Overview
Malaysia is unique among the countries of the
world in that the Head of State in each of
nine of its component States is a constitutional
monarch, a Malay Ruler; its other four States—Melaka,
Penang, Sabah and Sarawak—are represented by a Yang
di-Pertua Negeri (formerly Governor). At least one of the
royal houses can trace its lineage back more than 800 years..
The powers of the Malay Rulers reached their zenith during the Melaka Sultanate which was founded c.1400. The Portuguese conquest of Melaka in 1511 and subsequent intervention by foreign powers gradually reduced the dominance of the Rulers—none more so than the ascendency of the British from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. One by one, the Malay Rulers had to accept a British representative known as Resident in the Federated Malay States and as British Adviser in the Unfederated Malay States (with the exception of Johor, where the representative was known as General Adviser).
The birth of the modern Malaysian Monarchy followed the inception of the Federation of Malaya in 1948. This united the nine Malay States and the former Straits Settlements of Penang and Melaka and was the stepping stone to Independence in 1957. It was at Independence that the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Paramount Ruler) was elected from and by the Malay Rulers for a five-year term.
This richly illustrated volume contains more than 750 images including artwork, maps and diagrams and covers the history, progress and protocol of the Rulers of Malaysia including the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Melaka, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak.