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The British first became involved with Malay politics in 1771,

when Great Britain tried to set up trading posts in Penang, 

formerly a part of Kedah. The British colonized Singapore in

1819.

Main article: History of Modern Penang

In the mid-18th century, British firms could be found trading

in the Malay Peninsula. In April 1771, Jourdain, Sulivan and

de Souza, a British firm based in Madras, India, sent Francis

Light to meet the Sultan of Kedah, Muhammad Jiwa Shah, to

open up the state's market for trading. Light was also a

captain in the service of the East India Company. 

George Town, capital of Penang. Across the North Channel

seen is Butterworth, on the mainland known as Seberang

Perai, formerly Province Wellesley.

The Sultan faced multiple external threats during this period.

Siam, which was at war with Burma and which saw Kedah as

its vassal state, frequently demanded that Kedah send

reinforcements. Kedah, in many cases, was a reluctant ally to

Siam.

Through negotiation between the Sultan and Light, the

Sultan agreed to allow the firm to build a trading post and to

operate in Kedah, if the British agreed to protect Kedah from

external threats. Light conveyed this message to his

superiors in India. The British, however, decided against the

proposal.

Two years later, Sultan Muhammad Jiwa died and was

replaced by Sultan Abdullah Mahrum Shah. The new Sultan

offered Light (who later became a British representative) the

island of Penang in return for military assistance for Kedah.

Light informed the East India Company of the Sultan's offer.

The Company, however, ordered Light to take over Penang

and gave him no guarantee of the military aid that the

Sultan had asked for earlier. Light later took over Penang

and assured the Sultan of military assistance, despite the

Company's position. Soon the Company made up its mind

and told Light that they would not give any military aid to

Kedah. In June 1788, Light informed the Sultan of the

Company's decision. Feeling cheated, the Sultan ordered

Light to leave Penang, but Light refused.

Light's refusal caused the Sultan to strengthen Kedah's

military forces and to fortify Prai, a stretch of beach opposite

Penang. Recognising this threat, the British moved in and

razed the fort in Prai. The British thereby forced the Sultan to

sign an agreement that gave the British the right to occupy

Penang; in return, the Sultan would receive an annual rent of 

6,000 Spanish pesos. On 1 May 1791 the Union Flag was

officially raised in Penang for the first time. In 1800, Kedah

ceded Prai to the British and the Sultan received an increase

of 4,000 pesos in his annual rent. Penang was later named

Prince of Wales Island, while Perai was renamed Province

Wellesley. 

In 1821, Siam invaded Kedah, sacked the capital of Alor Star, 

and occupied the state until 1842.

Before the late 19th century, the British largely practiced a

non-interventionist policy. Several factors such as the

fluctuating supply of raw materials, and security, convinced

the British to play a more active role in the Malay states.

From the 17th to the early 19th century, Malacca was a

Dutch possession. During the Napoleonic Wars, between1811 and 1815, Malacca, like other Dutch holdings in

Southeast Asia, was under the occupation of the British. This

was to prevent the French from claiming the Dutch

possessions. When the war ended in 1815, Malacca was

returned to the Dutch. In 1824 the British and the Dutch

signed a treaty known as the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. 

The treaty, among other things, legally transferred Malacca

to British administration. The treaty also officially divided the

Malay world into two separate entities and laid the basis for

the current Indonesian-Malaysian boundary.

Main article: Founding of modern Singapore

Further information: Sultanate of Johore

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 1888 German map of Singapore.

Modern Singapore was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles with

a great deal of help from Major William Farquhar. Beforeestablishing Singapore, Raffles was the Lieutenant Governor

of Java from 1811 till 1815. In 1818 he was appointed to

Bencoolen. Realising how the Dutch were monopolising

trade in the Malay Archipelago, he was convinced that the

British needed a new trading colony to counter Dutch

trading power. Months of research brought him to

Singapore, an island at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. The

island was ruled by a temenggung . 

Singapore was then under the control of Tengku Abdul

Rahman, the Sultan of the Johore-Riau-Lingga Sultanate

(otherwise known as the Johore Sultanate), in turn under the

influence of the Dutch and the Bugis. The Sultan would

never agree to a British base in Singapore. However, Tengku

Abdul Rahman had become a sultan only because his older

brother, Tengku Hussein or Tengku Long, had been away

getting married in Penang when their father, the previous

sultan, died in 1812. In Malay cultural traditions, a person

must be by the side of the dying sultan to be considered as

a new ruler. Tengku Abdul Rahman was present when the

old sultan died. The older brother was not happy with the

development while the temenggung who was in charge of 

Singapore preferred Tengku Hussein to the younger brother.

