Prehistoric Malaysia

Cave paintings of Tambun, 2000 years old, in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.

Part of a series on the
History of Malaysia
Prehistoric Malaysia Prehistoric Malaysia 100–6th century
Early kingdoms Gangga Negara 2nd–11th century Langkasuka 2nd–14th century Chi Tu 2nd–6th century Pan Pan 3rd–5th century Kedah Tua 5th–9th century Pahang Tua 5th–15th century Melayu 6th century Srivijaya 650–1377 Majapahit 1293–1500
Rise of Muslim states Kedah Sultanate 1136–present Brunei Sultanate 1368–present Malacca Sultanate 1402–1511 Sulu Sultanate 1450–1899 Pahang Sultanate 1470–1623 Aceh Sultanate 1496–1903 Pattani Sultanate 1516– 1902 Johor Sultanate 1528–present House of Jamalullail 1843–present
Colonial era Portuguese Malacca 1511–1641 Dutch–Portuguese War 1601–1661 Dutch Malacca 1641–1824 Siamese invasion of Kedah 1821–1826 Straits Settlements 1826–1946 Kingdom of Sarawak 1841–1946 Crown Colony of Labuan 1848–1946 British Malaya / Borneo 1874–1946 North Borneo 1882–1946 Federated Malay States 1895–1946 Unfederated Malay States 1909–1946
World War II Japanese occupation of Malaya / of Borneo 1941–1945 Malayan Campaign 1941–1942 Battle of Muar 1942 Parit Sulong Massacre 1942 Battle of Singapore 1942 Syburi 1942 Si Rat Malai 1943–1945 Sandakan Death Marches 1942
Formation of Malaysia British Military Administration of Malaya / of Borneo 1945–1946 Crown Colony of N. Borneo 1946–1963 Crown Colony of Sarawak 1946–1963 Malayan Union 1946–1948 Federation of Malaya 1948–1963 Independence of Malaya 1957 Self-government of Singapore 1959 Self-government of North Borneo 1963 Self-government of Sarawak 1963 Formation of Malaysia 1963 Singapore in Malaysia 1963–1965 Federal Territory of KL 1974 Federal Territory of Labuan 1984 Federal Territory of Putrajaya 2001
Incidents Anti-cession movement 1946–1963 Malayan Emergency 1948–1960 Bukit Kepong incident 1950 Baling Talks 1956 Brunei revolt 1962–1966 Sarawak Communist Insurgency 1962–1990 Philippine claim over North Borneo 1962–present Philippine militant attacks in Borneo 1962–present Confrontation with Indonesia 1963–1966 Singapore race riots 1964 ASEAN Declaration (ASEAN) 1967 Brunei's claim over Limbang 1967–2009 Second communist insurgency 1968–1989 13 May Incident 1969 Ligitan and Sipadan dispute 1969–2002 Malaysian New Economic Policy 1971–1990 Malaysian haze crisis 1972–present Pedra Branca dispute 1979–2008 South China Sea islands dispute (Spratly Islands) 1980–present 1985 Lahad Datu ambush 1985 Memali Incident 1985 Operation Lalang 1987 Constitutional crisis 1987–1988 Financial crisis 1997–1998 Al-Ma'unah Incident 2000 Ligitan and Sipadan dispute 1969–2002 Bersih rally 2007 Anti ISA rally 2009 Bersih 2.0 rally 2011 Bersih 3.0 rally 2012 People's Uprising rally 2013 Lahad Datu standoff 2013 Anti-price hike rally 2013 Black-Out rally 2013 MAS MH370 Incident 2014 MAS MH17 Incident 2014 AirasiaQZ8501 Incident 2014 Bersih 4 rally 2015 2015 Malay Dignity rally 2015 Bersih 5 rally 2016
By topic Communications Economic Military
Malaysia portal

The earliest anatomically modern humans skeleton in Peninsular Malaysia, Perak Man, dates back 11,000 years and Perak Woman dating back 8,000 years, were both discovered in Lenggong. The site has an undisturbed stone tool production area, created using equipment such as anvils and hammer stones. The Tambun Cave paintings are also situated in Perak. From East Malaysia, Sarawak's Niah Caves, there is evidence of the oldest human remains in Malaysia, dating back 40,000 years.

Chronology

35,000+ years ago – Paleolithic (Early Stone Age)

Niah Caves in Sarawak is an important prehistoric site where human remains dating to ca. 40,000 years ago have been found.^[1] Archeologists have claimed a much earlier date for stone tools found in the Mansuli valley, near Lahad Datu in Sabah, but precise dating analysis has not yet been published.^[2]

10,000–5,000 years ago- Neolithic (New Stone Age)

Archaeological finds from the Lenggong valley in Perak show that people were making stone tools and using jewellery. The archaeological data from this period come from cave and rock shelter sites, and are associated with Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers. It is believed that Neolithic farmers made their entrance in this region between 3–4000 years ago.^[3]

2,500 years ago – Bronze Age

More people arrived, including new tribes and seafarers. The Malay Peninsula became the crossroads in maritime trades of the ancient age. Seafarers who came to Malaysia's shores included Indians, Egyptians^{[citation needed]}, peoples of the Middle East, Javanese and Chinese. Ptolemy named the Malay Peninsula the Golden Chersonese.

Out of Sundaland Migration theory

A study from Leeds University and published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, examining mitochondrial DNA lineages, suggested that humans had been occupying the islands of Southeast Asia for a longer period than previously believed. Population dispersals seem to have occurred at the same time as sea levels rose, which may have resulted in migrations from the Philippine Islands to as far north as Taiwan within the last 10,000 years.^[4] The population migrations were most likely to have been driven by climate change – the effects of the drowning of an ancient continent. Rising sea levels in three massive pulses may have caused flooding and the submerging of the Sunda continent, creating the Java and South China Seas and the thousands of islands that make up Indonesia and the Philippines today.

