I watch the news on TV, and i see that there is a man from UMNO (CMIIW) who speaking while hold up his weapon to defend his racial believe. They said that this is the second time. Watching such scary thing makes me think the existence of malay race.

The question for malaysian:

Is there really a race called 'Malays'?

No. There is though, a race called the Austronesian, and among this are Malay ethnicity along with Javanese, Ifugao, Malagasy and other ethnicities from Taiwan, Madagascar, to the Pacific islands (whom wouldn't likely call themselves as "Malays").

Malay are name given and refer to Austroloid people who convert to Islam by those Portugese ,Dutch and British conquer ,later are some Turkish ,Arab ,Mongoloid people who convert to Islam and refer as Malay ,a Malay is a Muslim in Malaysia and Malay cannot convert to other religion in Malaysia except Muslim ,however that can change religion in oversea and Malay "enemy "are Jewish and Chinese .
The UNMO man who carry a keris is a Turkish ,he refer as Malay because he a Muslim .

In Indo, Malays specifically refers to to ethnic Malay of Riau-Lingga & Kalimantan Malays.

In MY, the term Malays specifically refers to (regardless whether he's a pure Malay, or Javanese, Minangs, Mandailings, Boyans, Banjars, Bugisnese or even Muslim Indiansor half Malays) individual who practice Malay culture, speaking Malay language & a Muslim.

In general term, Malay in specific encompasses every sub ethnic groups in Nusantara region, which covers South Thai, parts of Cambodia & Vietnam (Cham Malays), Indonesia isles, Malaysia, Brunei, & even Philippines. In more generic larger term, Malays are part of the larger Austronesian diaspora.

Hishamuddin Tun Hussein Onn is of Turkish & malay lineage.

Although, the infamous Tun Dr. Mahathir himself is part Indian Malabari, part Malay. MY foreign Minister, Syed Hamid Albar, is of Yemeni Arab & Malay lineage.

^deluded
How can you even call those ethnicities Malay, when they have their own culture and certainly not practicing your culture? Even the word Nusantara is borrowed from Javanese.
"Malay race" was a term created by clueless westerners, especially those stupid so-called anthropologists from Britain. If you want to persist on calling the whole Austronesian race with the name given by your lords who killed your forefathers and raped your women, be my guess. But we Indonesians would never call ourselves as "Malays", eww... of course, with exceptions for the ones who truly are "Melayu", like the people in Riau and West Kalimantan....

In the Philippines Malay is used to refer to the majority of the population, the brown-skinned people. It's a racial term that is used to differeniate them from other "races" in the Philippines like Spanish, Chinese, and Negritos. Filipinos recognize that Indonesians & Malaysians are also part of the "Malay race"

That's Austronesian race. Look at Malaysia's definition: In MY, the term Malays specifically refers to (regardless whether he's a pure Malay, or Javanese, Minangs, Mandailings, Boyans, Banjars, Bugisnese or even Muslim Indiansor half Malays) individual who practice Malay culture, speaking Malay language & a Muslim. Most of filipinos aren't Malays, then.

In Indonesia, Malay refers only to an ethnicity in Riau and coastal West Kalimantan and some other places which call themselves "Malay". Others are calle by their own ethnicity (Javanese, Sundanese, etc) and all of them are part of Austronesian race.

welll... i guess theres proto-malay but really we are all the austronesian race. not just southeast asia but as far as madagascar, hawaii, and easter island in south america. so really... if you have all these people that sort of look alike and have the same and simillar words for the number five- "lima", then that pretty much states that its a huge diaspora. kind of like long lost cousins. the malagasy people of africa even have simillar animist beliefs that remind me of mountain people in the philippines.

i agree with that.

CHAPTER 1: MALAY IN ANCIENT TIMES.



Tanah Melayu (Malay Land)

Malaya is a peninsula which stretches southward from and is situated at the southeastern part of the continent of Asia, possessing an extensive area. Beginning in the north it stretches from the Kra Isthmus to the top of Malaya, including Singapura to the south.

In the north this peninsula joins Siam which is located between two kingdoms, on its left the kingdom of Burma and on its right the kingdom of Annam which is called French Indochina. The kingdom of Siam, Annam and Burma are located in a large peninsula, the peninsula of Indochina.

