KOTA BARU, Sept 28 — Sultan Ismail Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Yahya Petra who was the 28th Sultan of Kelantan was very close to the people when he ruled the state.

He ruled Kelantan from March 30, 1980 until September 2010 after he was confirmed ill and was replaced by his eldest son Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra who now bears the title Sultan Muhammad V.

His demise today was announced by the Mentri Besar of Kelantan Datuk Ahmad Yakob in a special press conference in Kota Darul Naim here today.

During his rule, he took a great deal of effort to be close to the people as their umbrella which enabled the multi-racial populace in the state to stay united.

He was born on Friday, November 11, 1949 at Istana Jahar, here.

He was the only son and the youngest offspring of the late Sultan Yahya Petra and the late Raja Perempuan Zainab II.

Sultan Ismail Petra was bestowed the title Yang Teramat Mulia Tengku Mahkota Kelantan at the age of 18 years on November 11, 1967.

On March 30, 1980, he was crowned as the Sultan of Kelantan at Istana Balai Besar, here, at the age of 31, to replace his father the late Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim.

Sultan Ismail Petra suffered a stroke since May 14, 2009. He received follow-up treatments at the Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital (USMH), Kubang Kerian.

The Kelantan government then appointed medical specialists to form a medical panel to check his level of health.

However, when Sultan Ismail Petra continued to be ill, the panel decided that he was not capable of ruling the state and it was decided that his only son be crowned the new sultan.

Growing up with four elder siblings, namely, Tengku Merjan, Tengku Rozan, Tengku Salwani and Tengku Rohani, he received his secondary education Maktab Sultan Ismail, Kota Bharu before being tutored by a special English Language teacher.

On January 8, 2002, he was conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in Political Science from the Ramkhamhaeng University, Thailand.

Sultan Ismail Petra married the Raja Perempuan Kelantan Tengku Anis Tengku Abdul Hamid on Dec 4, 1968 at Istana Kota Lama, here.

The ‘Persandingan Diraja’ ceremony took place at Istana Balai Besar on March 12, 1969 in accordance with the customs of the sultan of Kelantan.

The royal couple had four children, namely, Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra, Tengku Muhammad Fa-iz Petra (now the Tengku Mahkota Kelantan), Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra and Tengku Amalin A’ishah Putri.

During his rule, a mosque was built in Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, Kubang Kerian and named Al-Sultan Ismail Petra Mosque.

He had also set up the Kolej Jamiah Islamiah Al-Islamiah Sultan Ismail Petra (JAIPETRA) and Kolej Islam Antarabangsa Sultan Ismail Petra in Nilam Puri.

A secondary school was also built and named after him, namely, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Ismail Petra at Kompleks Sekolah-Sekolah Wakaf Mek Zainab here.

Two primary schools were also named after him, namely, Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Ismail (1) and Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Ismail (2). — Bernama