Observations on Earthworks and Fortifications in Kedah from 600-1800 CE Based on Local Historical Literature

Malaysia Architectural Journal Observations on earthworks and fortifications in Kedah from 600-1800 CE based on local historical literature. Meljev Singh Sidhu1 *meljevss@yahoo.com Received: 1 Jan 2021 Final version received: 20 March 2021 Earthworks and fortifications have not been given sufficient attention in research on the early architecture of Kedah although they are regularly mentioned in historical texts. This paper attempts to redress this imbalance. A baseline date of 600 CE has been proposed based on evidence provided in the Salasilah atau Tarikh Kerajaan Kedah and Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah that proposes an early seventh century date for the origin of the Kedah royal dynasty, after which earthwork constructions commenced. This method of construction lasted for more than a millennium but fell out of favour in the late eighteenth century CE with the arrival of the British, who introduced more durable materials. Therefore, the year 1800 CE is taken as the terminus ante quem for this type of construction. This paper argues that the types of earthworks and fortifications mentioned in the Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa and in the Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah before the thirteenth century CE cannot be substantiated by archaeology. From the thirteenth century CE onwards, the Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah is validated by archaeological discoveries made in locations mentioned in the text. Similarities exist between the earthworks and fortifications described in the writings of the Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah and in studies made on Malay settlement types. The embankments surrounding the entire settlement were constructed of earth. Consistency in the description of fortifications throughout the Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah suggests that this type of structure may have antecedents as far back as the seventh century CE. Keywords: Historical literature, Kedah, earthworks, fort, fortifications, settlements INTRODUCTION morphology of Malay settlements of the period. Paucity of knowledge aside, scholars studying this “It is a much publicised fact that historical research period have preferred to emphasise on ancient on the Malay Peninsula suffers from severe trading settlements with more cosmopolitan deficiencies of information. The first point from populations that existed on the north-western coast which a coherent reconstruction can be made is with of Peninsular Malaysia that have left tangible the period of the Melaka Sultanate.” (Zaharah, 1970) remains. Not much work has been done in the area of traditional local settlements within the last five These are the opening sentences by decades and the paper by Zaharah is still as Zaharah Mahmud in a paper authored in 1970 on authoritative as it was when it was first published. traditional settlements throughout the Malay Peninsula of the period between the pre-Islamic era Given the circumstances, it is fortuitous of the area and the era of colonialism. This statement that there exist three local texts that shed some light illustrates the dominant problem concerning the on settlement types of this poorly understood period. study of this period of Malaysian history which is a These three texts are the Hikayat Merong scarcity of reliable information. Almost half a Mahawangsa, Salasilah atau Tarikh Kerajaan Kedah century later, these words still hold true as historians and the Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah and archaeologists are no closer to understanding the respectively. All three texts deal with the history of 23 Malaysia Architectural Journal, Vol.3 (Issue.1) 23-32, Apr 2021 Meljev Singh Sidhu Kedah, a state located on the north-western coast of and thorough studies have uncovered remains of Peninsular Malaysia. Kedah from the seventh to earth palisades at the same location. Local and nineteenth century according to local historical foreign coins spanning four centuries from the late sources was a political entity constantly under attack fourteenth century CE to the eighteenth century CE by powerful neighbours such as Siam and Acheh as were found as well (Ibrahim Bakar & Haji Shaarani, well as the British. Consequently, it suffered loss of 2014). Apart from coins, local artefacts discovered territory (Mozzafari-Falarti, 2009). As such, some include coin-minting equipment, cannon balls and a earthwork sites that were once under the control of keris (Malay dagger). Chinese ceramics from the Kedah now fall within the jurisdiction of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE) were among the neighbouring states and provinces. foreign artefacts at the site. The presence of royal coins confirms that the site of Kota Seputih was the It is important to note that all three texts royal capital from the fourteenth to seventeenth have their weaknesses. The Hikayat Merong century, vindicating the narrative of the Al-Tarikh Mahawangsa offers a largely unsubstantiated history Salasilah Negeri Kedah which mentions the same. of Kedah and does not give any chronology of the Taking these