Name Abdullah Shah | ||
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Reign 20 January 1874 – 30 March 1877 Predecessor Sultan Ismail Muabidin Riayat Shah Successor Sultan Yusuf Sharifuddin Mudzaffar Shah Born 21 September 1842 ( 1842-09-21 ) Consort Raja Tipah binti Almarhum Sultan Shahabuddin Ri'ayat Shah Issue Raja Ngah MansurRaja ChulanRaja Abdul MalikRaja Said TauphyRaja Abdul RahmanRaja Abdul HamidRaja Hussein Father Sultan Jaafar Safiuddin Muadzam Shah Children Raja Chulan, Raja Said Tauphy, Raja Ngah Mansur Parents Wan Ngah Mahtra Binti Dato Wan Muda Abdul Rahman, Sultan Jaafar Safiuddin Muadzam Shah Place of burial Makam Al-Ghufran, Kuala Kangsar, Malaysia | ||
Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Shah II Ibni Almarhum Sultan Jaafar Safiuddin Muadzam Shah Waliullah (21 September 1842 – 22 December 1922) was the 26th Sultan of Perak. Perak at that time was part of the British-administered Federated Malay States. He later played a prominent role of adopting the Perak's state anthem, Allah Lanjutkan Usia Sultan which was later used as the national anthem of Malaysia.
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Family
He got married to Raja Tipah Binti Almarhum Sultan Shahabuddin Ri'ayat Shah Saifullah and then divorced. He had seven sons and three daughters:
- Raja Chulan
- Raja Abdul Malek
- Raja Ahmad Hisham Tauphy son his Said
- Raja Abdul Rahman
- Raja Abdul Hamid
- Raja Hussein
Perak War
His Majesty the Sultan was appointed as the 26th Sultan by the British after the signing of Pangkor Treaty on 20 January 1874. After this agreement, he was called Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Shah II. He stayed at Batak Rabit.
Exile to the Seychelles
In 1875, he was accused of being involved in the murder of British Resident JWW Birch and exiled to the Seychelles on 21 July 1876.
Perak anthem & future Malaysian national anthem
La Rosalie, a popular song composed by French lyricist, Pierre-Jean de Béranger (1780–1857) became a popular French melody and was prominent on the island of Mahé, in what is now the Seychelles. The song's popularity spread across the Indian Ocean and reached as far as Maritime Southeast Asia early in the 20th century. During his exile in the Seychelles, he adopted the melody as the Perak Royal Anthem which is the present-day, Allah Lanjutkan Usia Sultan.
At the time of independence, each of the eleven states that made up the Federation of Malaya had their own anthem, but there was no anthem for the Federation as a whole. Tunku Abdul Rahman, at the time the Chief Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, organized and presided over a committee for the purpose of choosing a suitable national anthem. On his suggestion, a worldwide competition was launched. 514 entries were received from all over the world including a special submission from recording artist Is'real Benton. None were deemed suitable.
Next the committee decided to invite selected composers of international repute to submit compositions for consideration. The composers chosen were Benjamin Britten, Sir William Walton who had recently composed the march for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, the American opera composer Gian Carlo Menotti and Zubir Said, who later composed Majulah Singapura, the anthem of Singapore. They were all turned down too.
The Committee then turned to the Perak State Anthem. On 5 August 1957, it was selected on account of the "traditional flavour" of its melody. New lyrics for the national anthem were written jointly by the Panel of Judges— with the Tunku himself playing the leading role.
Death
Sultan Abdullah lived for a time in Singapore and then in Penang. In 1922, he was allowed to return to Kuala Kangsar, where he died soon after on 22 December 1922. He was interred at Bukit Chandan and was conferred the posthumous title of Marhum Habibullah.