Traveling the World

What was once the site of early human habitation is now known as the country of Malaysia. Humans began arriving at the Niah Cave in Sarawak around fifty thousand years ago. Already on the peninsula, the aboriginals had lived peacefully in the inland mountain area for a long time when the Malays arrived.

The Proto-Malayans were seafarers and farmers, and migrated to the peninsula from China around 2500 B.C. Their arrival scared off the aboriginals, who headed into the hills and jungles. Soon after, another group of people took over, called the Deutero-Malays – a combination of Indians, Chinese, Siamese, Arabs, Indonesians and Proto-Malays – and formed the racial basis of the group we call the Malay.

In the early period A.D., the Funan Kingdom of Cambodia expanded its borders into the Malay peninsula. In the seventh century, the Sumatra Sri Vijaya dynasty rose to power to become the largest dynasty. They lasted for 600 years until the second half of the thirteenth century, when the peninsula was conquered by Majapahit. The demise of Sri Vijaya divided the land into many small Sultanates, the most important being the Malacca Sultanate.

Paramesmara, the prince of Sri Vijaya escaped from Palembang and fled to Temasek (modern day Singapore). After the assassination of the local ruler, he fled to the north to find a settlement. Records say he experienced an auspicious sight en route to the north, and established the settlement on that spot. It became known as Malacca in 1403. In 1414, he converted to Islam.

As a result of Paramesmara’s decision to settle on the peninsula, he gained access to sea ports, and a great trading route that put Malacca in between the Middle East, Southeast Pacific, and China. Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty visited Malacca during his travels, and later the Ming Emperor married off Hang Li Po to the Sultan (there are rumors surrounding the true identity of Hang Li Po).

Western powers arrived by the sixteenth century: The Portuguese destroyed the Malacca Kingdom in 1511, and ruled it until 1641, when the Dutch defeated them and took over. The British took over in the eighteenth century, and absorbed Penang and Singapore. The Pangkor Treaty was signed between the British and Malay Sultan, thus absorbing more territory from the Malacca Strait.

Through the Resident System, the British progressively controlled the Malay Peninsula and Singapore by installing a British citizen as the local ruler. After one of the Residents was assassinated, they exiled the Sultan and put another Resident in place, who proved to be a much better ruler.

In order to develop tin mines and rubber estates, they brought in large numbers of laborers from China and India, hence forming the current day melting pot of culture.

In 1942, Japan invaded Malaya and took control for the next three years and eight months until it’s unconditional surrender to the Allies. In 1948, the British colonial government declared a state of emergency to deal with the Communist Party of Malaya.

Look for part 2 soon!

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