1.
Malaysia
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Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government, with a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is the 44th most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia, located in the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries on earth, with large numbers of endemic species. Malaysia has its origins in the Malay kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, the first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946, Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963 to become Malaysia, less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, which plays a role in politics. About half the population is ethnically Malay, with minorities of Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indians. The constitution declares Islam the state religion while allowing freedom of religion for non-Muslims, the government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the legal system is based on common law. The head of state is the king, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and he is an elected monarch chosen from the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states every five years. The head of government is the prime minister, since its independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with its GDP growing at an average of 6. 5% per annum for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce. Today, Malaysia has a newly industrialised market economy, ranked third largest in Southeast Asia, the name Malaysia is a combination of the word Malay and the Latin-Greek suffix -sia/-σία. The word melayu in Malay may derive from the Tamil words malai and ur meaning mountain and city, land, malayadvipa was the word used by ancient Indian traders when referring to the Malay Peninsula. Whether or not it originated from these roots, the word melayu or mlayu may have used in early Malay/Javanese to mean to steadily accelerate or run. This term was applied to describe the current of the river Melayu in Sumatra. The name was adopted by the Melayu Kingdom that existed in the seventh century on Sumatra
2.
Petaling Jaya
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Petaling Jaya is a major Malaysian city originally developed as a satellite township for Kuala Lumpur. It is located in the Petaling District of Selangor with an area of approximately 97.2 square kilometres, Petaling Jaya was granted city status on 20 June 2006. Petaling Jaya is surrounded by the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur to the east, Sungai Buloh to the north, the capital of Selangor, Shah Alam to the west and Subang Jaya to the south. The city was developed during British Malaya on a piece of 1,200 acres rubber estate around Old Klang Road to address the overpopulation of the capital Kuala Lumpur in the 1950s, since 1952, PJ witnessed a dramatic growth in terms of population size and geographical importance. The development of Petaling Jaya commenced in 1952 with the construction of 800 houses centred on the known as “Old Town” today. The first two roads built in Petaling Jaya were simply called Jalan 1 or Road 1 and Jalan 2 or Road 2. Road 1 was later named Jalan Templer while Road 2 was named Jalan Othman after Othman Mohamad, until the end of 1953, the town was administered by the Kuala Lumpur district officer. The Petaling Jaya Town Authority headed by N. A. J, kennedy commenced administrating Petaling Jaya in 1954. On 24 August 1959, Encik Abdul Aziz bin Haji Mohd Ali became the first Malayan to head the PJ Authority, administratively and historically, it was considered part of Kuala Lumpur. However, Petaling Jaya ceased to be part of Kuala Lumpur when the became a Federal Territory on 1 February 1974. It then became a township in its own right within the state of Selangor, PJ South, from Section 8 to PJ Old Town, had the first settlements, which were established around 1953. As development progressed, PJ North, on the side of the Federal Highway was developed. The first shopping complex in Petaling Jaya was Jaya Shopping Centre, located in Section 14, on 1 January 1977, the Petaling Jaya Town Authority was upgraded to become Petaling Jaya Municipal Council or Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya. Petaling Jaya progressed rapidly due to the massive rural-urban migration, as more people from rural areas immigrated, Sungai Way and Subang districts along with areas such as Subang Jaya, Seksyen 52 developed in areas under the jurisdiction of the municipality. Petaling Jaya is the hub of Klang Valley as it is located in between Kuala Lumpur and surrounding suburbs. Petaling Jaya is one of the wettest cities in Malaysia and it is warm with an average maximum of 30 degrees Celsius and receives heavy rainfall all year round, roughly more than 3,300 mm of average rainfall annually. The city has no true dry season, but June. Mostly each month average rainfall more than 200 mm. Thunderstorms and extreme rainstorms are common
3.
