From then onwards, the brothers would stop wherever they come across a village of the indigenous people. They gave salt and tobacco to the people as a means to befriend them. Eventually they arrived at Batin Seridun’s base. Upon their arrival, they landed, bringing salt and tobacco. This resulted in a solid and strong relationship between Sujudbilang and Batin Seridun. This was apparent in the cooperation and togetherness between them in hunting for food.
At night they slept on the ground covered with dried leaves around the fire while the womenfolk slept separately, away from the men. Among them, only the daughter of the Batin could not sleep unless her pallet was well cushioned.
According to the tale, mereloh meant ‘sleeping’ in the language of the indigenous people. Therefore, the communal sleeping area was called tempat mereloh (sleeping place). Sujudbilang and his brothers shortened it to “Temerloh” as it is shorter and easier to say. This is the origin of Temerloh and the Temerloh River. The relationship between Sujudbilang and Batin Seridun became closer upon the marriage of Sujudbilang and Batin Seridun’s daughter, Bakoi. The marriage also resulted in Batin Seridun and his people converting to Islam. The conversion was conducted by Sujudbilang. This event led to the expansion of Islam in Central Pahang.
On 1st July 1889, J. P. Roger started office as the first British Resident in Pahang. He divided Pahang into six administrative districts – Pekan, Kuala Pahang, Kuantan, Temerloh and Hulu Pahang. This meant the name of Batin Seridun’s place of residence which was under the rule of Sujudbilang was chosen as the name of one of the district in Pahang. At that time the town was called Kuala Semantan. The name was changed to Temerloh when a new town opened to the west of Kuala Semantan in 1898.