A 2009 genetic study published by the 2009 Human Genome Organization Pan-Asian SNP Consortium found that Asia was originally settled by humans via a single southern route. The migration came from Africa via India, into Southeast Asia and what are now islands in the Pacific, and then later up to the eastern and northern Asian mainland.^[5]

Genetic similarities were found between populations throughout Asia and an increase in genetic diversity from northern to southern latitudes. Although the Chinese population is very large, it has less variation than the smaller number of individuals living in Southeast Asia, because the Chinese expansion occurred very recently, following the development of rice agriculture – within only the last 10,000 years.

Oppenheimer locates the origin of the Austronesians in Sundaland and its upper regions.^[6] Genetic research reported in 2008 indicates that the islands which are the remnants of Sundaland were likely populated as early as 50,000 years ago, contrary to a previous hypothesis that they were populated as late as 10,000 years ago from Taiwan.^[7]

Yunnan migration theory

The theory of the Proto Malay people originating from Yunnan is supported by R.H Geldern, J.H.C Kern, J.R Foster, J.R Logen, Slametmuljana and Asmah Haji Omar. The Proto Malay (Melayu asli) who first arrived had agricultural skills while the second wave Deutero Malay (mixed blood) who arrived around 1500 BC to dwell along the coastlines had advanced fishery skills. During the migration, both groups intermarried with peoples of the southern islands, such as those from Java (Indonesian), and also with aboriginal peoples of Australoid, Negrito and Melanesoid origin.

Other evidences that support this theory include:

• Stone tools found in the Malay archipelago are analogous to Central Asian tools.
• Similarities between Malay customs and Assamese customs.
• The Malay language and the Cambodian language are kindred languages because the ancestral home of Cambodians was near the source of the Mekong River.

Kedah and Melaka

According to Kedah Annals, Kadaram (Kedah Kingdom 630–1136) was founded by Maharaja Derbar Raja of Gemeron, Persia around 630 CE, and also alleged that the bloodline of Kedah royalties coming from Alexander The Great. The other Malay literature, Sejarah Melayu too alleged that they were the descendants of Alexander The Great.

Deutero Malays

Combination of the colonial Kambujas of Hindu-Buddhism faith, the Indo-Persian royalties and traders as well as traders from southern China and elsewhere along the ancient trade routes, these peoples together with the aborigine Negrito Orang Asli and native seafarers and Proto Malays intermarried each other's and thus a new group of peoples was formed and became to be known as the Deutero Malays, today they are commonly known as the Malays.

Mekong Delta

According to the earliest written records (in Chinese), the first recorded civilisation in the Mekong Delta was the 1st century Indianised-Khmer culture of Funan. The Khmer empire of Angkor followed. Neolithic inhabitants of coastal parts of the modern Cambodia region were cultivated rice. It is believed that they were the ancestors of the people living in insular Southeast Asia and islands of Pacific Ocean. They were also knowledgeable in iron and bronze works as well as possessing good navigational skills. (Source: Based on information from John F. Cady, Southeast Asia: Its Historical Development, New York, 1964.)

Oldest Malay text

The Đông Yên Châu inscription around the 4th century AD is the oldest Malay text found. It was written in Old Malay-Cham language, found near Indrapura, Vietnam.

The Kedukan Bukit Inscription of 682 CE was found at Palembang, Indonesia.

Cham-Malay relation

Malay & Cham languages.

The similarity of the Cambodian Cham language and the Malay language can be found in names of places such as Kampong Cham, Kambujadesa, Kampong Chhnang, etc. and Sejarah Melayu clearly mentioned a Cham community in Parameswara's Malacca around the 15th century. Cham is related to the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar and the Philippines. In the mid 15th century, when Cham was heavily defeated by the Vietnamese, some 120,000 were killed and in the 17th century the Champa king converted to Islam. In the 18th century the last Champa Muslim king Pô Chien gathered his people and migrated south to Cambodia while those along the coastline migrated to the nearest peninsula state Terengganu, approximately 500 km or less by boat, and Kelantan. Malaysian constitution recognises the Cham rights to Malaysian citizenship and their Bumiputera status. Now that the history is interlinked, there is a possibility that Parameswara's family were Cham refugees who fled to Palembang before he fled to Tumasik and finally to Malacca. Interestingly, one of the last Kings of Angkor of the Khmer Empire had the name Paramesvarapada.

See also

• Cham language
• Cham people
• Early history of Burma
• Early history of Cambodia
• History of Southeast Asia
• Kamboja
• Kambojas and Kambodia
• Kampong Cham of Cambodia.
• Migration of Kambojas
• Origin of Pallava
• Pahang River
• Pallava
• Prehistoric Asia
• Prehistoric Indonesia
• Prehistoric Thailand

References

• The Encyclopedia of Malaysia : Early History, Volume 4 / edited by Nik Hassan Shuhaimi Nik Abdul Rahman
• The Encyclopedia of Malaysia : Languages and Literature, Volume 9 / edited by Prof. Dato' Dr. Asmah Haji Omar
• Crawford's 1822 Malay of Champa
• The Book of Anushirwan, The Cham Muslims of Southeast Asia: A Historical Note.

External links

• http://www.malaysia.or.kr/history.htm
• http://sejarahmalaysia.pnm.my/portalBI/detail.php?section=sm01&spesifik_id=2&ttl_id=1
• Khmer Language of Cambodia.