Kelantan

Kelantan (Malay pronunciation: [kəˈlantan]; Jawi: کلنتن; Kelantan Malay: Kelaté) is a state of Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is Darul Naim (Jawi: دار النعيم, “The Blissful Abode”). Kelantan is located in the north-eastern corner of the peninsula. Kelantan, which is said to translate as the “Land of Lightning” (see alternate theories below), is an agrarian state with green paddy fields, rustic fishing villages and casuarina-lined beaches. Kelantan is home to some of the most ancient archaeological discoveries in Malaysia, including several prehistoric aboriginal settlements.

Due to Kelantan’s relative isolation and largely rural lifestyle, Kelantanese culture differs somewhat from Malay culture in the rest of the peninsula; this is reflected in the cuisine, arts and the unique Kelantanese Malay language, which is unintelligible even for some speakers of standard Malay.

Kelantan is positioned in the north-east of the Malay Peninsula. It is bordered by Narathiwat Province of Thailand to the north, Terengganu to the south-east, Perak to the west and Pahang to the south. To the north-east of Kelantan is the South China Sea.

There are a number of suggestions for the origin of the name Kelantan. One theory proposes that the word Kelantan comes from a modified version of the word gelam hutam, i.e. the Malay word for the cajuput, or swamp tea tree (Melaleuca leucadendron). Other theories claim that the name comes from the Malay word kilatan, “shiny or glittery” or kolam tanah, “clay pool”.[8] Kelantan was called Kalantan (Thai: กลันตัน) by the Siamese when it was under their influence.

Another occasionally quoted suggestion is that Kelantan derived originally from the Indian Kolaan Thana or Kolaam Thana, which meant “Land of Kolaan” or “Land of Kolaam”, the term kolaan or kolaam referring to the floor paintings or diagrams in the numerous Hindu temples which dotted the land in the very ancient days. This theory supposes that Kolaan Thana or Kolaam Thana gradually became Kelantan to fit in better with the spoken dialect of the local people.

Kelantan’s early history is not very clear, but archaeological evidence shows human settlement in prehistoric times.[9][10] Early Kelantan had links to the Funan Kingdom, the Khmer Empire, Sri Vijaya, Majapahit and Siam.[11][12] Around 1411, Raja Kumar, the ruler of Kelantan, became independent of Siam, and Kelantan became an important centre of trade by the end of the 15th century.

In 1499, Kelantan became a vassal state of the Malacca Sultanate. With the fall of Malacca in 1511, Kelantan was divided up and ruled by petty chieftains, paying tribute to Patani, then the supreme Malay Kingdom of the eastern peninsula. By the early 17th century, most of these Kelantan chiefs became subject to Patani. However, the queen of Patani was deposed in 1651 by the raja of Kelantan, starting a period of Kelantanese rule in Patani.[13]