The peninsula of Malaya has two parts, the northern part and the southern. Its northern part begins at the Kra Isthmus and reaches to the provinces (jajahan) of Setul, Singgora, Yala, and Benggera. Currently the people of these provinces are included among the subject of the kingdom of Siam or Thailand. A large number of the inhabitants of the northern part of this peninsula are Siam-Thai, but in the six provinces of Setul, Cenak, Tiba, Patani, Yala, and Benggenara the majority are Malays.

The southern part of this peninsula begins at the border of the Siam-Thai provinces previously mentioned down to the tip of the Malay Peninsula, including the island of Singapura. In this part exist several Malay kingdoms today: Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak, Pahang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Melaka, Pulau Pinang, and Singapura.

Although this peninsula has been called Malaya, the Malays were not the original people (bangsa) to inhabit it. The Malays were the last people to settle and reside in the peninsula after it had first been inhabited by several other peoples.

The first people to inhabit the peninsula of Malaya, according to information in history books, were people of a primitive type. Later it was settled by Hindus who came from India, after which is ruled by the Siam-Asli who came from Siam. Only later did the Malays arrive.

Briefly below there follows a short historical explanation of event in Malaya during ancient times.

There was a time a few hundred years before the birth of Christ when Malaya was not yet inhabited by civilized types of people as it is today. The land was covered with jungle and undergrowth and was inhabited by many kinds of wild animals.

Under the shelter of thick jungle and together with the wild animals there were two kinds of human beings of a primitive type who were able to make their own dwellings. The were the Semang (Pangan) people and the Sakai people. Although both people are called human, actually their condition and way of life were still primitive, and far from the ways of civilized human.

Several hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Hindus from India began to arrive in Malaya. At that time the Hindus had attained a high level of progress and culture in India. They arrived in Malaya with the intention of expanding their livelihood beyond their country. Malaya attracted them to come to this area of eastern of Asia by its wealth, prosperity, and fame.

The path taken by the Hindus to East Asia at that time followed by two routes, land and sea. By the land routes they traveled via Burma, entering the lands of Siam and Annam. By the sea route journeyed from India, sailing ships across the India Ocean, and entered Malaya and all the southern islands, including Sumatera, Java, Bali, Brunei, and others. The went as far as Siam, Cambodia, and Annam.

As a people which had a high culture in India, the Hindus possessed their own customs, traditions, and religion. Wherever they lived the firmly clung to their customs, traditions, and religion and they practiced them as though they were in their homeland of India.

Because the Hindus possessed a high culture with well-organized customs and traditions, the eastern inhabitants were drawn to imitate or follow the actions of the Hindus. Eventually the Hindus became teachers who taught the inhabitants of the East their customs, traditions, and religion. In this way, as time passed all inhabitants of the East completely accepted the customs and traditions of the Hindus. Although the religion of the Hindus was of many kinds, nevertheless the best known were two religions, Brahmanism and Buddhism. Brahmanism is a religion that worships gods or goddesses and also ghosts and spirits and is divided into several sects according to which of the six gods are worshipped. Those who worship Siva for example, are therefore called people of the Siva sect. while those who worship the god Vishnu are called people of the Vishnu sect and so on for other sects.

The gods worshipped by the Hindus are very numerous and it would be of no use for us to mention them here. It is only necessary to note that this religion is the oldest in India and is still actively practiced. Meanwhile, more than two thousand years ago, there appeared a great teacher in India who purified the faith of India and taught a new faith called Buddhism to his followers.

When the great teacher Buddha died, Buddhism split into several sects, but among them were two major sects, Hinayana and Mahayana. The followers of the Hinayana sect, meaning “lesser vehicle,” clung only to the teachings of the great teacher without alterations. At that time most of the followers of this sect were people of South India and therefore this sect came to be called daksina nikaya meaning southern sect, in time the teaching of this sect withered away in India until finally it disappeared, except in Ceylon where it still is strong. In addition to the Indian followers of that sect, type Ceylonese, the present-day Siam-Thai remain faithful to this sect.

