Malay kingship in Kedah: Religion, trade, and society (AsiaWorld)

• Main Author: Mozaffari Falarti, Maziar
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Published: Lexington Books / Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2013
• Subjects: Kedah or Quedah; Malaysian history; Naga or Naga worship; Premodern History; Sea peoples or sea gypsies or orang laut; Southeast Asian History; aceh or atjeh or acheh; asian history; bay of bengal; bugis or makassar or illanun or iranun or minangkabou; entrepot; gulf of siam; hikayat; indigenous political systems; islam; langkawi or lancavi; malay ethos; malay kingship; malay study; marong mahawangsa; melaka or malacca straits; orang asli or aboriginal or indigenous peoples of Malay peninsula; patani or northern malay; penang or pinang or prince of wales island; persia or persian; raja; ramayana or mahabharata; religious conversion; royal geneology; siamese invasion; songkhla or singora; sufism or sufi; sultan; tantric; trade routes; transpeninsular routes; wayang kulit or shadow puppet; Prince of Wales Island; Sultan
• Online Access: https://eprints.qut.edu.au/53833/

The book probes and examines traditional sources of royal power and control, as well as indigenous socio-political systems in the Malay world. It is focused on the north-western Malaysian Sultanate of Kedah which is acknowledged as the oldest unbroken independent kingship line in the ‘Malay and Islamic world’ with 1,000 years of history. Little scholarly attention has been paid to its pre-modern history, society, religion, system of government and unique geographic situation, potentially controlling both land and sea lines of communication into the remainder of Southeast Asia. It will thus provide the first comprehensive treatment in English, or other languages, on Kedah’s pre-modern and nineteenth century historiography and can provide a foundation for comparative studies of the various Malay states which is presently lacking. The proposed book also sheds much needed light on a range of important topics in Malay history including: Kedah and the northern Melaka Straits history, colonial expansion and rivalry, Southeast Asian history and politics, interregional migration and the influence of the sea peoples or orang laut, traditional Malay socio-political and economic life, Islamic influences and the course of Thai-Malay relations. The book attempts to offer a new understanding, not only of Kedah, but of the political and cultural development of the entire Malay world and of its relationships with the broader forces in both its continental and maritime settings. It argues that Kedah does not seem to follow, and in fact, often seems to contradict what has been commonly been accepted as the “typical model” of the traditional Malay state. Thus it concludes that the ruling dynasty has historically exploited a wide range of unique environmental conditions, local traditions, global spiritual trends and economic forces to preserve and strengthen its political position. The scope and theme of book The Kedah Sultanate is the oldest unbroken independent kingship lines in the “Malay world” with 1,000 years of history, and ...