According to At-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah, before Satun existed as either a district of the Malay state of Kedah, or as a province of Thailand, it was actually a part of a Hindu kingdom founded by Maharaja Derbar Raja of Gemeron in about 630 AD. The Maharaja Derbar Raja, who was also known by the name Bandar Abbas, was a Persian ruler who was defeated in battle and escaped to Sri Lanka, and he was later blown off course by a storm to the remote shores of Kuala Sungai Qilah, Kedah.
The inhabitants of Kedah Malay Hindus are believed to have found Bandar Abbas to be an intelligent and honorable leader and they made him the Rajah of the Hindu-Malay kingdom of Kedah.
This represents one of the oldest Hindu-Malay kingdoms recorded on the Thai-Malaysian peninsula formed in Kedah consisting of Persian royalty and native Malay of Hindu faith, the capital was Langkasuka.
The 9th Hindu Rajah of Kedah (Derbar Rajah II) or “Phra Ong Mahawangsa” (died 27 July 1179) as he was known by the Siamese was the last Hindu king of Kedah, styled Sri Paduka Maharaja Derbar Raja before his accession. After his conversion to Islam, he later became the founder of the Kedah Sultanate.
He converted to Islam after this religion was introduced to the area by Muslim traders and converts from today’s modern state of Aceh.
Known as Sultan Mudzaffar Shah I, he ruled the sultanate of Kedah in what is now southern Thailand and the northern sector of the Malay peninsula from roughly 1136 to 1179. At that time Satun was referred to as “Mambang Segara,” or “Mukin Setul”.
The relationship between Satun and Kedah was amicably maintained for several centuries, although in 1238 Kedah and its subsidiaries began to have more interaction with the Siamese empires to the north.
Anglo-Siam Treaty of 1909 made the modern border between Siam and British Malaya. Satun, which was a part of Kedah, and Patani remained in Siam. And Kedah and others were belonging to British Malaya. This border was the result of political struggle between Government of Siam and British Malaya.
Satun: Southern province of Thailand
