
Siamese invasion of Kedah
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 Peninsula Malaysia.
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The Sultanate of Kedah had been a tributary state to Siam during the Ayutthaya period,[1][2] though the extent of Siamese influence over Northern Malay Sultanates varied over time. After the Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, the Northern Malay Sultanates were freed from Siamese domination temporarily. 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 supports against the Siamese or Burmese. However, in the same year, Siam re-exerted control over Northern Malay Sultanates and sacked Pattani. Francis Light, however, failed to secure the British military assistance against Siam[3] 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 Halim Shah of Kedah to bring the Sultanate of Perak under Siamese control. Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah then sent forces to capture and occupy Perak under the domination of Kedah on behalf of Siam in 1818.[4] This earned Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah a great favor of the Siamese king, who raised the sultan to the rank of Chao Phraya – 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 Halim Shah came into conflicts 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[5] that the sultan of Kedah was forming an alliance with the Burmese against Siam. Lim Hoi, a Phuket-based Chinese merchant[6] caught a Burmese ship bearing a Burmese letter to the Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah. Phraya Nakhon Noi then relayed the information to the Bangkok court. King Rama II ordered the sultan of Kedah to go to Bangkok to explain. Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah of Kedah did not go and ceded bunga mas altogether. King Rama II then ordered Phraya Nakhon Noi of Ligor to invade Kedah Sultanate in 1821.
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