Penang
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Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts, Penang Island, where the city, George Town, is located. Penang is bordered by Kedah to the north and the east, known as the Silicon Valley of the East for its industries, Penang is also one of the most urbanised and economically-important states in the country. George Town, which was founded by the British in 1786, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Penang has the third highest Human Development Index in Malaysia, after the State of Selangor and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. Its heterogeneous population is diverse in ethnicity, culture, language. A resident of Penang is colloquially known as a Penangite, Penang Lang or Penangkaran, the name of Penang comes from the modern Malay name Pulau Pinang, which means the island of the areca nut palm. The name Penang may refer either to Penang Island or the state of Penang, Penang is also known as the Pearl of the Orient, 东方之珠 and Pulau Pinang Pulau Mutiara. Penang is shortened as PG in English, or PP in Malay, early Malays called Penang Island Pulau Ka-Satu, meaning The First Island, because it was the largest island encountered on the trading sea-route between Lingga and Kedah. The Siamese, then the overlord of the Kedah Sultanate, referred to the island as Koh Maak, in the 15th century, Penang Island was referred to as Bīnláng Yù in the navigational drawings used by Admiral Zheng He of Ming China in his expeditions to the South Seas. The 16th-century Portuguese historian Emanuel Godinho de Eredias map of the Malay Peninsula in his Description of Malacca in 1613 referred to the island as Pulo Pinaom, archaeological evidence shows that Penang was inhabited by the Semang-Pangan of the Juru and Yen lineage. Both of these are now considered extinct cultures and they were hunter-gatherers of the Negrito stock having short stature and dark complexion, and were dispersed by the Malays as far back as 900 years ago. The last recorded aboriginal settlement in Penang was in the 1920s in Kubang Semang, the first evidence of prehistoric human settlement in what is now Penang were found in Guar Kepah, a cave in Seberang Perai in 1860. Based on mounds of sea shells with human skeletons, stone implements, broken ceramics, and food leftovers inside, other stone tools found in various places on Penang Island pointed to the existence of Neolithic settlements dating to 5,000 years ago. One of the first Englishmen to reach Penang was the navigator, sailing from Plymouth for the East Indies, James reached Batu Ferringhi in June 1592, remaining on Penang Island until September of the same year and pillaging every vessel he encountered. In the early 18th century, ethnic Minangkabaus from Sumatra opened up a settlement on Penang Island, Haji Muhammad Salleh, known as Nakhoda Intan, anchored at Batu Uban and built a seaside settlement in 1734. Later, the Arabs arrived and settled mainly at Jelutong, the Arabs then intermarried with the Minangkabau, this gave rise to the Arab-Minangkabau admixture now described as Malay, as they have assimilated into the local Malay community. However, the history of Penang only began in 1786. On 17 July that year, Captain Francis Light, an English trader-adventurer of the British East India Company, landed on Penang Island, Fort Cornwallis was later built at the site where he first set foot
4.
Kuala Lumpur
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Kuala Lumpur, officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, or more commonly called KL is the national capital of Malaysia as well as its largest city. Being rated as an Alpha world city, Kuala Lumpur is the global city in Malaysia which covers an area of 243 km2 and has an estimated population of 1.73 million as of 2016. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an agglomeration of 7.25 million people as of 2017. It is among the fastest growing regions in South-East Asia, in terms of population. Kuala Lumpur is the seat of the Parliament of Malaysia, the city was once home to the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, but they were moved to Putrajaya in early 1999. Some sections of the judiciary still remain in the city of Kuala Lumpur. The official residence of the Malaysian King, the Istana Negara, is situated in Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur is the cultural, financial and economic centre of Malaysia due to its position as the capital as well as being a key city. Kuala Lumpur is one of three Federal Territories of Malaysia, enclaved within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Since the 1990s, the city has played host to international sporting, political and cultural events including the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Kuala Lumpur has undergone rapid development in recent decades and it is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which have become an iconic symbol of Malaysias futuristic development. Kuala Lumpur means muddy confluence, kuala is the point where two rivers join together or an estuary, and lumpur means mud. One suggestion is that it was named after Sungai Lumpur, it was recorded in 1824 that Sungei Lumpoor was the most important tin-producing settlement up the Klang River. It has also proposed that Kuala Lumpur was originally named Pengkalan Lumpur in the same way that Klang was once called Pengkalan Batu. Another suggestion is that it was initially a Cantonese word lam-pa meaning flooded jungle or decayed jungle, there is however no firm contemporary evidence for these suggestions other than anecdotes. It is also possible that the name is a form of an earlier. It is unknown who founded or named the settlement called Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur was originally a small hamlet of just a few houses and shops at the confluence of Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang before it grew into a town. The miners landed at Kuala Lumpur and continued their journey on foot to Ampang where the first mine was opened
5.
