Langka, Langkasuka, Lakawn, or Langgasu

The general conclusion to be drawn from the traces of ancient culture in the Peninsula is that the southern portions of the country were often visited but never really occupied by any civilised race until the Malays came in AD 1400. Such a conclusion would not, however, be true of the Northern States, of Kedah, Kelantan, Trang and Singgora. There are found undoubted evidence of the existence of powerful Buddhist States like that of Langkasuka, the kingdom of alang-kah suka or of the Golden Age of Kedah, still remembered as a fairyland of Malay romance.
This Langkasuka was a very ancient State indeed. It is mentioned in Chinese records as Langgasu as far back as AD 500, and was then reputed to be four centuries old; its name probably survives to this day in the "Langkawi" islands off the Kedah coast. The exact position of the Kingdom of Lang-ya-siu is unknown; but in the Youen-kien-loui-han, a record places Lang-ya-siu at the south point of Coehinchina, close to the country of Pan-pan.
The old kingdom of Langka, Langkasuka, Lakawn, or Langgasu was an ancient State that is the great mystery of the Peninsula. As far back as 400 AD, there are old Chinese records that tell of a powerful kingdom of "Langgasu" or Langkasuka, which seems to have filled up the north of Malaya, stretching from sea to sea. A thousand years later there is the Javanese story of the great war of 1377 AD the last mention of Langkasuka as an independent contemporary State as one of the kingdoms overcome by Majapahit in AD 1377. It may be inferred that the great Siamese conquest of the fifteenth century put an end to the old kingdom.
Langkasuka lasted on as a Siamese viceroyalty under a "Raja" of its own up to recent times. The capital of the viceroyalty was at Nakawn Sri Tamarat, but the ruins of a more ancient capital are shown on quite another site. Its greatness is more than a tradition. Here and there, in the forests of the Siamese western States, are found fallen cities and temples, the relics of a civilisation that built in imperishable stone.
Now and again in the dialects, games, songs, and magical formulae of the Malay kingdoms of the north, are found strange words and expressions, the relics of an Indo-Chinese language that was not Siamese. In the same region are strange customs and strange arts, notably the chufam or gilt and enamelled silver-ware of Ligor. From this country also there radiated companies of strolling players, the ma'yong, mendora and mekmulong, to the Malay south and the wayang lean and lakaim to the Siamese north.
High standards of architecture, high perfection of craftsmanship, a rich stock of plays and dramas: surely these things are evidence enough of the wealth and luxury of the ancient Langkasuka. As for the State itself, its story is forgotten; it has become a shadowy tradition as the fairyland of alang-kah-suka, a mere variant of its real name. Some day perhaps the ruins will yield up their secret. But until that day comes the mystery of this old civilisation will lend a special interest to any relic of the fallen State, and the musical plays of northern Malaya can claim this interest.

rujukan dari :  http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/malaysia/history-langka.htm