History Of Malaysia

INTRODUCTION
Archeological findings indicate that Malaysia has been inhabited for a very long time. The ancient Greeks, Arabs and Indians have mentioned the existence of Malaysia, naming it after its’ great mineral wealth. This wealth, allied with the allure of spices, ultimately brought the Portuguese, Dutch and British to these beautiful shores.

GEOGRAPHICAL & CLIMATICAL FACTORS
The location of Peninsular Malaysia at the confluence of the two monsoons, the North-east Monsoon and the South-west Monsoon, together with its’ abundant natural resources, were the prime determinants of the course of the nation’s history. Traders from the nations of India, China, Persia, Arabia and those countries beyond them, could gather at this natural crossroads to exchange their goods.
The inhabitants of the Peninsular in those days were great sailors and navigators and they, in their turn, brought foreign influences into their communities, which ultimately altered their way of life. The sea was very important to the existence of the early inhabitants of the country because it’s terrain, for the most part, was not as conducive to farming as it was in other parts of South-east Asia.

PREHISTORY
It is very probable that Malaysia was the earliest home of man in South-east Asia, living in the country approximately 50,000 years ago. Traces of these Stone Age people have been found in the Niah Caves in Sarawak and in locations such as Lenggong in the State of Perak, on the Malay Peninsula. They have left stone implements and some other evidence of their existence at these locations.

THE ORANG ASLI
The “Orang Asli”, or “Original People”, began their southward movement from China around 10,000 years ago, and began settling throughout the Peninsula. On the island of Borneo, the Penan Tribe in Sarawak and the Rungus Tribe in Sabah, were the contemporaries of the Orang Asli of the Malay Peninsula, arriving at their respective future homes at around the same time.

THE MALAYS
The Orang Asli were followed by the Proto-Malays, who began to arrive in the country between four and five thousand years ago. They in turn were followed by the Deutero-Malays over the next thousand years or so. The Malays were technically more advanced than the Orang Asli, and brought with them better methods of farming and superior knowledge with regards to the use of metals. As a result of this, the Malays were able to move inland from the coastal areas, to start their farming and other activities. Malays were also moving onto other parts of the Malay Archipelago such as Sumatra, carrying with them these same superior skills and knowledge.
Even though there was this dispersion of the Malay race, all of them who lived in various parts of the archipelago shared a common culture which is evident even today. This common culture is characterised by their major economic activities of fishing and farming, their social organisation which has consensus as the basis of leadership, and strong spiritual beliefs.

THE ARRIVAL OF INDIAN RELIGIONS
Malaya was already known about by the Europeans during the early Christian era, with Ptolemy giving it the name of the “Golden Chersonese”. Shortly after this, by which time trading contacts had been established with China and India, Hindu and Buddhist elements were introduced into the country by traders from India who, together with their competitors from China, began arriving in search of gold and other precious metals and stones. For over one thousand years, these influences were the all-pervading ones on the region as a whole. In Malaysia, the best evidence of these Hindu-Buddhist influences can be seen at Lembah Bujang in Kedah.

MALAY KINGDOMS & EMPIRES
Various Malay kingdoms or empires controlled parts of South-east Asia before the arrival of the colonial powers from the west. The Srvijaya Empire, for example, was based on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and had, as its’ capital, Palembang. It exerted control over the area from the 7th century onwards, and at one time its’ power extended over the whole of the Malay Archipelago and even to southern Thailand. A significant Malay kingdom, under the control of Srivijaya, existed at Lembah Bujang in Kedah, explaining the archeological finds made there recently. After the early years of Srivijaya’s dominance, some northern parts of the Malay Peninsula came under the influence of the Siamese.
The Majapahit Empire supplanted the Srivijaya Empire, and continued the trend of great Malay kingdoms and empires during that period. At about the same time, the Brunei Sultanate on the island of Borneo, held sway over that part of the world.
Parameswara, a Sumatran prince from Palembang, threw off his allegiance to the Majapahit Empire, and went off to the Malay Peninsula in search of greener and safer pastures towards the latter part of the 14th century. After being chased off Singapore for activities contrary to the interests of the Siamese, he ended up at a fishing village which ultimately became Malacca, and founded what was to become of the wealthiest and most powerful of Malay kingdoms on the Malay Peninsula.

