, who renamed Tanjung Puteri to Iskandar Puteri, old name of Johor Bahru Due to a dispute between the Malays and the
Bugis, the Johor-Riau Sultanate was split in 1819 with the mainland portion of the
Johor Sultanate coming under the control of
Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim while the
Riau-Lingga Sultanate came under the control of the Bugis. The Temenggong intended to create a new administration centre for the Johor Sultanate to create a dynasty under the entity of Temenggong. As the Temenggong already had a close relationship with the British and the British intended to have control over trade activities in Singapore, a treaty was signed between Sultan
Ali and Temenggong Ibrahim in Singapore on 10 March 1855. According to the treaty, Ali would be crowned as the Sultan of Johor and receive $5,000 (in
Spanish dollars) with an allowance of $500 per month. In return, Ali was required to cede the sovereignty of the territory of Johor (except
Kesang of
Muar which would be the only territory under his control) to Temenggong Ibrahim. The Chinese planted the area with
black pepper and
gambier, while the Javanese dug
parit (
canals) to drain water from the land, build roads and plant
coconuts. During this time, a Chinese businessman, pepper and gambier cultivator,
Wong Ah Fook arrived; at the same time, the
Kangchu and Javanese labour contract systems were introduced by the Chinese and Javanese communities. After Temenggong's death on 31 January 1862, the town was renamed "Johor Bahru" and his position was succeeded by his son, Abu Bakar, with the administration centre in Telok Blangah being moved to the area in 1889. He managed to regain
Kesang territory for Johor after
a civil war with the aid of British forces and he boosted the town's infrastructure and agricultural economy. Infrastructure such as the
State Mosque and
Royal Palace was built with the aid of Wong Ah Fook, who had become a close patron for the Sultan since his migration during the Temenggong reign. As the Johor-British relationship improved, Abu Bakar also set up his administration under a British style and implemented a constitution known as
Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri Johor (Johor State Constitution). The direct colonial rule only came into effect when the status of the adviser was elevated to a status similar to that of a
Resident in the
Federated Malay States (FMS) during the reign of
Sultan Ibrahim in 1914. In Johor Bahru, the
Malay Peninsula railway extension was finished in 1909, and in 1923 the Johor–Singapore Causeway was completed. Johor Bahru developed at a modest rate
between the First and Second World Wars. The secretariat building—
Sultan Ibrahim Building—was completed in 1940 as the British colonial government attempted to streamline the state's administration.
World War II to
conquer Singapore: image taken on 31 January 1942. The continuous development of Johor Bahru was, however, halted when
the Japanese under General
Tomoyuki Yamashita invaded the town on 31 January 1942. As the Japanese had reached northwest Johor by 15 January, they easily captured major towns of Johor such of
Batu Pahat,
Yong Peng,
Kluang and
Ayer Hitam. The British and other
Allied forces were forced to retreat towards Johor Bahru; however, following a further series of bombings by the Japanese on 29 January, the British retreated to Singapore and blew up the causeway the following day as a final attempt to stop the Japanese advance in British Malaya. The Japanese chose the palace as their main base because they already knew the British would not dare to attack it as this would harm their close relationship with Johor. Soon after the war ended in 1946, the town became the main hotspot for
Malay nationalism in Malaya.
Onn Jaafar, a local Malay politician who later became the
Chief Minister of Johor, formed the
United Malay National Organisation party on 11 May 1946 when the Malays expressed their widespread disenchantment over the
British government's action for granting citizenship laws to non-Malays in the proposed states of the
Malayan Union. An agreement over the policy was then reached in the town with Malays agreeing with the dominance of economy by the non-Malays and the Malays' dominance in political matters being agreed upon by non-Malays. Racial conflict between the Malay and non-Malays, especially the Chinese, is being provoked continuously since the
Malayan Emergency.
Post-independence After the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, Johor Bahru continued as the state capital and more development was carried out, with the town's expansion and the construction of more new townships and industrial estates. The
Indonesian confrontation did not directly affect Johor Bahru as the main Indonesian landing point in Johor was in
Labis and
Tenang in
Segamat District as well
Pontian District. There was only one active Indonesian spy organisation in the town, known as
Gerakan Ekonomi Melayu Indonesia (GEMI). They frequently engaged with the Indonesian communities living there to contribute information for Indonesian commandos until the
bombing of the MacDonald House in Singapore in 1965. By the early 1990s, the town had considerably expanded in size, and was officially granted a
city status on 1 January 1994.
Johor Bahru City Council was formed and the city's current main square,
Johor Bahru City Square, was constructed to commemorate the event. A central business district was developed in the centre of the city from the mid-1990s in the area around
Wong Ah Fook Street. The state and federal government channelled considerable funds for the development of the city—particularly more so after 2006, when the
Iskandar Malaysia was formed. For more than ten years of building construction and rapid urbanisation in Johor Bahru, the city has experienced a series of property boom with many new higher-end high-rise apartments and commercial property, including
The Astaka, which has been the
tallest building in the city and outside
Kuala Lumpur since 2018, and is one of the tallest twin towers in the world. With the gradual improvement of
quality of life and infrastructure, Johor Bahru has also been ranked one of the global cities with the highest living quality, the third highest in
Southeast Asia after Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, according to
Mercer, as of 2024. Today, it is also Malaysia's fastest city in terms of internet speed, second only after Singapore in Southeast Asia. == Governance ==