History of Malaysia

Malaysia is a modern concept, created in the second half of the 20th century. However, contemporary Malaysia regards the entire history of Malaya and Borneo, spanning thousands of years back to prehistoric times, as its own history. Significant events in Malaysia's modern history include the formation of the federation, the separation of Singapore, the racial riots, Mahathir Mohamad's era of modernisation, and the nation's political upheavals of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

The first evidence of archaic human occupation in the region dates back at least 1.83 million years, while the earliest remnants of anatomically modern humans are approximately 40,000 years old. The ancestors of the present-day population of Malaysia entered the area in multiple waves during prehistoric and historical times.

Hinduism and Buddhism from India and China dominated early regional history, reaching their peak from the 7th to the 13th centuries during the reign of the Sumatra-based Srivijaya civilisation. Islam made its initial presence in the Malay Peninsula as early as the 10th century, but it was during the 15th century that the religion firmly took root, at least among the court elites, leading to the rise of several sultanates, the most prominent being the Sultanate of Malacca and the Sultanate of Brunei.

The Portuguese were the first European colonial power to establish themselves on the Malay Peninsula and in Southeast Asia, capturing Malacca in 1511. This event led to the establishment of several sultanates, such as Johor and Perak. Dutch hegemony over the Malay sultanates increased during the 17th to 18th centuries, with the Dutch capturing Malacca in 1641 with the aid of Johor.