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PERAK

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 480 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PERAK is situated between the See also:

parallels 3° 37' and 6° 5' N. and See also:loo° 3' to tot° 51' E. on the western See also:side of the See also:Malay See also:Peninsula. It is bounded on the N. by the See also:British See also:possession of See also:Province See also:Wellesley and the Malay See also:state of Kedah; on the S. by the protected native state of See also:Selangor; on the E. by the protected native state of Pahang and the See also:independent states of See also:Kelantan and Petani; and on the W. by the Straits of Malacca. The See also:coast-See also:line is about 90 M. in length. The extreme distance from the most northerly to the most southerly portions of the state is about 172 m., and the greatest breadth from See also:east to See also:west is about too m. The See also:total See also:area of the See also:country is estimated at about to,000 sq. m. The Perak See also:river, which runs in a southerly direction almost parallel with the coast for nearly 150 M. of its course, is navigable for small steamers for about 40 M. from its mouth, and by native trading boats for nearly 200 M. The Plus, Batang, Padang and Kinta See also:rivers are its See also:principal tributaries, all of them falling into the Perak on its See also:left See also:bank. The other principal rivers of the state are the Krian, Kurau, Larut and Bruas to the See also:north of the mouth of the Perak, and the Bernam to the See also:south. None of these rivers is of any See also:great importance as a waterway, although the Bernam River is navigable for small steamers for nearly loo m. of its course. The See also:mountain ranges, which See also:cover a considerable area, run from the north-east to the south-west. The highest altitudes attained by them do not exceed 7500 ft., but they See also:average about 2500 ft. They are all thickly covered with See also:jungle.

The ranges are two, See also:

running parallel to one another, with the valley of the Perak between them. The larger is a portion of the See also:main See also:chain, which runs down the peninsula from north to south. The lesser is situated in the See also:district of Larut. There are several See also:hill sanatoria in the state at heights which .vary from 2500 to 4700 ft. above See also:sea-level, but the extreme humidity of the See also:atmosphere renders the coolness thus obtainable the See also:reverse of enjoyable. Mr Leonard Wray, See also:curator of the Perak museum, writes as follows on the subject of the See also:geological formation of the state: " There See also:Geology. are really only four formations represented—firstly, the granitic rocks; secondly, a large See also:series of beds of See also:gneiss, See also:quartzite, schist and See also:sandstone, overlaid in many places by thick beds of crystalline See also:limestone; thirdly, small sheets of See also:trap See also:rock; and fourthly, river-gravels and other See also:Quaternary deposits. The granites are of many varieties, and also, in all See also:probability, of several different geological periods. The series of quartzites, See also:schists, and limestone are of great See also:age, but as no fossils have ever been found in any of them, nothing definite can be stated as to their exact See also:chronological position. Their lithological characteristics and the total See also:absence of all organic remains point to the Archaean See also:period. The failure to discover signs of See also:life in them is, of course, merely negative See also:evidence, and the finding of a single fossil would at once upset it. However, until this happens they may be conveniently classed as Laurentian. It is at See also:present impossible to See also:form anything approaching an accurate estimate of the thickness of this extensive series, but it is probable that it is somewhere between 4000 and 5000 ft.

Unconformability has been noticed between the limestones and the beds beneath, but whether this is sufficient to See also:

separate them or not is a See also:matter for future investigation. . . . The taller hills are exclusively composed of See also:granite, as also are some of the See also:lower ones. . . . The ores of the following metals have been found in the formations named: Granite—See also:tin, See also:lead, See also:iron, See also:arsenic, See also:tungsten and See also:titanium; Laurentian—tin, See also:gold, lead, See also:silver, iron, arsenic, See also:copper, See also:zinc, tungsten, See also:manganese and See also:bismuth; Quaternary—tin, gold, copper, tungsten, iron and titanium. This is not to be considered a See also:complete See also:list, as small quantities of other metals have also been found." The See also:early See also:history of Perak is obscure, the only See also:information on the subject being obtained from native traditions, which are altogether untrustworthy. According to these authorities, however, a See also:settle- was later moved to the See also:banks of the Perak River, the site chosen being a little See also:village called Temong, which lies some See also:miles History. up stream from Kuala Kangsar, the present See also:residence of the See also:sultan. When the Malacca sultanate See also:fell, owing to the invasion of the Portuguese in 1511, a member of that royal See also:house is said to have migrated to Perak, and the present See also:dynasty claims to have been descended from him. As this boast is also made by almost every ruling See also:family in the peninsula, the tradition is not worthy of any See also:special See also:attention. What is more certain is the tradition that Perak was twice invaded by the Achinese, and its rulers carried off into captivity, one of them, Sultan Mansur Shah, subsequently becoming the ruler of See also:Achin. The first See also:European See also:settlement in Perak was made by the Dutch in 1650, under a treaty entered into with the Achinese, but the natives of the country See also:rose against the Dutch again and again, and it was abandoned in 1783, though it was afterwards reoccupied, the Dutch being finally ejected by the British in 1795. In 1818 the Siamese conquered Perak, but its See also:independence was secured by a treaty between the British and Siamese governments in 1824.