Kedah
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Kedah also known by its honorific, Darul Aman, or Abode of Peace is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a area of over 9,000 km². The mainland has a flat terrain, which is used to grow rice. Langkawi is an archipelago of islands, most of which are uninhabited, Kedah was called Kadaram by ancient and medieval Tamil people and Syburi by the Siamese when it was under their influence. To the north, Kedah borders the state of Perlis and shares a boundary with the Songkhla and Yala provinces of Thailand. It borders the states of Perak to the south and Penang to the southwest, the states capital is Alor Setar and the royal seat is in Anak Bukit. Other major towns include Sungai Petani, and Kulim on the mainland, archaeological evidence found in Bujang Valley reveals that a Hindu–Buddhist kingdom ruled ancient Kedah possibly as early as 110 A. D. The discoveries in Bujang Valley also made the ancient Kedah as the oldest civilisation of Southeast Asia, reference to ancient Kedah was first mentioned in a Tamil poem Paṭṭiṉappālai written at the end of the 2nd century A. D. It described goods from Kadaram heaped together in the streets of Chola capital. Other than Kadaram, Kedah was known with different names at varying times in Indian literature, Kataha-Nagara, Anda-Kataha, Kataha-Dvipa, according to Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa or the Kedah Annals, Kedah was founded by a Hindu king named Merong Mahawangsa. According to the further, the Sultanate of Kedah started in year 1136 when King Phra Ong Mahawangsa converted to Islam. In the 7th and 8th centuries, Kedah was under the control of Srivijaya. In 1025, the city was conquered by Rajendra Chola, the Chola king from Coromandel in South India, a second invasion was led by Virarajendra Chola of the Chola dynasty who conquered Kedah in the late 11th century. During the reign of Kulothunga Chola I Chola overlordship was established over the Sri Vijaya province Kedah in the late 11th century and it was later under Siam, until it was conquered by the Malay sultanate of Malacca in the 15th century. In the 17th century, Kedah was attacked by the Portuguese after their conquest of Malacca, in the hope that Great Britain would protect what remained of Kedah from Siam, the sultan handed over Penang and then Province Wellesley to the British at the end of the 18th century. The Siamese nevertheless invaded Kedah in 1821, and it remained under Siamese control under the name of Syburi, in 1896, Kedah along with Perlis and Satun was combined into the Siamese province of Monthon Syburi which lasted until transferred to the British by the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909. In World War II, Kedah was the first part of Malaya to be invaded by Japan, the Japanese returned Kedah to their Thai allies who had it renamed Syburi, but it returned to British rule after the end of the war. Kedah was a reluctant addition to the Federation of Malaya in 1948, since 1958, the hereditary Sultan of Kedah has been Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah
6.
