Federated Malay States

Federated Malay States
Negeri-Negeri Melayu Bersekutu (Malay)
1895–1942
1942–1945 (Japanese occupation)
1945–1946
Motto: Dipelihara Allah
(English: "Under God's Protection")
Malaya in 1922:
  Unfederated Malay States
  Federated Malay States
  Straits Settlements
StatusFederal protectorate of the British Empire
CapitalKuala Lumpur1
Common languages
Religion
Sunni Islam
GovernmentConstitutional monarchy
Monarch 
• 1895–1901 (first)
Victoria
• 1936–1942; 1945–1946 (last)
George VI
Resident General 
• 1896–1901 (first)
Sir Frank Swettenham
• 1939–1942 (last)
Hugh Fraser
LegislatureFederal Legislative Council
Historical eraBritish Empire
• Federated
1895
• Treaty of Federation
1 July 1896
15 February 1942 – 2 September 1945
2 September 1945
1 April 1946
Population
• 1933[1]
1,597,700
CurrencyStraits dollar (1898–1939)
Malayan dollar (1939–1942; 1945–1946)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Selangor
Perak
Negeri Sembilan
Pahang
Japanese occupation of Malaya
British Military Administration (Malaya)
Malayan Union
Today part ofMalaysia
1 Also the state capital of Selangor
² Malay using Jawi (Arabic) script
³ Later Chief Secretaries to the Government and Federal Secretaries

The Federated Malay States (FMS, Malay: Negeri-Negeri Melayu Bersekutu, Jawi: نݢري٢ ملايو برسکوتو) was a federation of four protected states in the Malay PeninsulaSelangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang — established by the British government in 1895, which lasted until 1946, when they, together with two of the former Straits Settlements (Malacca and Penang) and the Unfederated Malay States, formed the Malayan Union. Two years later, the Union became the Federation of Malaya, which achieved independence in 1957, and finally Malaysia in 1963 with the inclusion of North Borneo (present-day Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore.

Real power in the FMS and its constituent states rested with the four local British Residents and the Resident-General, the discretionary powers of the local sultans being essentially reduced to matters "touching Malay Religion and Customs".

The federation, along with the Unfederated Malay States of the peninsula and the Straits Settlements, was overrun and occupied by the Japanese during World War II. After the liberation of Malaya following the Japanese surrender, the federation was not restored, but the federal form of government was retained as the principal model for consolidating the separate States as an independent Federation of Malaya and the Federation's later evolution into Malaysia.

  1. ^ "Annual report of the Medical Department / Federated Malay States". Retrieved 2 September 2021.