The British had first acknowledged Tengku Abdul Rahman at

the time of their first presence in Malacca. The situation

however had changed. In 1818, Farquhar visited TengkuHussein in the little island of Penyengat, off the coast of 

Bintan, the capital of the Riau Archipelago. There, new plans

were drawn and in 1819, Raffles made a deal with Tengku

Hussein. The agreement stated that the British would

acknowledge Tengku Hussein as the legitimate ruler of 

Singapore if he allowed them to establish a trading post

there. Furthermore, Tengku Hussein and the temenggung

would receive a yearly stipend from the British. The treaty

was ratified on 6 February 1819. With the Temenggung's

help, Hussein left Penyengat, pretending that he was 'going

fishing', and reached Singapore, where he was quickly

installed as Sultan.

The Dutch were extremely displeased with Raffles' action.

However, with the signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, Dutch opposition to the British presence in Singapore

receded. The treaty also divided the Sultanate of Johor into

modern Johor and the new Sultanate of Riau.

Postage stamp of the Straits Settlements from 1883.

Main article: Straits Settlements

After the British secured Singapore from the Dutch through

the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the British aimed to

centralise the administration of Penang, Malacca and

Singapore. To this end, in 1826 a framework known as the

Straits Settlements was established with Penang as its capital.

Later, in 1832, the capital was moved to Singapore. While

the three holdings formed the backbone of the Settlements,

throughout the years Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, 

Labuan and Dinding of Perak were placed under the

authority of the Straits Settlements.

Until 1867 the Straits Settlements were answerable to the

British administrator of the East India Company in Calcutta. 

The Settlements' administrators were dissatisfied with the

way Calcutta was handling their affairs and they complained

to London. The Company even tried to annul Singapore's

free port status in 1856.

The Company however was dissolved in 1858, and British

India came under the direct rule of the Crown: in effect, the

British government. With Calcutta's waning power, and after

intense lobbying by the Settlements' administrators, in 1867

the colony was placed directly under the power of theColonial Office in London and was declared a crown colony. 

The declaration gave it considerable independence and

power within the British Empire. 

In 1946, after the Second World War, the colony was

dissolved. Malacca and Penang were absorbed into the

Malayan Union, while Singapore was separated from the

Union and made into a new crown colony on its own. The

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Malayan Union was later replaced with the Federation of 

Malaya in 1948, and in 1963, together with North Borneo,

Sarawak and Singapore, formed an enlarged federation

called Malaysia.

British and French pressures forced Siam to give up its

territorial claims on Indochina and the Malay Peninsula.

Main articles: Burney Treaty and Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 

1909

Further information: History of Thailand (1768–1932)

Prior to the late 19th century, the British East India Company

was interested only in trading, and tried as much as possible

to steer clear of Malay politics. However, Siam's influence in

the northern Malay states, especially Kedah, Terengganu, 

Kelantan and Pattani, was preventing the Company from

trading in peace. Therefore, in 1826, the British, through the

Company, signed a secret treaty known today as the BurneyTreaty with the King of Siam. The four Malay states were not

present during the signing of the agreement. In that treaty,

British acknowledged Siamese sovereignty over all those

states. In return, Siam accepted British ownership of Penang

and Province Wellesley and allowed the Company to trade

in Terengganu and Kelantan unimpeded.

83 years later, a new treaty now known as the Anglo-

Siamese Treaty of 1909 or the Bangkok Treaty of 1909 was

signed between the two powers. In the new agreement,

Siam agreed to give up its claim over Kedah, Perlis, 

Terengganu and Kelantan, while Pattani remained Siamese

territory. Perlis was previously part of Kedah but during the

Siamese reign it was separated from Kedah. Kedah's district

of Satun however was annexed by Siam in the same

agreement. Pattani on the other hand was dissected into

Pattani proper, Yala and Narathiwat after the signing of the

treaty.

Though the Siamese King Chulalongkorn was reluctant to

sign the treaty, increasing French pressure on the Siamese

eastern border forced Siam to cooperate with the British.

Like Rama IV, Chulalongkorn hoped that the British would

leave Siam alone if he acceded to their demands. Earlier in

1893, Siam had lost the Shan region of north-eastern Burma

to the British. This demarcation as stated in the agreement

remains today the Malaysia-Thailand Border. 

Malay rulers did not acknowledge the agreement, but weretoo weak to resist British influence. In Kedah after the

Bangkok Treaty, George Maxwell was posted by the British in

Kedah as the sultan's advisor. The British effectively took

over economic planning and execution. A rail line was built

to connect Kedah with Siam in 1912 while land reform was

introduced in 1914. Only in 1923 did the ruler of Kedah,

Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, accept a British Advisor.

