ABSTRACT
In the early 1800s, before the impact of British colonial rule, the Malay Peninsula was an aggregate of individual states dominated by a Muslim Malay population and its political and social system. Despite regional differences, the peninsula operated within the framework of an Islamic polity. The political system consisted of the Yang di Pertuan (paramount ruler) as the central authority with a substantial group of title holders below him who performed in several roles from the ceremonial to the administrative to the military.
