Kingdom Of Setul Mambang Segara
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Setul, officially the Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara ( ms, Kerajaan Setul Mambang Segara; Jawi: ; ; ) was a traditional Malay kingdom founded in the northern coast of the
Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...
. The state was established in 1808 in wake of the partition between the rulers in the
Royal House of Kedah Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...
. The partition witnessed the territory being seceded to the
cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, title ...
of the royal family. The sovereignty of the kingdom effectively ended in 1916, following the dissolution by the Siamese government. Its borders were largely inherited to its successive province, the present-day
Satun Satun (, , ms, Setul) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Satun Province. It covers the whole ''tambon'' Phiman of Mueang Satun. Satun lies 985 km south of Bangkok. As of 2005 it has a population of 21,498 ...
,
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
.


Etymology

Setul derived its name from ''Buah Setul'', a local name for Cottonfruit native to the area, while its honorific title - ''Mambang Segara'' is a Malay variant of the Sea Deity, as an ancient guardian of the sun and sea, potentially tied from the ancient Malay mysticism due to its location off the western seaboard of the Malay Peninsula. An interpretation of ''Mambang Segara'' can also be seen on its present day provincial seal. The state was also colloquially referred to Setoi, a
Kedahan Malay Kedahan Malays ( Malay: ''Melayu Kedah'', Jawi: ملايو ﻗﺪﺡ) or commonly known as Orang Utara ('Northerners'), is a sub-group of Malays who are native to northern Malaysia (in the states Kedah, Penang and Perlis as well northernmost p ...
cognate of the territory. In the Thai language, the state was known as ''Satun'' (), the Thai pronunciation was later adopted to the present-day name of the
province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
.


History


Origin

Once located in the heartland of
Kedah Kingdom By around 788 BCE, a large settlement had been established on the northern bank of the Merbok River. The settlement was one of several in the Bujang Valley, covering the Merbok and Muda Rivers, about 1000 square miles. The Merbok settlement wa ...
, Setul rise to prominence following the death of Abdullah Mukarram Shah, the 20th Sultan of Kedah, in 1797. The demise of the monarch resulted the crowning of Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah II as the new Sultan. The election was endorsed and recognised by the Rattanakosin Kingdom of
Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...
, who perceived Kedah as their
vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...
. The appointment however, rapidly erupted into a severe secession crisis in the Royal House after it was contested by the crown prince, Tunku Bisnu. Aiding to reconcile the two rivalling parties, the Siamese appointed Tunku Bisnu as the ruler of Setul, signifying the birth of Kedah into two separate realms. Tunku Bisnu spends most of his reign in Kedah over
Setul Setul, officially the Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara ( ms, Kerajaan Setul Mambang Segara; Jawi: ; ; ) was a traditional Malay kingdom founded in the northern coast of the Malay Peninsula. The state was established in 1808 in wake of the par ...
, with local affairs was mainly administrated by his aide, Dato' Wan Abdullah. Nonetheless, as recorded by ''Syair Sultan Maulana'', it was narrated that Tunku Bisnu was a capable ruler that led the Kedahan troops during the war against
Konbaung Dynasty The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
forces in Salang (present-day Phuket, Thailand).


