On 12 January 1939 a petition was presented to the Dutch Government by a certain Tengku Abdul Rahman, a claimant to the Riau throne (according to the Dutch, he was probably the inspiration behind the Lambaga article). He said that Sultan Sulaiman should have been succeeded by one of the other living male descendants of Sultan Muhammad and not Sultan Abdul Rahman, whose father was Bugis. This petitioner said he, himself, was descended from a son of Sultan Muhammad (d. 1844) and therefore the throne of Riau-Lingga should go to him.
Excerpt of letter to the Governor General of East Indies
Johore Bahru, 25th Sept., 1939
I have the honour of addressing your Excellency with a letter in Malay dated 12th January 1939 on the subject of the revival of the Dynasty of Riau and Lingga.
2. Presumably at your request, the Government of Johore, I gathered, forwarded a certified copy of my ancestral lineage to the Counsel-General for the Netherlands at Singapore, sometime in March 1939, and I hope that it has proved to your Excellency my eligibility as a candidate for this vacant throne under the Protection of the Netherlands Government.
3. Owing to the present precarious situation of the World, perhaps your Excellency will readily appreciate the great anxiety naturally entertained by me in this matter, and so kindly direct the course of its affairs accordingly for an early decision by the Netherlands Government, for which kind act I offer Your Excellency my most sincere and heartfelt gratitude.
4. Assuring Your Excellency of my highest respects.
Most obedient and loyal servant,
(wg) Tengkoe Abdoelrachman bin Tengkoe Mahmoed
Voor eensluidend afschrift,
De Gouvernements Secretaris
His Excellency the Governor-General,
For the Netherlands Indies