Mahsuri's Legend
Mahsuri was a member of a Thai family that emigrated to Langkawi from Phuket in the early 1800’s. They settled in a nice village in the center of Langkawi and settled into village life. In 1821 the Thais invaded Kedah and her husband Wan Darus went off to fight them. Mahsuri was quite a fox and this angered the chief’s wife, Wan Mahora, who began to spread rumours about her. A travelling musician Deraman became good friends with Mahsuri and the chief’s wife fuelled rumours of an affair.
Mahsuri was finally accused of adultery and was sentenced to death. She was tied to a post she was to be stabbed to death with a kriss (traditional Malay knife). The kriss could not kill her so she suggested (in my opinion a little rashly) they try her own special kriss. This worked but white blood flowed from the wound proving she was innocent. In her dying breath she cursed Langkawi for 6 generations.
For seven generations crops failed and tourism wasn’t so hot. Then the Malaysian prime minister of the time Dr Mahatir Mohamed put in an international airport and created a flourishing tourism community. The descendent of Mahsuri, Wan Aishah, also came back to visit Langkawi in 2000 and Langkawi is well and truly back on track, although the poor girl couldn’t quite understand what all the fuss was about, as crowds followed her and press furiously snapped pictures, Vip’s and radio hosts appearing in droves. You can visit Mahsuri’s mausoleum in the center of Langkawi and also the field of burnt rice where they tried to starve the Thai army by torching the crops.
Mahsuri was finally accused of adultery and was sentenced to death. She was tied to a post she was to be stabbed to death with a kriss (traditional Malay knife). The kriss could not kill her so she suggested (in my opinion a little rashly) they try her own special kriss. This worked but white blood flowed from the wound proving she was innocent. In her dying breath she cursed Langkawi for 6 generations.
For seven generations crops failed and tourism wasn’t so hot. Then the Malaysian prime minister of the time Dr Mahatir Mohamed put in an international airport and created a flourishing tourism community. The descendent of Mahsuri, Wan Aishah, also came back to visit Langkawi in 2000 and Langkawi is well and truly back on track, although the poor girl couldn’t quite understand what all the fuss was about, as crowds followed her and press furiously snapped pictures, Vip’s and radio hosts appearing in droves. You can visit Mahsuri’s mausoleum in the center of Langkawi and also the field of burnt rice where they tried to starve the Thai army by torching the crops.
