It was founded in 1843 together with the formation of the state of Perlis as a monarchy, after the Sultan of Kedah, Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah II gave his endorsement to the Jamalullail family for the secession of Perlis from Kedah with the Jamalullail family as its hereditary rulers.

Members of the Jamal Al-Layl clan migrated to Madagascar, Zanzibar, India, Aceh, Comoros and Malaysia, where descendants of these migrants either rose to influential political positions or established ruling houses.

[11] The ancestor of the Jamalullail clan of Perlis, Sayyid Ahmad bin Husayn Jamal Al-Layl, migrated to Kedah from Hadhramaut sometime in 1735 and married the daughter from an Arab-Malay family, Sharifah Aminah Al-Qadri.

He was later admitted into the Kedahan royal court and became a close aide of the Sultan of Kedah, Ahmad Tajuddin Halim Shah II.

[citation needed] He later married a princess from the Kedah royal family, Tengku Safiah, and was later made the Penghulu (district chief) of Arau in 1797.

Arab leaders employed a two-pronged approach of religious militancy and diplomacy to free Kedah from Siamese rule, among which the Jamal Al-Layl family played a leading role in these efforts and often carried out negotiations to persuade Siam to restore the state's independence.

In 1960, Syed Putra became the third Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and served a five-year term from 1960 to 1965.