History of Malaysia

Hey fellow adventurers! It’s time to discuss the history of Malaysia. Throughout the post, I’m going to use the name Malaysia for convenience but that’s a more recent name. Malaysia has been called Malaya in the past, as well as some other names. I’m sorry if that confuses anyone.

There is evidence to support that human activity has occurred in Malaysia for at least 40,000 years. Trade with China and India was established as far back as 100 BCE. Trade doesn’t just bring in buyable goods though, but culture and religion. By 400 CE, Buddhism and Hinduism were introduced to Malaysia via India. By 1300, Islam was introduced by Arab and Indian merchants. During what is sometimes called a “second flowering of Islam,” four Muslim empires (Ottoman, Safavid, Songhay and Mughal) gained strong political and military power, as well as economic prosperity. By the 1400s, the trading network was largely controlled by Muslims in the Southeast Asia area. To attract these traders to their cities, a lot of Hindu and Buddhist rulers converted to Islam and enforced Islamic law.

A few countries have occupied Malaysia throughout history but the British controlled Malaysia the longest. Although at first the British only wanted economic control over Malaysia, they soon wanted territorial control as well. Under British rule, the British brought in Indians to do manual labor, such as Tin mining. This made Indian and Chinese Malaysians the primary manual labor workforce. While Malay Malaysians had opportunities to work in government positions, such as for the police. Positions the British generally closed off to non-Europeans. Not only that but the British gave off the impression that the Malay Malaysians were the rulers of Malaysia but didn’t give them any authority to rule. This inequality created a rift between the races. If you want to learn more about Colonial control over Malaysia, read the following article:

http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Malaysia/sub5_4a/entry-3619.html

During World War II, Japan set out to acquire resources that would free it from its dependence on the West. The Japanese shared a desire with several Southeast Asian countries to liberate countries under European control. The Japanese claimed they were going to make “Asia for Asians.” However soon after they began conquering countries, it became clear that they were more interested in resources, than liberation. The Japanese’s first act in Malaysia was to kill the Chinese Malaysians. After which, the Japanese established a rule, and you either followed or died. The occupation of the Japanese ended after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. If you wish to learn more, I highly recommend this show from history channel:

After Japanese occupation ended, it wasn’t long until the British took control again. This was welcomed by some Malaysians and dreaded by others. Those who wanted Malaysian independence fought to get rid of British control. In 1957, Malaysia is free from British control. And in 1963, Malaysia officially becomes Malaysia. If you would like a more comprehensive timeline of the history of Malaysia, check out BBC:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-15391762

I also recommend watching this interesting piece about former Malaysian communists that were kicked out of Malaysia while it was still Malaya:

That’s all for today’s post! I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for reading my blog, and as always, until our next adventure!

7,690 thoughts on “History of Malaysia”

  1. Excellent blog you have here but I was curious if you
    knew of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics talked about here?

    I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get comments from
    other experienced individuals that share the same interest.
    If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Thanks!

  2. I have been browsing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours.

    It’s pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you
    did, the net will be much more useful than ever before.

  3. I am really impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your weblog.

    Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself?
    Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a nice
    blog like this one nowadays.

  4. Greetings, I think your web site might be having browser compatibility issues.
    When I take a look at your site in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in Internet
    Explorer, it has some overlapping issues.
    I simply wanted to provide you with a quick heads up! Aside
    from that, fantastic site!

  5. I have been surfing online more than 3 hours nowadays, but I never discovered any fascinating article like yours.
    It’s pretty price enough for me. Personally, if all website owners and bloggers made excellent content material
    as you did, the net will be a lot more useful than ever before.

  6. Helpful info. Lucky me I found your website unintentionally, and I am stunned why this accident did not took place earlier!

    I bookmarked it.

  7. Thank you a lot for sharing this with all people you actually realize what you are talking about!
    Bookmarked. Kindly additionally seek advice from my website =).

    We may have a link trade arrangement among us

  8. When someone writes an paragraph he/she maintains the idea of a user in his/her mind that
    how a user can be aware of it. So that’s why this article is outstdanding.
    Thanks!

  9. Magnificent beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your
    site, how can i subscribe for a blog website?
    The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright clear concept

  10. It is really a nice and useful piece of info.
    I am satisfied that you just shared this helpful info with us.
    Please stay us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.

  11. Do you have a spam problem on this blog; I also am
    a blogger, and I was wanting to know your situation; we have developed some
    nice methods and we are looking to exchange strategies with other folks, please shoot me an email if
    interested.

  12. I used to be recommended this website by my cousin. I
    am now not sure whether or not this submit is written via him as no one else know such specified approximately my difficulty.

    You are wonderful! Thanks!

  13. Have you ever considered about including a little bit more than just your articles?
    I mean, what you say is valuable and all. Nevertheless just imagine
    if you added some great graphics or videos to give your posts
    more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with images and clips, this blog could certainly be one of the very best in its niche.

    Amazing blog!

  14. Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say
    that I’ve really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.
    After all I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *