Kedah State

Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km², and it consists of the mainland and the Langkawi islands. The mainland has a relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice, while Langkawi is an archipelago, most of which are uninhabited islands.

Kedah was previously known as Kadaram (; ') by the ancient and medieval Tamils, Kataha or Kalahbar (; ' or ; ') by the Arabs, and ''Syburi'' ( th, ไทรบุรี; ) by the Siamese when it was under their influence.

To the north, Kedah borders the state of Perlis and shares an international boundary with the Songkhla and Yala provinces of Thailand. It borders the states of Perak to the south and Penang to the southwest.

The state's capital is Alor Setar and the royal seat is in Anak Bukit. Other major towns include Sungai Petani (its largest urban area by population), and Kulim on the mainland, and Kuah on Langkawi.

History

Early history

Around 788 BCE, a systematic government of a large settlement of Malay native of Kedah had already established around the northern bank of Merbok River. The state consisted a large area of Bujang Valley, covering Merbok and Muda River branches about 1000 square miles area. The capital of the settlement was built at the estuary of a branch of Merbok River, now known as Sungai Batu. Archaeological evidence found in Bujang Valley (Malay:Lembah Bujang) reveals that a Animism kingdom ruled ancient Kedah possibly as early as 110 A.D. The discovery of temples, jetty remains, iron smelting sites, and clay brick monuments dating back to 110 A.D shows that a maritime trading route with south Indian Tamil kingdoms was already established since that time. The discoveries in Bujang Valley also made the ancient Kedah as the oldest civilisation of Southeast Asia.

Hindu-Buddhist Era

Reference to ancient Kedah was first mentioned in a Tamil poem Paṭṭiṉappālai written at the end of the second century A.D. It described goods from ''Kadaram'' "heaped together in the broad streets" of Chola capital. Other than ''Kadaram'', Kedah was known with different names at varying times in Indian literature; ''Kataha-Nagara'' (in Kaumudi Mahotsava drama), ''Anda-Kataha'' (in Agni Purana), ''Kataha-Dvipa'' (in Samarāiccakahā), and ''Kataha'' (in Kathasaritsagara). In the middle eastern literature, ancient Kedah was referred as ''Qilah'' by Ibn Khordadbeh in Kitāb al Masālik w'al Mamālik, ''Kalah-Bar'' by Soleiman Siraf & Abu Zaid al Hassan in ''Silsilat-al-Tawarikh'' (travels in Asia), and ''Kalah'' by Abu-Dulaf Misa'r Ibn Muhalhil in ''Al-Risalah al-thaniyah''. The famous Tang dynasty Buddhist monk, Yi Jing who visited Malay archipelago between 688 and 695, also mentioned about a kingdom known as ''Ka-Cha'' in the northern part of the Malay peninsula, which according to him was 30 days sail from Bogha ( Palembang), the capital of Sribogha ( Srivijaya).

In the seventh and eighth centuries, Kedah was under the loose control of Srivijaya. Indian and Arab sources consider Kedah to be one of the two important sites during the Srivijaya period, often calling the king of the straits "the ruler of Srivijaya and Kataha". In 1025, Rajendra Chola, the Chola king from Coromandel Coast in South India, captured Kedah in his Chola invasion of Srivijaya and occupied it for some time. A second invasion was led by Virarajendra Chola of the Chola dynasty who conquered Kedah in the late 11th century. During the reign of Kulothunga Chola I Chola overlordship was established over the Srivijayan province of Kedah in the late 11th century.

Kedah Sultanate

According to ''Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa'' or the ''Kedah Annals'', Kedah was founded by a Hindu king named Merong Mahawangsa. According to the text further, the Sultanate of Kedah started in year 1136 when King Phra Ong Mahawangsa converted to Islam and adopted the name Sultan Mudzafar Shah. However, an Acehnese account gave a date of 1474 for the year of conversion to Islam by the ruler of Kedah. This later date accords with an account in the '' Malay Annals'' where a raja of Kedah visited Malacca during the reign of its last sultan seeking the honour of the royal band that marks the sovereignty of a Muslim ruler. However, in Thai chronicles told that Kedah was a Thai city like Nakhon Si Thammarat and was a part of Siamese kingdom but later was changed into a Malay state after invasion of Muslim kingdoms until today.

