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Kepala Batas is a suburb of Seberang Perai and the seat of the Northern Seberang Perai District in the Malaysian state of Penang. It lies about 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Butterworth and 15km (9.3 mi) southwest of Sungai Petani.

Etymology
Kepala Batas means "front end of the paddy field" in Malay; Kepala is the top or front end of something, and Batas is the earthern dykes bordering a paddy field.

Kepala Batas was mostly a muddy region, where paddy cultivation became a major agricultural activity for its residents. The abundance of paddy fields in the area thus gave rise to the place's name.

Early history
Archaeological evidence indicates that the region of Kepala Batas had been inhabited by nomadic Melanesians from as early as the Neolithic era. Human remains dating back to about 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, along with seashells, pottery and hunting tools were discovered to the south of the Muda River in Guar Kepah.

Kepala Batas also became part of the Bujang Valley civilisation, and early Hindu-Buddhist polity centered in what is now Kedah sometime between the 5th to 6th centuries and later becoming part of the Sultanate of Kedah.

British acquisitions
In 1800, the British East India Company (EIC) annexed a strip of the mainland from Kedah for a sum of 4,000 Spanish dollars. This newly-acquired territory was named Province Wellesley after Governor-General of India Richard Wellesley.

The EIC would later expand Province Wellesley northwards in 1831 following a treaty with Siam, which had by then annexed Kedah. EIC thus gained Kepala Batas in the process.

Province Wellesley
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World War II & Post-war
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Post-Independence
After

Geography
Kepala Batas

Demographics
, Kepala Batas had a population of 361. Chinese and Malays each formed about 36% of the population, followed by Indians at 27%.

In popular culture

 * A British plantation bungalow in Kepala Batas, the Bertam House, was featured in A House Of its Time, a documentary series created by Freestate Productions and broadcast by Mediacorp.

Notable people

 * Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia (31 October 2003 – 3 April 2009).
 * Abdul Rahman Abbas, 7th Yang di-Pertua Negeri of the state of Penang, Malaysia (2001–2021).
 * Nor Mohamed Yakcop, former Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and Minister of Finance II.
 * Reezal Merican bin Naina Merican, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (29 July 2015 - 9 May 2018), Minister of Youth and Sports (10 March 2020 - 16 August 2021), Minister of Housing and Local Government (30 August 2021 - 24 November 2022), Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the seat of Kepala Batas (2013-2022) in the state of Penang and Member of the Penang State Legislative Assembly for the seat of Bertam (since 2023).