It is excerpted from an article posted by an expert on a VirtualFriends community website.

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It is said that in ancient times, Perak was divided into three districts, namely Beruas, Manjung and Janin (Hulu Perak). According to what is narrated, it is said that the three heads of these districts have met to unite their districts into one state by wearing a specific name.

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And in the meeting, they agreed to name these three districts as Perak taking in the name of Bendahara Tun Perak. I can't be sure of the authenticity of this story. And according to the sender, this is a version of the story of the late Sultan Idris.

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Image via mapio

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Perak is famous for its abundant tin ore resources - a long time ago. In written fact, the discovery of tin ore at Larut, near Taiping was in l848 by Ms. Long Jaafar, one of the influential Perak dignitaries.

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Sayugia is also known, tin mining activities only became active in Perak during the time of Ms. Long Jaafar. It all started with an elephant named Si Larut belonging to Long Jaafar who was lost and found again. And when rediscovered, there were traces of tin on Si Larut's feet and caused Long Jaafar to try to open a tin mine using the panning technique.

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Perhaps the name of the state of Perak has been touted by locals during the existence of this ore before the establishment of the Malay government. No one really knows when the official name of Perak came into existence.

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But in the Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, it is said that the name of the state of Perak has something to do with the story of the prince of Raja Marong Mahapudi Sat who is said to have gone to explore to open a new state.

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The prince had reached a large river and there was also a lake, encircling three or four islands.

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The prince said .. "This place is good to be a state ..."; Then he shot into the air using an arrow made of 'silver' and his bow was called 'Indera Sakti'.

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When the arrow fell on one of the islands, the place was named Pulau Indera Sakti and the state was named Perak.

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It is narrated orally, that once upon a time, at the headwaters of an unnamed river, there was a kekabu tree located right on the border with Siam (now Thailand).

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All the kekabu flowers that enter the Siamese border area are red while the kekabu flowers that are opposite the Siamese border are white hanging out as if they are silver. Hence the name of the state of Perak and also the Perak River.

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In other stories, there are also stories such as the existence of a large Haruan fish that has licked its young until the water of the Perak river becomes murky and shiny white as if it is silver in the Chegar Galah sub-district, in the Kuala Kangsar district. This is told in the book written by Abd. Halim Nasir.

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For info, Abd. Halim Nasir is one of the biggest names in the world of writing Malay particularly with regard to research on Malay architecture, traditional Malay house, mosque, river and cosmological matters affecting the Malays in Malaysia.

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Partnership Abd. Halim may have something to do with the story of Megat Terawis.

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While Megat Terawis was going home in a river, he saw a very large snakehead fish with his children so that the river water became murky white shiny like silver. The river was named by Megat Terawis as Sungai Perak and so did the name of the state of Perak.

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Another popular oral story about the origin of the name of the state of Perak is the story of the early settlers who saw the river water that looked shiny white like a stretch of silver when exposed to sunlight. So the river was later named as Sungai Perak which eventually gave its name to the state of Perak itself.

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This means that the name Sungai Perak exists before the name of the state. Interestingly, Sungai Perak is also one of the reasons for the existence of Kuala Kangsar, which is the Royal City of Perak until now.

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Image via Berita Harian

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