Terengganu - Etymology

Etymology

There are several theories on the origin of the name 'Terengganu'. One theory attributes the name's origin to terang ganu, Malay for 'bright rainbow'. Another story, said to have been originally narrated by the ninth Sultan of Terengganu, Baginda Omar, tells of a party of hunters from Pahang roving and hunting in the area of what is now southern Terengganu. One of the hunters spotted a big animal fang lying on the ground. A fellow party member asked to which animal did the fang belong. The hunter, not knowing which animal, simply answered taring anu (Malay: 'fang of something'). The party later returned to Pahang with a rich hoard of game, fur and sandalwood, which impressed their neighbors. They asked the hunters where did they source their riches, to which they replied, from the land of taring anu, which later evolved into Terengganu. Terengganu was called Trangkanu (Thai: ตรังกานู) by the Siamese when it was under their influence.

Another simple hypothesis is that 'Terengganu' derived from 'Tilanggana', the name first given to the land by a group of Mon immigrants from either nearby Dvaravati or Funan, who arrived in the place and settled there permanently, mixing with the native people. The ancient Mons, in turn, had many Telugu Indians who had immigrated from their native homeland in Tilanggana, in southeastern India, to Mon kingdoms such as Sudharmavati (Thaton), Hamsavati (Pegu) and Dvaravati, and lived among the Mons and intermarried with them, so much so that some neighbours of the Mons, like the Bhama, started calling them 'Talaing', i.e. Telugu. The story was that those early Mons thought the new land with its humid weather and hot climate, heavy December rains and all, reminded them of tales they had heard from their elders about the original Tilanggana in India, so they just named it 'Tilanggana'. The name eventually became Terengganu according to the dialect of the local people.