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| Etymology | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Malaysia appears on a 1914 map from a United States atlas.
The name Malaysia was adopted in 1963 when the existing states of the Federation of Malaya, plus Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak formed a new federation.[13] Prior to that, the name itself had been vaguely used to refer to areas in Southeast Asia. A map published in 1914 in Chicago has the word Malaysia printed on it referring to certain territories within the Malay Archipelago.[14] Politicians in the Philippines once contemplated naming their state "Malaysia", but in 1963 Malaysia adopted the name first.[15] At the time of the 1963 federation, other names were considered: among them was Langkasuka, after the historic kingdom located at the upper section of the Malay Peninsula in the first millennium of the common era.[16]
In 1850 the English ethnologist George Samuel Windsor Earl, writing in the Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, proposed naming the islands of Indonesia as Melayunesia or Indunesia. He favoured the former[17] for the colonial reference.
Following his 1826 expedition in Oceania, the French Navigator Jules Dumont d'Urville invented the terms Malaisia, Micronesia and Melanesia, distinguishing these Pacific cultures and island groups from Polynesia. In 1831, he proposed these terms to The Société de Géographie (Paris, France), the world's oldest geographical society. For the name Malaisia, Dumont d'Urville had in mind a region including present day Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. At that time, it was thought that the inhabitants of this region could be designated by the encompassing term "Malay".
In a strict sense, however, the Malays are the people who speak the Malay language and live on the east coast of Sumatra, the Riau Islands, the Malay Peninsula and the coastline of the island of Borneo.
The Treaty of 1824 between the English and the Dutch resulted in a division of the Malay world. The term "Malaysian" is used to refer to Malaysia as a state, while the word "Malay" refers to the language, culture, and ethnicity, and thus covers a larger area. The term "Malay world", therefore, refers to the geographical area inhabited by the Malays.[18]
The word Melayu itself is said[who?] to have originated from the Melayu Kingdom, a classical kingdom that existed between the 7th and the 13th century and was established around present-day Dharmasraya on Sumatera. It was founded by the society around the Batanghari river and the gold traders from the Minangkabau hinterland.[19] The continental part of the country bore the name Federation of Malaya until 1963, when it federated with the territories of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern part of the island of Borneo, and Singapore.[20][21] Singapore left Malaysia and became an independent country on 9 August 1965.[22]
[ Tags:Malay,Sabah,Sarawak,Singapore,Utc,Southeast Asia,Indonesia,Malay Archipelago,Langkasuka,Jules Dumont D'urville,Micronesia,Melanesia,Polynesia,Who?,Melayu Kingdom,Dharmasraya,Sumatera,Batanghari,Minangkabau,Federation Of Malaya,Borneo,Map,Sumatra,Ming,Tin, | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Prehistory |
Main article: Prehistoric Malaysia
Archaeological remains have been found throughout peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. The earliest evidence of human habitation in the area dates back 40,000 years.[23] These Mesolithic hunters were probably the ancestors of the Semang, an ethnic Negrito group who have a deep ancestry within the Malay Peninsula.[24]
The Senoi appear to be a composite group, with approximately half of the maternal DNA lineages tracing back to the ancestors of the Semang and about half to later ancestral migrations from Indochina. Scholars suggest they are descendants of early Austronesian-speaking agriculturalists, who brought both their language and their technology to the southern part of the peninsula approximately 4,000 years ago. They united and coalesced with the indigenous population.[25]
The Proto Malays have a more diverse origin.[26] Although they show some connections with Maritime Southeast Asia, some also have an ancestry in Indochina around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, about 20,000 years ago. Anthropologists support the notion that the Proto-Malays originated from what is today Yunnan, China.[27] This was followed by an early-Holocene dispersal through the Malay Peninsula into the Malay Archipelago.[28] Around 300 BC, they were pushed inland by the Deutero-Malays, an Iron Age or Bronze Age people descended partly from the Chams of Cambodia and Vietnam. The first group in the peninsula to use metal tools, the Deutero-Malays were the direct ancestors of today's Malaysian Malays.[24]
[ | Tags:Semang,Negrito,Senoi,Indochina,Proto Malays,Maritime Southeast Asia,Last Glacial Maximum,Yunnan,Chams, Early history |
The Malay Peninsula was known to ancient Indians as Suvarnadvipa or the "Golden Peninsula". It was shown on Ptolemy's map as the "Golden Khersonese". He referred to the Straits of Melaka as Sinus Sabaricus.[29] Traders and settlers from India and China arrived as early as the first century of the common era. The Chinese and Indians established trading ports and towns in the area in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE— as many as 30, according to Chinese sources. Their influence on the local culture was strong. In the early centuries of the first millennium, the people of the Malay Peninsula adopted the Indian religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as the use of the Sanskrit writing system.
