Early years

Raja Muzaffar was born in 1505, the son of Mahmud Shah of Malacca and Putri Onang Kening, daughter of Mansur Shah of Kelantan.^[1]

When the Malacca Sultanate fell to the Portuguese Empire in 1511, Mahmud Shah, his wife, children, and entourage retreated to Ulu Muar. Then to Pahang and then to Pulau Bintan, Riau, and ruled there.^[2] While in Pulau Bintan, Raja Muzaffar was married to Tun Terang. Tun Terang was the stepdaughter of Sultan Mahmud Shah and the daughter of Tun Fatimah and her first husband Tun Ali. Raja Muzaffar and his wife had a son named Raja Mansur, the future Sultan of Perak.^[3][4]

Mahmud Shah was defeated by the Portuguese in 1526. He later retreated to Kampar in Sumatra. When he died in Kampar around 1528, Raja Ali succeeded him. Raja Muzaffar was driven out by the Bendahara and the chiefs, so he with his wife and son named Raja Mansur left Kampar, stopped in Klang, then went to Perak.^[5]

Reign

Raja Muzaffar was appointed by the people of Perak as the first Sultan of Perak. That is the story of the first Sultan of Perak as mentioned in the Malay Annals. However, the story is different according to Sejarah Raja Perak. At the time of Mahmud Shah's residence in Kampar, Perak was not a sultanate. The people of Perak sent their representatives, namely Tun Saban and Nakhoda Kasim to Kampar to meet Mahmud Shah. The purpose of this was to request Raja Muzaffar become Sultan of Perak because Perak was under the rule of the Malacca Sultanate since Mahmud Shah ruled it again. Mahmud Shah accepted and his prince, Raja Muzaffar, was ordered to go to Perak to become sultan. From Kampar, Raja Muzaffar then went to Klang to visit his family. From Klang with the guidance of Nakhoda Tumi who came from Manjong, Raja Muzaffar continued his journey to Perak. The arrival of Raja Muzaffar to Perak was welcomed at Beting Beras Basah and he was taken home via the Perak river to enter Perak. Raja Muzaffar was later installed as the first Sultan of Perak with the title of Sultan Muzaffar Shah in Tanah Abang which is located in the Lambor Kanan area.^[6]

In the Malay Annals, it is stated that Muzaffar Shah I had invited Tun Mahmud, son of Tun Isap Berakah, from Selangor to come to Perak. Tun Mahmud was later made the first Bendahara in Perak. Afterwards, Tun Mahmud was summoned by Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II who ruled Johor at the request of the Bendahara of Johor and his father, Tun Isap Berakah.^[7]

According to Sejarah Raja Perak, not long after Muzaffar Shah I ascended to the throne of Perak, conflict began to arise between him and Tun Saban. This is because Tun Saban did not want to give his daughter, Tun Merah, to be the wife of Muzaffar Shah I. Muzaffar Shah I then ordered his servants to take Tun Merah down to the palace until the outbreak of war.

A war broke out between Muzaffar Shah I and Tun Saban. Muzaffar Shah I then offered the title of Bendahara of Perak to anyone who could kill Tun Saban. Megat Terawis, the son of Megat Terawan of Pagaruyung by a concubine, who went to Perak together with Muzaffar Shah I from Kampar accepted the Sultan's offer.^[8][9] During the war, Megat Terawis succeeded in killing Tun Saban and Muzaffar Shah I appointed him as the Bendahara of Perak by replacing Tun Mahmud who had gone to Johor.^[10] Since then, the position of Bendahara of Perak has been held by the descendants of Megat Terawis until it ended during the reign of Sultan Iskandar Zulkarnain, the fifteenth sultan of Perak. After Tun Saban died, the entire state of Perak was then handed over to the rule of Muzaffar Shah I whose center of government was in Tanah Abang.