Her Majesty Queen Azizah of Pahang, Malaysia opened this 2-day workshop ‘Pahang and the Sea, Maritime Networks and Connections between Southeast Asia and Beyond.
The workshop brought together experts in the field from the US, UK, Europe and Malaysia who shared their knowledge and research, as we explored the fascinating maritime history of Pahang, Malaysia and its connections with the Islamic world, China and Europe.
This keynote address by the Queen repositions Pahang as a sovereign maritime kingdom whose historical and legal significance has long been overshadowed by the western-oriented narratives of Melaka and other coastal polities. Drawing upon archival evidence, manuscript studies, and legal historiography, and employing textual analysis of the Hukum Kanun Pahang (The Pahang Canon) the presentation argues that the Hukum Kanun Pahang (circa 1592–1614), codified under Sultan Abdul Ghafur Muhyiddin Shah, stands among the most advanced expressions of maritime legal consciousness in the Malay world. While Hukum Melaka and Undang-Undang Laut Melaka established foundational models for Malay maritime governance, the Hukum Kanun Pahang represents their matured continuation, a codified constitution extending royal sovereignty over both land and sea. It integrates Syariah principles with adat (customary law), addressing port regulation, naval hierarchy, taxation, trade ethics, and anti- piracy provisions. This synthesis reveals an early constitutional understanding of maritime space as governed territory, not open frontier. By situating Pahang within the Laut Melayu (Malay Sea) network of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the study highlights its role as a stabilising power offering legal order, safe passage, and cultural continuity amid regional upheavals. The Hukum Kanun Pahang thus emerges as a pioneering model of Malay-Islamic maritime governance, predating European legal interventions and demonstrating Southeast Asia’s own jurisprudential sophistication. The paper concludes by calling for renewed textual, archaeological, and comparative scholarship to restore Pahang’s rightful place within global maritime and constitutional history.