Among the earliest kingdoms known to have been based in what is now Malaysia is the ancient empire of Langkasuka, located in the northern Malay Peninsula around Tasik Chini. It was closely tied to Funan in Cambodia, which also ruled part of northern Malaysia until the 6th century. According to the Sejarah Melayu ("Malay Annals"), the Khmer prince Raja Ganji Sarjuna founded the kingdom of Gangga Negara (modern-day Beruas, Perak) in the 700s. Between the 7th and the 13th century, much of Peninsular Malaysia was under the Srivijaya empire, which was centered in Palembang on the island of Sumatra.
In 1025 and 1026 Gangga Negara was attacked by Rajendra Chola I, the Tamil emperor who is now thought to have laid Kota Gelanggi to waste. Kedah—known as Kedaram, Cheh-Cha (according to I-Ching) or Kataha, in ancient Pallava or Sanskrit—was in the direct route of the invasions and was ruled by the Cholas from 1025. The senior Chola's successor, Vira Rajendra Chola, had to put down a Kedah rebellion to overthrow other invaders. The coming of the Chola reduced the majesty of Srivijaya, an Indonesian kingdom which had exerted influence over Kedah, Pattani and as far as Ligor.
"Pattinapalai", a Tamil poem of the second century CE, describes goods from Kedaram heaped in the broad streets of the Chola capital. A 7th-century Sanskrit drama, Kaumudhimahotsva, refers to Kedah as Kataha-nagari. The Agnipurana also mentions a territory known as Anda-Kataha with one of its boundaries delineated by a peak, which scholars believe is Gunung Jerai. Stories from the Katasaritasagaram describe the elegance of life in Kataha. The Buddhist kingdom of Ligor took control of Kedah shortly after. Its king Chandrabhanu used it as a base to attack Sri Lanka in the 11th century, an event noted in a stone inscription in Nagapattinum in Tamil Nadu and in the Sri Lankan chronicles, Mahavamsa.
After the fall of Srivijaya, the Java-based Majapahit empire had influence over most of Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, and the coasts of Borneo island.
[ | Tags:Capital,Ptolemy,Golden Khersonese,Hinduism,Buddhism,Tasik Chini,Sejarah Melayu,Khmer,Gangga Negara,Beruas,Srivijaya,Palembang,Rajendra Chola I,Tamil,Kota Gelanggi,Pallava,Sanskrit,Cholas,Kedah,Pattani,Ligor,Kedaram,Gunung Jerai,Kingdom Of Ligor,Chandrabhanu, Melaka |
A Famosa fortress in Melaka. It was built by the Portuguese in the 16th century.
In the early 15th century, Parameswara, a prince from Palembang in the former Srivijayan empire, established a dynasty and founded what would become the Malacca Sultanate. Conquest forced him and many others to flee Palembang. Parameswara in particular sailed to Temasek to escape persecution. There he came under the protection of Temagi, a Malay chief from Patani who was appointed by the king of Siam as regent of Temasek. Within a few days, Parameswara killed Temagi and appointed himself regent. Some five years later he had to leave Temasek, due to threats from Siam. During this period, a Javanese fleet from Majapahit attacked Temasek.
Parameswara headed north to found a new settlement. At Muar, Parameswara considered siting his new kingdom at either Biawak Busuk or at Kota Buruk. Finding that the Muar location was not suitable, he continued his journey northwards. Along the way, he reportedly visited Sening Ujong (former name of present-day Sungai Ujong) before reaching a fishing village at the mouth of the Bertam River (former name of the Melaka River). Over time this developed into modern-day Malacca Town. According to the Malay Annals, here Parameswara saw a mouse deer outwitting a dog resting under a Malacca tree. Taking this as a good omen, he decided to establish a kingdom called Melaka (Malacca). He built and improved facilities for trade.
At the time of Melaka's founding, the emperor of Ming Dynasty China was sending out fleets of ships to expand trade. Admiral Zheng He called at Melaka and brought Parameswara with him on his return to China, a recognition of his position as legitimate ruler of Melaka. In exchange for regular tribute, the Chinese emperor offered Melaka protection from the constant threat of a Siamese attack. The Chinese and Indians who settled in the Malay Peninsula before and during this period are the ancestors of today's Baba-Nyonya and Chetti community.
