Terengganu's location
by the South China Sea ensured that it was on trade routes since ancient times.
The earliest written reports on the area that is now Terengganu were by Chinese
merchants and seafarers in the early centuries A.D. Like other Malay states,
Terengganu practiced a Hindu Buddhist culture combined with animist traditional
beliefs for hundreds of years before the arrival of Islam. Under the influence
of Srivijaya, Terengganu traded extensively with the Majapahit Empire, the
Khmer Empire and the Chinese. Terengganu was perhaps the first Malay state to
receive Islam, as attested to by a stone monument dated 1303 with Arabic
inscriptions found in Kuala Berang, the capital of the district of Ulu
(upriver) Terengganu. Terengganu became a vassal state of Melaka, but retained
considerable autonomy with the emergence of Riau-Johor.
Terengganu emerged as
an independent sultanate in 1724. The first Sultan was Tun Zainal Abidin, the
younger brother of a former sultan of Johor, and Johor strongly influenced
Terengganu politics through the 18th century. However, in the book Tuhfat
al-Nafis written by Raja Ali Haji, in the year 1708, Tun Zainal Abidin was
installed as the Sultan of Terengganu by Daeng Menampuk also known as Raja Tua
under the rule of Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah. In the 19th century,
Terengganu became a vassal state of Siam, and sent tribute every year to the
Emperor of Siam in the form of bunga mas (a tree with flowers and leaves
made of gold). Under Siamese rule, Terengganu prospered, and was largely left
alone by the authorities in Bangkok. The terms of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of
1909 saw power over Terengganu transferred from Siam to Great Britain. A
British advisor was appointed to the sultan in 1919, and Terengganu become one
of the Unfederated Malay States. The move was highly unpopular locally, and in
1928 the British used military force to suppress a popular uprising. During
World War II, Japan transferred Terengganu back to Siam, along with Kelantan,
Kedah, and Perlis, but after the defeat of Japan, these Malay states returned
to British control. Terengganu became a member of the Federation of Malaya in
1948, and a state of independent Malaya in 1957.
In 1999, following
decades of rule by UMNO the senior partner in the Barisan Nasional (National
Front) coalition the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) won the 1999 local
election, making Terengganu the second state in Malaysia to be ruled by PAS
(the first being neighboring Kelantan). However, in the general election of
2004 Terengganu was recaptured by UMNO.
The hereditary Sultan
of Terengganu since 1998 has been Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, who is
concurrently Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. The Chief Executive or
Menteri Besar is currently Dato' Idris Jusoh of Barisan Nasional, a
businessman.
Capital: Kuala
Terengganu
Government: state of
the Federation of Malaya (1948),
Area: 12.955
km˛
Population: 898.825
(2000)
Currency:
Links
Trengganu in Wikipedia.
Flag
of Trengganu in Flags of the
World.
Stamp catalogue
date:
designer: -
printer: Waterlow & Sons,
perforated: 13˝:14
(1 and 4), 11:11˝ (2 and 3)
1 10 cents Hermes, globe, letter, airplane, boat,
train, text "UNIVERSAL / POSTAL
purple
(cat. Michel 50/SG 63/Yvert 60)
2 15 c hemispheres, airplane, steamer,
text "1874 / UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION / 1949"
deep blue
(cat. Michel 51/SG 64/Yvert 61)
3 25 c Hermes scattering letters over
globe, text "UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION / 1874 / 1949"
orange
(cat. Michel 52/SG 65/Yvert 62)
4 50 c UPU monument,
POSTALE
UNIVERSELLE"
blue-black
(cat. Michel 53/SG 66/Yvert 63)
last revised: