# Siamese invasion of Kedah

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Prehistoric period Paleolithic  Lenggong Valley c. 2,000,0000 BCE  Mansuli Valley235,000 BCE Mesolithic  Niah cultures 65,000–40,000 BCE Neolithic  Bewah man/woman 16,000 BCE  Perak man/woman 11,000–200 BCE  Neolithic Klang 500 – 200 BCE :
Early kingdoms Ancient Kedah <100 BCE Chi Tu 100 BCE–642 CE Langkasuka 100 BCE–1474 CE Gangga Negara c. 100 CE–1025 Pan Pan 424–775 Old Kedah 170–1135 Old Pahang 449–1454 Srivijaya 700s–1025 Majapahit 1300s :
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Colonial period Portuguese Malacca 1511–1641 Dutch–Portuguese War 1601–1661 Dutch Malacca 1641–1824 Pahang Kingdom 1770–1881 Straits Settlements 1786–1946 Siamese invasion of Kedah 1821–1826 Anglo-Dutch Treaty1824 Burney Treaty1826 Naning War 1831–1832 Kingdom of Sarawak 1841–1946 Separation of Perlis from Kedah 1843 Crown Colony of Labuan 1848–1946 Pahang Civil War 1857–1863 Larut Wars 1861–1874 Klang War 1867–1874 Pangkor Treaty 1874 Perak War1875–1876 British Malaya / Borneo 1874–1946 Jementah Civil War 1879 North Borneo 1882–1946 Pahang Uprising 1891–1895 Mat Salleh Rebellion 1894–1905 Federated Malay States 1895–1946 Anglo-Siamese Treaty 1909 Unfederated Malay States 1909–1946 Battle of Penang 1914 Kelantan rebellion 1915 :
World War II Japanese occupation of Malaya / Borneo 1941–1945 Malayan campaign 1941–1942 Bornean Campaign 1941–1942 Battle of Muar 1942 Parit Sulong Massacre 1942 Battle of Singapore 1942 Sook Ching 1942 Syburi 1942 Sandakan Death Marches 1942–1945 Si Rat Malai 1943–1945 Jesselton revolt 1943–1944 :
Formative period BMA of Malaya/Borneo 1945–1946 Crown Colony of N. Borneo/Sarawak 1946–1963 Anti-cession movement 1946–1963 Malayan Union 1946–1948 Federation of Malaya 1948–1963 Malayan Emergency 1948–1960 Baling Talks 1955 :
Independence period Malayan Independence 1957 Singapore self-governance 1959 ISA 1960 1960–2012 Sarawak Insurgency 1962–1990 North Borneo self-governance 1963 Konfrontasi 1963–1966 Sarawak self-governance 1963 Formation of Malaysia 1963 Singapore in Malaysia 1963–1965 ASEAN Declaration 1967 Second communist insurgency 1968–1989 :
Modern period 13 May incident 1969 National Operations Council 1969–1971 Declaration of Rukun Negara 1970 New Economic Policy 1971–1990 Federal Territory of KL 1974 1977 Kelantan Emergency 1977 Pedra Branca dispute 1979–2008 South China Sea dispute (Spratly) 1980–present Dawn Raid 1981 Federal Territory of Labuan 1984 Memali incident 1985 Operation Lalang 1987 Constitutional crisis 1987–1988 Peace Agreement of Hat Yai 1989 Royal Immunity Amendments 1993 Asian financial crisis 1997–1998 Reformasi Movement 1998–2022 2008 Malaysian Opposition Wave 2008 H1N1 flu pandemic 2009–2010 Sedition Dragnet 2014 1MDB scandal 2015–present Pakatan Harapan takeover 2018 COVID-19 pandemic 2020–2022 Political crisis 2020–2022 Bornean Amendment 2021–2023 Green Wave 2022–present :
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The Siamese invasion of Kedah was a military operation mounted by the Kingdom of Siam against the Sultanate of Kedah in November 1821, in the area of what is now northern Peninsular Malaysia.

## Background

The Sultanate of Kedah had been a tributary state to Siam during the Ayutthaya period, though the extent of Siamese influence over the northern Malay sultanates varied over time. After the Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, the northern Malay sultanates were temporarily freed from Siamese domination. In 1786, Francis Light managed to obtain a lease of Penang Island from Sultan Abdullah Mukarram Shah of Kedah on behalf of British East India Company in exchange for British military support against the Siamese or Burmese. In the same year, Siam re-exerted control over the northern Malay sultanates and sacked Pattani. Francis Light, however, failed to secure British military assistance against Siam and Kedah came under Siamese suzerainty. The bunga mas was sent triennially to the Bangkok court.
During the Burmese Invasion of Phuket in 1809, Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah II, who was known in Thai sources as "Tuanku Pangeran" (Thai: ตวนกูปะแงหรัน), contributed a sizable force from Kedah to aid the Siamese against the Burmese. In 1813, King Rama II commanded Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin to bring the Sultanate of Perak under Siamese control. Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin then sent forces to capture and occupy Perak on behalf of Siam in 1818. This earned Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin favor of the Siamese king, who raised the Sultan to the rank of Chaophraya – which was superior to Nakhon Noi the governor of Ligor or Nakhon Si Thammarat who held the rank of Phraya. In 1811, Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin came into conflict with his brother Tunku Bisnu. Tunku Bisnu approached Phraya Nakhon Noi of Ligor and sought Siamese support. Tunku Bisnu was then made the ruler of Setul.
In 1820, King Bagyidaw of Burma planned another invasion of Siam, in which the Kedah Sultanate would inevitably become involved. Tunku Mom, a younger brother of the Sultan, informed Phraya Nakhon Noi that the Sultan of Kedah was forming an alliance with the Burmese against Siam. Lim Hoi, a Phuket-based Chinese merchant caught a Burmese ship bearing a Burmese letter to the Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin. Phraya Nakhon Noi then relayed the information to the Bangkok court. Rama II ordered the Sultan of Kedah to go to Bangkok to explain. The Sultan however, did not go and ceased sending the bunga mas. Rama II then ordered Phraya Nakhon Noi of Ligor to invade the Kedah Sultanate in 1821.