Ratification

By 1833, the royal courts of Kedah entered another crisis between Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Syah II and Tunku Embun (Tunku Yaakub), the crown prince. The crisis was predominantly derived from the sultan's refusal to appoint the crown prince to be the King of Kayang (Perlis) and Setul. This resulted Tunku Embun to request military assistance from the Governor of Ligor to overthrow the Kedahan government, falsely claiming that the Sultan has allied with the British. The armed conflict was known locally as ''Perang Musuh Berbisik'' (War of the whispering enemies). During the War of 1833, the geographical location provided in Setul was used for the advantage by the Kedahan militia led by Dato Wan Mad Ali (Dato Setia Sengkara), to launch an attack against the Siamese in
Terang Terang is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Corangamite and on the Princes Highway south west of the state's capital, Melbourne. At the , Terang had a population of 1,824. At the 2001 census, ...
, Ayer Kelubi dan Pulau Panjang. Following the fall of Kedah, Dato Wan Mad Ali was forced to move to
Langkawi Langkawi, officially known by its sobriquet Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah ( ms, Langkawi Permata Kedah ), is a duty-free island and an archipelago of 99 islands (plus five small islands visible only at low tide in the Strait of Malacca) locate ...
along with an exodus of 100 Malay families from Setul. The
coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
led by Tunku Yaakob was proven to be successful, as the sultan was forced to retreat in the British-backed
Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...
and later exiled in
Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...
. Nonetheless, Tunku Yaakob's request to be appointed as the Sultan of Kedah was refused. He and his son, Tunku Sulaiwan were later brutally executed by the order of the Siamese King after he was found guilty of spreading malicious news of the previous sultan. Following the victory, the Siamese then formed a border reformation that divided Kedah into 4 separate territories and appointing Tunku Muhammad Akib, the prince of Tunku Bisnu as the new King of Setul. The border reformation was parallel to the Partition of Pattani made by the Siamese earlier in 1809, the earlier partition witnessed the birth of Malay state of Pattani into 7 separate kingdoms. The partition was ratified by 1843, when Zainal Rashid, the Sultan of Kedah bought a royal entourage to the Siamese government in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
. The royal entourage consist of Tunku Anum, the ruler of Kubang Pasu; Syed Hussein, the ruler of Perlis and Tunku Muhammad Akib, the ruler of Setul. They pledged their loyalty to the Siamese crown, together with a
Bunga Mas The bunga emas dan perak ( "golden and silver flowers", th, ต้นไม้เงินต้นไม้ทอง ), often abbreviated to bunga mas ( Jawi: "golden flowers"), was a tribute sent every three years to the king of Ayutthaya ( ...
as a sign of tributary from each of the respective territories. Signifying the birth of the state into four separate dominions. Despite the fact that Kedah was officially partitioned into 4 distinct kingdoms, all of the states maintained a close economic and kinship ties. Several exemplification can be witnessed during this era, the royal marriage between Tunku Jahara, the member of Kubang Pasu Royalty with Tunku Ahmad the prince of Kedah; and in 1904, between Tunku Jura, a Kedahan princess with Syed Zahir, a royal member of the Setul Kingdom.


Post-partition

Tunku Ismail seceded to the throne of Setul in 1876 after the death of Tunku Muhammad Akib. The king was alleged to be an incompetent leader for the administration of the state. Internal strife in the Royal House of Setul caused a relative of Tunku Ismail, Tunku Muhammad to established a kingdom in Langu, north of Setul in 1882. Both of the territories managed to be reunified afterwards after a consolidation by the Siamese government. There were several infrastructure developments can be witnessed during the reign of Tunku Ismail, including the construction of several roads, fort, the town hall and managing the rivers in Setul. Tunku Ismail also ordered the construction of a brick prison, enlarging the court, improving the telegram network and introducing the postal service. His rule also witnessed a closer relationship with the Siamese, with the kingdom sends 260 individuals to subdue the Chinese rebellion of Phuket in 1878 together with the troops from Kedah and Perlis. He was awarded the
Order of the White Elephant __NOTOC__ The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์อันเป็นที่เชิดชูยิ่งช้างเผือก; ) is an order (decoration), orde ...
for his active role in aiding the Siamese during the revolt. Tunku Abdul Rahman replaced Tunku Ismail as the king upon his death in 1888, with Tunku Muhammad appointed as the crown prince. He managed to further develop various infrastructures centred around the capital. Despite so, towards the end of his 10-year reign, he became permanently insane.


Reformation

The vacant seat of the king has led Kedah to appoint Tunku Baharuddin bin Ku Meh as a Governor for the administrative works in Setul. Better known as Ku Din, he was a commander in the
Alor Setar Alor Setar ( Jawi: الور ستار, Kedahan: ''Loqstaq'') is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia. It is the second-largest city in the state after Sungai Petani and one of the most-important cities on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia ...
prison. Ku Din was known to be a capable leader, nonetheless he doesn't received much approval from the general public since he is not a member of the Setul royalty. The appointment of Ku Din as the Governor of Setul also angered Tunku Muhammad, the crown prince as he was supposed to rule the kingdom. As the crown prince doesn't received much recognition from the Royal Courts of Kedah, he tried to sought assistance in Bangkok. His efforts proved to be vain since Ku Din was far more influential compared to the crown prince. Tunku Muhammad however, was absorbed into the Satun administration after several months since the appointment of Ku Din. Ku Din rapidly forged closer ties to the Siamese central government upon his appointment as the Governor. He began to send
Bunga Mas The bunga emas dan perak ( "golden and silver flowers", th, ต้นไม้เงินต้นไม้ทอง ), often abbreviated to bunga mas ( Jawi: "golden flowers"), was a tribute sent every three years to the king of Ayutthaya ( ...
tributaries separately from Kedah. The separate Bunga Mas caused a severe strain in the Kedah-Setul diplomatic relationship, as the possession from the state was customarily sent via Kedah, since both the Siamese and Kedah perceived Setul as a Kedahan principality. The link between the two kingdoms only began to be restored after a reconciliation by Che Ampuan Manyalara, the Queen of Kedah. Ku Din widely emulated many similar features from the Kedahan administration system, including the introduction of the Head of Education Department, Malay School Headmaster,
Chinese Kapitan Kapitan Cina, also spelled Kapitan China or Capitan China ( en, Captain of the Chinese; ; nl, Kapitein der Chinezen), was a high-ranking government position in the civil administration of Dutch East Indies, colonial Indonesia, British Malaya, Ma ...
, Royal Officer Service, Head of the Judicial Court, '' Kadzi'', Head of Medical Department, Head of the Police Force,
Auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and au ...
,
Translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
and various other departments. He also improved the police department by recruiting 36 armed-force from
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
. Ku Din was also known to introduce uniforms for the government servant. Towards the end of his rule, he launched many rules and regulations that accommodate his pro-Siamese ideals. He started to introduce the Siamese language as the language of the courts and administration, replacing
Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...
. This led to the resignation of many government officials who are not familiar with the language. His pro-Siamese leadership also resulted to a resistant movement by the native Malays in the territory, although the movement was later being subdued by the Siamese government. By 1902, he was proclaimed as the King of Setul, bearing the
regnal name A regnal name, or regnant name or reign name, is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and, subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they ac ...
of Tunku Baharuddin bin Ku Meh. The proclamation was affirmed by the Governors of southern Siam and the Siamese government.


