A History of Malaysia

First published in 1982, this text is widely regarded as a leading general history of the country. This new and revised edition brings the story of this fascinating country up to date, incorporating the latest scholarship on every period of Malaysian history, including recent research into pre-modern times. This text thus provides a historical framework that helps explain the roots of the issues dominating Malaysian life today, and the difficulties of creating a multicultural state where resources are equitably shared and the rights of all citizens are acknowledged.
This book is a key text for courses on Southeast Asian history and politics. Covering a range of disciplinary subjects in the humanities and social sciences, it is also useful for anyone interested in the assessment of young, modernizing nations.

History

Andaya, Barbara Watson

Andaya, Leonard Y.

Asia

Red Globe Press

A History of Early Modern Southeast Asia, 1400–1830

Written by two experienced teachers with a long history of research, this textbook provides students with a detailed overview of developments in early modern Southeast Asia, when the region became tightly integrated into the world economy because of international demand for its unique forest and sea products. Proceeding chronologically, each chapter covers a specific time frame in which Southeast Asia is located in a global context. A discussion of general features that distinguish the period under discussion is followed by a detailed account of the various sub-regions. Students will be shown the ways in which local societies adapted to new religious and political ideas and responded to far-reaching economic changes. Particular attention is given to lesser-known societies that inhabited the seas, the forests, and the uplands, and to the role of the geographical environment in shaping the region's history. The authoritative yet accessible narrative features maps, illustrations, and timelines to support student learning. A major contribution to the field, this text is essential reading for students and specialists in Asian studies and early modern world history.

Cambridge University Press

It was the coveted trinity of spices - clove, nutmeg, and mace - that first lured European and other foreigners to Maluku (the Moluccas) in eastern Indonesia. There, between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, Europeans recorded their activities and observations in minute detail. The descriptions of events and customs they left us, though colored by European assumptions, individual perceptions, and national concerns, represent the only written accounts of indigenous traditions. The World of Maluku encompasses three centuries of European presence in Maluku and critically evaluates a wide sweep of Iberian and Dutch sources in an ambitious attempt to understand the intellectual milieu in which European and Malukan interactions took place. Leonard Andaya argues that a general Western conception of the center and periphery based on ancient classical and Christian European traditions underlay European views of the people of Maluku. His own documentation of the changes and continuities that occurred in local societies supports a different interpretation of center-periphery relations that emphasizes the four principal Malukan kingdoms or "pillars" and the dualism between two centers, Ternate and Tidore. Prosperity will prevail, Malukans believed, as long as the four pillars and the proper dualism were maintained. By integrating this structure into his narrative, the author avoids a framework governed by European concerns and brings new significance to Malukan events described but only partially understood by European observers. This highly readable book is an important contribution to the historiography of Southeast Asia. It provides a deeper understanding of culture contact and will become a standard history of a relatively unknown and complex region.

The World of Maluku: Eastern Indonesia in the Early Modern Period

Americas

University of Hawaii Press

During the past decade a number of historians have carried out fundamental work on various aspects of Malaysian history. These studies reflect the priorities of a new generation of scholars, both Malaysian and Western, whose primary interest is the development of the indigenous society. A history of Malaysia which incorporates recent research is long overdue and this book is intended to fill that gap. 
This new history of Malaysia traces events in the Malay world from early times to the twentieth century and shows how they have contributed to the formation of modern Malaysia. The complex cultural heritage of Malaysia is shown to be decisive in shaping its history. But equally important is Malaysia's strategic position on an international trade route linking China, India, and the West. The changing world trade has been a determining factor in the growth and direction of Malaysia's political and social institutions. 
In this book, basic new research data on the pre-1800 period gathered not only from European archives but also from an extensive study of indigenous manuscripts and legends are incorporated with a useful synthesis of better known secondary materials. It is therefore both an introductory textbook on Malaysian history and an original contribution to the literature on Malaysia.

