Keramat Sungai Udang was the site of the first dedicated research on Malaysian megaliths, with excavations carried out in 1919. This excavation found 3 large granite
menhir stones, along with a number of other granite and
laterite stones of various sizes, ceramics,
celadon, glass, stone tools, and coins. Local tradition holds that the stones date back to the 2nd or 3rd century. This research was carried out by
I. H. N. Evans, who reported that the shrine was only discovered by locals "some two or three generations ago", based on discussions with older members of the community. Nonetheless, it had become an important local site, where prayers were made by both Chinese and Malays, and where celebrations were held when those prayers were answered. A palm-leaf structure had been erected over the tomb. When Evans began his studies in 1919, much of the area was swampy and partly underwater. The excavations carried out showed no indication the ground underneath the stones had every been disturbed, indicating the megaliths did not mark graves as was sometimes suspected. Although the records are unclear, and mostly focused on the three most prominent menhirs, in 1919 there were probably at least 15 other large carved stones scattered around the site, along with others which may have been undecorated. W. A. Wallace of the
Federated Malay States Surveys created a map of the area as it was originally found in 1919. At this time, the natural forest in the area had already been replaced by
rubber plantations, mostly run by ethnic Chinese and Malays. Evans re-erected fallen stones during his study, and thus it is possible some may have shifted some from their original positions. The "spoon" stone had reportedly been previously broken in half by a falling tree. A separate group of stones which lay away from the tomb, including one large menhir, was damaged by a Chinese rubber worker. This isolated menhir was reconstructed by Evans. The Jawi inscriptions on the tombstone were translated in 1921 by
C. Boden Kloss. In 1927, made the first transcription of the Kawi inscriptions, and translated their meaning as suggesting the buried individual was executed after attempting to assassinate Mansur Shah. The apparent contradiction between the Jawi inscriptions which called for blessings for the deceased and the Kawi inscriptions which called the deceased a traitor led to further research. In 1931,
Richard James Wilkinson proposed that Ahmad Majnun was killed unintentionally along with some tribesmen by a local noble, linking the event to a story about in the
Malay Annals, thus reframing the supposed treason as the view of the local noble rather than the Sultan. In 1934,
Richard Olaf Winstedt suggested that Ahmad Majnun was the leader of a
Minangkabau immigrant group. This is unlikely, as the Kawi inscription is similar to that of the
Minye Tujoh inscription, which has no links to Minangkabau. In 1949,
John Gullick noted that past interpretations did not fully explain why a monument would be erected to a traitor, suggesting that the rebels may have been allowed to erect a monument as a conciliatory gesture, but that this still would not explain why the inscriptions in the two scripts were different. A posthumous publication by
Louis-Charles Damais in 1968 affirmed the dates of both inscriptions. In 1980,
Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis proposed that the two inscriptions were made by different people at different times, explaining the different dates and different names used. If true, this would suggest the tombstone was originally part of a larger structure that covered the sides later used for the Jawi inscriptions, possibly at a different location. The Jawi inscriptions may have been added at a later funeral, for which the tombstone was moved and repurposed as historical memory shifted the individual from being a warrior to being a respected saint. The hole in the stone, which lies below the Kawi inscriptions, may be a result of this move. It is not known why the current location was chosen for the tomb; it may be related to Ahmad Majnun, or may have been an existing holy site, as reflected by the presence of the megaliths. ==Administration==