A new phase in the historical development of the inhabitants of Malaysia began around the first century BC with the establishment of regular trading contacts with the world beyond Southeast Asia, specifically China and the sub-continent of India. Although Chinese contacts started as early as, if not predating those of India, it was the Hindu and Buddhist elements of Indian culture which made a major impact on the region. Over a period of a thousand years these influences gradually made themselves- selves be felt, and have left their marks in the native language, literature and social custom. During this Hindu- Buddhist period which was marked by a tremendous growth in the East-West trade, the shadowy outlines of the first political units emerged in the Peninsula and in Kalimantan. However, for the greater part of this time the inhabitants of the area were subjected to the sway of either Javanese or Sumatran power The most tangible evidence of the Hindu-Buddhist period in Malaysian history is now to be found in the temple sites of Lembah Bujang and Kuala Merbok in Kedah.
ISLAMISATION AND THE MELAKA SULTANATE
The Hindu-Buddhist period of Malaysian history ended with the penetration of Islam into the area. Brought primarily by Indian and Arab traders, there is evidence of the presence of the new religion in the region as early as the thirteentl1 century. After 1400, Islam became a major influence with the conversion of the Malay-Hindu rulers of Melaka. From Melaka, Islam spread to other parts of the Malay Peninsula and to the Malay states in Sumatra and along the trade routes throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Once established as the religion of the Malays, Islam profoundly affected Malay society and the Malay way of life.After the collapse of Melaka, the sultanate of Brunei in Kalimantan rose to become the principal agent for the propagation of Islam in that area.
The Malay kingdom of Melaka which dominated both sides of the Straits of Melaka for a hundred years marked the classical age of Malay culture . Most of the Malay States of the Peninsula today can trace their genesis back to the Melaka sultanate. In Kalimantan the inhabitants of modern Sabah and Sarawak lived an autonomous existence although the ancient kingdom of Brunei exercised a general sway over them until the end of the nineteenth century.
EUROPEAN PENETRATION AND COLONIALISM
Both the Melaka and Brunei empires were shattered by the coming of the Europeans into the region. Melaka fell to a sudden Portugese assault in 1511. The power of Brunei was crippled in its infancy by the establishment of the Spaniards in the Philippines and by the rise of Dutch power in Java. Johor tried to take the place of Melaka but was restricted not only by the Euro
peans, but also by the activities of local rivals such as the Achinese, Minangkabau and the Bugis. As a result, the present-day States of the Peninsula gradually emerged as sovereign units in their own right.
Despite their technological superiority, European power in the region remained restricted until the British intrusion at the end of the eighteenth century which brought the resources and organisation of the Industrial Revolution. From their new bases of Pulau Pinang (1786), Singapore (1819) and Melaka (1824), which became known collectively as the Straits Settlements, their influence and power spread into the Malay Peninsula, and the process of political integration of the Malay States of the Peninsula into a modern nation-state began. In 1824 the Malay world was arbitrarily divided into British and Dutch spheres of influence (i.e. by the Anglo-Dutch treaty of that year). In 1874 the British took the first steps towards bringing the peninsula States under their direct supervision when they imposed the Pangkor Treaty on the rulers of Perak and made similar arrangements in Selangor. Meanwhile in Kalimantan, the States of Sarawak and Sabah were beginning to take shape as British adventurers acquired the territories at the expense of the Brunei sultanate. By 1914 the political organisation of the present-day states of Malaysia was as follows: The Straits Settlements : British crown colony headed by a British governor, consisting of Singapore, Melaka, Pulau Pinang, Labuan, the Cocos Isles and Christmas Isle. Capital: Singapore. The Federated Malay States : British protectorate headed by a British High Commissioner (Governor of the Straits Settlements); consisting of the States of Negeri Sembflan, Pahang, Perak and Selangor. The Unfederated Malay States : British protectorate under the tutelage of a British Adviser in each State responsible to the British Commissioner, consisting of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu. Sarawak : British protectorate ruled by the Brooke family. Capital: Kuching. Sabah : British protectorate, ruled by the Chartered Company of the British North Borneo. Capital: Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu).
Tectonically, Peninsular Malaysia forms part of the Sunda Shield. Its Triassic fold-mountain belt, the spine of the Peninsula, continues from eastern Burma through Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, the Banka and Billiton Islands, and eastwards into Indonesian Borneo. Thick formations of Lower Carboniferous limestone in central Pahang and carbonaceous shales with limestone lenses in east Pahang provide the earliest indications of the formation of the basin to the east of the Main Range. Sedimentation here was typically shallow marine and, in Kelantan, was probably continuous till the Early Permian.
In Peninsular Malaysia a mountainous spine known as the Main Range or Banjaran Titiwangsa runs from the Thai border southwards to Negeri Sembilan, effectively separating the eastern part of the Peninsula from the western. Malaysia lies entirely in the equatorial zone. The climate is governed by the regime of the north-east and south-west monsoons which blow alternately during the course of the year and whose existence in the days of sailing ships made the country the natural meeting and exchange point for traders from East and West.
The Japanese invasion of Malaya and British Borneo in late 1941, which culminated in the humiliating British surrender in Singapore two and a half months later, shattered Western colonial supremacy and unleashed the forces of incipient nationalism. Although the British were able to resume their authority in the region after the collapse of Japan in 1945, they faced an entirely new political situation and those circumstances forced them to adopt new policies. As a result the Straits Settlements were dissolved. Pulau Pinang and Melaka were joined with the Malay States of the Peninsula to form a new Malayan Union. Singapore became a separate crown colony and so did both Sarawak and British North Borneo in place of the former Brooke and Chartered Company regimes. Labuan was joined to British North Borneo. These new arrangements met with considerable Malaysian opposition
A new phase in the historical development of the inhabitants of Malaysia began around the first century BC with the establishment of regular trading contacts with the world beyond Southeast Asia, specifically China and the sub-continent of India. The Hindu-Buddhist period of Malaysian history ended with the penetration of Islam into the area. Brought primarily by Indian and Arab traders, there is evidence of the presence of the new religion in the region as early as the thirteentl1 century. Both the Melaka and Brunei empires were shattered by the coming of the Europeans into the region. Melaka fell to a sudden Portugese assault in 1511.
The course of Malaysian history has been determined by its strategic position at one of the world's major crossroads, its tropical climate, the surrounding environment and the regime of the north-east and south-west monsoons. Its position and other geographical circumstances made the country a natural meeting place for traders from the East and the West. The lush tropical forest and the abundance of life existing in it and in the surrounding water made Malaysia an easy place for the settlement and sustenance of small, self-supporting human communities. At the same time the thick jungle and mountainous terrain of the interior inhibited communication, while the absence of broad, flood-proned river valleys and deltas precluded the development of elaborate systems of water control such as those upon which the civilisations of Java and the Southeast Asian mainland came to be based.
