 Around d 170 CE groups of Malay native of Hindu faith from Sumatra and Java developed settlements in Malay Peninsula, including Kedah, joining them soon were peoples from nearby islands and from the northern Mon-Khmer region.At the same time traders from India, Persia and Arab, arrived the brink of the Malacca Strait, using Gunung Jerai the Kedah Peak as marking point  Ancient Kedah covered the areas of Kuala Bahang, Kuala Bara, Kuala Qilah and Merpah, and the inhabitants of Kedah appointed Tan Derma Dewa and Tun Perkasa as their village chiefs.According to "At-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah", written by Muhammad Hassan bin Dato' Kerani Muhammad Arshad, 1928, in about 630 CE, Maharaja Derbar Raja of Gombroon (now known as Bandar Abbas) in Persia was defeated in battle and escaped to Sri Lanka, and he was later blown off course by a storm to the remote shores of Kuala Sungai Qilah, Kedah.