Perak
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Perak also known by its honorific, Darul Ridzuan, or Abode of Grace, one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the fourth largest state in the country. It borders Kedah at the north, Thai Yala Province to the northeast, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor to the south, and the Straits of Malacca to the west. The states administrative capital of Ipoh was known historically for tin-mining activities until the price of the metal dropped, the royal capital, however remains at Kuala Kangsar, where the palace of the Sultan of Perak is located. The states official name is Perak Darul Ridzuan, Perak means silver in Malay, which is probably derived from the silvery colour of tin. In the 1890s, Perak, with the richest alluvial deposits of tin in the world was one of the jewels in the crown of the British Empire, however, some say the name comes from the glimmer of fish in the water that sparkled like silver. Darul Ridzuan is the states Arabic honorific, and can either land or abode of grace. Legend tells of a Hindu-Malay Kingdom called Gangga Negara in the northwest of Perak, archaeological discoveries indicate that Perak was inhabited since prehistoric times. The modern history of Perak began with the fall of the Malacca Sultanate, Raja Muzaffar Shah, fled the Portuguese conquest of 1511 and established his own dynasty on the banks of the Sungai Perak in 1528. Being rich in tin ore deposits, the dominion was under almost continuous threat from outsiders, the Dutch attempted to control the tin trade in the 17th century, and built defensive forts at the mouth of the Perak River and on Pulau Pangkor. Early history recorded the arrival in Perak of the Dutch in 1641, however, the Dutch attempt to monopolise the tin-ore trading in Perak by influencing Sultan Muzaffar Syah failed. This did not go well with the aristocracy of Perak. In 1651, Temenggung and the people of Perak attacked and destroyed the Dutch plant, the Dutch were forced to leave their base in Perak. The Dutch sent a representative to Perak in 1655 to renew the earlier agreement and to seek compensation for the loss of their plant. The Perak government however did not honour the treaty and was surrounded by the Dutch, in retaliation, the people of Perak, Aceh. In 1670, the Dutch returned to Perak to build Kota Kayu, now known as Kota Belanda, Perak agreed to the construction because of news that the Kingdom of Siam would be attacking the state. Nevertheless, in 1685, Perak once again attacked the Dutch on Pangkor Island, forcing them to retreat, the Dutch attempted to negotiate for a new treaty, but failed. In the 19th century, the Bugis, Acehnese, and the Siamese all attempted to invade Perak, the Perak Sultanate was unable to maintain order as it was embroiled in a protracted succession crisis. In her book The Golden Chersonese and The Way Thither, Victorian traveller and adventurer Isabella Lucy Bird describes how Raja Muda Abdullah turned to his friend in Singapore, Tan, together with an English merchant in Singapore, drafted a letter to Governor Sir Andrew Clarke which Abdullah signed
7.
Sarawak
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Sarawak is one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. The capital city, Kuching, is the centre of the state. Other cities and towns in Sarawak include Miri, Sibu, as of the 2015 census, the total population of Sarawak is 2,636,000. Sarawak has a climate with tropical rainforests and abundant animal. It has several prominent cave systems at Gunung Mulu National Park, Rajang River is the longest river in Malaysia, Bakun Dam, one of the largest dams in Southeast Asia, is located on one of its tributaries, the Balui River. Mount Murud is the highest point in Sarawak, the earliest known human settlement in Sarawak, located at the Niah Caves, dates back to 40,000 years ago. A series of Chinese ceramics dated from the 8th to 13th century AD was uncovered at the site of Santubong. The coastal regions of Sarawak came under the influence of the Bruneian Empire in the 16th century, in 1839, James Brooke, a British explorer, arrived in Sarawak. He, and his descendants, governed the state from 1841 to 1946, during World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese for three years. After the war, the last White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, ceded Sarawak to Britain, on 22 July 1963, Sarawak was granted self-government by the British and subsequently became one of the founding members of the Federation of Malaysia, established on 16 September 1963. However, the federation was opposed by Indonesia leading to a three-year confrontation, the creation of the Federation also resulted in a communist insurgency that lasted until 1990. The head of state is the Governor, also known as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, Sarawak exhibits notable diversity in ethnicity, culture, and language, major ethnic groups in Sarawak are, Iban, Malay, Chinese, Melanau, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu. English and Malay are the two official languages of the state, there is no official religion. The Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrated on a public holiday. The official explanation of the word Sarawak is that it is derived from the Sarawak Malay word serawak, which means antimony. A popular alternative explanation is that it is a contraction of the four Malay words purportedly uttered by Pangeran Muda Hashim, Saya serah pada awak, James Brooke became the first of the White Rajah dynasty to govern Sarawak. Sarawak is nicknamed Land of the Hornbills and these birds are important cultural symbols for the Dayak people, representing the spirit of God. It is also believed if a hornbill is seen flying over residences
8.
