Early history . Around 788 BC, a large settlement may have been already established around the northern bank of
Merbok River. The settlement consisted of a large area of
Bujang Valley, covering branches of the Merbok and
Muda River that was about 1,000 square miles in area. It was built at the estuary of a branch of Merbok River, now known as
Sungai Batu. Archaeological evidence found in the
Bujang Valley (Malay:
Lembah Bujang) reveals that an
animist settlement resided in ancient Kedah possibly as early as 110 AD. The discovery of a temple, jetty remains, iron smelting sites, and clay brick monuments probably dating back to 110 AD shows that a maritime trading route with south Indian Tamil kingdoms was already established since that time. The discoveries in the Bujang Valley also made ancient Kedah perhaps the most ancient settlement in Southeast Asia.
Hindu-Buddhist Era Ancient Kedah was first mentioned in the
Tamil poem
Paṭṭiṉappālai written at the end of the second century AD. 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). In Middle Eastern literature, ancient Kedah was referred to as
Qilah by
Ibn Khordadbeh in the
Book of Roads and Kingdoms,
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
Tang dynasty Buddhist monk,
Yijing who visited the
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). 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 I, 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 of the
Chola dynasty who conquered Kedah in the late 11th century. During the reign of
Kulottunga 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 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 the ruler of Kedah's conversion to Islam. 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 it is 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. 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 were combined into the Siamese province of Monthon Syburi which lasted until it was 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, joined by
Sabah,
Sarawak and
Singapore (independent in 1965). == Geography ==