There is also the Mahayana sect, meaning “greater vehicle.” The teachings of his sect have been much changed and altered according to the ideas of its followers. Some have added Brahmanic teachings so that there came into being far-reaching differences between two sects, Hinayana and Mahayana. At that time the Mahayana sect was followed by the people of north India. Therefore this sect was called utara nikaya meaning northern sect, and its followers were called maha nikaya, people of the Mahayana sect. The teaching of this sect though time became widespread and it is still strong in India. In the past this sect was most popular among people of the East, including those of Sumatra, Java, Bali, as well as the peninsula of Malaya. During the time of Ignorance this sect was still strongly adhered to and believed in, as it is now by people in Annam. Cambodia, China, Japan, and Korea.

The wide distribution of the Mahayana sect of the Buddhist religion to the East was brought about by people who came from India and spread their religion. The majority of them were from northern India, for example the country (negeri) of Kashmir and others. Most numerous were Buddhist of the Mahayana sect.

Because of this, besides the followers of the Brahman religion there were also many people of the East who followed the Buddhist religion of the Mahayana sect. only the Siam-Thai people firmly followed the Hinayana sect. when the Hindus arrived in the East they usually lived in groups. After they had grouped together, many of those places became countries. Malaya and other places then began to be developed. Hindus from India occasionally liked to act like rajas. When they began to settle in Malaya the desire to act like a rajas did not disappear. When these countries were first established, Hindus began to be appointed as headmen or rajas to rule for the peace and safety of their people. Therefore each country had a raja governing it so that one after another countries were developed according to where there were Hindus gathered. At that time in the northern part of Malaya several countries were established, namely Tambralinga, Gerahi, Takkola, Langkasuka (Kedah), and others. All of these countries were ruled by Hindus. Tambralinggam is Nakhon Sri Thammarat or Ligor which now is ruled by Thailand.

The Hindus are a people who do not forget their customs, traditions, or religion. No matter where they reside they always also built religion sanctuaries and other places of worship so that any place where Hindus have lived can be recognized from the remains and traces of such structures.

When the Hindus stayed in any place always behaved well and mingled with the local residents. Finally they inter-married with them. Their descendants increased and because of this intermingling their descendants inherited authority over all regions of the East.

Here let us examine some matters regarding the inhabitants of the main peninsula of Indochina, the place which today constitutes the country of Siam, so that we may easily comprehend when matters concerning the Malays are mentioned.

In the time before the coming of the Hindus to the East the center or the Indochina peninsula was inhabited by several people who possessed their own negeri and kingdom. Whenever Hindus arrived, there occurred a situation similar to their arrival in Malaya that is the Hindus were elevated by local inhabitants to be their teachers. Thus it was not difficult for their religion to spread very easily and freely until finally almost all inhabitants in those countries had adopted the religion brought by the Hindus. The natives greatly respected an honored the Hindus until eventually there were those among them who desired to surrender sovereignty of their country to the Hindus, becoming like their servants.

In the center of the Indochina peninsula at that time there existed three separate kingdom, like kingdom of the Khmer people located in the east, the Lao kingdom located in the center of the peninsula, which has become the location of the country of Siam today, and third the kingdom of the Mon of Talaing people. Although there three people possessed their own individual governments, their custom and religion were identical except that the Mon and Khmer people were more influenced by the Hindus so that even their rajas were Hindus.

The system of government in the Loa kingdom at that time involved division into four territories and each had its own capital. Among these four territories the most famous was the territory known as Siam, and its capital also was called Siam. This was the largest of the territories.

When the Thai who lived in the south of the country of China came to subjugated that region or territory their country was given the name of Siam, and because of this until today the Thai are well-known and recognized by the world by the name of Siam.

These three kingdoms firmly maintained their individual power until the ninth century A.D. only then did their situation change. The power of the Loa kingdom declined and it was subjugated by the Khmer people. Finally, the power of the Khmer was overthrown by the Thai, so that by the twelfth century A.D. all the land of Siam which had been in the power of the Khmer was completely under the authority of the Thai. Since then all the authority of the Khmer in Siam has been eliminated, as had that of the Lao.

