Early years Tengku Ali succeeded his father in 1835 as the Sultan of Johor, but was not recognised as the Sultan of Johor for the first few years of his reign. In the 1840s, Johor began to receive the first Chinese settlers (mainly immigrants from
Swatow and
Chaozhou). The young Temenggong,
Tun Daeng Ibrahim, took up the administrative tasks of the state. He imposed taxes on these settlers, which went to the Temenggong's charge. However, unlike the Temenggong, Sultan Ali was unwilling to involve himself with the affairs of the state but at the same time complained about receiving an insufficient allowance from the British. He was well known for his penchant for an extravagant lifestyle, and had accumulated considerable debts by the 1850s. Meanwhile, loyalty among the local Malays in Johor to the ruling classes became increasingly divided between the royalty and the nobility. In 1852, Thomas Church, the Resident Councillor of Singapore, summed up the situation of the Malays along the east coast of the Malay Peninsula: In this neighbourhood, there are two parties, on one side, the Sultan of Lingga, the Sultan of Trengganu, and the young princes of Johore; on the other, the Raja Bendahara of Pahang, and the Temenggong Sri Maharaja. Nevertheless, there was no major hostility as a result of the division of loyalty between the royalty and the nobility. As a result of economic and political pressure from these traders, the Governor did consider granting formal recognition to Sultan Ali as the legitimate ruler of Johor, but in the process, he received a strong protest from
Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim and his young son,
Abu Bakar. By the early 1850s, Johor was effectively under the control of the Temenggong; followers who attempted to act in Sultan Ali's interests were quickly expelled by force by the Temenggong's followers.
Secession of Johor A series of negotiations between Sultan Ali and the Temenggong ensued with the British colonial government acting as the intermediary, after Sultan Ali had questioned the Temenggong's right to keep the state revenue to himself. Initially, the Temenggong proposed to split the trade revenue of Johor on condition that Sultan Ali surrendered his claim of sovereignty over Johor. The proposal was declined by Sultan Ali. Both parties agreed to seek the direct intervention of the British government, among which, the British Governor of the Straits Settlement, Colonel
William John Butterworth, and his successor,
Edmund Blundell were roped in to act as meditators. The British favoured the prospect of the Temenggong in taking over the administration of Johor from the Sultan. Sultan Ali's claim to sovereignty was refuted by the British and the Temenggong, who was quick to point out that the Sultan's late father, Sultan Hussein Shah had never actively pursued sovereignty rights over Johor in spite of his recognition by the British in the
1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty. At that time, Johor came under the effective charge of the Temenggong's late father, Abdul Rahman, as with Pahang, which was under the control of the Bendahara. Further documents revealed that if Johor were to be under the control of a monarch,
de jure sovereignty would have been laid under the charge of the Sultan of
Lingga, Sultan Mahmud Muzaffar Shah and not with Sultan Ali. The Temenggong and Sultan Ali submitted their proposals to the British Governor in April 1854. The Temenggong agreed to the Sultan's request of his titular recognition as the Sultan of Johor, but was adamant of maintaining absolute charge over the whole of Johor. On the other hand, Sultan Ali had expressed his wish to the governor that the Kesang territory (around
Muar) should be directly governed by him, citing reasons that some of his ancestors were buried there. The British persuaded the Temenggong to concede to Sultan Ali's request and accepted after much consideration. A treaty was concluded on 10 March 1855, in which Sultan Ali formally ceded his sovereignty rights of
Johor to the Temenggong permanently with the exception of the Kesang territory (around
Muar). In exchange, Sultan Ali was guaranteed the recognition the title of "Sultan" by the Temenggong and the British government and received a lump sum of $5,000 as compensation. Sultan Ali was also promised a further incentive of a monthly allowance of $500 from the Temenggong, under the pressure of Governor
Edmund Blundell (the British Governor of Singapore), who hoped to put an end to Sultan Ali's financial complaints and problems. ==Sultan of Muar==