History Of Malaysia

Malaysia is southeast Asian country located on strategic sea-lane that exposes its to global trade and foreign culture. Hinduism from India and Buddhism from China dominated early ragional history, reaching thier peak during the reign of the sumatera based srivijaya civilisation, whose influence extended through sumatera, java, the Malay peninsula and march of Borneo from the 7th to the 14th centuries.

Although muslims had passed through the Malay Peninsula as early as the 10th centuries that islam first firmly established itself. The adoption of Islam by the 15th century saw the rise of a numbe rof Sultan Nates, the most prominant of which was the Sultan Nate of Malacca. Islam has a profound influence on the Malay people, but has also been influenced by them. The portuguese were the first European colonial powers to established themself of the Malay peninsula and southeast Asia, capturing Malacca in 1511, followed by Ducth in 1641. However it was the British who after initially establishing bases at Jesselton, Kuching, Penang and Singapore, ultimately secured their hegemony across the territory that is now malaysia. The englow-Dutch treaty of 1824 define the boundaries between British Malaya and the Natherland east Indies(which became Indonesia). A fourth hase of foreign influence was imigration of chinese and indian workers to meet the needs of the colonial economy created by the Bristish in the Malay Peninsula and Borneo.

Japanese invation during word war II ended British domination in Malaysia. The subsequence occupation of Malaya, North Borneo and Sarawak from 1942 to 1945 unleashed nationalism. In the peninsula the Malaya Communist Party took arms against the British. A tough military respons was needed to and the insurgency and bring about the establishment of an independent multi - racial federation of Malaya on 31 August 1957. On 31 August 1963,the British territories in North Borneo and singapore were granted independence and from malaysia with the peninsular states on 16 September 1963. Approximately 2 years later, the Malaysia parliament passed a bill to separate Singapore from the federation. A confrontation with Indonesia occured in the early-1960's. Race riots in 1969 lead to the imposition of emergency rule, and a curtailment of political life and civil liberties which has been fully reversed. Since 1970's the "National front coalition" headed by united malays national organisation (UMNO) has governed malaysia. Economic growth dramatically increased leaving standard by the 1990's. These growing prosperity helped minimise political discontent.