About Langkawi - its History, Legends and Stories.
Langkawi is in the state of Kedah. It was not always called Kedah. Ptolemy called it Chersonesus Aurea, or land of gold and there is plenty of evidence in Kedah of early civilisation. Kedah is on the Southern Silk Route. Instead of travelling around the Malay Peninsular through the straits of Malacca and past Singapore to the South China Sea, ships would stop at Kedah guided in by a fire that was always kept alight on Jerai mountain. From here trade was passed to traders who would raft their goods as far up the river as they could, before passing them over to traders on elephant. Elephants would carry the goods to the other side of the peninsular, to Pattani (now part of Thailand), for transfer to chinese ships for the remaining stage of their voyage. Kedah was central to this trade. Not only goods came from Arabia. Goods came from Aden, Haramaut onward to Gujerat and Cambay in India, Sri Lanka and over the Bay of Bengal to the Malay peninsular. Sri Langka at the time was a major sea junction. There has been early evidence of Roman coins and copied Roman coinage found in Johor and one of Langkawi's legends involves a Chinese princess and a Roman prince uniting the two superpowers with a match made by a Malay warrior Merong Mahawangsa who became the first king of the fabled Langkasuka. Langkasuka was a large kingdom stretching from below Kuala Lumpur to above the Thai border and it was the gold mines of Langkasuka in Pahang and Kelantan that was the probable source of Ptolemies land of gold. The capital of Langkasuka has never been firmly established but popular contenders are Kelantan, Pattani on the East coast of Southern Thailand and Gunung Jerai, the gateway to Kedah. Langkawi is an archipelago about a days sail north from Gunung Jerai and would have been the first sight of land that traders saw as they followed the sunrise east from Sri Langka.
Mat Raya, Mat Cincang and Mat Sawar were the heads of three families. Now their names are better known as being three of Langkawi's mountains. Legend or History? It will never be known but apparently a family feud that involved a food fight was resolved successfully. You can read more of the legend of Mat Cincang here. He now wears a knecklace which bears an uncanny resemblance to a cable car.
The Lake of The Pregnant Maiden is now one of Langkawi's beauty spots and visited by tourists as part of the island hopping excursion. The results of the legend have given locals the belief that to bathe in its waters is all that is required to make you pregnant. This is a rather strange twist to what is otherwise a tragic love story. Another legend that includes Dayang Bunting involves a fleet of merchant ships being wrecked in a storm. It has to be said that with all the islands around and with Langkawi being so close to the silk route it would be pretty surprising were there not to be shipwrecks off these islands.
Of course not everything is based on fact. There is a story of a particularly flatulent prince who ate half cooked rice and his farts created big fart island and little fart island. One can perhaps imagine a particular evening at court where the offending prince lost control of a couple of raspers that while the prince dissappeared to change his loin cloth, the court comic suggested became islands. These island can now be found under the names of Intan Besar and Intan Kechil, translated tactfully as little diamond and big diamond island. Perhaps after the passing of another couple of thousand years the legend will tell of a prince who passed diamonds from his bowels.
More recent legends tell of the Legend of Mahsuri in the late 1700's who was put to death for an infidelity that she didn't commit and cursed the island and the field of burnt rice "Beras Terbakar" in 1821. These are described as legends but have a basis in historical fact.
Mat Raya, Mat Cincang and Mat Sawar were the heads of three families. Now their names are better known as being three of Langkawi's mountains. Legend or History? It will never be known but apparently a family feud that involved a food fight was resolved successfully. You can read more of the legend of Mat Cincang here. He now wears a knecklace which bears an uncanny resemblance to a cable car.
The Lake of The Pregnant Maiden is now one of Langkawi's beauty spots and visited by tourists as part of the island hopping excursion. The results of the legend have given locals the belief that to bathe in its waters is all that is required to make you pregnant. This is a rather strange twist to what is otherwise a tragic love story. Another legend that includes Dayang Bunting involves a fleet of merchant ships being wrecked in a storm. It has to be said that with all the islands around and with Langkawi being so close to the silk route it would be pretty surprising were there not to be shipwrecks off these islands.
Of course not everything is based on fact. There is a story of a particularly flatulent prince who ate half cooked rice and his farts created big fart island and little fart island. One can perhaps imagine a particular evening at court where the offending prince lost control of a couple of raspers that while the prince dissappeared to change his loin cloth, the court comic suggested became islands. These island can now be found under the names of Intan Besar and Intan Kechil, translated tactfully as little diamond and big diamond island. Perhaps after the passing of another couple of thousand years the legend will tell of a prince who passed diamonds from his bowels.
More recent legends tell of the Legend of Mahsuri in the late 1700's who was put to death for an infidelity that she didn't commit and cursed the island and the field of burnt rice "Beras Terbakar" in 1821. These are described as legends but have a basis in historical fact.
