Kedah, also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state consists of the mainland and the Langkawi Islands. The mainland has 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 by the Arabs, and Syburi 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, Kulim on the mainland, and Kuah on Langkawi.

Around 788 BCE, a systematic government of a large settlement had already been established around the northern bank of the Merbok River. The state consisted of a large area of Bujang Valley, covering Merbok and the Muda River branches, covering about 1000 square miles. The capital of the settlement was built at the estuary of a branch of the Merbok River, now known as Sungai Batu. Archaeological evidence found in Bujang Valley reveals an animist kingdom ruled ancient Kedah, possibly as early as 110 AD. The discovery of temples, jetty remains, iron smelting sites, and clay brick monuments 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 Bujang Valley also made the ancient Kedah the oldest civilisation in Southeast Asia.

In the seventh and eighth centuries, Kedah was under the loose control of the Srivijaya empire. 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 the 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.

According to Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa or the Kedah Annals, Kedah was founded by a Hindu king named Merong Mahawangsa. The Sultanate of Kedah began 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 conversion to Islam by the ruler of Kedah. This later date is confirmed by 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, Thai chronicles say that Kedah was a Thai city like Nakhon Si Thammarat and was a part of the Siamese kingdom but was later changed into a Malay state after the 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.

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 achieved independence in 1957 and then became part of Malaysia in 1963.

Kedah is the 8th largest state by land area and the 8th most populated state in Malaysia. The terrain is mostly flat in general, as the Kedah-Perlis Plain covers much of the state’s land area, from the district of Kuala Muda in the south towards the state of Perlis in the north. Owing to their alluvial properties, most of the plains have been developed for rice farming for centuries. The Kedah–Songkhla and Bintang Ranges formed the state’s boundary between the Thai provinces of Songkhla and Yala in the northeast and the state of Perak in the southeast. The Bintang Range is home to Mount Bintang, the state’s highest point, located on the border with Perak. Pedu Lake is the largest man-made lake in the state.

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. Before 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 the 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. Kedah has a very small Orang Asli community. Kedah Malay, known locally as Pelat Utagha or the Northern dialect, is a distinct variety of Malay that also serves as the state’s main lingua franca and is used by almost all Kedahans, regardless of race.

Kedah is considered the rice bowl of Malaysia, accounting for about half of Malaysia’s total production. Tourism, particularly on the island of Langkawi is of growing importance. More recently, Kedah has forged its economy towards the automotive and aerospace industries.

Alor Setar
Kedah’s state capital, Alor Setar, is the second-largest city in the state after Sungai Petani and one of the most important cities on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is home to the third-tallest telecommunication tower in Malaysia, the Alor Setar Tower. Its location along the main travel corridor from Malaysia to Thailand has long made it a major transportation hub on the northern Malay Peninsula. Located along the country’s longest expressway, Alor Setar is 430 km from Kuala Lumpur and 79 km north of George Town, Penang. From Thailand, the city is easily accessible via the Padang Besar–Sadao Highway and is 52 km from Sadao and 106 km from Hat Yai.

The city was originally founded as Kota Setar in 1785. Owing to its long status as the capital of Kedah, Alor Setar is regarded as one of the core cultural centres for the Kedahan Malays. It is also among the key pioneers in Malayan transportation history, with the railway station commissioned in 1915, followed by its airport in 1929.

Alor Setar is the birthplace of two pivotal prime ministers of Malaysia; Tunku Abdul Rahman, the founding father of the nation, who was prime minister from 1957 to 1970 and Mahathir bin Mohamad, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, who was prime minister for 24 years, from 1981 to 2003, and then between 2018 and 2020.

Alor Setar’s name came from the combination of two Malay words: Alor, which means a small stream, and Setar, or the plum mango, a tree related to the mango. The city’s name was changed to Alor Star during a December 21, 2003, ceremony proclaiming it a city. The city’s original name was restored on January 15, 2009.

Alor Setar was established on December 31, 1735, by Kedah’s 19th ruler, Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin II and was the state’s eighth administrative centre since the establishment of the Kedah Sultanate in 1136. The pre-existing settlement was originally a small village. The sultan found the area to be in a strategic location, as it was covered in lush greenery and was where the two estuaries of the Kedah River converged. A new town, named Kota Setar or the Town of Setar, was created, whose name was derived from the Bouea macrophylla, a type of tree that can be found in the area. However, the capital suffered a major attack when the Bugis armada, led by Raja Haji, managed to destroy both the Istana Kota Setar or the Royal Palace and Balai Besar, the Grand Hall, in 1770. In 1771, the British, represented by Francis Light and Sultan Abdullah Mukaram Shah, entered into an agreement to halt the Bugis influence in Kedah.

During the coronation ceremony of Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah II of Kedah on March 17, 1805, Siamese forces managed to occupy the capital. The sultan was forced to retreat to Penang and later to Malacca. The settlement was put on hold for 20 years. He was restored to the crown in 1842 and the capital was temporarily relocated to Kota Kuala Muda before returning to Kota Setar.

In October 1883, James F. Agustin, an Englishman, arrived in Kuala Sungai Kedah, now known as Kuala Kedah, about 10 km from the capital. He and a few others journeyed towards the inland areas of Kedah, where they met several Malay settlements on the banks of the Kedah River. Upon his arrival in Kampung Kota Setar, Agustin befriended several local Malays and they invited him to the sultan’s palatial residence. He was well received by the sultan and both parties exchanged goods. The visit by Agustin spurred the growth of more active and direct trade relations between Kedah and outside commercial powerhouses. The city attracted various cosmopolitan trading activities from the British, Indian, and Chinese, together with other local and regional merchants. The town prospered from a small settlement into a bustling town designated to accommodate further population growth, commerce and administration. The British, in particular, were quite drawn to the potential of Kota Setar, as it was then known.

Gradually, Kota Setar thrived and further evolved into a commercial, transportation and communication hub for Kedah. The name was then changed from Kota Setar to Alor Setar, a reflection of its geographical features located in a small stream known as Alor in Malay, which was frequented by the Malay traders from the neighbouring states. However, the name Kota Setar was retained as a sub-district under Alor Setar.

Other significant events during the turn of the 20th century included the reunification of Perlis and Setul, now Satun and Kedah, by the Siamese in May 1897. Both provinces had been separated from Kedah in 1821. The event, held in Balai Besar, was attended by the Crown Prince of Kedah, Tuanku Abdul Aziz, as a representative of Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah. On July 25, 1905, the Legislative Council of Kedah, Majlis Mesyuarat Negeri, was formed in Alor Setar, with the Crown Prince, Tuanku Abdul Aziz, as its president. Following the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 on July 7, 1909, the transfer of power from the Siamese to the British administration was held on July 15, 1909, at Balai Besar. Alor Setar fell to the Japanese occupation on December 13, 1945 and was annexed to the Siamese state until 1946.

The town celebrated its 250th birthday in 1985. A proposal to upgrade the town to city status was made in 2000. Alor Setar was proclaimed a city – the ninth in Malaysia — on December 2003. During the ceremony, the city was formally renamed Alor Star, the third time the city has changed its name, from Kota Setar to Alor Setar and Alor Star. On January 15, 2009, the historical spelling Alor Setar was returned to be its official designation.