In fact, these three kingdoms continually formed relationships with all other countries and kingdoms in all the islands in the south. At that time people from Siam began gradually to move south and gain a foothold in order not to confuse them with the present-day Thai. Thus we call them the Siam-Asli, which means the Siamese who originally settled in Siam before the arrival of the modern-day Siam-Thai.

The coming of the Siam-Asli to Malaya was gradual, group by group. According to information in history books they arrived in Malaya during the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. During this long period there came to be many who settled in Malaya, after which Siam-Asli began to share the power of the Hindus through associating and intermarrying with them. This finally the blood of the Hindus to mingle with the blood of the Siam-Asli and brought them the ancient power of the Hindus. Eventually the result of this mingling caused the Hindus rajas to change and become of Siam-Asli blood. Finally, by degrees, the power of the Hindus in Malaya fell into the hands of the Siam-Asli.

After the Siam-Asli gained power in Malaya the pushed on and went far to the south and also developed several countries in southern Malaya such as the countries of Gelanggayu, Gangga Nagara, Pahang dan others. At that time the Siam-Asli held power throughout Malaya.

Thus, the power of the Siam-Asli in Malay endured for several hundred years until in the eighth century A.D. their power began to weaken, because at that time a kingdom of Malaya was established in the islands of Sumatera, the kingdom of Srivijaya. This kingdom came to subjugate the countries of the Siam-Asli and finally the whole of Malaya was subject to the Srivijaya kingdom. The power of the Siam-Asli was completely destroyed. Moreover, at that time, the power of the Siam-Asli in the land of Siam was seized by the Thai who came from the south of the country of China so that the power of ht Siam-Asli in Malaya was lost.

Original settlements of the Thai were in the districts of Southern China, in the territories of Szechwan, Yunan, and others. Because the settlements of the Thai in China constantly were oppressed, crushed, and attacked by the Chinese, who were more powerful, the Thai gradually were forced to flee group by group and wander south through the center of the Indochinese peninsula. Wherever they found peace and safety from the oppression of the Chinese, there they made their country. After some time many of the countries of Siam.

Among them there came a company of Thai who fled and developed a country near the region of Siam where the Khmer were then in control. Then the Thai began to attack and press against the power of the Khmer people until finally all the land of to the southeast where they were able to re-establish a kingdom in the country of Cambodia which has endured until now.

Thus all the land of Siam was subjugated by the Thai, who established a kingdom of their own. The power has endured so that the name of the Thai kingdom is widely known today.

Now let us investigate matters and affairs which concern the descent of the Malays and the place from which they originally came to settle in the Malay Peninsula. There were ancestors of the Malays located in the island of Perca or Sumatera at the time of the arrival of the Hindus in Malaya. Some of them (the Hindus) sailed eastward and arrived in the islands to the south and settled and mingled with the original inhabitants of that island so that several kingdoms were established by the descendants of the Hindus.

At that time the region along the eastern and northern shores of Sumatera already was settled by a people who were called Jakun. This people were not of the primitive type of people which were in that island because they were more civilized than the primitive peoples. They preferred to inhabit regions by the seaside, whereas the primitive peoples greatly feared to live on the seashore and preferred to make their settlements inland, far from the water.

Although the Jakun communities were not organized into countries, nevertheless there were permanent settlements with their own leaders and they and they were skilled at making a living by such method as fishing and so forth. Thus they knew how to make and to use boats and had the boldness to sail their boats far into the open sea to seek their living.

When the Hindus came and mingled with the Jakun people, they eventually brought forth children and grandchildren, and a new people was created who call themselves “Malays,” meaning people of Malaya.

In fact these Malays were more advanced and civilized than their original ancestors because they had inherited culture than progress from two sides, that is from the Jakun people and from the Hindus people. These Malays followed the religions of their ancestors that are Buddhism of the Mahayana sect or “maha nikaya” and the Brahmanism religion.

As the settlements of the Malays increased day by day, they were force to move and seek for places to live throughout the world and these Malays developed several countries in Sumatera. Some went forth from the shores of Sumatera and sailed through the islands and great lands in the northeast of the continent of Asia such as the Malay Archipelago, including also the islands of Hawaii and the island of Japan in the Pacific Ocean, and the island of Andaman, Ceylon, Nicobar, Madagascar, and others in the India Ocean. During these voyages the Malays landed and formed countries on the southern shores of the continent of Asia.

