Abu Bakar
(1843?–1895), sultan of Johor. Regarded as the father of modern Johor, Abu Bakar (reigned 1862–1895) presided over the emergence of a fairly prosperous bureaucratic state in Malay with a vibrant commercial agricultural sector. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Johor was the only independent peninsular Malay state; all the others were dominated by foreign powers, including the British. Abu Bakar cultivated close ties with the British. Through his influence, the British were able to impose indirect rule on the Sri Menanti Confederacy (present-day Negeri Semblian, a state in the Federation of Malaysia) and Pahang (also a state in the Federation of Malaysia) in the late 1880s. The British sanctioned his annexation of Muar, a Malay principality nominally under the kingdom of Johor, following the death of Sultan Ali Iskandar Shah of Muar (reigned 1855–1877).
Abu Bakar outmaneuvered the governor of the Straits Settlements, Sir Frederick Weld (governed 1880–1887), by signing a treaty in 1885 with Britain, bypassing Weld and the British Colonial Office. Thereby Abu Bakar was recognized as sultan and an independent ruler. He established the Johor Advisory Board, a quasi-diplomatic representation, in London.
Abu Baker promulgated a written constitution in 1894, a code of laws, and a bureaucratic form of administration. Roads, schools, and hospitals were built. Europeans were engaged as legal and technical advisers to the government. The economy was developed in partnership with Chinese and European entrepreneurs and financiers. Having led an extravagant lifestyle with expensive Anglophile tastes and habits, he died in 1895, bequeathing to his son and successor Ibrahim his kingdom, an empty royal purse, and a hefty debt.
Further Reading
Gullick, J. M. (1992) Rulers and Residents: Influence and Power in the Malay States, 1870–1920. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Oxford University Press.
Thio, Eunice. (1969) British Policy in the Malay Peninsula, 1880–1910, Vol. I: The Southern and Central States. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: University of Malaya Press.
Trocki, C. (1978) Prince of Pirates: The Temenggongs and the Development of Johor and Singapore, 1784–1885. Singapore: Singapore University Press.
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