Course
From the upper slopes of the Titiwangsa Mountains near Cameron Highlands, the Jelai River flows in a southeasterly direction, passing through Padang Tengku and Kuala Lipis before merging with the Tembeling River. The Tembeling, which begins at the Pahang and Terengganu state border at Ulu Tembeling within the Pantai Timur Mountains, flows in a southwesterly direction passing through Kuala Tahan. From its confluence near Kuala Tembeling, the Pahang River flows in a southerly direction, passing through Jerantut Feri, Kuala Krau, Kerdau and Temerloh. At Mengkarak, the river takes a turn toward northeast, passing through Chenor and then turning east at Lubuk Paku and Lepar into the floodplains of Paloh Hinai, Pekan and Kuala Pahang before draining into the South China Sea.
Basin extent and tributaries
From the source to the mouth, the Pahang River basin comprises almost all the districts in Pahang, including eastern Negeri Sembilan. The Pahangese section covers the districts of Cameron Highlands, Lipis, Raub, Jerantut, Temerloh, Bera, Maran, Kuantan and Pekan; while the Negri section comprises the districts of Jelebu and Jempol.
The Lipis River, a tributary of the Jelai, begins at the Pahang and Perak state border in Ulu Sungai, Raub district and ends at the confluence with the Jelai at Kuala Lipis. The Semantan River, a tributary of the Pahang, starts in Bentong district and merges with the river at Kuala Semantan. The Lepar River, a tributary of the Pahang, has its source in Kuantan district in the east and merges with the river at Paloh Hinai. The Bera River, a tributary of the Pahang, begins at the namesake district of Bera and merges with the river at Kuala Bera. At the Negri part of the basin, the Triang River, a tributary of the Pahang, begins near Kuala Klawang in the district of Jelebu and merges with the river at Kuala Teriang. The Serting River, a tributary of the Bera, is sourced near Serting Ulu in neighbouring Jempol district and merges with the Bera at Kuala Serting.
The only district in Pahang that does not have a tributary of the Pahang River or have the Pahang River flowing through it is Rompin.
Natural history
During the Pleistocene epoch or Mesolithic period about 10,000 years ago, there was a 5 degrees celsius drop in the global temperature. At mountaintops, snow accumulated as ice caps and glaciers (including Mount Kinabalu), thus disrupting the global hydrological cycle. Due to lack of water discharge into the sea, the sea level was 120 meters lower than it is today. The South China Sea dried up, exposing the Sunda Shelf and previous deep trenches became huge ancient rivers called the North Sunda River.
Mainland Asia, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Java became connected to Borneo via the landbridge of exposed Sunda Shelf. The North Sunda River provided vital connection to the Mekong River in Vietnam and the Chao Phraya River in Thailand to the north, the Baram and Rajang rivers in Sarawak to the east and the Pahang River and Rompin River to the west of the massive land mass. Freshwater catfishes from those rivers migrated and mated to exchange their genetic materials about 10,000 years ago. Thus, after the Holocene, when the temperature increased, a substantial amount of the ice that had accumulated melted, increasing sea levels, inundating the landbridges and the Sunda River, thus isolating the catfish populations. However, their genetic motives are still in the DNA as an evidence of the previous connections of the Pahang River to other isolated rivers in Indochina and Borneo.
Towns and bridges
Jerantut is 15 km from the confluence of the Jelai River and the Tembeling River. Temerloh is situated on the confluence between the Semantan River and Pahang River. The town of Pekan, which is Pahang's royal capital, is situated on the southern bank of the river, near its mouth.
There are seven bridges built across the river. The bridges are the Abu Bakar Bridge in Pekan, the Paloh Hinai bridge of Tun Razak Highway in Paloh Hinai, the Chenor Bridge in Chenor, the new Temerloh Bridge in Temerloh, the Semantan Bridge of East Coast Expressway in Sanggang, the Sultan Ahmad Shah Bridge in Kuala Krau and the Sultan Abdullah Bridge in Jerantut Feri.
Bera is the only district on the Pahang River watershed that has no bridge crossing the river.
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Abdul Rahman bin Tuanku Imam Nuh was a nobleman and famous Malay warrior best known for his role in the Pahang Uprising (1891–1895) in Pahang, Malaysia during the period of British protectorate. Dato' Bahaman was an Orang Besar Raja – a fief of the Sultan of Pahang.
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Pahang Malay is a Malayic language spoken in the Malaysian state of Pahang. It is regarded as the dominant Malay dialect spoken along the vast riverine systems of Pahang, but co-exists with other Malay dialects traditionally spoken in the state. Along the coastline of Pahang, Terengganu Malay is spoken in a narrow strip of sometimes discontiguous fishing villages and towns. Another dialect spoken in Tioman island is a distinct Malay variant and most closely related to Riau Archipelago Malay subdialect spoken in Natuna and Anambas islands in the South China Sea, together forming a dialect continuum between the Bornean Malay and the Mainland Peninsular/Sumatran Malay.
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Raub District is a district in Pahang, Malaysia. Located in the west of the state, the district borders Lipis District to the north, Jerantut District to the east, Temerloh District to the southeast, Bentong District to the south, and the districts of Hulu Selangor and Muallim, respectively situated in the states of Selangor and Perak, to the west. Raub district consists of seven mukim (sub-districts), namely Batu Talam, Sega, Semantan Ulu, Dong, Ulu Dong, Gali and Tras. With an area of 2,271 km², Raub District is sandwiched between the Titiwangsa Mountains and the Benom Massif. Raub District also is home to the hill station of Fraser's Hill. The administrative seat of this district is the town of Raub.
Jerantut is a town in Jerantut District, Pahang, Malaysia. It is the largest district in the State of Pahang. It covers an area of 2,900 square miles. Bordered by the States of Kelantan and Terengganu in the North, Temerloh and Maran districts in the South, Kuala Lipis and Raub districts in the West and Kuantan district and Terengganu state in the East. It has 10 mukims consisting of 295 villages administered under 58 JKKK. Jerantut District Council was gazetted on 18 February 1982. Jerantut District Council, formerly known as Jerantut Town Board is the local authority of Jerantut town.
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The Pahang Uprising, also known as the Pahang Rebellion or the Pahang War, was an anti-colonial uprising in Pahang, Malaysia, between 1891 and 1895. The uprising was largely led by traditional chiefs and fueled by local grievances towards the British Residential system.