Some of these Malays continually sailed back and forth, and some of them stayed to settle in those places until they had children, grandchildren, and great-children that became dwellers in the entire place mentioned. As a result, the entire island in the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean together with several places on the shores of the mainland of the continent of Asia had settlers who were descendants of the ancient Malays. Thus, also several islands to the west were called the “Malay Archipelago.” The archipelago inhabited by Malays who are descended from these ancient ancestors.

There many place on the shores of the continent of Asia which have at some time been visited and inhabited by ancient Malays, especially in the Malay Peninsula which they called Tanah Melayu. Although now some of these places mentioned are no longer settled by Malays, nevertheless from chronicles and history together with the appearances of traces and names of places or villages and so forth, it is clear that in ancient times they were once inhabited by Malays. Some of them are in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula, in the area under Siam-Thai control. Many places or villages are still found which are known by Malay names.

In the Siam-Thai annals of Singgora in the side of a hill named Kauding or “Red Hill,” in the ancient days there existed a country of Malay people. When that country existed and what the name of that country was is no definitely known. It is also believed that perhaps it was this country which originally was called the country of Singgora because the meaning of Singgora is “hill.”

Furthermore, we find that the annals of the country of Pattalung say that a raja who ruled that country was of the Islamic religion. His name was Sultan Sulaiman. This Malay kingdom at last overthrown by its enemies and Sultan Sulaiman died in the battle. Therefore all the people of the country were scattered. Some of them fled north and opened up a new country (also) called Pattalung or Badalung, which today is under the rule of the kingdom of Siam-Thai. The body of the late Sulatan Sulaiman was buried in his country. The area of the cemetery still can be seen today. It is full of nothing by jungle. The Malays in Singgora and Nakhon Sri Thammarat call this graveyard “hum”, that is “the Late”. It is still much visited by the residents of that country every year.

There is another country called Champa mentioned in books on the history of the people of French Indochina. This country was established by Malays who visited there in ancient times. Their capitol was Indrapura. This country was very famous for its strength from the beginning of the first century A.D., but in A.D. 1471 this country was overthrown by its enemies, the Annamese. It is no longer known where the country of Champa was located. We can only note that it is in history books.

The information cited above has shown how long the voyages were and how great the spirit or the Malays at that time, who came to rule in the countries of, people everywhere. This is very different from the Malays of today.

When the Malays arrived form Sumatera in Malaya, at first they lived only on the seashores and the nearby islands. They passed along the southern shores, afterward gradually entering northern Malaya. Although at that time the Siam-Asli controlled Malaya, nevertheless their power lay in the interior far from the seas because normally the Siam-Asli preferred not to live beside the ocean. Thus it came about that their country was established in the interior far from the sea.

So it was that when the Malays who came to Malaya stayed only on the fringes of the shore, there were no disputes or enmity with the Siam-Asli since they had their separate places of residence. Also the Malays of that time used customs and religion which were similar to the Siam-Asli and therefore they were able to live peacefully. In fact, the Malays arrived at that time with no intention other than to make a living together in Malaya, but as time passed the number of Malays increased until southern shores, as well as to the north. Meanwhile, the kingdom of Srivijaya had come to power in Sumatera. Thus the aim of Malays then changed from that of subsisting to that of taking power in Malaya. This process was begun by one of the princes of Srivijaya named Raja Nila Utama who established the country Tumasik, which had previously been settled by Malays. The kingdom which ruled there came to be called Singapura and this country was the very first to be established by Malays in Malaya. Not many years later the raja of Srivijaya finally subjugated all their countries so that all power of the Siam-Asli in Malaya was shattered.

Now let us briefly consider the situation of the kingdom of Srivijaya. The kingdom of Srivijaya was established by ancient Malays on the island of Sumatera, the first century A.D. its center of government was in modern-day Palembang. The people who developed this country were Malays of the Hindus religion who were also called Hindus Malays.

Their kingdom was ruled by several descendants of their raja, and they were called the descendants of the Rajah Silin. Thus it is also believed that the raja that first established and held the throne of the Srivijaya kingdom was named Raja Silin. It is also said that this raja was a descendant of the family of the “King of the Mountain,” an indication of the height of their power at that time.

