121 



tween Quecia and Siam. and especially whether 

 a grant of the i^Und made by Queda coold be 

 considered as valid without the concurrence of 

 the Siamese Governraent, and from the ibllowing 

 extract from his report it appears that he couisi- 

 dered Queda as scarcely in any degree depend- 

 ant on Siam. 



' I must now further tresspass npon your pa- 

 tietice to acquaint yon with the relation Queda 

 has to Siam. It does not appear either by writ- 

 ings or tradition that Queda was ever governed 

 by the Siamese laws or customs ; there would 

 have been some remains had there been some 

 affinity between them. The people of Queda 

 are Mahomedans, their letters Arabic and their 

 language Jawee. Their kings originally from 

 Menau-Kabu on Sumatra, but, a?; Queda was 

 very near Ligore, a kingdom of Siam, they sfent 

 every third year a gold- and silver tree as a to- 

 ken of homage to Ligore. This was done to 

 preserve a good correspondence, for at this peri- 

 od the Siamese were very rich and numerous, 

 but no warriors, and a considerable trade was 

 carried on between Ligore and Queda, After 

 the destruction of Siam, the king of Ava demand- 

 ed the token of homage from Queda, and receiv- 

 ed the gold and silver tree; when Pia Tack 

 drove away the Burmans, and built a new city 

 Siam, the king of Qneda sent the trees to 

 Siam, and has kept peace with bnth. paying ho- 

 mage *;ometimes to (jik , someumes thu other, and 

 often to both/" 



In the Modern Universal History we find this 

 decisive testimony of the independence of Kedah. 



Q 



7n 1 