Perlis had a similar experience. The ruler did not recognise

the 1909 treaty but the British were de facto administrators

of the state. It was only in 1930 that the ruler, Raja Syed Alwi,

recognised the British presence in Perlis by admitting

Meadows Frost as the first British Advisor in Perlis.

Main articles: Larut War and Pangkor Treaty of 1874

Perak is a state on the western shore of the Malay Peninsula.

In the 18th and 19th centuries it was discovered to be rich in

tin, with the richest alluvial deposits of tin in the world.

Europe at the same time was undergoing an industrial

revolution and this created a huge demand for tin. The

British as well as the Dutch were active in the states, each

seeking to monopolise production of tin and other

commodities. However, the political atmosphere in Perak

was sufficiently volatile to raise the cost of tin mining

operations. For instance, in 1818 Siam ordered Kedah to

attack Perak. The lack of security in Perak forced the British

to protect Perak in 1826.

As Perak continued to increase its mining operations, it

suffered a shortage of labour. Looking to solve the problem,

Malay administrator Long Jaafar invited the Chinese in

Penang to work in Perak, particularly at Larut. By the 1840s,

Perak's Chinese population exploded. The new immigrants

more often than not were members of Chinese secret

societies. Two of the largest were Ghee Hin and Hai San.

These two groups regularly tried to increase their influence

in Perak and this resulted in frequent skirmishes. These

skirmishes were getting out of hand, so that even Ngah

Ibrahim, the Menteri Besar  (chief minister) was unable to

enforce the rule of law.

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 Raja Abdullah, later Sultan of Perak

Meanwhile, there was a power struggle in the Perak royal

court. Sultan Ali died in 1871 and the next in line for the

throne was the Raja Muda or the crown prince, Raja

Abdullah. Despite that fact, he was not present during the

burial of the sultan. As in the case of Tengku Hussein of 

Johor, Raja Abdullah was not appointed as the new sultan by

the ministers of Perak. Instead, the second in line, Raja 

Bendaraha Raja Ismail, became the next sultan of Perak.

Raja Abdullah was furious and refused to accept the news

kindly. He then sought and gathered political supports from

various channels, including several of Perak's local chiefs and

several British personnel with whom he had done business in

the past, with the secret societies becoming their proxies in

the fight for the throne. Among those British individuals was

British trader W.H.M. Read. Furthermore, he promised to

accept a British advisor if the British recognised him as the

legitimate ruler of Perak.

Unfortunately for Raja Abdullah, the Straits Settlements

governor at that time was Sir Harry Ord and the governor

was a friend of Ngah Ibrahim, who had unresolved issues

with Raja Abdullah. With Ord's aid, Ngah Ibrahim sent sepoy

troops from India to prevent Raja Abdullah from actively

claiming the throne and extending control over the Chinese

secret societies.

By 1873 the Colonial Office in London came to perceive Ord

as incompetent. He was soon replaced by Sir Andrew Clarke

and Clarke was ordered to get a complete picture of what

was happening in the Malay states and recommend how to

streamline British administration in Malaya. The reason wasthat London was increasingly aware that the Straits

Settlements were increasingly dependent on the economy of 

the Malay states, including Perak. After Clarke's arrival in

Singapore, many British traders including Read became close

to the governor. Through Read, Clarke learned of Raja

Abdullah's problem and willingness to accept a British

representative in his court if the British assisted the once

apparent heir.

Clarke seized the opportunity to expand British influence.

First, he called all Chinese secret societies together and

demanded a permanent truce. Later, through the signing of 

the Pangkor Treaty on 20 January 1874, Clarke

acknowledged Raja Abdullah as the legitimate sultan of 

Perak. Immediately, J.W.W. Birch was appointed as a British

resident in Perak. Raja Ismail, on the other hand, while not

party to the agreement, was forced to abdicate due to

intense external pressure applied by Clarke.

Further information: Klang War

Along with Perak, Selangor, another Malay state just south of 

Perak, had considerable deposits of tin around Hulu

Selangor on the north, Hulu Klang in the central area and

Lukut near Negeri Sembilan to the south. Around 1840,

under the leadership of Raja Jumaat from Riau, tin mining

became a huge enterprise. His effort soon was rewarded bySultan Muhammad of Selangor; Raja Jumaat was appointed

as Lukut's administrator in 1846. By the 1850s the area

emerged as one of the most modern settlements on the

Malay Peninsula apart from the Straits Settlements. At one

point, there were no less than 20,000 labourers, most of 

them ethnic Chinese imported from China. He died in 1864

and his death created a leadership vacuum. Slowly, Lukut slid

backward and was forgotten.

