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MALAY STATES (SIAMESE)

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 484 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MALAY STATES (SIAMESE) . The authority of See also:Siam, which at one See also:time covered the whole of the Malay See also:peninsula, now extends southward to an irregular See also:line See also:drawn across the Peninsula at about 6° 30' N. Between that line and the See also:Isthmus of Kra, usually accepted as the northernmost point of the Malay Peninsula, there See also:lie some 20,000 sq. m. of territory inhabited by a mixed See also:population of Siamese and See also:Malays with here and there a few remnants of the aboriginal inhabitants clinging to the wilder districts, and with a few See also:Chinese settlers engaged in See also:commerce. Formerly this See also:tract was divided into a number of states, each of which was ruled by a See also:chief (Siamese, Chao Muang; Malay, See also:raja), who held his See also:title from the See also:king of Siam, but, subject to a few restrictions, conducted the affairs of his See also:state in accordance with his own desires; the See also:office of chief, moreover, was hereditary, subject always to the approval of the suzerain. The states formed two See also:groups: a See also:northern, including Langsuan, Chaya, Nakhon Sri Tammarat, Songkla, Renawng, Takoapa, Pang Nga, Tongka and Trang, in which the Siamese See also:element pre-dominated and of which the chiefs were usually Siamese or Chinese; and a See also:southern, including Palean, Satun (Setul), Patani, Raman, Jering, Sai (Teloban), Re Nge (Legeh), Yala (Jalor) and Nong Chik, in which the population was principally Malay and the ruler also Malay . Four other states of the See also:south-ern See also:group, See also:Kelantan, See also:Trengganu, Kedah and Perlis, of which the population is entirely Malay, passed from Siamese to 'See also:British See also:protection in 1909. With the See also:gradual consolidation of the Siamese See also:kingdom all the states of the northern group have been incorporated as See also:ordinary provinces of Siam (q.v.), the hereditary Chao Muang having died or been pensioned and replaced by officials of the Siamese See also:Civil Service, while the states themselves now constitute provinces of the administrative divisions of Chumpon, Nakhon Sri Tammarat and See also:Puket. The states of the southern group, however, retain their hereditary rulers, each of whom presides over a See also:council and governs with the aid of a Siamese assistant See also:commissioner and with a See also:staff of Siamese See also:district officials, subject to the See also:general See also:control of high commissioners under whom the states are grouped. This southern group, with a See also:total See also:area of about 7000 sq. m. and a population of 375,000, constitutes the Siamese Malay States. A British See also:consul with headquarters at Puket, and a See also:vice-consul who resides at Songkla, See also:watch over the interests of British subjects in the states of the See also:west and See also:east sides of the peninsula respectively. Other See also:foreign See also:powers are unrepresented. Palean.—This small state on the west See also:coast, bounded N. by the See also:province of Trang, E. by the Songkla See also:division, S. by the state of Setul, and W. by the See also:sea, is about 900 sq. m. in area, and has a population of about 20,000.

It is attached for administrative purposes to the province of Trang, and its See also:

people are chiefly engaged in the cultivation of See also:pepper, of which about 15o tons are annually exported. A few See also:tin mines are also worked. Satun (Setul).—This small state, bounded N. by Palean, E. by Songkla, S. by Perlis, and W. by the sea, contains about woo sq. m. area with a population of about 25,000, Malays, Siamese and a few Chinese. The See also:principal See also:production is pepper, which is exported in junks and in the small See also:Penang steamers which ply on the west coast of the peninsula. In 1897 Setul was placed under the control of Kedah, then a Siamese dependency, but the arrangement was not a success, and in 1907 the Siamese See also:government was forced, owing to prevailing corruption and See also:misrule, to restrict the powers of the chief and, cancelling the authority of Kedah, to See also:place him to some extent under the orders of the. high commissioner of Songkla. By the terms of the Anglo-Siamese treaty of 1909 about See also:half of the state of Perlis was added to Satun, an arrangement by which the importance of the latter was considerably increased. Patani.—The seven Malay states of Nawng Chik, Patani, Jering, Yala (Jalor), Sai (Teloban), Raman and Ra-ng6 (Legeh) were constituted from the old state of Patani at the beginning of the 19th See also:century. In 1906 they were reunited to See also:form the Patani administrative division of Siam, but each state retains its Malay ruler, who governs jointly with a Siamese officer under the direction of the Siamese high commissioner, and many of the See also:ancient privileges and customs of Malay government are preserved. The group ofstates is situated between 5° 34' and 6° 52' N. and too° 54' and tot° 58' E. It is bounded N. by the See also:China Sea, E. by the China Sea and Kelantan, S. by See also:Perak, and W. by Kedah. The total area is about 5000 sq. m. The See also:country is mountainous except See also:close to the coast.

The principal See also:

rivers are the Patani and tle Teloban, See also:long, winding and shallow, and navigable for small boats only. The population is about 335,000, of whom the See also:great See also:majority are Malays. Each state has its See also:capital, but Patani (the headquarters of the high commissioner) is the only See also:town of importance. Communications are vol. and are chiefly by See also:river, but roads are under construction. Patani and Sai are in telegraphic communication with See also:Bangkok and See also:Singapore, and See also:regular weekly mails are despatched to those places. The area under cultivation is small except See also:round about Patani and in Nawng Chik, where much See also:rice is grown. Tin See also:mining is a growing See also:industry; many Chinese own mines and several See also:European syndicates are at See also:work in Raman, Ra-nge and Patani, prospecting for, or mining, this See also:metal. Fishing and See also:salt-evaporation occupy a large proportion of the population. The See also:annual export of tin is about 400 tons, and dried See also:fish, salt, See also:cattle and elephants are other exports. Steamers up to 300 tons maintain frequent communication with Bangkok and Singapore, and the Patani roads afford See also:good anchorage at all seasons. See also:Mahommedan See also:law is followed in the See also:settlement of inherited See also:property disputes and of matrimonial affairs; otherwise the See also:laws of Siam obtain. Efficient law courts have been established in each state, and there is a serviceable force of See also:gendarmerie recruited from amongst Malays and Siamese alike.

The See also:

revenue amounts to about 600,000 ticals, or 45,000 a See also:year, one-third being payable to the rulers as private income for themselves and their relatives, one-third expended on the See also:administration, and one-third reserved for See also:special purposes, but it is usually found necessary to devote the last-mentioned third to the expenses of administration. Patani has been subject to Siam from the remotest times. It is said that the old state adopted Islamism in the 16th century, the chief, a relative of the See also:kings of Siam, embracing that See also:religion and at the same time revolting to Malacca. It has several times been necessary to send punitive expeditions to recall the state to its See also:allegiance. The See also:present rulers are mostly descended from the ruling families of the neighbouring state of Kelantan, but the chief of Patani itself is a member of the See also:family which ruled there in the days of its greatness. Throughout the 17th century Patani was resorted to by Portuguese, Dutch and See also:English merchants, who had factories ashore and used the place as an See also:emporium for See also:trade with Siam. In 1621 an engagement took place in the Patani roads between three Dutch and two British See also:ships, the latter being taken after the See also:president of the British merchants, See also:John Jourdain, had been killed. In 1899 the border between the state of Perak and Raman was fixed by an agreement between See also:England and Siam, a dispute of old See also:standing being thereby settled, but the question was reopened in the negotiations which preceded the Anglo-Siamese treaty of 1909, when a new border line was fixed between British and Siamese possessions in the Peninsula. (W. A.

End of Article: MALAY STATES (SIAMESE)

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