Etymology of Malaysia

The earliest evidence of human habitation in Malaysia area dates back 40,000 years.[23] The Malay Peninsula was known to ancient Indians as Suvarnadvipa or the "Golden Peninsula". It was shown on Ptolemy's map as the "Golden Khersonese". Traders and settlers from India and China arrived as early as the first century of the common era. The Chinese and Indians established trading ports and towns in the area in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE— as many as 30, according to Chinese sources. Their influence on the local culture was strong. In the early centuries of the first millennium, the people of the Malay Peninsula adopted the Indian religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as the use of the Sanskrit writing system. Between the 7th and the 13th century, much of Peninsular Malaysia was under the Srivijaya empire, which was centered in Palembang on the island of Sumatra. After the fall of Srivijaya, the Java-based Majapahit empire had influence over most of Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, and the coasts of Borneo island. In the early 15th century, Parameswara, a prince of the former Srivijayan empire, established a dynasty and founded what would become the Malacca Sultanate. Parameswara became a Muslim, and Melaka's position as the most prominent kingdom in the peninsula allowed the faith to spread to neighbouring states. By the start of the 16th century it had become the dominant religion among Malays.

In 1511, Melaka was conquered by Portugal, who established a colony there. The British Empire set foot on the Malay Peninsula in 1786, with the lease of the island of Penang to the British East India Company by the sultan of Kedah. In 1824, the British took control of Melaka following the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 which divided the Malay archipelago between Britain and the Netherlands, with Malaya in the British zone. In 1826, Britain established the crown colony of the Straits Settlements, uniting its four possessions in Malaya: Penang, Melaka, Singapore and the island of Labuan. By the turn of the 20th century, the states of Pahang, Selangor, Perak, and Negeri Sembilan, known together as the Federated Malay States, were under the de facto control of British Residents appointed to advise the Malay rulers. The British were "advisers" in name, but in reality, they exercised substantial influence over the Malay rulers

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Interior Stone Walls Interiors