sentences:  However, unresolved legal ambiguity in the legitimacy various local affairs, such as the status of Johor and Pahang.These were "de jure" possessions of Sultan Abdul Rahman and his successors, yet the 1824 treaty barred him as a Dutch vassal from exerting political authority over Johor and Pahang.In the light of these circumstances, the Temenggong and Bendahara increasingly exerted their independent authority.