Kedah lies to the north-west of the Malaysian Peninsula, bordered by Perlis to the north, Thailand to the northeast and by Perak and Penang to the south and south-west, respectively. Geographically, it is mostly a flat, alluvial plain, where rice has been cultivated for thousands of years; Kedah has long been known as ‘the rice bowl’ of Malaysia.
Britain gained possession of Malaysia with the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, which set the borders of modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia. The British gained what would become one of the most productive parts of the Empire. Malaysia was rich in tin, while rubber was introduced from Kew Gardens in 1876 and grew rather well; Malaysia is one of the world’s leading producers.
Throughout the colonial
