Perak

Listening to basim... Cannot sleep :(

Listening to basim... Cannot sleep :(

Perak is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's Yala and Narathiwat provinces both lie to the northeast. Perak's capital city, Ipoh, was known historically for its tin-mining activities until the price of the metal dropped, severely affecting the state's economy. The royal capital remains Kuala Kangsar, where the palace of the Sultan of Perak is located. As of 2018, the state's population was 2,500,000. Perak has diverse tropical rainforests and an equatorial climate. The state's mountain ranges belong to the Titiwangsa Mountains, which is part of the larger Tenasserim Hills system that connects Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. Perak's Mount Korbu is the highest point of the range.

The discovery of an ancient skeleton in Perak supplied missing information on the migration of Homo sapiens from mainland Asia through Southeast Asia to the Australian continent. Known as Perak Man, the skeleton is dated at around 10,000 years old. An early Hindu or Buddhist kingdom, followed by several other minor kingdoms, existed before the arrival of Islam. By 1528, a Muslim sultanate began to emerge in Perak, out of the remnants of the Malaccan Sultanate. Although able to resist Siamese occupation for more than two hundred years, the Sultanate was partly controlled by the Sumatra-based Aceh Sultanate. This was particularly the case after the Aceh lineage took over the royal succession. With the arrival of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and the VOC's increasing conflicts with Aceh, Perak began to distance itself from Acehnese control. The presence of the English East India Company (EIC) in the nearby Straits Settlements of Penang provided additional protection for the state, with further Siamese attempts to conquer Perak thwarted by British expeditionary forces.

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 was signed to prevent further conflict between the British and the Dutch. It enabled the British to expand their control in the Malay Peninsula without interference from other foreign powers. The 1874 Pangkor Treaty provided for direct British intervention, with Perak appointing a British Resident. Following Perak's subsequent absorption into the Federated Malay States (FMS), the British reformed administration of the sultanate through a new style of government, actively promoting a market-driven economy and maintaining law and order while combatting the slavery widely practised across Perak at the time. The three-year Japanese occupation in World War II halted further progress. After the war, Perak became part of the temporary Malayan Union, before being absorbed into the Federation of Malaya. It gained full independence through the Federation, which subsequently became Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

Perak is ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse. The state is known for several traditional dances: bubu, dabus, and labu sayong, the latter name also referring to Perak's unique traditional pottery. The head of state is the Sultan of Perak, and the head of government is the Menteri Besar. Government is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system, with the state administration divided into administrative districts. Islam is the state religion, and other religions may be practised freely. Malay and English are recognised as the official languages of Perak. The economy is mainly based on services and manufacturing.

Etymology

There are many theories about the origin of the name Perak. Although not used until after 1529, the most popular etymology is "silver" (in Malay: perak). This is associated with tin mining from the state's large mineral deposits, reflecting the Perak's position as one of the world's largest sources of tin. The first Islamic kingdom established in the state was of the lineage of the Sultanate of Malacca. Some local historians have suggested that Perak was named after Malacca's bendahara, Tun Perak. In maps prior to 1561, the area is marked as Perat. Other historians believe that the name Perak derives from the Malay phrase "kilatan ikan dalam air" (the glimmer of fish in water), which looks like silver. Perak has been translated into Arabic as (Dār al-Riḍwān), "abode of grace".

History

Prehistory

Among the prehistoric sites in Malaysia where artefacts from the Middle Palaeolithic era have been found are Bukit Bunuh, Bukit Gua Harimau, Bukit Jawa, Bukit Kepala Gajah, and Kota Tampan in the Lenggong Archaeological Heritage Valley. Of these, Bukit Bunuh and Kota Tampan are ancient lakeside sites, the geology of Bukit Bunuh showing evidence of meteoric impact. The 10,000-year-old skeleton known as Perak Man was found inside the Bukit Gunung Runtuh cave at Bukit Kepala Gajah. Ancient tools discovered in the area of Kota Tampan, including anvils, cores, debitage, and hammerstones, provide information on the migrations of Homo sapiens. Other important Neolithic sites in the country include Bukit Gua Harimau, Gua Badak, Gua Pondok, and Padang Rengas, containing evidence of human presence in the Mesolithic Hoabinhian era.