It was later under Siam, until it was conquered by the Malay sultanate of Malacca in the 15th century. In the 17th century, Kedah was attacked by the Portuguese after their conquest of Malacca, and by Aceh. In the hope that Great Britain would protect what remained of Kedah from Siam, the sultan handed over Penang and then Province Wellesley to the British at the end of the 18th century. The Siamese nevertheless invaded Kedah in 1821, and it remained under Siamese control under the name of Syburi. In 1896, Kedah along with Perlis and Setul was combined into the Siamese province of Monthon Syburi which lasted until transferred to the British by the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909.

Incorporation into Malaya

In World War II, Kedah (along with Kelantan) was the first part of Malaya to be invaded by Japan. The Japanese returned Kedah to their Thai allies who had it renamed Syburi, but it returned to British rule after the end of the war. Kedah became one of the states of the Federation of Malaya in 1948, which then achieved independence in 1957. Malaya was then enlarged to become Malaysia in 1963.

Since 2017, the hereditary Sultan of Kedah has been Sultan Sallehuddin. The Kedah Sultanate began when the ninth Kedah Maharaja Derbar Raja or Phra Ong Mahawangsa, converted to Islam and changed his name to Sultan Mudzafar Shah I. Since then there have been 27 Sultans who ruled Kedah.

On 11 May 2018, Mahathir Mohamad son Mukhriz Mahathir took his oath of office before Kedah Sultan Tunku Sallehuddin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah in a ceremony held in Istana Anak Bukit.

Geography

Kedah is the 8th largest state by land area and 8th most populated state in Malaysia, with a total land area of , and a population of 1,890,098.

The Pedu Lake is the largest man-made lake in the state.

Government

Executive

Kedah's Constitution was promulgated by its Ruler in July 1950. The various provisions laid down in the Constitution include the role and powers of the Monarch, the State Parliament and the State's Civil Service.

The Sultan of Kedah is the constitutional ruler of the State. His position is hereditary and he holds office for life. The Ruler is the head of the religion of Islam in the State and the executive power of the state government is vested in him. The current Sultan is Sultan Sallehuddin ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, who has reigned since 12 September 2017 after his elder brother Sultan Abdul Halim died on 11 September 2017.

The State Executive Council, which along with the Sultan is Kedah's executive branch of government. It is composed of the Menteri Besar, who is its chairman and Kedah's head of government, and ten other members. The Menteri Besar and other members of the council are appointed by the Sultan of Kedah from members of the Kedah State Legislative Assembly (Dewan Undangan Negeri Kedah).

Legislature

The state also has a State assembly, called the Kedah State Legislative Assembly. It is similar to the Parliament but is limited to making laws relating to the state. Its members are elected in elections which are usually held simultaneously with federal elections. The term of each state assembly member is limited to five years. The state assembly must be dissolved before or once it expires its term for a fresh election to elect its members.

Departments

* Kedah State Finance and Treasury Office
* Kedah Irrigation and Drainage Department
* Kedah State Forestry Department
* Kedah Social Welfare Department
* Kedah Syariah Judiciary Department
* Kedah Public Works Department
* Kedah State Islamic Religious Affairs Department
* Kedah Public Service Commission
* Kedah State Agriculture Department
* Office of Lands and Mines Kedah
* Kedah State Mufti Department
* Kedah Town and Country Planning Department
* Department of Veterinary Services of Kedah

Statutory bodies

* Mahmud College Board
* Kedah State Paddy Farmers Development Board
* Kedah State Islamic Religious Council
* Kedah Public Library Corporation
* Kedah State Water Resources Board
* Kedah State Development Corporation
* Kedah State Museum Board
* Kedah State Zakat Board

Administrative divisions

Modern Kedah is divided into 12 administrative districts, 12 local governments and 132 mukims.

Local governments

# Alor Setar City Council
# Baling District Council
# Bandar Baharu District Council
# Kubang Pasu Municipal Council
# Kulim Hi-Tech Industrial Park Local Authority
# Kulim Municipal Council
# Langkawi Municipal Council
# Padang Terap District Council
# Pendang District Council
# Sik District Council
# Sungai Petani Municipal Council
# Yan District Council

Demographics

Kedah has a relatively heterogeneous populace constituted by three major ethnic groups; the Malays, Chinese and Indians as well as some Malaysian Siamese ethnic groups, similar to most of the other Malaysian states. Prior to the formation of the Federation of Malaya, there was an ethnic group known as the Sam Sam people. They are culturally Malay Muslim but speak Siamese language. Most of these communities are almost extinct due to assimilation with the Malays. In some places in Kedah, the Sam Sam people still retain their Siamese language as their mother tongue. These communities can be found in Pendang District, Kuala Nerang District and Kubang Pasu District (Changlun, Kodiang, Jitra, Wang Tepus, Guar Napai, Malau, Ason and Napoh). Kedah has a very small Orang Asli community. Orang Asli is mainly to be found in the Baling district, as their community crosses there into the neighboring state of Perak.

Language

Like most parts of Malaysia, Kedah is home to various languages and dialects. The majority language of Kedah is Kedah Malay, known natively by locals as ''Pelat Utagha'' (Northern dialect), it is a distinct variety of Malay which also serves as the state's main lingua franca and is used by almost all Kedahans regardless of race. Kedah Malay has many sub-dialects which differs from district to district and is also spoken outside of its boundaries such as Penang, Perlis, northern Perak and even as far as Satun in Thailand and Tanintharyi in Myanmar. Besides Kedah Malay, another distinct variety of Malay known as Baling Malay (''Cakak Baling'') is mainly spoken in Baling district as well as some parts of Sik and Yan districts. Baling, along with Grik Malay is part of Reman Malay, an offshoot of Kelantan-Pattani Malay of which it was descended from the people of the Kingdom of Reman of which once ruled the Baling and Grik regions before it was dissolved and became part of three distinct political entities namely Kedah, Perak and Yala (Thailand).

Besides Malay, there are also various minority languages spoken throughout Kedah, Aslian languages such as Jahai, Kensiu and Kintaq are spoken by the small Orang Asli populations mostly in the inland region. The Chinese in Kedah also speaks various varieties of Chinese such as Mandarin, Hokkien and so on. There are also a small but well established Indian community mostly of ethnic Tamil and also smaller number of Telugus, Malayalees and Punjabis who speak Telugu, Malayalam and Punjabi. Kedah is also home to a large community of ethnic Siamese of which it has its own distinct dialect of the Thai language which is different from ones spoken in Kelantan (which also has a large Siamese population) and Standard Thai.

Ethnicity

The population of Kedah in 2015 was 2,071,900. It was made up of 76% Bumiputra (Malays and others), 12.7% Chinese, 6.9% Indian, 0.9% others and 3.4% non-Malaysian.
The following is based on 2015 figures from the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

Religion

As of 2010 the population of Kedah is 77.2% Muslim, 14.2% Buddhist, 6.7% Hindu, 0.8% Christian, 0.6% unknown / none, 0.3% Taoist or Chinese religion followers, 0.1% followers of other religions, and 0.1% non-religious.

Statistics from the 2010 Census indicate that 94.3% of the Chinese population are identified as Buddhists, with significant minorities of adherents identifying as Christians (2.4%), Chinese folk religions (2.4%) and Muslims (0.4%). The majority of the Indian population are Hindus (91.7%), with a significant minorities of numbers identifying as Christians (3.7%), Muslims (2.4%) and Buddhists (1.3%). The non-Malay ''bumiputera'' community are predominantly Christians (39.7%), with significant minorities identifying as Muslims (26.9%) and Buddhists (26.3%). All Malays are Muslims.

Economy

Kedah is considered the "rice bowl" ( ms, Jelapang Padi) of Malaysia, accounting for about half of Malaysia's total production of rice. In 2008, the state government banned the conversion of paddy fields to housing and industrial lots to protect the rice industry.

Tourism, particularly on the island of Langkawi is of growing importance.

More recently, Kedah has forged its economy towards the automotive and aerospace industries with Modenas and Asian Composites setting up bases here. One of the main advantages is the low labour costs and the infrastructure in place with the North–South Expressway and the Penang International Airport

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