According to a theory, Parameswara became a Muslim when he married a Princess of Pasai and he took the fashionable Persian title "Shah", calling himself Iskandar Shah.[30] Chinese chronicles mention that in 1414, the son of the first ruler of Melaka visited the Ming emperor to inform them that his father had died. Parameswara's son was then officially recognised as the second ruler of Melaka by the Chinese Emperor and styled Raja Sri Rama Vikrama, Raja of Parameswara of Temasek and Melaka and he was known to his Muslim subjects as Sultan Sri Iskandar Zulkarnain Shah or Sultan Megat Iskandar Shah. He ruled Melaka from 1414 to 1424.[30][31] Through the influence of Indian Muslims and, to a lesser extent, Hui people from China, Islam became increasingly common during the 15th century. Melaka's position as the most prominent kingdom in the peninsula allowed the faith to spread to neighbouring states. By the start of the 16th century it had become the dominant religion among Malays.
In 1511, Melaka was conquered by Portugal, which established a colony there. The sons of the last Melakan ruler established two kingdoms elsewhere in the peninsula — the Perak Sultanate to the north, and the Johor Sultanate (originally a continuation of the old Melaka sultanate) to the south. After the fall of Melaka, three powers struggled for the control of Melaka Strait: the Portuguese (in Melaka), Johor, and Aceh. This conflict went on until 1641, when the Dutch (allied to Johor) gained control of Melaka.
[ | Tags: British arrival (1786) |
The evolution of the Malaysian state.
Britain established its first colony in the Malay Peninsula in 1786, with the lease of the island of Penang to the British East India Company by the sultan of Kedah. In 1824, the British took control of Melaka following the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 which divided the Malay archipelago between Britain and the Netherlands, with Malaya in the British zone.
In 1826, Britain established the crown colony of the Straits Settlements, uniting its four possessions in Malaya: Penang, Melaka, Singapore and the island of Labuan. The Straits Settlements were initially administered under the East India Company in Calcutta, before first Penang, and later Singapore became the administrative centre of the crown colony, until 1867, when they were transferred to the Colonial Office in London.
During the late 19th century, many Malay states decided to obtain British help in settling their internal conflicts. The commercial importance of tin mining in the Malay states to merchants in the Straits Settlements led to British government intervention in the tin-producing states in the Malay Peninsula. British gunboat diplomacy was employed to bring about a peaceful resolution to civil disturbances caused by Chinese and Malay gangsters employed in a political tussle between Ngah Ibrahim and Raja Muda Abdullah.
The Pangkor Treaty of 1874 paved the way for the expansion of British influence in Malaya. By the turn of the 20th century, the states of Pahang, Selangor, Perak, and Negeri Sembilan, known together as the Federated Malay States (not to be confused with the Federation of Malaya), were under the de facto control of British Residents appointed to advise the Malay rulers. The British were "advisers" in name, but in reality, they exercised substantial influence over the Malay rulers.
Sultan Abdul Samad Building in Kuala Lumpur houses the High Court of Malaya and the Trade Court. Kuala Lumpur was the capital of the Federated Malay States and is the current Malaysian capital.
A poster depicting the Malaysia Day celebration in 1963. (Majulah Malaysia means "Onwards Malaysia".)
The remaining five states in the peninsula, known as the Unfederated Malay States, while not directly under rule from London, also accepted British advisers around the turn of the 20th century. Of these, the four northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu had previously been under Siamese control. The other unfederated state, Johor, was the only state which managed to preserve its independence throughout most of the 19th century. Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor and Queen Victoria were personal acquaintances, and recognised each other as equals. It was not until 1914 that Sultan Abu Bakar's successor, Sultan Ibrahim accepted a British adviser.
On the island of Borneo, Sabah was governed as the crown colony of British North Borneo, while Sarawak was acquired from Brunei as the personal kingdom of the Brooke family, who ruled as white Rajahs.
Following the Japanese Invasion of Malaya and its subsequent occupation during World War II, popular support for independence grew.[32] Post-war British plans to unite the administration of Malaya under a single crown colony called the Malayan Union foundered on strong opposition from the Malays, who opposed the emasculation of the Malay rulers and the granting of citizenship to the ethnic Chinese.[33] The Malayan Union, established in 1946 and consisting of all the British possessions in Malaya with the exception of Singapore, was dissolved in 1948 and replaced by the Federation of Malaya, which restored the autonomy of the rulers of the Malay states under British protection.
During this time, rebels under the leadership of the Malayan Communist Party launched guerrilla operations designed to force the British out of Malaya. The Malayan Emergency, as it was known, lasted from 1948 to 1960, and involved a long anti-insurgency campaign by Commonwealth troops in Malaya. Although the insurgency quickly stopped there was still a presence of Commonwealth troops, with the backdrop of the Cold War.[34] Against this backdrop, independence for the Federation within the Commonwealth was granted on 31 August 1957.[35]
[ | Tags:Kuala Lumpur,Government,Brunei, |