Bayan Lepas
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Bayan Lepas is a town near the southeastern tip of Penang Island in Malaysia. Established as a village in the 19th century, it is now home to the Penang International Airport. According to urban legend, the town was founded in the late 19th century by a family from Sumatra whose pet parakeet escaped, the Penang International Airport was opened in 1935, the first civilian airport to be built in British Malaya. For much of the history, it was an agricultural area. It was only in the 1970s, with the creation of the Free Industrial Zone, Bayan Lepas proper is surrounded by newer residential townships such as Bayan Baru and Bukit Jambul to the north, and Batu Maung to the southeast. As a result of the outgrowth of residential developments north from Bayan Lepas and south from George Town, Bayan Lepas is well-connected to George Town to the north and to Balik Pulau to the west by road. The Second Penang Bridge also links Bayan Lepas with mainland Peninsular Malaysia, some of the major tourist attractions in Bayan Lepas include the famous Snake Temple and the Penang War Museum. In addition, Queensbay Mall is the largest shopping mall in Penang in terms of size and it was said that Bayan Lepas was named after a wealthy Sumatran family who founded the town in the late 19th century. Upon coming ashore, their pet parakeet escaped, hence the name Bayan Lepas, in 1935, the Bayan Lepas Airport was opened by the Straits Settlements authorities. It was the first civilian airport ever built within British Malaya, the airport was expanded and upgraded into the Penang International Airport in 1979. The British also built a fortification at nearby Batu Maung to defend Penang Island, however, the fort was abandoned ahead of the advancing Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Until the 1970s, Bayan Lepas was a rural village. It once served as the bowl of Penang. In the 1970s, the then Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Chong Eu, opened the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone to alleviate an economic crisis, pioneer tax status was granted to multinational firms seeking to establish factories and assembly plants in Bayan Lepas. Complemented by low-cost labour, the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone managed to pull Penang out from its economic slump and grew to become the Silicon Valley of the East. This has led to the urbanisation of the eastern coast of Penang Island, as residential developments emanating north from Bayan Lepas merged with the suburbs of George Town. Further development was spurred on by the completion of the Penang Bridge, since its inception in the 1970s, the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone has grown to become the Silicon Valley of the East. Motorola became one of the first multinational firms to set up a factory in Bayan Lepas, followed by other firms, such as Intel, AMD, Osram, Hewlett Packard, Bosch, Hitachi
9.
Shah Alam
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Shah Alam /ʃɑː ˈɑːləm/ is a city and the state capital of Selangor, Malaysia and situated within the Petaling District and a small portion of the neighbouring Klang District. Shah Alam replaced Kuala Lumpur as the city of the state of Selangor in 1978 due to Kuala Lumpurs incorporation into a Federal Territory in 1974. Shah Alam was the first planned city in Malaysia after independence from Britain in 1957, Malaysia grew rapidly after its independence in 1957 under the Father of Modernisation, the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, Allahyarham Tun Abdul Razak Hussein. Shah Alam was once known as Sungai Renggam and was noted for its rubber, later, the same area was identified as Batu Tiga prior to Malaysian independence, and has been a centre of rubber and palm oil trade for centuries. Its current name was chosen by the then state Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, many other monuments, buildings and even a street are named after the late Sultan. Shah Alam was opened in 1963 with the purpose of making it the new centre of Selangor. With the consent of the Sultan, Shah Alam was proclaimed the capital of Selangor on 7 December 1978 with an area of 41.68 km2, Shah Alam had encountered several processes of extending its areas and the last was on 1 January 1997. Through the Gazette Plan 1190, Shah Alam was extended to 293 km2, Shah Alam was granted city status on 10 October 2000 with Dato Haji Abu Sujak Haji Mahmud as the first mayor. He recently served as deputy Menteri Besar, or Chief Minister of Selangor, Abu Sujak declared the vision of making Shah Alam a modern city with a unique identity of a Bandaraya Melayu, showcasing the achievements of the Malay race in all sectors. In line with this identity, Shah Alam was declared the first city in the world with no entertainment outlets to avoid any vice activities, Shah Alam is located within the district of Petaling and a portion of the district of Klang in the state of Selangor. Shah Alam has an urban layout to Petaling Jaya or Subang Jaya with housing areas occupying most of the city. There are 56 sections in total, generally Shah Alam can be divided into three parts, the north, central and south parts. North Shah Alam consists of 18 Sections including Sections U1 and U2, the Central Shah Alam is where all the state administrative buildings and agencies are situated. It consists of Section 1 until Section 24, south Shah Alam consists of 12 sections including Section 25, Section 30, Section 31 and Section 32. In the map, south Shah Alam is seen as the purple coloured areas. The city has a number of shopping malls, vibrant commercial areas are situated mostly at the city centre, Seksyen 13 and Seksyen 9. All of the roads and streets in Shah Alam including the new townships such as Setia Alam. As with other cities across Peninsular Malaysia, Shah Alam experiences a tropical rainforest climate according to the Köppen climate classification, temperatures are consistent throughout the year with an average high temperature of 31.9 °C and an average low temperature of 23.2 °C
10.
