| Ismail Nasiruddin Malay: {{Script|Arab|إسماعيل ناصرالدين | |
| Succession: | Yang di-Pertuan Agong IV |
| Reign: | 21 September 1965 – 20 September 1970 |
| Coronation: | 11 April 1966 |
| Cor-Type: | Malaysia |
| Predecessor: | Putra |
| Successor: | Abdul Halim |
| Reign2: | 16 December 1945 – 20 September 1979 |
| Coronation2: | 6 June 1949 |
| Succession2: | Sultan of Terengganu |
| Predecessor2: | Ali Shah |
| Successor2: | Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah |
| Full Name: | Tengku Ismail Nasirudddin Shah ibni Sultan Zainal Abidin III |
| Regnal Name: | Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Haji Zainal Abidin III Mu’azzam Shah (as Sultan) Tuanku Ismail Nasiruddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Haji Zainal Abidin III Mu’azzam Shah (as Yang di-Pertuan Agong) |
| Spouse: | Che Wan Aminah Binti Wan Cik Tengku Tengah Zaharah Binti Tengku Umar Che Jarah Binti Abdullah |
| Issue: | Tengku Wuk Fatima Sabariah Tengku Zaharah Putri Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah Tengku Abdul Malik Shah Tengku Ibrahim Shah Tengku Abdullah Sulaiman Shah Tengku Zaleha Putri Tengku Noor Azia Iman Putri Tengku Zainah Putri Tengku Maria Norshiah Putri Tengku Ruqiya Tengku Ramlah Azizah Putri |
| Royal House: | House of Bendahara |
| Father: | Sultan Haji Zainal Abidin III Mu’azzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Ahmad |
| Mother: | Cik Maimunah Binti Abdullah |
| Birth Date: | 1907 1, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Unfederated Malay States |
| Death Place: | Istana Badariah, Padang Seri Negara, Mukim Batu Burok, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia |
| Burial Date: | 21 September 1979 |
| Burial Place: | Abidin Mosque, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia |
| Religion: | Sunni Islam |
Sultan Sir Ismail Nasiruddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Haji Zainal Abidin III Mu’azzam Shah (Jawi: Malay: سلطان سر إسماعيل ناصرالدين شاه ابن المرحوم سلطان حاج زين العابدين ٣ معظم شاه; 24 January 1907 – 20 September 1979) was the Sultan of Terengganu from 1945 until his death in 1979, and the fourth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, (King of Malaysia), from 1965 to 1970.
The date of his birth has been given as either 16 March 1906[1] or 24 January 1907,[2] the latter being the one more often used. Born in Kuala Terengganu, he was the fifth, and third surviving, son of Sultan Zainal Abidin III of Terengganu . His mother was a Thai Muslim convert, Cik Maimuna binti Abdullah, who died in 1918.[3]
Educated at the Kuala Terengganu Malay School, he then went to the Malay College.[4] In 1929, he entered the Terengganu administrative service. In 1934, he was appointed Assistant Collector of Land Revenue in Kuala Terengganu.
In 1935, he became aide-de-camp to his elder half brother Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah, accompanying him to the coronation of King George VI on 12 May 1937. In 1939, he became Registrar of the High Court and the Court of Appeal. He also served as the Land Court Registrar. In 1940, he was appointed a minister of the Terengganu state cabinet, having been made Tengku Sri Paduka Raja. In 1941, he became First Class Magistrate and was promoted Terengganu State Secretary on 15 November 1941.[5]
Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah of Terengganu died on 25 September 1942 of blood poisoning. The Japanese Military Administration, which occupied Malaya at that time, proclaimed his son as the fifteenth Sultan of Terengganu styled as Sultan Ali Shah. On 18 October 1943, the Thai government under Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram took over the administration of Terengganu from the Japanese and continued to recognise Sultan Ali Shah.[6]
When the British returned after the end of World War II, they declined to recognise Sultan Ali Shah. Allegedly, Ali Shah was in too much debt and had been too close to the Japanese during their occupation.[7] According to Ali Shah, the British Military Administration wanted him removed for his refusal to sign the Malayan Union treaty.[8]
The British Military Administration also disapproved of Ali Shah's character, where he was said to have repudiated his official consort, Tengku Seri Nila Utama Pahang (the daughter of Sultan Abu Bakar of Pahang) and had a second marriage with a former prostitute.[9]
On 5 November 1945 the Terengganu State Council of thirteen members announced the dismissal of Sultan Ali Shah and the appointment of Tengku Ismail as the fifteenth Sultan of Terengganu. Tengku Ismail became known as Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah and was installed on 6 June 1949 at the Istana Maziah, Kuala Terengganu.[10]
Ali Shah continued to dispute his dismissal until his death on 17 May 1996.[11]
Sultan Ismail served as Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong from 21 September 1960 to 20 September 1965.
Sultan Ismail was elected the fourth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) and served in that office from 21 September 1965 to 20 September 1970.
Sultan Ismail's reign was at a time when Malaysia began to be active internationally, having secured a more solid foundation as a Federation of Malay States, Sabah and Sarawak. Many visits by world leaders were made including US President Lyndon B. Johnson, West German President Heinrich Lübke, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, the Shah of Iran, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, General Ne Win of Burma and Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam. The security of the country was more secure during his reign as the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation had ended and the Philippines sought normal relations (after its claim of Sabah) with Malaysia. Due to health reasons he wanted to resign as Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 1969, but was persuaded by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman not to do so as the next Yang di-Pertuan Agong would be Tunku Abdul Rahman's nephew (Tuanku Abdul Halim of Kedah) and the Tunku felt it was not right for him to continue in office during that time.[12] In his farewell speech at the end of his and Sultan Ismail's term as Yang Di Pertuan Agong, Tunku Abdul Rahman declared that the event signified "the end of the first chapter of Malaysia's history".[13]
Sultan Ismail was reigning as Yang di-Pertuan Agong when the May 13 incident sparked race riots in Kuala Lumpur and parliament was suspended. Despite this event Tunku Abdul Rahman described Sultan Ismail's reign as "a most eventful and glorious one".[14] Sultan Ismail launched the Rukun Negara, the Malaysian declaration of national philosophy on 31 August 1970.
Sultan Ismail died at the Istana Badariah, Padang Seri Negara, Mukim Batu Burok, Kuala Terengganu on 20 September 1979 after suffering from two heart attacks and was buried a day later at the Abidin Mosque, Royal Mausoleum, Kuala Terengganu.[15] He was succeeded by Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah, his eldest son. He died exactly nine years later after his tenure as Yang di Pertuan Agong ended on 20 September 1970.
Sultan Ismail married four times:
Ismail was an amateur photographer.[17] His photographic works date from 1923 to 1979. A monograph of his life as photographer was written and published in August 2013 by his grandson and heir of his photograph archives, Raja Mohd Zainol Ihsan Shah.[18]
Malaysia:Several places were named after him, including: