Kedah (Malay pronunciation: [kəˈdɑh]),[5] also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically

as Queda,[6] 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 (Tamil: கடாரம்; Kaṭāram) by the ancient and
medieval Tamils, Kataha or Kalahbar (Arabic: ‫ ;قتح‬qataḥa or Arabic: ‫ ;قلحبر‬qalaḥbar) by the Arabs,
and Syburi (Thai: ไทรบุรี; RTGS: Sai Buri) by the Siamese when it was under their influence.[7][8]
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[edit]
Further information: British Malaya and Early history of Kedah

Early history[edit]

Candi Bukit Batu Pahat of Bujang Valley.

Around 788 BCE, a systematic government of a large settlement 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.[9] Archaeological evidence found
in Bujang Valley (Malay: Lembah Bujang) reveals that an animist 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.[10] The discoveries in Bujang Valley also made the
ancient Kedah as the oldest civilisation of Southeast Asia.[11]
Hindu-Buddhist Era[edit]
Ancient Kedah was first mentioned in the 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
the Chola capital. Apart from Kadaram, Kedah was known by various names at different times in
Indian literature: Kataha-Nagara (in Kaumudi Mahotsava drama), Anda-Kataha (in Agni
Purana), Kataha-Dvipa (in Samarāiccakahā), and Kataha (in Kathasaritsagara).[12] In Middle Eastern
literature, ancient Kedah was referred to 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.[13] The famous Tang
dynasty Buddhist monk, Yi Jing who visited Malay Archipelago between 688 and 695, also mentioned
a kingdom known as Ka-Cha in the northern part of the Malay peninsula, which according to him was
thirty days sail from Bogha (Palembang), the capital of Sribogha (Srivijaya).[14]
In the seventh and eighth centuries, Kedah was under the loose control of Srivijaya.[15] 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".[16] 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.[17] A second invasion was led by Virarajendra Chola of
the Chola dynasty who conquered Kedah in the late 11th century.[18] During the reign of Kulothunga
Chola I Chola overlordship was established over the Srivijayan province of Kedah in the late 11th
century.[19]
Kedah Sultanate[edit]

Flag of Kedah (1821–1912)

Main article: 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.[20] 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.[21]
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,[22] 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.