THE ARRIVAL OF ISLAM
There is strong evidence to suggest that the religion of Islam had already arrived in this region during the 13th century. The religion was initially brought here by Indian traders from both, Tamil India and Gujerat. Later on, various other Muslims, including the Arabs and the Turks, helped to propagate it.
By the end of the 13th century, some of the ruling families in northern Sumatra had become Muslim, with the rest of the population following in their train. In the process of building Malacca’s influence throughout the region, Parameswara, the founder of Malacca, married a Muslim princess from Pasai in Sumatra, and embraced the religion. With the royal court now becoming Muslim, the religion began to spread like wildfire throughout the area of Malacca’s influence. There are many who consider the propagation of Islam throughout South-east Asia to be the most important contribution of Malacca to this region.

THE MALACCA SULTANATE
Very soon after its’ establishment, Malacca became the most powerful entity in the region, with even the Chinese Emperor sending his greetings through the person of Admiral Cheng Ho, who arrived in Malacca with his powerful fleet in 1405. There were two reasons for this visit. The first was to reinforce China’s regional power and the second was to serve notice on the Siamese not to interfere in the affairs of the new power in the area. With this support from the Chinese, there was nothing to halt the expansion of Malacca’s domination over the rest of the Malay Peninsula, with the exception of the northern States, which still came under the sway of the Siamese.
The hundred years or so during which Malacca exerted its’ dominion over much of the Malay Peninsula and other parts of South-east Asia, marked the Golden Age of Malay culture. It became so wealthy and powerful, with tales being told of its’ pomp and grandeur, that it attracted attention from distant parts of the world.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE COLONIAL POWERS
Of the European colonising powers, the first to arrive in Malacca were the Portuguese. The arrival of these colonising powers shattered both the Malay kingdoms then in existence in this region, namely the Malacca Sultanate and the Brunei Sultanate. In 1509, the Portuguese fleet under the command of de Sequeira, arrived in Malacca. After welcoming them at first, the Malaccans then attacked and drove them off, presumably after divining their anti-Muslim and colonialist intentions.
This attack caused a retaliation against the Malacca Sultanate in 1511, which the locals were unable to counter owing to the superior technology which the Portuguese employed. The Portuguese force which carried out the attack was led by Alfonso de Albuquerque.
The defeat of the Malacca Sultanate caused the then incumbent, Sultan Mahmud, to flee to Johore, where he promptly founded the Johore Sultanate. This became the new powerhouse of the Malay Peninsula, and it was emulated in the region by the Achinese in Sumatra and the Brunei Sultanate in Borneo. Malacca’s influence had been so great, that most of the royal houses on the Malay Peninsula could trace their ancestry back to this Sultanate.

THE ERA OF THE COLONIAL POWERS
The Portuguese ruled Malacca for over 100 years, but they were never able to raise Malacca to its’ previous levels of prosperity. They were also never able to achieve their secondary objective of propagating Christianity mainly because of their crude and cruel behaviour. As a result , their power and influence gradually declined until, in 1641, they succumbed to the Dutch, who were supported by the Johore Sultanate.
The Dutch too eventually failed to make much of Malacca. This was due to two reasons. Firstly, they, in common with the Portuguese, failed to take advantage of Malacca’s true role, that of an entrepot’, and secondly, they preferred to concentrate their attention on Batavia (modern-day Jakarta, Indonesia). They preferred instead to exploit Malacca and its’ traders to the extent that doing business in the city become onerous.
Therefore, when the British, under Sir Francis Light, arrived in Penang in 1786, and then proceeded to establish a free-trade port, the writing on the wall for the Dutch was plainly visible. In addition to this competition, the Dutch were also facing problems at home.
When Napoleon conquered Holland in 1795, the Dutch authorities had no choice but to conclude the Anglo-Dutch Treaty with the British, who then took over Dutch colonies in the east. After the cessation of hostilities in Europe in 1818, Malacca and Java were returned to the Dutch.
The British at this point became determined to exert their control over the Malay Peninsula. Through the instrument of the 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty, the Malay world was divided into two. In 1826, Malacca, Penang and Singapore were grouped together as the Straits Settlements. The British were satisfied with this state of affairs for the next five decades when, in 1874, they decided to further extend their empire by forcing the Pangkor Treaty on Perak’s rulers, and combined it with similar action taken in Selangor.
In Sabah and Sarawak, British adventurers such as James Brooke had taken advantage of the Brunei Sultanate to acquire parts of Sabah and Sarawak. By now, the shape of the British Empire in this region was beginning to become more clearly defined.
In 1914 there were five distinct political entities, which were in some way or other under British influence, and parts of which ultimately were joined together to become the modern country of Malaysia. On the Malay Peninsula, they were the Federated Malay States, which was made up of Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak and Pahang, the Unfederated Malay States, which was made up of Johore, Kedah, Terengganu, Perlis and Kelantan, and finally the Straits Settlements, which were made up of Malacca, Penang, Singapore, Labuan, Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands. Then, on the island of Borneo, there were the separate States of Sabah and Sarawak.

