Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid

In 1908, before Kedah came under British protection, the state's government appointed Mohamad bin Iskandar, a senior teacher at the Penang Free School and the father of Mahathir Mohamad (fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia), as the first headmaster of the "Government English School" (GES), which was the state's first English school.

The school was housed in a wooden building between the Alor Setar High Court building (now known as Galeria Sultan Abdul Halim) and the Balai Nobat facing the junction of Jalan Baru (now known as Jalan Putera). The small building, which could accommodate no more than 50 pupils, had previously been the office of Chief Minister Wan Md Saman, who was instrumental in the construction of the Wan Md. Saman canal.

In 1910, Mohamad bin Iskandar resigned and returned to the Penang Free School leaving the G.E.S. in the hands of Md. Salleh. Ismail Merican, another Senior Assistant Master at the Penang Free School, was appointed Headmaster the following year. The student body had grown to 97, more than the building could accommodate, so some classes had to be held in the open air.

In 1911 the school moved to a private house in Jalan Penjara Lama. Here also the accommodation was insufficient for the number of pupils, who occupied cubicles in the small, dark rooms, with many seated on the floor.

By 1912 there were 160 boys enrolled. The school expanded its teaching staff, and now taught up to Standard Four. The shortages of accommodation and trained staff made teaching to a higher standard impossible, so that when pupils had attained Standard Four they enrolled in either the Penang Free School or the Malay College, or sought employment. The majority preferred to work since they could find good jobs with a Standard Four qualification.

The prime building of SAHC

For the site of the present building, Che Md. Ariffin (Secretary to the Government), and Che Ismail Merican (Headmaster of the school) selected an area of about 30 acres (120,000 m²) at Tanjung Bendahara. Construction, which began in 1915, was completed in late 1916.

The building consisted of a two-storied structure in the centre with two classrooms on each side. Provision was made for future expansion, allowing adequate space for playing fields and more classrooms to accommodate over a thousand pupils.

The school was formally declared open on January 1, 1917, and E.A.G. Stuart, who was the headmaster and also Superintendent of Education, had his office in the central building. By 1917 there were 223 on the roll with a staff of eleven including the Headmaster. There were trained teachers, and Stuart trained the others himself, as teacher training had not yet started in Kedah.

The Stuart Library, Est. 1930

Stuart had the task of running two rapidly growing establishments at the same time. By 1923 he was finding it difficult to cope alone, so E.C. Hicks was appointed as his assistant. By 1926 over 400 pupils were enrolled, and the government appointed a committee to make recommendations for future English education in the state. This committee members were Stuart, S. Dennys, E.A.P. Helps, Tunku Mohamed and Tuan Syed Mohamed Idid. They recommended, among other things, that English education should be provided to 800 boys, of whom 640 should be Malays.

Stuart relinquished his post as Headmaster to devote all his time to the Education Office, which occupied the top floor of the Post Office from 1926 until 1935. Hicks took over as Headmaster in late 1926. Stuart died the next year at Pulau Tikus Sanatorium, Penang, and soon afterward the college built a library and named it after him.

Since its early days, the college had allowed co-education. After World War II, more girls were admitted, and in 1953 the Darulaman Magazine commented: "Owing to the shortage of teachers and the small number of students in Kampong Baru Girls' School (KBGS), co-education has been introduced into the Sultan Abdul Hamid College (SAHC)[1] in 1948. KBGS sent only students of Standard Seven. They were Kalsom and Swee Eng, but towards the end of the year Che Zaidah joined them."

In 1949, four Malay girls enrolled, among them Tunku Sakinah, the daughter of the Sultan of Kedah. In 1950, 11 enrolled. In 1951 the intake dropped because the headmistress of KBGS sent only those she considered the best. By the beginning of 1952 only eight girls were left. In 1953 the figure rose again to 19, making a total of 24 girls in Standard Seven. In 1954 the college started Sixth Form tuition and three more girls enrolled.

• Tuanku Sultan Abdul Halim, Sultan of Kedah and 5th and 14th Agong of Malaysia
• Tuanku Sultan Sallehuddin, 29th Sultan of Kedah

• Abdul Razak Mohd Yusof, recipient of Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa
• Tunku Osman Tunku Mohammad Jewa, first Malaysian Armed Forces Chief of Staff

• Affifudin Haji Omar, former Member of Parliament for Padang Terap & former Deputy Finance Minister
• Chor Chee Heung, former Local Government & Housing Minister
• Othman Aziz, former Deputy Finance Minister
• Daim Zainuddin, former Minister of Finance
• Khir Johari, former Minister of Education
• Mahathir Mohamad, 4th and current (7th) Malaysian Prime Minister
• Mohamed Zahir Ismail, former Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat
• Tunku Abdul Rahman, first Malaysian Prime Minister

• Abdul Hamid Omar, first Chief Justice of Malaysia
• Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim, former Chief Justice of Malaysia
• Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, former Chief Justice of Malaysia
• Syed Sheh Hassan Barakbah, former Yang di-Pertuan Negeri of Penang, President of the Dewan Negara, and Lord President of the Supreme Court
• Zaki Azmi, former Chief Justice of Malaysia
• Idrus Harun, 11th Attorney General of Malaysia

• Razali Ismail, former President of the United Nations General Assembly

• Shahnon Ahmad, Malaysian national laureate
• Bront Palarae, actor

• Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli, former national and Kedah football player
• Azhar Mansor, first Malaysian to sail solo around the world
• Victor Andrag, former national and Kedah football player
• Fairuz Rahman, former national captain and kedah rugby player
• Ahmad Firdaus Salim, former national sprinter athlete

• Salma Ismail, first Malay female doctor