The Early Years Malaysia (Part 1)

The earliest Malay kingdom on the Malay Peninsula is said to have been Langkasuka. It is believed to be the forerunner of Kedah. Archaelogical remains in Kedah's Bujang Valley provide evidence of trade with India and Hindu-Buddhist influences, from the 4th-14th centuries CE.

During the 13th century CE, the Siamese dominated much of the Malay Peninsula including Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Patani and even island of Temasek (Singapore), at the southernmost tip of the Peninsula, whose governer was their subject. These lands were forced to sendtributes to Siam. In the 14th century, Islam may have arrived in Kedah, possibly brought by a sheikh from Yemen, and its influence had also spread by that time to Terengganu, where a stoner pillar, found beside a river, revealed the oldest Malay text in the Arabic script, whereby Muslim laws were promulgated by a local ruler.

The beginning of the 15th century saw the rise of the new Malay kingdom of Malacca, which joined the large maritime trade system of Southeast Asia. Its regional entrepot trade with the Siamese kingdom of Ayuttha in the north and with Java in the south, and also with China and Japan, was so great that Protugese traders who arrived later described it as the 'Venice of the East'. Malacca was founded by a prince from Palembang, Parameswara, after he was forced to flee from Temasek. He feared the arrival of Siamese forces bent on avenging his assassination of the Siamese governer there. Malacca establish a reputation as a secure port for trade and shipping in its waters, as a cosmopolitan marketplace equipped with excellent facillities and as an important redistribution centre for the region's produce.

Owing to its economic prosperity, the kingdom of Malacca grew in strength and its empire extended to include Pahang, Perak, Johor, Singapore, the Riau-Lingga archipelago and much of the east coast of Sumatra. Malacca is also mentioned in Chinese imperial histories as having paid tributes to China in exchange for help in resisting the threat of attack by Java, and later by Siam, which were both vassal states of China.

In 1511, however Malacca fell to the Portugese, whose policy was to monopolise all trade in the region. The descendants of the Sultan of Malacca fled to Perak and Johor, where the Malays entrepot state was re-established. Johor's trade prospered and it was able to help the Dutch attack and defeat the Portuguese in Malacca in 1641. The Dutch were allowed to occupy Malacca, but decided to restrict its trade and role so as not to chalangge the Dutch trading and administrative centre Batavia in Java. In 1699, Johor was plunged into political turmoil when its ruler, who was the last descendant of that branch of the Malacca royal dynasty, was assassinated.

For some 20 years, rival factions fought for control. During this time the parties involved sought the intervention of other Malay States such as Siak and Minangkabau in Sumatra and others in Sulawesi. Bugis warriors from Sulawesi finally assisted Johor's former Bendahara (Prime Minister) to gain the throne and helped him establish a dynasty which lasted into the 19th century. They also set up a Bugis sultanate in Selangor. The Malay sultanate in Perak, which was directly descended from the Malacca royal lineage post, established at the mouth of teh Perak River, traded in tin and other products and at the same time provided military protection.

Intense Dutch-Bugis rivalry, however, led the Ducth to seize the Bugis-dominated Johor-Riau kingdom in 1784 and place the Malay Ruler under their control. English traders arrived in 18th century and eventually one of them, Francis Light, was established a trading post for East India Company (EIC) on the island of Penang. The Sultan of Kedah leased the island to the EIC and his aim in securring an English military presence there was to deter attacks by the Bugis in Selangor and from Siam and Burma. The Napoleonic wars in Europe led to the British attacking and capturing Ducth-occupied Java, Malacca and Riau, altghough they were returned to the Dutch when the wars ended in 1815.

In 1819, before the Dutch returned to the region, the EIC's Stamford Raffles established a port in Singapore and opened it to free trade. Anglo-Ducth revilary shattered the Malay entrepot trade system based in Johor-Riau. In 1826, the EIC united the administration of its three settlements, Penang, Singapore and Malacca which became known as the Straits Settlements and was a British crown colony. Gradually, the Malay entrepot States of Kedah, perak and Johor-Riau became less competitive as the ports of Penang and Singapore prospered and siphoned off their trade.

In 1874, troubles among the Malay chiefs over royal succession and over revenue from the rich tin mines in the western peninsular States of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Perak affected tin exports and general trade. This and at least technically their being invited to do so by local Rulers, led the British to intervene in these States in order to establish political stability and western-type administration. They also intervened in Pahang on the east coast of the Peninsula.