A Brief History
In the first century AD, the Malayan peninsula was prominent in international trade. The port city of Malacca was founded in 1400, and it quickly grew from a village into a wealthy kingdom. Perfectly located for trade, within 50 years it was the most influential port in Southeast Asia.
In 1511, Malacca was captured by the Portuguese, then by the Dutch in 1641. Control of this kingdom gave the Dutch an exclusive lock on the spice trade until 1785, when the British East India Company convinced the Sultan of Kedah to allow them to build a fort on the island of Penang.
In 1832, Penang formed part of the Straits Settlement with Malacca. It flourished and grew to be a lucrative hotspot for trade in tea, spices, china and cloth. For more than a hundred years, it remained under British Colonial rule until 1957 when it gained independence and became one of the states of the newly formed Federation of Malaya and later Malaysia in 1963.
Malaysia was a mix of people from many races and cultures, yet because Malays represented the majority, the constitution secured them spots in the government, made Islam the national religion, and Malay the national language.
This blatant discrimination produced race riots that swept through the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, and the country was placed in a state of emergency for two years. In the last two decades, however, Malaysia has undergone tremendous growth and prosperity, and has arguably made some progress in race relations.
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