Sultan of Johor

Sultan of Johor is a hereditary seat and the nominal ruler of the Malaysian state of Johor. In the past, the sultan held absolute power over the state and was advised by a bendahara. Nowadays, the role of bendahara has been taken over by chief minister.

History

The first sultan of Johor was Alauddin Riayat Shah II. He was the son of the last sultan of Malacca, Sultan Mahmud Shah. The scion of the Sultanate of Malacca in Johor ended with the death of Sultan Mahmud Shah II in 1699 and throne was taken over by Sultan Abdul Jalil IV. Abdul Jalil IV was a bendahara before the death of the sultan.

Though Johor has been ruled over by at least 20 sultans, the first sultan of modern Johor (Temenggong dynasty) was Sultan Abu Bakar who reigned from 1862 to 1895. He was the first person from the temenggung family to become the sultan in Johor's history. His father, Temenggung Ibrahim managed to consolidate enough power to disfranchise Sultan Ali who died in 1877.

Office-holder

The office of sultan is currently held by Sultan Ibrahim Ismail Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj, who was proclaimed as the 25th Sultan of Johor on 23 January 2010 and crowned on 23 March 2015 at the Istana Besar, Johor Bahru. His father, Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Sir Ismail Al-Khalidi, a great-grandson of Sultan Abu Bakar died on 22 January 2010. Ibrahim Ismail, the then Tunku Mahkota of Johor (Crown Prince of Johor), was appointed as Acting Sultan of Johor on the same day. The proclamation of His Royal Highness' death was announced nationwide by the Menteri Besar of Johor, Datuk Seri Abdul Ghani Othman later that night. The funeral was held on 23 January after the proclamation of Sultan Ibrahim Ismail.

Johor

Johor (/dʒəˈhɔər, ˌdʒoʊ-/) or Johore is a Malaysian state, located in the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia. It is one of the most developed states in Malaysia. The state capital city of Johor is Johor Bahru, formerly known as Tanjung Puteri (Malay for Princess's Cape). The royal city of the state is Muar also a popular tourist attraction. The old state capital is Johor Lama.

Johor is surrounded by Pahang to the north, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest, and the Straits of Johor to the south, which separates Johor and the Republic of Singapore. The state also shares a maritime border with the Riau Archipelago from the east and Riau mainland on the west by the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca respectively, both of Indonesian territories.

Johor is also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ta'zim, or "Abode of Dignity", and as Johore in English.

Etymology

The name "Johor" originated from the Arabic word Jauhar, 'gem/jewel'. Malays tend to name a place after natural objects in great abundance or having visual dominance. Before the name Johor was adopted, the area south of the Muar River to Singapore island was known as Ujong Tanah or 'land's end' in Malay, due to its location at the end of the Malay Peninsula. Coincidentally, Johor is the most southern point of the Asian continental mainland.

Sultan

Sultan (/ˈsʌltən/; Arabic: سلطان‎ sulṭān, pronounced [sʊlˈtˤɑːn, solˈtˤɑːn]) is a noble title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun سلطة sulṭah, meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty in practical terms (i.e., the lack of dependence on any higher ruler), albeit without claiming the overall caliphate, or to refer to a powerful governor of a province within the caliphate.

The dynasty and lands ruled by a sultan are referred to as a sultanate (سلطنة salṭanah).

A feminine form of sultan, used by Westerners, is sultana or sultanah; however, this styling misconstrues the roles of wives of sultans. In a similar usage, the wife of a German field marshal might be styled Frau Feldmarschall (in French, similar constructions of the type madame la maréchale are quite common). The rare female leaders in Muslim history are correctly known as "sultanas". However, the wife of the sultan in the Sultanate of Sulu is styled as the "panguian" and sultan's chief wife in many sultanate in Indonesia and Malaysia is known as "permaisuri". Special case in Brunei, the Queen Consort is known as Pengiran Isteri with suffix Pengiran Anak if the queen consort is a royal princess.