Kuala Lumpur is the largest city in Malaysia. It is also the

capital of present-day Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Hulu Klang enjoyed unprecedented growth due

to tin mining. Between 1849 and 1850, Raja Abdullah bin

Raja Jaafar, Raja Jumaat's cousin, was appointed by the

sultan as Klang's administrator. As Lukut's economic

importance was slowly declining, that of Hulu Klang was

rising. This attracted many labourers to relocate there,

especially Chinese immigrants who had worked in Lukut.

One person responsible for persuading the Chinese to move

from Lukut to Hulu Klang was Sutan Puasa from Ampang. 

He supplied the mining colonies in Hulu Klang with goods

ranging from rice to opium. As Hulu Klang prospered,

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several settlements started to rise up by the late 1860s. Two

of them were Kuala Lumpur and Klang. A Chinese kapitan

named Yap Ah Loy was instrumental in developing Kuala

Lumpur.

As in Perak, this rapid development attracted great interest

from the British in the Straits Settlements. The economy of Selangor became important enough to the prosperity of the

Straits Settlements that any disturbance in that state would

hurt the Straits Settlement itself. Therefore, the British felt

they needed to have a say in Selangor politics. One major

disturbance, amounting to a civil war, was the Klang War

which began in 1867.

In November 1873, a ship from Penang was attacked by

pirates near Kuala Langat, Selangor. A court was assembled

near Jugra and suspected pirates were sentenced to death.

The sultan expressed concern and requested assistance from

Sir Andrew Clarke. Frank Swettenham was appointed to

serve as the sultan's advisor. Approximately a year later, a

lawyer from Singapore named J.G. Davidson was appointed

as British Resident in Selangor. Frank Swettenham was

nominated for the Resident post but he was deemed too

young.

The civil war ended in 1874.

The flag of Negeri Sembilan.

Negeri Sembilan was another major producer of tin in

Malaya. In 1869 a power struggle arose between Tengku

Antah and Tengku Ahmad Tunggal, as both aspired to

become the next ruler of Negeri Sembilan, the Yamtuan

Besar. This conflict between the two princes divided the

confederation and threatened the reliability of tin supply

from Negeri Sembilan.

Sungai Ujong, a state within the confederation in particular

was the site of many locally important mines. It was ruled by

Dato' Kelana Sendeng. However, another local chieftain

named Dato' Bandar Kulop Tunggal had more influence

than Dato' Kelana. Dato' Bandar received great support from

the locals and even from the Chinese immigrants who

worked at the mines of Sungai Ujong. Dato' Kelana's limited

popularity made him dependent on another chieftain named

Sayid Abdul Rahman, who was the confederation's

Laksamana Raja Laut (roughly royal sea admiral). The

strained relationship between Dato' Bandar and Dato' Kelana

caused frequent disturbances in Sungai Ujong.

The years before 1873 however were years of relative calm

as Dato' Kelana had to give extra attention to Sungai Linggias Rembau, another state within the confederation, tried to

wrest Sungai Linggi from Sungai Ujong's control. Negeri

Sembilan at that time was connected to Malacca via Sungai

Linggi, and a high volume of trade passed through Sungai

Linggi daily. Whoever controlled Sungai Linggi would gain

wealth simply through taxes.

Later that year, Dato' Kelana Sendeng died. In early 1873,

Sayid Abdul Rahman took his place, becoming the new

Dato' Kelana. The death however did not repair the

relationship between Dato' Kelana and Dato' Bandar. On the

contrary, it deteriorated. The new Dato' Kelana was deeply

concerned with Dato' Bandar's unchecked influence, and

sought ways to counter his adversary's power.

When the British changed their non-interventionist policy in

1873 by replacing Sir Harry Ord with Sir Andrew Clarke as

the new governor of the Straits Settlements, Dato' Kelana

immediately realised that the British could strengthen his

position in Sungai Ujong. Dato' Kelana wasted no time in

contacting and lobbying the British in Malacca to support

him. In April 1874, Sir Andrew Clarke seized Dato' Kelana's

request as a means to build British presence in Sungai Ujong

and Negeri Sembilan in general. Clarke acknowledged Dato'

Kelana as the legitimate chief of Sungai Ujong. The British

and Dato' Kelana signed a treaty which required Dato'

Kelana to rule Sungai Ujong justly, protect traders, andprevent any anti-British action there. Dato' Bandar was not

invited to sign the agreement and hence asserted that he

was not bound by the agreement. Moreover, Dato' Bandar

and the locals disapproved of the British presence in Sungai

Ujong. This further made Dato' Kelana unpopular there.

