Paduka Sri Sultan Mahmud Shah II ibni al-Marhum Sultan Ibrahim Shah was the Sultan of Johor, Pahang and Lingga. Born in 1675, he was the last in line of a dynasty of the Sultanate of Johor descended from the Sultans of Melaka. As he was still a young boy when his father Sultan Ibrahim died, Sultan Mahmud II reigned under the jointregency of his mother and the Bendahara Paduka Raja until the death of the latter. He had several wives and is said to have slain any of them to have the misfortune of becoming pregnant. Perhaps this could have been the result of his fear that the birth of a son would enable rivals to depose him. After all, he himself came to power at a young age through a palace conspiracy that led to the poisoning of his father Sultan Ibrahim by his wives. Sultan Mahmud Shah II is famously known as "Sultan Mahmud Mangkat Dijulang". The name Mangkat Dijulang was given in remembrance of the way he was killed while being carried in a royal litter or dais. On his way back from Friday prayers, he was assassinated by one of his military chiefs. This military chief, Laksamana Megat Sri Rama, was enraged. The famous legend behind the murder of Sultan Mahmud Shah II is recounted in the 19th century Malay chronicle, the Tuhfat al-Nafis. Based on this story, he is mostly remembered for his decadence and cruelty, marking a shameful end to his dynasty. Sultan Mahmud was buried in a village near Kota Tinggi in Johor, which is still known today as Kampung Makam. Legend has it that before he died, he lay a curse on Kota Tinggi, forbidding any sons of Bintan from entering the city for all time. After his death, his Bendahara Abdul Jalil declared himself the next Sultan of Johor. Upon ascending the throne, the new Sultan killed all the wives of Sultan Mahmud in order to avoid the possibility of any future claims to the throne. However, according to the Hikayat Negeri Johor and the Pahang Manuscripts, one wife, Che Apong, managed to escape to Minangkabau and gave birth to Raja Kechil. Less than two decades later in 1717, Raja Kechil would assemble a fleet from Minangkabau and succeed temporarily in ousting Sultan Abdul Jalil's successor Sultan Sulaiman and gain the Johor Sultanate, basing his legitimacy on the claim that he was the post-humous son of Sultan Mahmud Shah II. However, Bugis mercenaries that assisted him in this campaign changed sides and he was eventually forced to flee to Siak, where he founded a new Sultanate.
