Career
He was also the all time longest reigning Malay ruler in Malayan history and one of the longest reigning monarchs in the world after having ruled for a total of 68 years. Alor Setar was founded in 1735 by Sultan Muhammad Jiwa and was the Kedah’s eighth administrative centre since the establishment of the Kedah Sultanate in 1136. The earlier administrative centres were located in Kota Bukit Meriam, Kota Sungai Emas, Kota Siputeh, Kota Naga, Kota Sena, Kota Indera Kayangan and Kota Bukit Pinang.
After founding the city, Sultan Muhammad Jiwa went on to build his palace, Istana Kota Setar.
The original building was a wooden structure which had undergone demolitions several times due to attacks by the Bugis (1770) and the Siamese (1821). The current concrete building was completed during the reign of His Royal Highness Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Mukarram Shah.
This palace is also renowned as the Istana Pelamin Palace when the space of the palace was extended to add a pavilion and several rooms when His Royal Highness Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah wanted to marry off his five princes and princesses. After 1941, this palace was used as a school and an office for several organizations including the office for the Kedah chapter of Street John"s Ambulance and the Scout movements.
On 25 July 1983, this palace was declared the Kedah Royal Museum.
Another structure attributed to Sultan Muhammad Jiwa was the Balai Besar (Grand Audience Hall). Initially the function of the building was as the Balai Rong Seri or Balai Penghadapan (audience hall), that was situated at the back area of the Istana Kota Setar complex. The pillars, roofs and floors were made of wood.
lieutenant still stands to this day
Balai Nobat was also built by Sultan Muhammad Jiwa upon founding of Alor Setar.
The 18 metre-tall and 5 metre-wide three-tiered octagonal tower sole purpose is to keep all the royal musical instruments including the serunai (wooden flute), nafiri, gendang (drum) and gong, which is known as nobat.