Soon, a company led by William A. Pickering, of the Chinese

Protectorate from the Straits Settlements, was sent to Sungai

Ujong to assess the situation. He recognised the

predicament Dato' Kelana was in and reported back to the

Straits Settlements. This prompted the British to send 160

soldiers to Sungai Ujong to help Pickering defeat Dato'

Bandar. At the end of 1874, Dato' Bandar fled to Kepayang.Despite this defeat, the British paid him a pension and

granted him asylum in Singapore.

As the year progressed, British influence increased to the

point that an assistant resident was placed there to advise

and assist Dato' Kelana with the governance of Sungai Ujong.

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The British became involved in the administration of Pahang

after a civil war between two candidates to the kingdom's

throne between 1858 and 1863.

Evolution of Malaysia

Further information: Early Malay nationalismFurther information: Kesatuan Melayu Muda

. Flag of the Federated Malay States (1895–1946)

Main articles: Federated Malay States and Unfederated

Malay States

To streamline the administration of the Malay states and

especially to protect and further develop the lucrative trade

in tin-mining and rubber, Britain sought to consolidate and

centralise control by federating the four contiguous states of 

Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang into a new

entity, the Federated Malay States (FMS), with Kuala Lumpur

as its capital. The Residents-General administered the

federation but compromised by allowing the Sultans to

retain limited powers as the authority on Islam and Malay

customs. Modern legislation was introduced with the

creation of the Federal Council. Although the Sultans had

less power than their counterparts in the Unfederated Malay

States, the FMS enjoyed a much higher degree of 

modernisation. Federalisation also brought benefit through

cooperative economic development, as evident in the earlier

period, when Pahang was developed using funds from the

revenue of Selangor and Perak.

The Unfederated Malay States, on the other hand,

maintained their quasi-independence, had more

autonomony and instead of having a Resident they were

required only to accept a British Advisor, though in realitythey were still bound by treaty to accept the advice.

Economic exploitation by the British was much less as the

emphasis was more on keeping these states in line. Perlis,

Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu were surrendered by Siam

after the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909. Independent Johor,

meanwhile, had to surrender Singapore to the British earlier

on and despite the Sultan's political effort was forced to

accept an advisor in 1914, becoming the last Malay state to

lose her sovereignty.

This period of slow consolidation of power into a centralised

government and compromise (the Sultans retain their reign

but not rule in their states) would have a great impact lateron the road to nationhood. It effectively marked the

transition of the idea of Malay states as a collective of lands

governed by feudal rulers to a more Westminster-type

federal constitutional monarchy. This was to become the

acceptable model for the future Federation of Malaya and

ultimately Malaysia, a government type unique in the region

where other countries adopted a stricter, heavily centralised

administration.

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.

The unfederated Malay states in blue, the Federated Malay

States (FMS) in yellow and the British Straits Settlements in

red

After World War I the British adopted a decentralisation

policy in Malaya. This was done to entice the Unfederated

Malay States to join the Federated Malay States.[citation needed ] 

Further information: Great Depression

During the 1930s, the world economy was in a depression.

Due to the integration of the Malayan economy to the

global supply chain, Malaya did not escape the depression.

Main article: Japanese occupation of Malaya, North Borneo

and Sarawak

Further information: Battle of Malaya, Japanese Invasion of 

Malaya

Further information: Battle of Singapore

Malaya and Singapore were under Japanese occupation

from 1942 until 1945. Japan rewarded Siam for its

cooperation during this period by giving it the state of 

Kedah. After Japan's surrender at the end of the Second

World War following the dropping of the atomic bombs on

Nagasaki and Hiroshima by the United States, Malaya and

Singapore were placed under British Military Administration. 

Main articles: Malayan Union and Federation of Malaya

Within a year after World War II, the loose administration of 

British Malaya was finally consolidated with the formation of 

the Malayan Union on 1 April 1946. Singapore however was

not included and was considered a crown colony by itself.

The new Union was greeted with strong opposition from thelocal Malays. The opposition revolved around two issues:

loose citizenship requirements and reduction in the Malay

rulers' power. Due to the pressure exerted, the Union was

replaced with the Federation of Malaya on 31 January 1948.

The Federation achieved independence on 31 August 1957.

All Malayan states later formed a larger federation called

Malaysia on 16 September 1963 together with Singapore,

Sarawak and North Borneo