## Campaigns

The Siamese were still unsure about the intentions of the Sultan and Kedah had not been aware of Siamese invasion. Phraya Nakhon Noi had already organized a fleet of 7,000 men at Trang and Satun in his preparations against the speculated Burmese invasions. Pretending to launch attack on Mergui and Tenasserim Coast, Phraya Nakhon Noi requested the Sultan of Kedah for provisions. When the Kedahan did not arrive to provide supplies, Nakhon Noi headed his fleet towards Alor Setar in November 1821.
When Nakhon Noi arrived at Alor Setar, the Kedahan were still unaware that the Siamese intention to invade. Paduka Maharaja Sura the Bendahara ceremoniously received the Siamese entourage. Once in the fort, Nakhon Noi ordered his men to attack. Paduka Maharaja Sura was captured and Paduka Seri Raja the Laksamana was killed in battle. Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin managed to flee the city and took refuge on Penang Island, then under British control. Villages were torched and homes were looted. A great number of Malays also fled to Penang and Province Wellesley.
A British official in Penang reports on the brutal actions of the Siamese:
   "There has been a continuous scene of the most brutal rapine, carnage, oppression and devastation that can be imagined ... Their religion is violated ... Wives and daughters were forcibly dragged from their husbands and fathers and ravished by the Siamese soldiery ... aged parents and helpless babies were butchered ruthlessly ... and the most wanton murders, perpetrated by means most cruel and painful to the wretched victims are of daily occurrence ... the Siamese butchered them in great numbers, putting them to death by means most cruel and revolting to human nature ... it is impossible to calculate the number of Malays who perished by the swords of the Siamese."

## Aftermath

After taking the city, Phraya Nakhon Noi established the Siamese administration over the Kedah State and made his son Phra Pakdiborrirak the Siamese governor of Kedah. Siam imposed the direct rule through Ligor and installed Siamese personnel in Kedah, thus the sultanate ceased to exist for a time. For his victory over Kedah, Rama II raised Nakhon Noi to the rank of Chaophraya and granted his son Phra Phakdiborirak the title of Phraya Aphaithibet. Phraya Aphaithibet would govern Kedah on behalf of his father the governor of Ligor for seventeen years from 1821 until 1838.
By 1822 there was a rise in the population of the British territories caused by an influx of Malays displaced by the invasion. The Siamese presence in Kedah threatened British holdings in Penang, who speculated the Siamese invasion of the island. This prompted Marquess of Hastings, the Governor-General of India, to send John Crawfurd to Bangkok, leading to the first contact between Siam and the British Empire in the Rattanakosin period. Crawfurd arrived in Bangkok in April 1822, he presented the personal letter of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin to King Rama II blaming Nakhon Noi "the Raja of Ligor" for the incidents. The agreements were not reached as Siam asserted its authoritiy over Kedah and the Sultan. Three years later in 1825, Chaophraya Nakhon Noi prepared a fleet to invade and conquer the sultanates of Perak and Selangor. Robert Fullerton warned the Raja of Ligor that the Siamese invasion of the sultanates would violate the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 but went unheeded. Fullerton then sent gunboats to impose a blockade of the Trang River in the modern Trang province where the fleet of Nakhon Noi was being dispatched and the Siamese expedition was called off.
The Burney Treaty was concluded between Siam and British Empire on 26 June 1826. The Burney Treaty allowed the Siamese view of their rights to prevail. The British government accepted Siamese influence over Kedah in exchange for free trade on stocks and provisions between Siam and Prince of Wales Island and Siam relinquishing its claims over Selangor. The British also agreed to move Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin to somewhere else. Article XIII of the treaty stated that: "The English engage that they will make arrangements for the former Governor of Queda to go and live in some other Country, and not at Prince of Wales' Island or Prye, or in Perak, Salengore, or any Burmese Country." The former Sultan of Kedah was then forcibly moved to Malacca. However, Penang continued to be the center of resistance to Siamese rule.
Tengku Kudin, a nephew of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin, captured Alor Setar from the Siamese in 1831, though Chaophraya Nakhon Noi retook Alor Setar four months later. Another act of Kedahan resistance came in 1838 when a nephew of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin, Tengku Muhammad Said assembled a fleet at the Merbok River where they fought and won against a Siamese fleet. The fort in Kedah was captured by the Kedahans and the Siamese who were stationed there were massacred. Afterwards, the force of 10,000 Malay men captured Perlis and Trang sacking villages and Buddhist temples. One group reached the Pattani River and invested Songkhla for three months but were driven back to Kedah by the 2,000 Siamese along with their 500 Chinese allies. Later, the Chaophraya Nakhon Noi entered and conquered Kedah with 1,500 men, at the same time Britain blockaded the coast off Kedah.
Only after the death of Chaophraya Nakhon Noi in 1838 was a native Malay rule restored. Tunku Anom was made the governor of Kedah in 1838 until Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin pledged for himself to be restored. Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin, after 20 years of exile, was eventually restored to the Kedah Sultanate in 1842 under Siamese suzerainty.