discoveries into consideration, it is rulers or timeframe of the events that may have taken surprising that scant attention is being paid to other place, but has the distinction of being the oldest of earthworks that are stated by historical accounts as the three sources. Scholars date the text from the having existed throughout the greater part of the seventeenth or eighteenth century CE (Mozzafari- state. Falarti, 2009). The Salasilah atau Tarikh Kerajaan Kedah does not provide a dated genealogy for the 2. METHODOLOGY pre-Islamic rulers of Kedah but indicates that this dynasty had its origins in the early part of the This paper studies earthworks and seventh century CE. The Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri fortifications in Kedah from 600-1800 CE as Kedah is the first source that provides a dated mentioned in accounts of the Hikayat Merong genealogy for the rulers of Kedah. Like the Salasilah Mahawangsa, Salasilah atau Tarikh Kerajaan Kedah atau Tarikh Kerajaan Kedah, it suggests an early and the Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri which are three seventh century genesis for the Kedah royal line. local texts on the history of Kedah. This study will Unfortunately, the sources that provided for the compare the description of earthworks and writing of the Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah fortifications in the aforementioned texts to analyse were never revealed. The Salasilah atau Tarikh Kerajaan Kedah and the Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri the similarities and differences. The conclusions of Kedah both date from the beginning of the twentieth this will then be compared against previous studies century, a date far too modern to be totally reliable on Malay settlement types. Archaeological evidence on the earliest period of Kedah’s history without will be taken into consideration where necessary. further validation. Due to the recent date of these There are no detailed descriptions of earthworks or sources and their ambiguity, they have to be cross- fortifications in the Salasilah atau Tarikh Kerajaan checked against the archaeological record and more Kedah but this text is included to validate certain recent studies on the types of settlements that may aspects of the other two sources. Given the recent have existed in other parts of the country during this dates of the texts and their lack of unanimity, the period in order to have validity. strengths and weaknesses of each text as a valid Apart from being mentioned in historical source of history must be assessed separately. sources, the presence of earthworks in Kedah was 3. Earthworks and fortifications in the Hikayat noted by archaeologists such as H. G. Quaritch- Merong Mahawangsa Wales and B. A. V. Peacock. The excavations of Quaritch-Wales in 1937 revealed earthworks at the base of Bukit Choras, the peak of which is crowned The earliest earthwork mentioned in the by the remains of Site 1 which may have been a Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa was constructed by stupa in antiquity (Quaritch-Wales, 1940). Two the first monarch of Kedah, Merong Mahawangsa, a decades later, Peacock (1958) noted the presence of court official from “Rum” which is believed to be in artefacts at a nondescript village in northern Kedah named Kota Seputih, whose appearance belied an Persia (Low, 1849). Constructions by him and earlier period of prestige as the capital of Kedah subsequent monarchs are described and detailed in from 1323 to 1626 CE. Among the artefacts Tables 1 and 2. uncovered by Peacock was a coin that may have Table 1: Forts erected by the Kings of Kedah belonged to either one of two local rulers of the seventeenth century named Sultan Muhyiddin according to the Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa Mansur Syah (1652-1661 CE) or Sultan Dhiauddin (Adapted from: Low, J. (1849) A Translation of the Al-Mukarram Shah (1661-1688 CE). More recent Keddah Annals termed Marong Mahawangsa) 24 Malaysia Architectural Journal, Vol.3 (Issue.1) 23-32, Apr 2021 Meljev Singh Sidhu Sultan Name Period Construction 4) Erected mud fort activities according and prison at Bukit to Hikayat Merong Penjara Mahawangsa Raja Phra Ong - 1) Erected mud fort Merong - 1) “a fort with a Mahapotisat and palace at Bukit Mahawangsa ditch around it, also Meriam a palace and a very spacious balei, or Raja Phra Ong - 1) Erected a mud hall, of audience” Mahawangsa fort with fencings (Kota Langkasuka). built of pallas trunks His entourage and of dangser erected their called Kota Palas. dwellings around the 2) Built mosques fort. where there was a Raja Marong - Did not construct. congregation of 44 Maha Podisat people or more. Raja Sri - 1) “small palace at 3) Erected fort near Mahawangsa Srokam” Padang Terap. 2) Started 4) Erected fort at construction of fort Lankapuri. of lime and shells and palace at Sungai Mas but did not From the description of forts in Table 1, complete. there does not seem to be any consistency in the type of building material mentioned, with the forts being An unnamed - 1) Continued the built with diverse building materials such as lime, king construction of fort shell, Acehnese stones, mud, palas and dangser.

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