Univ of Hawaii Pr

Malaysia's multicultural society supports one of the most dynamic economies in Asia. This completely revised new edition of the standard text, first published twenty years ago, traces the history of the country from early times to the present day.
The authors give particular attention to the evolution of Malay polities and their close links with indigenous groups who lived on the oceans and in the deep jungles of the region, from Sumatra to Borneo. This provides the background to the establishment of the Malay port of Melaka, which was conquered by the Portuguese in 1511, foreshadowing the establishment of a British colonial regime in the late nineteenth century.
Although the large numbers of Chinese and Indian migrants who arrived to work in the tin and rubber industries contributed to economic expansion, colonial policies did not encourage communal interaction. The authors trace the process by which post-independence leaders in Malaya attempted to counter the legacy of ethnic hostility while answering Malay demands for an affirmation of their rights and a stronger commitment to Islam. The incorporation of the Borneo states of Sarawak and Sabah into the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 rendered the goal of welding a nation from areas that were geographically separated and culturally disparate even more problematic.
The intense emotions attached to issues of race were made tragically evident in the racial riots of May 1969, which this book sees as a watershed in modern Malaysian history. As Malaysia enters the twenty-first century, the government is determined to oversee the transition to an economy focused on manufacturing and advanced technology, and to eliminate poverty and the association between occupation and race.
While several recent studies deal with the impact of colonial rule and Malaysia's spectacular economic transition, this book is unique because it tracks developments from early times and identifies continuities as well as change. Combining the authors' specialist knowledge of precolonial sources with the most recent contemporary research, this new edition reinforces the position of A History of Malaysia position as a standard reference for all those interested in the historical processes which led to the emergence of this culturally varied and economically energetic country.

Despite the existence of about a thousand ethnolinguistic groups in Southeast Asia, very few historians of the region have engaged the complex issue of ethnicity. Leaves of the Same Tree takes on this concept and illustrates how historians can use it both as an analytical tool and as a subject of analysis to add further depth to our understanding of Southeast Asian pasts. Following a synthesis of some of the major issues in the complex world of ethnic theory, the author identifies two general principles of particular value for this study: the ideas that ethnic identity is an ongoing process and that the boundaries of a group undergo continual―if at times imperceptible―change based on perceived advantage. The Straits of Melaka for much of the past two millennia offers an ideal testing ground to better understand the process of ethnic formation. The straits forms the primary waterway linking the major civilizations to the east and west of Southeast Asia, and the flow of international trade through it was the lifeblood of the region. Privileging ethnicity as an analytical tool, the author examines the ethnic groups along the straits to document the manner in which they responded to the vicissitudes of the international marketplace. Earliest and most important were the Malayu (Malays), whose dominance in turn contributed to the "ethnicization" of other groups in the straits. By deliberately politicizing differences within their own ethnic community, the Malayu encouraged the emergence of new ethnic categories, such as the Minangkabau, the Acehnese, and, to a lesser extent, the Batak. The Orang Laut and the Orang Asli, on the other hand, retained their distinctive cultural markers because a separate yet complementary identity proved to be economically and socially advantageous for them. Ethnic communities are shown as fluid and changing, exhibiting a porosity and flexibility that suited the mandala communities of Southeast Asia. Leaves of the Same Tree demonstrates how problematizing ethnicity can offer a more nuanced view of ethnic relations in a region that boasts one of the greatest diversities of language and culture in the world. Creative and challenging, this book uncovers many new questions that should revitalize and reorient the historiography of Southeast Asia.

Leaves of the Same Tree: Trade and Ethnicity in the Straits of Melaka

Business & Money

Economics

Port cities perfectly encapsulate a fundamental human and cultural process that has existed since time immemorial - the constant mixing of things together. Such places, and the powerful cultural dynamics that took place within and between them, reflect how people, ideas, and objects circulate, and how culture is formed, spread, and shared. Four essays and a catalogue section of stunning objects make up this profusely illustrated book to accompany the exhibition held at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, from November 2016 to February 2017.

Port Cities: Multicultural Emporiums of Asia, 1500–1900

Arts & Photography

Lee, Peter H.

Chong, Alan

Newton, Gael

History & Criticism

Asian Civilisations Museum

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Andaya, Leonard Y.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Andaya, Leonard Y.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Andaya, Leonard Y.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A History of Malaysia

A History of Early Modern Southeast Asia, 1400–1830

The World of Maluku: Eastern Indonesia in the Early Modern Period

A History of Malaysia

A History of Malaysia

Leaves of the Same Tree: Trade and Ethnicity in the Straits of Melaka

Port Cities: Multicultural Emporiums of Asia, 1500–1900