(full name, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj). Born Feb. 8, 1903. Malaysian political and state figure.

Born into the family of the sultan of Kedah (northern Malaya), Abdul Rahman studied at Cambridge University. During the Japanese occupation (December 1941–45), he served in the sultanate administration in Kedah. From 1951 he was president of the United Malay National Organization (UMNO), the leading party of the Malay bourgeoisie and feudal landlord circles. In 1955 he became chairman of the Malayan Alliance Party, which was the union of the three strongest bourgeois parties of Malaya—UMNO, the Malayan Chinese Association, and the Malayan Indian Congress. Abdul Rahman was chief minister and minister of internal affairs of the Federation of Malaya between 1955 and 1957 and its prime minister and minister of foreign affairs between 1957 and 1963. From September 1963 to 1970 he was prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of the federated state of Malaysia. Until 1971 he was leader of the Alliance Party of Malaysia, which includes, along with the Malayan Alliance Party, the Sarawak Alliance Party and the Sabah Alliance Party.