Tun Habib Abdul Majid


Tun Habib Abdul Majid bin Tun Ali bin Tun Muhammad was the 19th Bendahara of the Johor Sultanate during the late 17th century. The Johor Sultanate under Sultan Mahmud Shah II saw a gradual decline of royal authority during Tun Habib's tenure as the Bendahara of Johor. Internal challenges within the Sultanate faced by Tun Habib consolidated his power as the Bendahara, in which case the Bendahara monopolised legitimate authority over the Johor Sultanate by the 1690s. After his death, Tun Habib's descendants spanned throughout the Johor Sultanate and established ruling houses in Riau-Lingga, Johor, Pahang and Terengganu.

Bendahara of Johor

Power struggles

Little was known of Tun Habib's early life except that he was the son of the Maharaja Sri Diraja of Johor, and that he was jostling for power and recognition with his rival, Laksamana Tun Abdul Jamil during the reign of Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah III.
In 1677, Sultan Ibrahim Shah appointed Tun Habib as the Bendahara of Johor and was assumed the title of "Bendahara Seri Maharaja" the following year. Nevertheless, his authority was quickly overshadowed by the more powerful and experienced Laksamana, Tun Abdul Jamil. Tun Abdul Jamil, seeking the advantage of having an inexperienced Sultan, quickly established his power centre at Riau and overshadowed the Sultan's authority and proclaimed himself Regent. He stopped paying tributes to the Sultan even before Sultan Ibrahim Shah's death in 1685, and appointed filled the top ranks with his family members. Naturally, these appointments earned the wrath of many chiefs and top ministers, including Tun Habib himself. The Laksamana, unable to withhold the tremendous opposition from Tun Habib and his allies, fled to Terengganu in 1688 where he was shortly killed after that. Shortly after Tun Abdul Jamil's expulsion, Tun Habib went over to Riau and took the young ruler, Sultan Mahmud Shah II back to Johor.

Later career

The death of Tun Abdul Jamil allowed Tun Habib to reassert his position as the Bendahara once more. Tun Habib's return saw the position of the Bendahara in a more powerful position, given that the ruler was deemed too young and inexperienced to exert effective control over Johor's affairs. At least on the ceremonial side, Tun Habib swore allegiance to the young Sultan even as he wielded sole effective authority over the kingdom. In April 1691, a Dutch mercenary fleet visited Johor to seek for trade agreements with Tun Habib, to which he steadfastly turned down by citing that he was not to sign any agreements on his own accord until the Sultan reaches maturity of age.
Tun Habib was also reportedly well-loved and respected among his subjects and often worked closely with his ministers. Shortly after he regained power, Tun Habib relocated the Johor Empire's capital to Kota Tinggi. He also took charge of state affairs by proxy in Terengganu, at that time a sparsely populated state. Sultan Mahmud was given more opportunities to participate in state roles under Tun Habib, although it was the latter who wielded the actual control over the Sultanate's affairs. Tun Habib later died in Padang Saujana, Kota Tinggi in 1697, where he was buried. His oldest son, Abdul Jalil, succeeded him as the 20th Bendahara of Johor but usurped the throne from Sultan Mahmud Shah II just two years later in 1699 and took the title Sultan Abdul Jalil IV. His 5th son, Zainal Abidin, who was living in Pattani, came down to Terengganu and became its first Sultan.

Family

Ancestry

Tun Habib's mother was of Malay ethnicity; while his father was of mixed ancestry. His great-grandfather, Sayyid Abdullah Al-Aidrus, was a Hadhrami Arab immigrant who settled in Aceh and married the daughter of Sultan Alauddin Mansyur Shah. Their son, Sayyid Zainal Abidin, migrated to Johor and married the granddaughter of Tun Sri Lanang by his son, Tun Jenal, the 5th Bendahara of Sekudai. It was from this union that the Maharaja Sri Diraja, the Dato Pasir Diraja and Putri Bakal were born. Putri Bakal was believed to have later married Sultan Mahmud Shah II.
The name "Habib" was a local Achinese variant of the "Sayyid", an honorific title used by descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. However, in lieu of terse relations between Aceh with its neighbours in the 16th century, Tun Habib's name revealed his Acehnese heritage served to raise suspicions when it came to political matters. His descendants gave up the use of "Habib" in their names.

Descendants

Tun Habib had several sons by different wives, all of whom rose to influential positions. He had at least six sons: Tun Abdul Jalil, Tun Abdullah, Tun Abdul Jamal, Tun Mas Anum, Tun Zainal Abidin and Tun Mas Jiwa were all later appointed as Bendaharas. Among these sons, Tun Abdul Jalil and Tun Zainal Abidin later established their own independent ruling houses in Johor-Riau and Terengganu respectively.