Hajj
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It is one of the five pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, and Sawm. The Hajj is the largest annual gathering of people in the world, the state of being physically and financially capable of performing the Hajj is called istitaah, and a Muslim who fulfills this condition is called a mustati. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, the word Hajj means to intend a journey, which connotes both the outward act of a journey and the inward act of intentions. The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th of Dhu al-Hijjah, because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. Ihram is the given to the special spiritual state in which pilgrims wear two white sheets of seamless cloth and abstain from certain actions. The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform a ritual of animal sacrifice, Pilgrims can also go to Mecca to perform the rituals at other times of the year. This is sometimes called the lesser pilgrimage, or Umrah, the present pattern of Hajj was established by Muhammad. However, according to the Quran, elements of Hajj trace back to the time of Abraham, according to Islamic tradition, Abraham was ordered by God to leave his wife Hagar and his son Ishmael alone in the desert of ancient Mecca. In search of water, Hagar desperately ran seven times between the two hills of Safa and Marwah but found none, returning in despair to Ishmael, she saw the baby scratching the ground with his leg and a water fountain sprang forth underneath his foot. Later, Abraham was commanded to build the Kaaba and to people to perform pilgrimage there. The Quran refers to incidents in verses 2, 124-127 and 22. It is said that the archangel Gabriel brought the Black Stone from Heaven to be attached to the Kaaba, in pre-Islamic Arabia, a time known as jahiliyyah, the Kaaba became surrounded by pagan idols. In 630 CE, Muhammad led his followers from Medina to Mecca, cleansed the Kaaba by destroying all the pagan idols, in 632 CE, Muhammad performed his only and last pilgrimage with a large number of followers, and instructed them on the rites of Hajj. It was from this point that Hajj became one of the five pillars of Islam. During the medieval times, pilgrims would gather in big cities of Syria, Egypt and this was done in order to protect the caravan from Bedouin robbers or natural hazards, and to ensure that the pilgrims were supplied with the necessary provisions. Muslim travelers like Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta have recorded detailed accounts of Hajj-travels of medieval time, the caravans followed well-established routes called in Arabic darb al-hajj, lit. Pilgrimage road, which usually followed ancient routes such as the Kings Highway, the date of Hajj is determined by the Islamic calendar, which is based on the lunar year. Every year, the events of Hajj take place in a period, starting on 8 and ending on 12 Dhu al-Hijjah
11.
Kelantan
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Kelantan is a state of Malaysia. The capital and royal seat is Kota Bharu, the honorific of the state is Darul Naim. Kelantan is positioned in the north-east of Peninsular Malaysia and it is bordered by Narathiwat Province of Thailand to the north, Terengganu to the south-east, Perak to the west, and Pahang to the south. To the north-east of Kelantan is the South China Sea, Kelantan is located in the north-eastern corner of the peninsula. Kelantan, which is said to translate as the Land of Lightning, is a state with green paddy fields, rustic fishing villages. Kelantan is home to some of the most ancient archaeological discoveries in Malaysia, there are a number of suggestions for the origin of the name Kelantan. One theory, according to historian Mohd Rosli Bin Ismail, proposes that Kelantan is a corruption of gelam hutan, i. e. the Malay word for the cajuput, or swamp tea tree. Other theories claim that the name comes from the Malay word kilatan, shiny/glittery or kolam tanah, Kelantan was called Kalantan by the Siamese when it was under their influence. Kolaan Thana or Kolaam Thana gradually became Kelantan to fit in better with the dialect of the local people. The early history of Kelantan traces distinct human settlement dating back to prehistoric times, early Kelantan had links to the Funan Kingdom, the Khmer Empire, Sri Vijaya, Majapahit and Siam. Around 1411, Raja Kumar, the ruler of Kelantan, became independent of Siam, in 1499, Kelantan became a vassal state of the Malacca Sultanate. With the fall of Malacca in 1511, Kelantan was divided