PERKEMBANGAN PENTADBIRAN TANAH DI KEDAH, 1909-1917

Abstract

This study is an effort to explain the development of land administration in Kedah in the period 1909 to 1917. British control over Kedah through the Bangkok Treaty of 1909 brought about a significant impact on Kedah land administration. The British, in an aggressive manner, reorganised, reformed, and complemented the Kedah land administration. This act covered all aspects of land bureaucracy and law. Therefore, the main question examined in this study is the extent to which development in Kedah land administration succeeded in creating a modern land bureaucracy in the state. This article uses the historical analysis method to examine the primary soures related to land administration in Kedah. Based on these sources, the Kedah land administration was found to have modernised within a short period. However, this modernisation was based on a capitalist economic motive with the introduction a system of collection of land revenue to generate state revenue. This led to an imbalance transformation and did not provide providing full benefits to all parties.