Muhammad Shah of Pahang

Sultan Muhammad Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Mansur Shah (1455–1475) was the founder of the old Pahang Sultanate and reigned from 1470 to 1475. A former heir apparent to the Malaccan throne, he was banished by his father Mansur Shah for committing murder, following an incident in a Sepak Raga game and went into exile in Pahang and was later installed as its first sultan in 1470.

Personal life Sultan Muhammad was known as Raja Muhammad before his accession, He was the second of two sons of the sixth Sultan of Malacca, Mansur Shah by his wife Putri Wanang Sri Lela Wangsa, daughter of Dewa Sura, the last pre-Malaccan ruler of Pahang, who was also a relative of the King of Ligor. Both his mother and grandfather were captured and presented to the Sultan of Malaccan after the conquest of Pahang in 1454.

When he was young Raja Muhammad had been favoured by his father, as his successor over his elder brother, Raja Ahmad and was named Raja Muda ('heir apparent'). Raja Muhammad, had earned a reputation of being a hot-tempered youth. This ultimately brought about his own exile from Malacca after murdering Tun Besar, a son of Bendahara, Tun Perak.

The Sepak Raga incident When Raja Muhammad was about fifteen years old he was riding past a group of boys who were engaged in a sepak raga game, when a misdirected ball kicked by Tun Besar – the Bendahara Tun Perak's son – displaced Muhammad's headdress. In a rage he drew his kris and killed Tun Besar.

Reign in Pahang Raja Muhammad brought with him the trappings of the Malaccan court to Pahang. He had with him Tun Hamzah, the former governor of Pahang as his first Bendahara, Seri Akar Raja as his chief Hulubalang, a Penghulu Bendahari ('chief treasurer'), a Temenggong and 100 boys and 100 girls of noble family. He was installed as Sultan Muhammad Shah in 1470. Although Pahang was already a sultanate, it retained its status as a Malaccan vassal, although the nature of the relationship tended to change in later years depending on who was in power. His royal court is said to have been established at Tanjung Langgar, Pekan, which was also thought to be the seat of rulers of the Old Pahang Kingdom. possibly from poisoning based on the Portuguese records, and was buried at Langgar, Dusun Pinang, Pahang. He is styled as Marhum Langgar ('the late ruler who was buried at Langgar') thereafter, and was succeeded by his son, Raja Jamil.

The tombstone at the grave of Sultan Muhammad, contain epitaph in Arabic detailing his descent and the date of his death. The inscriptions corroborates the account provided by the Malay Annals with regards to the genealogy of Melaccan Sultans. The translation from Arabic as follows: