[1] The area around Pahang formed a part of the hereditary domains attached to this title and administered directly by the raja bendahara.

[2] In 1853, the fourth raja bendahara Tun Ali, renounced his allegiance to the Sultan of Johor and became the independent ruler of Pahang.

The younger son Wan Ahmad challenged the succession of his half-brother Tun Mutahir, in a dispute that escalated into a civil war.

Supported by the neighbouring Terengganu Sultanate and the Siamese, Wan Ahmad emerged victorious, establishing control over important towns and expelling his brother in 1863.

His appointment was accepted by the Johorean chiefs based on the understanding that the bendaharas would succeed to the throne if the sultan died without heirs.

[11] By the early 19th century, the Johor Empire was approaching its dismemberment, with sultan's power effectively reduced to the capital in Daik, Lingga.

After 1806, the empire's constituent dominions became independent principalities, and the cultural unity that had existed between the Malay peninsula, and islands of Riau-Lingga was gradually destroyed.

While Tun Ali had acknowledged Abdul Rahman Muazzam Shah as his overlord, the Anglo-Dutch Treaty confined the Sultan to Riau-Lingga, where he was deemed a vassal of the Dutch, and prevented him from exercising his control over the Malay Peninsula, which had come under the British protectorate.

Although the late Bendahara's will gave control of the Kuantan and Endau Rivers to another of his sons, Wan Ahmad, Tun Mutahir professed ignorance of this provision.

His elder brother, Tun Mutahir was supported by Johor to the south, and by the British Straits Settlements who were then opposing the Siamese Rattanakosin Kingdom.

Both sides, whose outside supporters had ulterior motives, engaged chiefly in raids and ambushes, with occasional battles near fortifications along the vast river system of Pahang.

The war ceased soon after Wan Ahmad troops captured and established control over a number of important towns and regions in the interior, and eventually seized the capital, Pekan.

He also rewarded the wealthy businessmen who had rendered him financial assistance during the war by leasing to them the state's salt and opium monopolies.

[23] By November 1872, another contingent from Pekan arrived by sea at Klang, and formed part of the invading forces that captured Kuala Lumpur on 23 March 1873.

[25] In the ensuing fights, the enemy forces retreated further to Slim River where the Pahangese again attacked and routed them to neighbouring Perak.

Pahang's involvement in a series of wars had led to the rise of dissension among the ruling class and the various territorial chiefs, who were thenceforth divided into factions.

In addition, many lost the power and authority they formerly held, especially over revenue, to younger chiefs upon whom Tun Ahmad had bestowed titles as rewards for their support in the wars.

The orang besar berempat were hereditary territorial magnates who had the privilege of discussing important matters of the state with the raja bendahara and the authority to impose taxes and decide legal cases.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the solid tin slabs began to be replaced by hollowed, inscribed pieces, still approximating in appearance to the original tampang, though their intrinsic value bore little relation to their nominal worth.

Tun Ahmad, after his conquest of Pahang in 1863, called in some of the one-cent tampang, and had them re-minted and issued in the form of smaller, more debased and more imperfectly made pieces.

During Tun Ahmad's rule, the Imam Perang Indera Mahkota, and the Orang Kaya Bakti had a custody of moulds for tampang struck directly on behalf of him.