up and ruled by petty chieftains, paying tribute to Patani, by the early 17th century, most of these Kelantan chiefs became subject to Patani. The legendary Cik Siti Wan Kembang was said to have reigned over Kelantan sometime between the 16th and 17th centuries, Long Yunus was succeeded in 1795 by his son-in-law Tengku Muhammad Sultan Mansur of Terengganu. The enthronement of Tengku Muhammad by Terengganu was opposed by Long Yunus sons, thus triggering a war against Terengganu by Long Muhammad, the pro-Terengganu faction was defeated in 1800 and Long Muhammad ruled Kelantan with the new title of Sultan as Sultan Muhammad I. Nevertheless, the death of childless Long Muhammad triggered another civil war among claimants to the throne and his nephew and son of Long Tan, Long Senik Mulut Merah, triumphed over his uncles and cousins and assumed the throne in 1835 as Sultan Muhammad II. Sultan Muhammad II leveraged on his alliance with Siam to form the modern Kelantan state, centered in his new fort on the eastern bank of the Kelantan river. Kelantan was where the Japanese first landed during their invasion of Malaya, in 1943, Kelantan was transferred by the Japanese to Thailand and became a province of Thailand. Kelantan reverted to British protection upon the end of World War 2 in August 1945, Kelantan became part of the Malayan Union in 1946 and then the Federation of Malaya on 1 February 1948, and together with other Malayan states attained independence on 31 August 1957
12.
Selangor
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Selangor /səˈlæŋə/ also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or Abode of Sincerity is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and it surrounds the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, both of which were previously part of Selangor. The state capital is Shah Alam, however the first city in Selangor, another major urban centre is Petaling Jaya which was awarded city status on 20 June 2006. Selangor is one of only two Malaysian states with more than one city, the other is Sarawak, Selangor has the largest city in Malaysia and it is growing rapidly due to modernisation in the Klang Valley. The state of Selangor has the largest economy in Malaysia in terms of domestic product with RM128.815 billion in 2010 making up 23% of the total GDP of Malaysia. This state is also the most developed in Malaysia with good infrastructure such as highways, the state also has the largest population in Malaysia, with a high standard of living and the states poverty rate is the lowest in the country. A more plausible theory claims the name is derived from the term Selang Ur meaning land of the straits Aur also means river in Malay. Hence, Selangor may mean river straits, a major problem with this hypothesis is that the word selang does not in fact mean strait in Malay, not even in obsolete usage according to the Kamus Dewan, the proper word for strait is selat. Another possible origin of the name is combination of the words Sela. It may be possible that the banks of the Selangor River was full of bamboo groves in the distant past, however bamboo do not grow well in the marshy soil of the lower reaches of the river. It is also possible that the word Selangor is an Orang Asli term as some rivers have Orang Asli names, in the 15th century, Selangor was ruled by the Sultanate of Malacca. After the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511, the area became disputed between the Portuguese, Johor, Aceh and Siam. When the Dutch displaced the Portuguese from Malacca in 1641, they brought in Muslim Bugis mercenaries from Sulawesi and they established the present hereditary sultanate in 1740. In many districts, Bugis settlers displaced the Minangkabau settlers from Sumatra, in the 19th century, the economy boomed due to the exploitation of huge tin reserves. In 1854, the Sultan of Selangor granted Raja Abdullah the control of Klang, passing over Raja Mahdi and this would eventually led to the Selangor Civil War of 1867 to 1874, which was essentially a struggle for control of the revenues from tin. Tin Mining also attracted an influx of Chinese migrant labourers. Chinese secret clan societies, allied with Selangor chiefs, fought for control of the tin mines, in 1874, Sultan Adbul Samad of Selangor accepted a British Resident in a system allowed the British to govern while the Sultan remained the apparent ruler. Under the stability imposed by the British, Selangor again prospered, the Federated Malay States evolved into the Federation of Malaya in 1948, which became independent in 1957, and Malaysia in 1963
