Why the Raja of Perlis is Not Called a Sultan

Perlis is the northernmost and smallest state in Malaysia. Its land is fertile with good amount of rain and so the plant rice, sugarcane, and the most awesome harum manis manggoes!

In 1821 this productive land was a province in the Sultanate of Kedah, which had been under waves of constant attacks by the expansionist Siamese to the north. Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah II, the sultan of Kedah, had to take refuge in Penang Island, which belonged to a another power, Britain.

Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah II,
the sultan of Kedah from 1797 to 1843.

During his exile from Kedah, Kedahans resisted Siamese rule using force and arms to free Kedah. Major attacks against Siamese positions in Kedah occured in 1823, 1831, 1836, and in 1838, Kedahans even went as far as attacking the Siamese in Singgora (Siamese: Songkhla).

Persistent local resistance and the rising cost of maintaining a presence in Kedah finally convinced Siam to come to the negotiation table. The Sultan sent his son to Bangkok to negotiate the independence of Kedah, which was finally granted by Siam in 1842, albeit with very harsh conditions:

1) The northern Kedah district of Setul would be annexed into Siam;
2) The district of Perlis will be made into a separate state, and will be a vassal of Bangkok.

Siam then made Syed Hussain Jamalullail, who is the Sultan's grandson and of Arab descent, the first king of Perlis. The House of Jamalullail still rules Perlis as Rajas.

And since according to Malay customs a person can only become a Sultan if the title was acknowledged and bestowed by another Sultan, the king of Perlis has ever since been called Raja, and not Sultan.