History of Terengganu

The word of Terengganu derived from word ‘taring anu’ where ‘anu’ means tiger. It was also said that Terenggani is Tamil word meaning ‘hilly country’, the name given many centuries ago by Tamil traders. 

Terengganu is the place where Islam first touched Malay shores. It happened even before Malacca had established itself as the peninsula’s first Malay kingdom.

In the 14th century the Thaïs occupied northeastern Malaya (Terengganu). Terengganu was formally established as a state in 1724.

The first Sultan was Tun Zainal Abidin Paduka Maharaja, a younger brother one of the former sultans of Johor. He used the title Sultan Zainal Abidin I. In 1850 Siam forced Terengganu into vassalage.

In 1909 an Anglo-Siamese treaty saw power pass to the British. It was an unpopular move locally. The campaign of resistance began in 1922 with a series of anti-tax protest organized by the village imams and spearheaded by two charismatic ulamas Sayyid Sagaf and Haji Drahman.

It was quickly put down and the British went about consolidating their power in the state until the Japanese invaded in World War II.
History of Terengganu