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KEDAI
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KEDAI .—This See also:state, on the See also:west See also:coast of the See also:peninsula, lies between See also:parallels 5° 20' and 6° 42' N., and is bounded, N. by Palit and Songkla, E. by Songkla and Raman, S. by See also:Province See also:Wellesley and See also:Perak, and W. by the See also:sea. The coast-See also:line is 65 m. See also:long, the greatest distance from See also:north to See also:south is try m. and the greatest breadth 46 m. Off the coast lies a See also:group of islands, the largest of which is Langkawi, well peopled and forming a See also:district of the state.
The See also:total See also:area of Kedah is about 4000 sq. m. The See also:land is See also:low-lying and swampy near the coast except towards the south where the height known as Kedah See also: 8000) situated in the south, are unimposing collections of small See also:birch houses and thatched See also:bamboo huts; the latter is the centre of the Kedah See also:tin See also:mining See also:industry. The bulk of the population is scattered over the plains in small villages. A good road runs north from Alor Star to the border of the state, a distance of 40 miles, and other roads are being constructed. The state has 185 miles of See also:telegraph line and 75 miles of See also:telephone line. Mails are closed daily at Alor Star for Penang and there is a good See also:internal postal service. The See also:chief industry is See also:rice cultivation. Coco-See also:nut, betel-nut and See also:fruit plantations are many, and the cultivation of See also:rubber has recently been taken up with prospects of success. The estimated area under cultivation is about 300,000 acres. There are rice-See also:mills at Alor Star and at Kuala Muda. The See also:principal exports are rice, See also:cattle and tin. The chief imports are See also:cotton goods, provisions, hardware and raw See also:silk. Accurate See also:trade See also:statistics are not available. The ruler holds the See also:rank of See also:sultan and is assisted in the government by a See also:council and by the See also:British adviser who since the state passed from Siamese to British See also:protection in 1909, has replaced the officer formerly appointed by See also:Siam. The sultan comes of a See also:family long recognized by Siam as having hereditary right to the rulership. The penal and See also:civil See also:laws are administered in accordance with the precepts of Islamism, the See also:official See also:religion of the state. Though much has been done to improve the courts, See also:justice is not easily obtain-able. A land See also:registration See also:system is in force but is in a state of confusion, though a land See also:law passed in 1905 gives See also:security of See also:tenure over lands newly acquired. The mining laws are similar to those of Siam. In 1905 the Siamese government advanced two and a half million dollars to Kedah, to pay the debts of the state, which sum was refunded by the British Government on assuming the position of See also:protector. The See also:annual See also:revenue is $1,000,000 and the See also:expenditure about the same. Chief heads of revenue are See also:opium and land tax. Many revenue monopolies, created in the past, have not yet expired; but for this the revenue would be greater than it is. There is no See also:army. In 1906 the See also:police service was reorganized under British See also:officers, resulting in See also:great improvement to this See also:department. The state is divided into a number of administrative districts under See also:Malay officials. Each district comprises several mukim or parishes, the See also:imam of which exercise both spiritual and temporal See also:control. There are See also:schools in the chief towns, but See also:education has not yet been seriously undertaken. Kedah was founded by colonists from See also:India in A.D. 1200, about which See also:time the Siamese had subdued Nakhon Sri Tammarat and claimed the whole Malay Peninsula. When the rise of Malacca shook Siamese authority in the peninsula, Kedah oscillated between them, and on the See also:conquest of Malacca by the Portuguese, See also:fell to Siam, though the capital was raided and burnt by the Europeans. The ruler and his See also:people were converted to See also:Islam in the 15th See also:century. In 1768, the Siamese See also:kingdom being disorganized, the sultan of Kedah entered into See also:direct See also:political relations with the Hon. See also:East India See also:Company, leasing the See also:island of Penang to the latter. Further See also:treaties followed in 1791 and 1802, but in 1821 Siam reasserted her control, expelling the rebellious sultan after a sanguinary See also:war. The sultan made several fruitless efforts to recover the state, and at length made full submission, when he was reinstated. In 1868 an agreement between Great See also:Britain and Siam was substituted for the treaties of the East India Company with the sultan. The See also:present sultan succeeded in 1881, and for 14 years governed well, but in 1895 he began to See also:contract debts and to leave the government to his minions. The result was See also:chaos, and in 1905 the Siamese government had to intervene to avert a See also:condition of See also:bankruptcy, adjusting the finances and reorganizing the See also:general See also:administration to such effect that when, four years later, the state became a British dependency, a government was found established on a See also:sound basis and requiring nothing but the presence of a See also:firm and experienced officer as adviser to maintain its efficiency and assist its further advance. PERras (Palit).—This small state, consisting of the See also:left See also:bank drainage area of the Perlis River, lies between Setul and Kedah, which See also:bound it on the N. and W. and on the E. respectively. It touches the sea only See also:round the mouth of the river. The population is about to,000, Malays and Chinese. The chief town, Perlis, is situated about 12 M. Up the river. A good See also:deal of tin is worked, and rice and See also:pepper are grown and exported. In the See also:early See also:part of the 19th century Perlis was a district of Kedah, but during a See also:period of disturbance in the latter state it established itself as a See also:separate chiefdom. In 1897 Siam restored the nominal authority of Kedah, but the measure was not productive of good. In 1905 the Siamese government advanced a See also:loan of $200,000 to Perlis, and appointed an See also:English adviser to assist in the general administration. This See also:money was refunded to Siam and the adviser relieved by a British officer when the state became British in See also:July 1909. The condition of the state has improved, but the revenue, $8o,000, is not sufficient for the immediate needs of government. AUrxoRITIES.—See also:Norman, The Far East (See also:London, 1895) ; H. See also:Clifford, in the See also:Geographical See also:Journal (London, 1896); See also:Carter, The Kingdom of Siam (London, 1904); See also:Graham, Reports on See also:Kelantan (See also:Bangkok, 1905-1909) ; See also:Skeat and Blagden, See also:Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula (London, 1906) ; See also:Hart, Reports on Kedah (See also:Calcutta, 1907–1909) ; Graham, Kelantan, a Handbook (See also:Glasgow, 1907). (W. A. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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