Kangar Perlis Malaysia Online

The state capital of Perlis, Kangar has an estimated population of about 50,000. Located in the northern point of Peninsular, the capital is situated by Perlis River and within five territories namely Kechor, Seriab, Utan Aji, Wang Bintong and Sena. This is the smallest town in Malaysia and most of the residents are either civil servants or farmers. Located in the heart of Kangar is Sena Province (or more commonly known as Uptown Sena among locals).

The state capital is the major business and commercial district with inhabitants trading rice, sugar and seafood. Another town in Perlis, Arau which is located 10 kilometres away from Kangar is the second most populated town in the state after Kangar. There is a mixture of old and new shop houses in downtown Kangar.

History

Back in the olden days, Perlis used to be a part of Kedah until conflicts between Perak, Kedah and Siam brought British intervention in 1826. The two Malay states and Siam then signed treaties. Kedahan Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin was not supposed to restore his throne under Burney treaty. Nevertheless, Sultan Ahmad and his loyal followers continued to fight for the restoration from 1830 to 1842.

Finally, twelve years after the struggle, Britain pressured Siam to restore Sultan’s throne in the state but with several conditions – to separate Perlis and Setul. Thus, Perlis was transferred to an Arab merchant, Syed Sapee. Then in 1909, the Anglo-Siamese Treaty transferred Thai sovereignty over Perlis to the British government. When Japanese invaded Malaya, it was given back to Thailand. Fortunately, after Japanese surrendered, the small state was returned to British and the rest is history (Perlis gained independence under Federation of Malaya in 1957).

The state capital, Kangar was built before Siam and Sultan Ahmad got into conflict. Back then, Sena was declared the administrative centre for the 14th Kedahan Sultan. Kangar was only a land port (pengkalan) for boats and other tongkang to get through to Kangar Town from Kuala Perlis. Kangar flourished during this time as more merchants flocked into the port for trading purposes. There was a big tree that provides shade to the merchants and traders. That is how the town derived its name from ‘Pohon Kangar’.

There is another version on the origin of Kangar Town. Some believed that the name was derived after an eagle called ‘Burung Kangor’. Back then, there were plenty of these eagles around the area thus locals named the town Kangar.