuguese power in the early
17th century that allowed Johor to re-establish its influence and became
the great Johor-Riau Empire.
When the Johor-Riau Empire collapsed, one Bendahara Wan Ahmad proclaimed
himself as Sultan of Pahang in 1882. Not long after that, the British
imperialism manifested itself in Pahang with the appointment of a
British Resident to the Sultan of Pahang in 1888.
Like others, the Pahang State also suffered during the Japanese
occupation of Malaya until the year 1945. Then in 1948, it joined the
Federation of Malaya, which gained Independence in 1957. Today, Pahang
is a prosperous state with an expanding economy, fuelled by agriculture,
manufacturing and tourism.
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