From that date until 1874 Perak was ruled by its own sultans, but in that See also:

year, owing to See also:internal strife, Sultan Abdullah applied to the then See also:governor of the Straits Settlements, See also:Sir See also:Andrew See also:Clarke, for the assistance of a British See also:Resident. The treaty of Pangkor was concluded on the loth of See also:January 1874, and the first resident, Mr J. W. W. See also:Birch, was murdered on the 2nd of See also:November 1875. A punitive expedition became necessary; sultan Abdullah and the other chiefs concerned in the See also:murder were banished, the actual murderers were hanged, and See also:Raja Muda Jusuf was declared See also:regent. He died in 1888, and was succeeded by the sultan Raja Idris, K.C.M.G., a most enlightened ruler, who was from the first a strong and intelligent See also:advocate of British methods of See also:administration. Sir See also:Hugh See also:Low was appointed resident, a position which he held until 1889, when he was succeeded by Sir See also:Frank Swettenham. Since then the history of Perak has been one of continuous See also:peace and growing prosperity and See also:wealth. Although the federal See also:capital is Kuala Lumpor in Selangor, Perak still enjoys the See also:honour of being the See also:senior and leading state of the federation. By the See also:census taken on the 5th of See also:April 1891 the See also:population of Perak was shown to be as follows: Europeans, 366; Eurasians, See also:Jews and Armenians, 293; See also:Malays, 96,719; See also:Chinese, population. 94,345; See also:Tamils, 13,086; See also:aborigines, 5779; other nationalities, 3666; thus making a See also:grand total of 214,254, of whom 156,408 were See also:males and 57,846 were See also:females.

The estimated population in 1905 was 400,000, of whom 200,000 were Chinese and 160,000 were Malays, but owing to the disparity of, the proportions between the sexes the deaths in each year largely outnumber the births, and the increase in the population is accounted for solely by the number of immigrants, chiefly from the mainland of See also:

China, and to a lesser extent from See also:India also. The See also:revenue of Perak in 1874 amounted to $226,333. That for 1905 amounted to $12,242,897. Of this latter sum $4,876,400 was derived from See also:duty on exported tin, $2,489,300 from railway receipts, $505,300 from See also:land revenue and $142,800 from postal and telegraphic revenue. The See also:remainder is mainly derived from the revenue farms, which are leased to Chinese capitalists for a See also:short See also:term of years, conveying to the lessee the right to collect import duties upon See also:opium, See also:wine and See also:spirits, to keep See also:pawnbroking shops, and to keep public licensed gambling-houses for the use of Chinese only. The See also:expenditure for 1905 amounted to $10,141,980. Of this sum $4,236,000 was expended upon railway upkeep and construction and $2,176,100 upon public See also:works. The value of the imports into Perak during 1905 was over $20,000,000, and that of the ex-ports exceeded $40,000,000, making a total of over $6o,000,000, See also:equivalent to about seven million See also:sterling. The output of tin from Perak ranged between 18,960 tons, valued at $23,099,506 in 1899, and 26,600 tons, valued at $35,500,000, in 1905. The fluctuating See also:character of the output is due, not to any exhaustion of the See also:mineral deposits of the state—that is not to be anticipated for many years yet to come—but to the uncertainty of the labour See also:supply. The See also:mining population is recruited exclusively from the districts of See also:southern China, and during certain years an increased demand for labourers in China itself, in See also:French Indo-China, in the Dutch colonies, and in South See also:Africa temporarily and adversely affected See also:immigration to the Straits of Malacca. The output has, moreover, been affected from See also:time to time by the See also:price of tin, which was $32.20 per pikul in 1896, rose to $42.96 in 1898, to $74.15 in 1900, and averaged $80.60 in 1905.

Exclusive of tin, the principal exports were $108,000 See also:

worth of See also:Para See also:rubber, $181,000 of See also:copra, $54,000 of hides, $48,000 of patchouli, and considerable quantities of See also:timber, rattans and other jungle produce. The agricultural development of the state is still in its See also:infancy, but rubber is cultivated in rapidly increasing areas, and the known fertility of the See also:soil, the steady and See also:regular rainfall, the excellent means of communication, and the natural and artificial conditions of the country, justify the expectation that the future of Perak as an agricultural country will be prosperous. Although so much has been done to develop the resources of Perak, by far the greater portion of the state is still covered by dense and virgin See also:forest. In 1898 it was calculated that only 330,249 acres of land were occupied or cultivated out of a total acreage of 6,400,000. The area of agricultural holdings has notably increased, but a considerable period must yet elapse before it will amount to even one-Geaeral. tenth of the whole. A line of railway connects the See also:port of Teluk See also:Anson with the great mining district of Kinta, whence the line runs, See also:crossing the Perak River at Enggor, to Kuala Kangsar, the residence of the sultan, thence to Taiping, the administrative capital of the state, and via Krian to a point opposite to the See also:island of See also:Penang. A second line runs south from Perak and connects with the railway See also:system of Selangor, which in its turn connects with the See also:Negri Sembilan and Malacca line, thus giving through railway communication between the last-named See also:town and Penang. Perak also possesses some 600 miles of excellent metalled See also:cart-road, and the length of completed road is annually increasing. For administrative purposes the state is divided into six districts: Upper Perak, Kuala Kangsar and Lower Perak, on the Perak River; Kinta; Batany Padang and Larut and Krian. Of these, Larut and Kinta are the principal mining centres, while Krian is the most prosperous agricultural district. The districts on the Perak River are mostly peopled by Malays. The administrative capital is Taiping, the See also:chief town of Larut.

Kuala Kangsar is chiefly memorable aa. having been the See also:

scene of the first federal See also:meeting of native chiefs, who, with the British Residents from each state, met together in 1897 for friendly discussion of their See also:common interests for the first time in history, under the auspices of the high See also:commissioner, Sir See also:Charles H. B. See also:Mitchell. This, in the eyes of those who are acquainted with the character of the Malays and of the relations which formerly subsisted between the rulers of the various states, is perhaps the most See also:signal token of the changes which British See also:influence has wrought in the peninsula.

End of Article: PERAK

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