Page 88 - Ancient Kingdoms: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam

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religions (Confucianism, Taoism, etc.) 1.3%, other or none 2.2%.

• Time zone: Malaysia is twelve hours ahead of U.S. EST. So when it is 6am in Washington
D.C., it is 6pm in Kuala Lumpur.

National Holidays: Malaysia

In addition to the holidays listed below, 01/01 New Year’s Day
Malaysia celebrates a number of national
02/01 Federal Territory Day
holidays that follow a lunar calendar. To
ʭYO Z`_ TQ dZ` bTWW MP _]LaPWTYR O`]TYR _SP^P 05/01 Labor Day
holidays, please visit www.timeanddate.
com/holidays. 08/31 Malaysia’s National Day

12/25 Christmas Day

Historical Overview of Malaysia

Early History

The earliest inhabitants of Malaysia were hunter-gathers, who in time, settled down into small
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banded together as small kingdoms—there were perhaps as many as 30 kingdoms total on the
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by neighboring countries such as India, Cambodia, and China.

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7th century. This empire was based on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, but through naval
prowess spread to other islands (Java, Borneo) and mainland Malaysia. Although not originally
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government on the peninsula, and are credited with spreading Buddhism and establishing
trade routes across the Indian Ocean and China Sea.

Eventually, their power drew the attention of the Chola Empire in India, who is believed to
have conquered parts of Western Malaysia in 1025 and 1026. Legend says the Chola founded
a Hindu kingdom there known as Gangga Negara. Today very little is known about Gangga
Negara, causing some researchers to describe it as a “lost kingdom”. In any case, the 11th
century seems to have been a turning point for the Srivijava Empire, which went into decline
afterwards.

Arrival of Islam & Rise of Malacca

Another factor in the decline of the Srivijava Empire may have been the arrival of Islam
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traders, but soon it became popular with the local elite, who converted from Buddhism

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