The Malaysian history as a community is said to go way back, 40,000 years into the past with a former aboriginal inhabitation. Today's Sabah is said to have been populated since 7000 BCE. The present federal country with 13 states and three federal territories was previously a stronghold for different colonial powers such as the Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese the British. The first settlements in this land were that of the Indian and Chinese traders who set a strain of trade in Malaysia. This early influence reflects in the Malaysian heritage even till today. Upon Islam radically spreading as the state's religion, the Malacca Sultanate was thus founded in the 1500s. The international affairs of nine such Sultanates came under the jurisdiction of the British between the latter 1800s and 1930.Modern MalaysiaThe Federation of 11 states in Malaya including Pahang, Selangor and Perak took place in 1948 after the Prime Minister established the Malayan Union in 1946. Malaysia triumphed Independence on August 31st, 1957 and henceforth, became a part of the Commonwealth.