Yusuf bin Adil, better known as Buyong Adil, was born in January 1907 at Teluk Intan, Perak. He received his early education at Sekolah Melayu Teluk Anson and later entered the Kolej Latihan Sultan Idris (SITC), Tanjung Malim in 1924. He was the best student at SITC and became a lecturer there after graduating. He began to write on history after his teacher, Cikgu Abdul Hadi Hassan, shifted to Kelantan. In 1939, Buyong Adil wrote Sejarah Alam Melayu Penggal IV and Sejarah Melayu V..

After Malaya’s independence in 1957, Buyong Adil joined the government’s publishing agency, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, and wrote a series of volumes, each on the history of a state or settlement and with titles like Sejarah Selangor (History of Selangor) and Sejarah Singapura (History of Singapore), which were published by the agency. Unfortunately, Buyong Adil failed to complete the histories of all the 13 states of Malaysia before his death