eople across the range, one of the
last to go, and one of those whose heart was most uplifted by victory,
was the present Mahraja Perba of Jelai, commonly called To' Raja. His
own people, even at that time, gave him the title he now bears, but the
Bendahara of Pahang (since styled Sultan) had never formally installed
him in the hereditary office of which he was the heir, so by the Court
Faction he was still addressed as Panglima Prang Mamat.

On his arrival at Pekan, the Panglima Prang, unmindful of the fate
which, at an earlier period, had befallen his brother Wan Bong, whose
severed head lay buried somewhere near the palace in a nameless grave,
began to assert himself in a manner which no Malay King could be
expected to tolerate. Not content with receiving from his own people the
semi-royal honours, which successive To' Rajas have insisted upon from
the natives of the interior, Panglima Prang allowed his pride to run
away with both his prudence and his manners. He landed at Pekan with a
following of nearly fifty men, all wearing shoes, the spoils of war, it
is said, which had fallen to his lot through the capture of a Chinese
store; he walked down the principal street of the town with an umbrella
carried by one of his henchmen; and he ascended into the King's _Balai_
with his _kris_ uncovered by the folds of his _sarong_! The enormity of
these proceedings may not, perhaps, be apparent; but, in those days, the
wearing of shoes of a European type, and the public use of an umbrella,
were among the proudest privileges of royalty. To ascend the _Balai_
with an uncloaked weapon in one's girdle was, moreover, a warlike
proceeding, which can only be compared to the snapping of fingers in the
face of royalty. Therefore, when Panglima Prang left Pekan, and betook
himself up river to his house in the Jelai, he left a flustered court,
and a very angry King behind him.

But at this time there was a man in Pahang who was not slow to seize an
opportunity, and in the King's anger he saw a chance that he had long
been seeking. This man was Dato' Imam Prang Indera Gajah Pahang, a title
which, being interpreted, meaneth, The War Chief, the Elephant of
Pahang. Magnificent and high sounding as was this name, it was found too
large a mouthful for everyday use, and to the people of Pahang he was
always known by the abbreviated title of To' Gajah. He had risen from
small beginnings by his genius for war, and more especially for that
branch