In 1959, a British artillery officer stationed at an inland army base during the Malayan Emergency discovered the Tambun rock art, identified by archaeologists as the largest rock art site in the Malay Peninsula. Most of the paintings are located high above the cave floor, at an elevation of . Seashells and coral fragments scattered along the cave floor are evidence that the area was once underwater.

The significant numbers of statues of Hindu deities and of the Buddha found in Bidor, Kuala Selensing, Jalong, and Pengkalan Pegoh indicate that, before the arrival of Islam, the inhabitants of Perak were mainly Hindu or Buddhist. The influence of Indian culture and beliefs on society and values in the Malay Peninsula from early times is believed to have culminated in the semi-legendary Gangga Negara kingdom. The Malay Annals mention that Gangga Negara at one time fell under Siamese rule, before Raja Suran of Thailand sailed further south down the Malay Peninsula.

Sultanate of Perak

By the 15th century, a kingdom named Beruas had come into existence. Inscriptions found on early tombstones of the period show a clear Islamic influence, believed to have originated from the Sultanate of Malacca, the east coast of the Malay Peninsula, and the rural areas of the Perak River. The first organised local government systems to emerge in Perak were the Manjung government and several other governments in Central and Hulu Perak (Upper Perak) under Raja Roman and Tun Saban. With the spread of Islam, a sultanate subsequently emerged in Perak; the second oldest Muslim kingdom in the Malay Peninsula after the neighbouring Kedah Sultanate. Based on Salasilah Raja-Raja Perak (Perak Royal Genealogy), the Perak Sultanate was formed in the early 16th century on the banks of the Perak River by the eldest son of Mahmud Shah, the 8th Sultan of Malacca. He ascended to the throne as Muzaffar Shah I, first sultan of Perak, after surviving the capture of Malacca by the Portuguese in 1511 and living quietly for a period in Siak on the island of Sumatra. He became sultan through the efforts of Tun Saban, a local leader and trader between Perak and Klang. There had been no sultan in Perak when Tun Saban first arrived in the area from Kampar in Sumatra. Most of the area's residents were traders from Malacca and Selangor, and from Siak, Kampar, and Jambi in Sumatra. Among them was an old woman, Tok Masuka from Daik, who raised a Temusai child named Nakhoda Kassim. Before her death, she called on the ancestors of Sang Sapurba to take her place, to prevent the royal lineage from disappearing from the Malay Peninsula. Tun Saban and Nakhoda Kassim then travelled to Kampar, where Mahmud Shah agreed to their request and named his son the first Sultan of Perak.

Perak's administration became more organised after the Sultanate was established. In democratic Malacca, government was based on the feudal system. With the opening up of Perak in the 16th century, the state became a source of tin ore. It appears that anyone was free to trade in the commodity, although the tin trade did not attract significant attention until the 1610s.

Throughout the 1570s, the Sultanate of Aceh subjected most parts of the Malay Peninsula to continual harassment. The sudden disappearance of Perak's Sultan Mansur Shah I in mysterious circumstances in 1577 gave rise to rumours of abduction by Acehnese forces. Soon afterwards, the late Sultan's widow and his 16 children were taken as captives to Sumatra. Sultan Mansur Shah I's eldest son, Raja Alauddin Mansur Syah, married an Acehnese princess and subsequently became Sultan of Aceh. The Sultanate of Perak was left without a ruling monarch, and Perak nobles journeyed to Aceh in the same year to ask the new Sultan Alauddin for a successor. The ruler sent his younger brother to become Perak's third monarch. Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Shah ruled Perak for seven years, maintaining the unbroken lineage of the Malacca dynasty. Although Perak did fall under the authority of the Acehnese Sultanate, it remained entirely independent of Siamese control for over two hundred years from 1612, in contrast with its neighbour, Kedah, and many of the Malay sultanates in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula, which became tributary states of Siam.

When Sultan Sallehuddin Riayat Shah died without an heir in 1635, a state of uncertainty prevailed in Perak. This was exacerbated by a deadly cholera epidemic that swept through the state, killing many royal family members. Perak chieftains were left with no alternative but to turn to Aceh's Sultan Iskandar Thani, who sent his relative, Raja Sulong, to become the new Perak Sultan Muzaffar Shah II.

Aceh's influence on Perak began to wane when the Dutch East India Company (VOC) arrived, in the mid–17th century. …

Text taken from Wikipedia - Perak under the CC-BY-SA-3.0 on April 13, 2023

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