Dissolution

In 1892, Setul was returned to Kedah. Nonetheless, the Kedahan sovereignty over Setul was gradually being eroded by the Siamese. By 1902, it is evident that Ku Din holds a full-autonomous power over Setul against Kedah. The Kedahan jurisdiction in Setul was officially ended by 1909 in wake of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty. The British had planned for an inclusion of Setul together with Kedah and Perlis due to the strong ties between the states, but did not managed to succeeded in its claim due to the reluctance of the Siamese King. Tengku Din was officially abdicated in its position in 1916, 6 years after the consolidation of Setul in Siam. He was awarded as "The Devoted King" by the Siamese central government for his efforts in developing Setul. He was, however, perceived as a traitor in Kedah for his role in dividing the sultanate.


Aftermath

The Siamese decided to discontinued the Malay kingship system in Setul. The King was replaced by a Governor from
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
, Prak Khoja Ishak. It was recorded that Setul continued to be developed under his leadership. It was during his rule that the role of Islam continued to flourish and the position of ''Khadi Besar'' (Head Khadi) was introduced, a position filled by Dato’ Yutilamdilantik. The Prak Khoja Ishak administration marked the end of the full Malay-medium of education in the area. The education system was reformed and incorporated the Thai language as the medium of instruction. This resulted a gradual
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
and identity shift among the Malay community in Setul. Today, only a small percentage of Thai Muslim in Satun that are conversant in the language, a far-cry for her historical sister states down south. Presently, the Thai government has already reintroduced
Malay language Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spo ...
lesson in the curricula in some schools in the province, an act to help preserving the culture and identity of the modern
Thai Malays Thai Malays ( ms, Orang Melayu Thai, th, ไทยเชื้อสายมลายู: Jawi: ملايو تاي; Pattani Malay: Oré Nayu, Jawi or Bangso Yawi; Songkhla Malay: Oghae Nayu), with officially recognised terms including 'Malay ...
in Satun.


Rulers


Gallery

Map of Siam in 1900.png, Map of Setul (Satun) as part of Monthon Syburi (Kedah) in 1900 Kuden Mansion.jpg, The Kuden Mansion (present-day Satun National Museum), historically constructed by Tunku Baharuddin, the building was erected as a residence of the Siamese King during his visit to the province.


See also

*
Kingdom of Kubang Pasu Darul Qiyam Kubang Pasu, officially known as the Kingdom of Kubang Pasu Darul Qiyam ( ms, Kerajaan Kubang Pasu Darul Qiyam; Jawi script, Jawi: کراجاءن کوبڠ ڤاسو دار القيام; ; ) was a historical Malay people, Malay Kingdom located i ...
, another historical Malay Kingdom born during the Partition of Kedah. *
List of Sunni Muslim dynasties The following is a list of Sunni Muslim dynasties. Asia Middle East Arabian Peninsula * Banu Wajih (926–965) *Sharif of Mecca (967–1925) * Al Uyuniyun (1076–1253) *Sulaymanids (1063–1174) *Mahdids (1159–1174) *Kathiri (Hadhramaut) ( ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{citation , last = Ooi Keat Gin , first = , title = Warisan Wilayah Utara Semenanjung Malaysia , publisher = Universiti Sains Malaysia , year = 2015 , url = https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ooi_Keat_Gin_Warisan_Wilayah_Utara_Semenanjung_Mal?id=kRKoCgAAQBAJ&hl=en Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of Setul Mambang Segara, Kingdom of