Kuala Kedah is a

mukim A mukim is a type of administrative division used in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The word ''mukim'' is a loanword in English. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay from the Arabic word: (meaning ''resident''). The clo ...

and parliamentary constituency in

Kota Setar District The Kota Setar District is a district in Kedah, Malaysia where the state capital Alor Star is situated.http://apps.water.gov.my/jpskomuniti/dokumen/DEEP_KOTA%20SETAR_APRIL2011.pdf Name The name ''Kota Setar'' came from the setar or ‘Stak’ tr ...

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It is a fishing port, located at the mouth of the

Kedah River The Kedah River ( ms, Sungai Kedah) is a river in Kedah, Malaysia. The river passes through Alor Setar and empties into the Straits of Malacca at Kuala Kedah. Its volume is about 3695 km³. See also * List of rivers of Malaysia This is a ...

, and serves as a terminus for ferries to the tourist island of

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 ...

. It is home to a fort, Kota Kuala Kedah. Kuala Kedah is accessible by bus or taxi from

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 ...

History

The fort was built in 1782 to replace an old fort, a stockade, which was existence in 1611 (then known as Kota Kuala Bahang). Later in that year the Portuguese Admiral Furtado "destroyed the town and fort of Kedah with fire and sword". The fort was rebuilt, but destroyed a second time when Sultan Iskandar Muda of Aceh sacked Kedah in 1619, destroying its pepper plantations so that they could not rival his own. After the Acehnese withdrew, another fort was built with thin walls of brick. In its shadow, between 1654 and 1657 the Dutch possessed a factory for trade with Kedah. In 1710, the Dutch captured the fort after a massacre of Dutch crew by men from Kedah. However they later evacuated it before a succession dispute arose, and

Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin II of Kedah Paduka Sri Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin Mu'adzam Shah II ibni al-Marhum Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah I (1699 – 23 September 1778; also spelt Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zain al-‘Adilan Mu’azzam Shah) was the 19th Sultan of Kedah. He reig ...

, with the help of the

Bugis The Bugis people (pronounced ), also known as Buginese, are an ethnicity—the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassar and Toraja), in the south-western province of Sulawe ...

, established himself as Sultan after the death of his brother. In 1770-1771 another civil war broke out and Bugis mercenaries attacked the fort. The Bugis warrior,

Raja Haji Fisabilillah Raja Haji Fisabilillah (full name Raja Haji Fisabilillah ibni Daeng Chelak) (1727–1784) was a Bugis warrior, and also the Yang Dipertuan Muda (Crown Prince) of the Johor- Riau Sultanate from 1777 to 1784. Early life Born in Ulusungai, Riau in ...

, descended upon Kedah and demanded payment for help rendered by his forefathers in 1724. The Sultan rejected his demand, so Haji captured the fort and proceeded upstream and sacked

Modern era

The parliamentary constituency of Kuala Kedah, which includes the town and surrounding areas, is represented by

Ahmad Kassim Dato' Paduka Haji Ahmad bin Kassim (born 24 March 1963) is a Malaysian politician. He was the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Kuala Kedah constituency in Kedah for one term from 2008 to 2013. He sat in Parliament as a member of t ...

of the opposition

People's Justice Party The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. The ...

(PKR). The three state assembly seats for the district are held by PKR's coalition partners, the

Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label=Jawi alphabet, Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamen ...

William Light William Light (27 April 1786 – 6 October 1839), also known as Colonel Light, was a British- Malayan naval and army officer. He was the first Surveyor-General of the new British Province of South Australia, known for choosing the site o ...

, son of

Francis Light Captain Francis Light ( – 21 October 1794) was a British explorer and the founder of the British colony of Penang (in modern-day Malaysia) and its capital city of George Town in 1786. Light and his lifelong partner, Martina Rozells, were th ...

, founder of

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 ...

, who as Surveyor-General of South Australia planned the city of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, was born in Kuala Kedah in 1786.

References

Kota Setar District Mukims of Kedah {{Kedah-geo-stub