Sultan Sir Ibrahim Al-Masyhur Ibni Almarhum Sultan Abu Bakar Al-Khalil Ibrahim Shah (17 September 1873 – 8 May 1959) was a Malaysian sultan and the 22nd Sultan of Johor and the 2nd Sultan of modern Johor. He was considered to be "fabulously wealthy."
An Anglophile, Sultan Ibrahim continued the policy of friendly relations with the crown of the United Kingdom, often manipulating his friendship with the reigning kings of Britain to thwart the expansionist ambitions of the British Colonial Office. However, he became highly unpopular later in his native land for his opposition to Malayan independence. This led him to spend most of his time away from Johor, traveling extensively in Europe, particularly to Britain.
Early life
Wan Ibrahim was born 17 September 1873 in Istana Bidadari, Singapore, and received his education at a boarding school in England during his formative years. He was appointed a Second Lieutenant of the Johor Military Forces (JMF) during his teenage years and was formally installed as the first Tunku Mahkota of Johor on 23 May 1891 and was brought to Europe by his father where he was introduced to the European royal families. During his term as the Tunku Mahkota, Tunku Ibrahim occasionally acted as the state's regent and was delegated a few state duties whenever the Sultan was travelling overseas. In his free time, Tunku Ibrahim spent most of his time in hunting and horseracing.
Tunku Ibrahim acted as one of the three signatories when Sultan Abu Bakar promogulated the Johor state constitution in April 1895. The following month, Tunku Ibrahim accompanied Abu Bakar to London, who had the intent of seeking further negotiations with the Colonial Office on state affairs. Abu Bakar was by then a very sick man when he reached England, and Tunku Ibrahim spent much of his time by his father's bedside before Abu Bakar died the following month.
Sultan of Johor
Early years (1895–1914) Tunku Ibrahim was proclaimed as the Sultan of Johor on the day of Abu Bakar's burial on 7 September 1895, while his one-year-old son, Tunku Ismail was proclaimed as his heir-apparent. A formal coronation ceremony took place on 2 November 1895. He took over the state government the following year, and one of his first reports was the financial difficulties which the state was facing. Many of his employees complained of delays in receiving their salaries; which was often paid in instalments. Sultan Ibrahim then took charge of closely supervising the state treasury, and personally witnessed the payment of the state's employees during payment day. In the same year, he also took on the task of appointing the committee members of the Johor Gambier and Pepper Society (also known as Kongkek in Malay). Sultan Ibrahim was inexperienced in public administration skills and heavily relied on his private secretary, Dato Amar DiRaja Abdul Rahman bin Andak on advice and assistance in running the affairs of the state.
The Resident General of the Federated Malay States, Frank Swettenham proposed to Sultan Ibrahim in November 1899 for the construction of a railway line into Johor, in conjunction with his plan for the North-South Main Trunk Railway line in the Malay Peninsula. Sultan Ibrahim welcomed Swettenham of the plan but was weary of political British influence in Johor and insisted on financing the construction of the railway linehimself. Swettenham was comfortable with Sultan Ibrahim's prospect of financing the railway line using the state's revenues, and submitted his proposals to the Colonial Office in England. The proposals drew scepticism from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain, who was aware of Johor's financial difficulties and withheld decision. Sultan Ibrahim then sent his adviser Abdul Rahman Andak the following May to London to negotiate with the Colonial Office, and in April 1901, Sultan Ibrahim made a year-long trip to London to seek private English financiers to fund the construction of the railway line and negotiated with the Colonial Office for a railway loan. The Sultan did, however, manage to obtain a loan for the construction of the railway and the Johor Railway Convention was signed in July 1904 by his adviser, Abdul Rahman Andak, that gave provisions for an extension of the Malayan railway line to be extended into Johor.