Malay Society, 1874–1920s

Abstract

It is, to say the least, highly unsatisfactory to begin a discussion of developments in Malay society within the last century by using 1874 as the take-off point. But, in Malaysian historiography, it has been so common to accept 1874 as the all important watershed between what is generally believed to be a period of negligible advancement and a period of rapid development that any discussion which makes a sudden departure from conventional practice, without appropriate comments, may confuse more than enlighten.