About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Sultanate of Kedah

Encyclopedia : S : SU : SUL : Sultanate of Kedah

This article is part of
the History of Malaysia series

Prehistoric Malaysia (40,000-2,000 BCE)
Gangga Negara (2nd-11th century CE)
Langkasuka (2nd-14th century)
Pan Pan (3rd-5th century)
Srivijaya (3rd century -1400)
Majapahit (1293-1500)
Sultanate of Kedah (1136-present)
Sultanate of Malacca (1402 - 1511)
Sultanate of Johor (1528-current)
Jementah Civil War (1879)
White Rajahs (1841-1946)
British Malaya (1874-1946)
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824
Burney Treaty (1826)
Straits Settlements (1826-1946)
Klang War (1867-1874)
Pangkor Treaty of 1874
Federated Malay States (1895-1946)
Unfederated Malay States (19th century-1946)
Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909
Battle of Penang (1914)
North Borneo (1882-1963)
Mat Salleh Rebellion (1896-1900)
World War II (1941-1945)
Battle of Malaya (1941-42)
Parit Sulong Massacre (1942)
Battle of Singapore (1942)
Syburi (1942-1945)
Battle of North Borneo (1945)
Sandakan Death Marches (1945)
Malayan Union (1946-1948)
Federation of Malaya (1948-1963)
Malayan Emergency (1948-1960)
Bukit Kepong Incident (1950)
Independence Day (1957)
Federation of Malaysia (1963-present)
Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation (1962-1966)
Brunei Revolt (1962-1966)
Expulsion of Singapore (1965)
May 13 Incident (1969)
New Economic Policy (1971-1990)
Operation Lalang (1987)
1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis (1987-88)
Asian financial crisis (1997-98)
Sultanate of Kedah is possibly the oldest sultanate in the Malay Peninsula and King Phra Ong Mahawangsa is possibly the first Malay ruler to convert to Islam, he ruled Kedah from 1136 to 1179, known as Sultan Mudzafar Shah. Kedah was known by the Indians as Kedaram or Kataha, the Persian called it Kalah or Kalaha.

Contents

Early History of Kedah

Early sources of Kedah can be traced from two important references - Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa and Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah, and also the archeological site of Bujang Valley. According to Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (Kedah Annals), the bloodline of Kedah royalty began with Maharaja Derbar Raja, allegedly a descendant of Alexander the Great of Macedonia. There were a total of nine Hindu rulers before Phra Ong Mahawangsa converted to Islam in the year 1136.

The overland Silk Road & Sea Route (or Spice Route) in the 1st century.
Enlarge
The overland Silk Road & Sea Route (or Spice Route) in the 1st century.

In the early days, traders via sea route - Egypt, Rome, Arab, African, Turk, Persian and Indian, need to reach Kedah (due to wind of Indian Ocean) before arriving at Guangzhou of China. Ships would arrive at Kedah between June - November and returned between December to May. Kedah served as an important port that provide accommodations, porters, perahus, bamboo rafts, elephants and also tax collections, for goods to be transported over to the Gulf of Thailand. Kedah supplied the most in tin and jungle products such as rattan, resin, honey, beeswax, elephants, ivory, areca nuts, sepang wood and black woods. In the 6th century, a new sea route was discovered, the Straits of Malacca.

Chola attacks

During the golden age of Islam, most sea traders converted to Islam, including the Persian, Indian, African, Turk and even the Chinese. As early as 718 CE, King Srindra Warman of Jambi embraced Islam, and Arabs began settled on west coast of Sumatera. After several raids by Chola in year 1025-1030 over the monopolies of Srivijaya, Kedah was rebuilt by the Kalahar tribe of Kurd in Persia, they migrated here and opened Kedah. The Persian tribe also built ports in Pasai, Rokan and other places.

The King from Persia

About the year 170 CE, a group of Hindu and Javanese refugees arrived at Kedah, soon follow by peoples from nearby islands and also the northern Mon-Khmer migration. The territory of Kedah covered the area of Kuala Bahang, Kuala Bara, Kuala Pila and Merpah. Inhabitants of Kedah appointed Derma Dewa and Tom Perkasa as their village chief.

In year 630 CE, Maharaja Derbar Raja of Gemeron in Persia was defeated in a battle and escaped to Ceylon, but was blown away by storm and landed on the shore of Kuala Sungai Qilah, Kedah. Inhabitants of Kedah found him to be a valiant and intelligent person, they made him the king of Kedah. In the year 634 CE, a new kingdom was formed in Kedah, it consists of Persian royalty, Malay and Hindu, the capital was Langkasuka.

Nobat

Maharaja Derbar Raja also brought along the Nobat musical instruments of Nagara and Nepiri, it was called Semambu that wrapped with yellow cloth, and the band was led by the king. It consists of drums, a gong, a flute and a trumpet. Today Nobat is a Royal orchestra, played only during royal ceremonies such as inaugurations, weddings and funerals.

List of Kedah Sultans

The HH Sultan:

See also

References

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: