'Malays' (
Malay: ''Melayu'') are an
ethnic group of
Austronesian peoples predominantly inhabiting the
Malay Peninsula and parts of
Sumatra and
Borneo. The Malay ethnic group is distinct from the concept of a
Malay race, which encompasses a wider group of people, including most of
Indonesia and the
Philippines.
The
Malay language is a member of the
Austronesian family of languages.
History
The Malay people are believed to have originated in Borneo and then expanded outwards into Sumatra and later into the Malay Peninsula. These people were descendants of Austronesian-speakers who migrated from the
Philippines and originally from
Taiwan. The main foundation of this school of thought lies in the fact that the oldest Malay settlements have been discovered in Sumatra and not in the Malay Peninsula. This suggests an upward - south to north - migratory route.
Etymology
According to the History of Jambi, the word Melayu originated from a river with name
Melayu River near to
Batang Hari River of today's Muara Jambi,
Jambi province of
Sumatra, Indonesia. The founder of
Malacca,
Parameswara was a prince of
Palembang which was once owned by a nation called "Malayu" back in the seventh century.
Yi Jing (635-713) clearly recorded in his journal book a nation of name 'Ma-La-Yu' existed. According to archaeological research of Jambi, large numbers of ancient artifacts and ancient architectures of Melayu have been found with photo evidence.
The word "Malay" was adopted into
English via the Dutch word "Malayo", itself from
Portuguese "Malaio", which originates from the Malay word "Melayu". According to one popular theory, the word Melayu means "migrating" or "fleeing", which might refer to the high mobility of these people across the region.
Another theory holds that the name refers to the Sanskrit word ''Malai Yur'' which means "Land of Mountains" (''malai'' means mountain and ''yur'' means land), a reference to the hilly nature of the
Malay Archipelago.
Alternate uses of the term
The name ''Malay'' is sometimes used to describe the concept of a
Malay race, which includes all the ethnic groups inhabiting the
Malay Archipelago and which are not of older aboriginal stock.
The term ''Melayu'' (Malay person in Malay Language), in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, refers to a person who practices
Islam and Malay Cultures, speaks
Malay Language, and whose ancestors are Malays. Despite of not having Malay ancestry, a
Eurasian,
Chinese,
Indian,
European,
Arab,
Turkish or
Afghan can be considered Malay if they practise
Islam and regards the Malay culture and language as their own.
Ethnic group vs. cultural sphere
The term "Malay" can refer to the ethnic group who live in the Malay peninsula (which include the southernmost part of Thailand called
Patani and Satun) and east
Sumatra as well as the cultural sphere that encompass a large part of the archipelago.
The Malay ethnic group is the majority in
Malaysia and
Brunei and a sizable minority in
Singapore and
Indonesia. This people speak various dialects of
Malay language. The peninsular dialect is the standard speech among Malays in Malaysia and Singapore. Meanwhile, the
Riau dialect of eastern Sumatra has been adopted as a national tongue,
Indonesian (''Bahasa Indonesia''), for the whole Indonesian population. The ethnic Malay have had a
Muslim culture since the 15th century.
[2]
In Malaysia, the majority of the population is made up of ethnic Malays while the minorities consist of southern Chinese (e.g.
Hokkien and
Cantonese), southern Indians (mainly
Tamils and
Malayalis), non-ethnic Malay indigenous people (e.g.
Iban and
Kadazan), as well as
Eurasians.
Malay cultural influences filtered out throughout the archipelago, such as the monarchical state, religion (
Hinduism/
Buddhism in the first millennium AD,
Islam in the second millennium), and the Malay language. The influential
Srivijaya kingdom had unified the various ethnic groups in southeast Asia into a convergent cultural sphere for almost a millennium. It was during that time that vast borrowing of Sanskrit words and concepts facilitated the advanced linguistic development of Malay as a language. Malay was the regional
lingua franca, and Malay-based
creole languages existed in most trading ports in Indonesia.
See also
★
Malay World
★
Anti-Malay racism, racial prejudice against ethnic Malays.
External links
★
Dayak Parang - Find out more about one of the Malay's most used swords
★
Queens of Pattani
References
1. Statistics Singapore; ''The Malay of Malaysia'', Bethany World Prayer Center; ''The Diaspora Malay'', Bethany World Prayer Center
2. aseanfocus.com
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