SEEKING INDEPENDENCE
Long before the Japanese invasion and their surprise conquest of the mighty British Empire in this part of the world during World War Two, there had already been many expressions of discontent expressed by the Malay population against the British. It took the Japanese conquest of the British, however, to crystallise and mobilise this opposition to British rule in Malaysia.
Things were never the same again when the British returned after the downfall of the Japanese in 1945. Even though they tried various means of re-imposing their colonial rule, they had to admit defeat and promised independence to the Federated Malay States, Unfederated Malay States and the Straits Settlements, which had in 1948 become a single entity under the name of the Federation of Malaya. Of the Straits Settlements Colonies, only Malacca and Penang came under the umbrella of the Federation of Malaya. Singapore, along with Sabah and Sarawak became Crown Colonies, with Labuan added to the territory of Sabah.
The British introduced local elections in 1951, and Federal Elections in 1955, by which time the three major races in the country had joined forces politically to form the Alliance Party headed by Tunku Abdul Rahman. The new party won 51 out of the 52 seats in the Federal Election, and the Tunku was appointed the country’s first Chief Minister.

INDEPENDENCE
The massive mandate from the electorate enabled local politicians to pressurise the British into granting full independence by 1957. The Federation of Malaya was declared an independent country by the Prime Minister of the country, Tunku Abdul Rahman, on the 31st of August 1957. Singapore in the meantime, achieved full internal self-government under Lee Kuan Yew, whilst Sarawak and Sabah remained Crown Colonies.

THE FORMATION OF MALAYSIA
In 1961, the Prime Minister of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman, proposed the concept of Malaysia in Singapore. This proposal would group together the Federation of Malaya with Singapore, Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei. Although there was opposition to this idea at first, it galvanised elections in Sabah and Brunei. These elections were held in 1962. A joint Anglo-Malayan Commission reported in the same year, that the majority of the people in Sabah and Sarawak supported the idea of Malaysia.
Owing to immense opposition from the Philippines and Indonesia, the United Nations had to send an independent mission to the two States. This mission came back with the same report, that there was majority support from the people with regards to the formation of Malaysia. Thus, Malaysia was formally born on the 16th of September 1963. At that time, it incorporated the independent Federation of Malaya and the Crown Colonies of Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah. Brunei, in the meantime, had decided to opt out.
Indonesian disquiet at the formation of the new nation was such that this was expressed in a form of war with the new country of Malaysia called the “Confrontation”. Hostilities were ended in 1966 with the signing of an agreement in Bangkok. Singapore had, in the meantime, left Malaysia, and is today an independent nation.

MALAYSIA TODAY
Although Malaysia is still a relatively young country, it has already gone through a range of painful experiences associated with growing up. There was the Communist Insurgency which ran from 1948 to 1960 and then followed by the Indonesian “Confrontation” which was officially ended in 1966. This was followed by the Civil Disturbances of 1969, and a number of economic recessions and downturns. Malaysia has survived all these trials and tribulations, and has each time emerged stronger for the experience. No doubt there will be yet more difficulties in the future, but Malaysians and their leaders have become more confident with the growing maturity that they and their country have achieved.