Megat Terawis Journey to Our Roots

For the first time, the story of the legendary Megat Terawis has been assembled in a single volume. The writer, Putri Zanina bt Megat Zainuddin, from Megat Terawis’s bloodline, Perak, is a thirteenth-generation descendant. An award-winning writer, Putri Zanina shares her experiences in the search for her ancestral roots. Driven by a deep need to find out where she came from and to know more about her family background, she traveled to Pagar Ruyung in Sumatera, the seat of Minangkabau rule, and followed the footsteps of Megat Terawis and his early descendants in Perak. For 230 years, from the establishment of the Perak Sultanate in 1528, the Megats were the Sultan’s Bendaharas – royal custodians, kingmakers and trusted generals, who shed blood for their country. Her stories reveal the impact of the powerful Bendahara Megats on the history of Perak and also the Malay Nusantara of old. The book combines the author’s travelogue, historical accounts and genealogies of the Megat family as well as folk tales and legends that lend intrigue to me of Perak’s most prominent aristocratic families.