The kingdom of Srivijaya prospered greatly until in the fourteenth century its power was broken. During the time it held power all countries which were governed by the Siam-Asli were completely subjugated including Malaya, Sumatera, Java, Bali and others. In the eighth century A.D. Srivijaya succeeded in subjugating the country of Malaya and also at the end of that century his majesty subjugated the country of Kedah. Then in the ninth century A.D. the power of Srivijaya increased and spread until his majesty subjugated the country of Nakhon Sri Thammarat together with several country to the north, including the country of Nakhon Phatung or Nikapatam which is situated on the west side of Bangkok today.

Srivijaya erected large temples in the countries of Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Nakhon Phatung. There are still some of their temples remaining yet today. At that time, the power of the Siam-Asli in Malaya shifted to the Malays from Sumatera. During this time, the Malays freely came to Malaya until they crowded then Selangor, Terengganu, Perak, Kelantan, and Patani. All these countries submitted to the authority of Srivijaya.

The power of the kingdom of Srivijaya continued to persist and expand until almost the end of fourth century A.D. Then its power gradually began to weaken because at that time the country of Palembang, the center of its government in Sumatera, fell into the hands of the kingdom of Majapahit, a kingdom newly in power on the island of Java. In the year A.D. 1377 the kingdom of Majapahit subjugated the country of Singapura and all the countries in Malaya.

As the kingdom of Srivijaya gradually began to lose its power, the Thai who had come to inhabit and control Siam began to attack and subjugate the country of Nakhon Sri Thammarat and the countrie in southern Siam so that the power of Srivijaya in Malaya and Siam was completely broken. Then Malaya was separated into two parts, the northern part ruled by the Thai kingdom and the southern part dominated by the Majapahit kingdom.

Although al the Malay countries were subject to the Majapahit kingdom, because the center of its government was located on Java, which was very far away from Malaya, the Malay countries were allowed to be ruled by their respective rajas. When the Majapahit kingdom lost power after being subjugated by an Islamic kingdom in Java, more and more matters and affairs in Malaya were neglected. Thereafter the authority to govern returned to the Malay rajas who ruled their respective countries. Since then the Malay rajas have been firmly seated on their royal thrones, free and undisturbed by anyone, the basis for the freedom of the states (negeri) in Malay today.

When the Islamic religion was born in the Arabian peninsula, brought by the Master Prophet Mohammad, it spread to India, and from India the Islamic religion was brought to Malay and the islands to the East. Historians have said that Muslim began to settle in the country of Kedah from the ninth century A.D. They were Arab, Indian, and Parsia merchants who came to do business in Malaya.

In the year A.D 1403 one of the Hindus Malay rajas who ruled over the kingdom of Melaka voluntarily converted to Islam. His majesty in the time of Hinduism was known as Raja Parameswara and when he became a Muslim his majesty was known as Sultan Mahmud Shah. Afterward Raja Mahawangsa, who ruled Kedah, also adopted Islam and was given the title Sultan Mansur Shah, since then Islam has spread far and wide through all the countries in Malaya and as far as a few territories under the rule of Siam. Thus the Siamese who have adopted Islam are called Samsam.

Very interesting theory, but with a lot of weakness. If Austronesian people came from India, then why most of us bear no similarities with the South Asian people? Furthermore, not every Austronesian culture has Indian influence. There are many ethnicities that established rich and noble culture throughout our islands, with only native Austronesian features.

Sure, Indian influence is a very important part of our people, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia where it's most evident. But at the end, it's not Indian features that connected all of us, but native Austronesian ones. We can see that there are a lot of things that we share, from aborigine Taiwanese to Madagascar.

Original Script Of Fei Xin's Xin Cha Shen Lan (Description Of The Starry Raft)





Fei Xin's description of Malacca



Fei Xin (Chinese: ??) was the Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He's translator. In his Description of the Starry Raft (1436), early Malacca was included.

He noted that Malacca people which was the Malays had "their skin resembled black lacquer, but there were some white-skinned people among them who are of ethnic Tang. Men and women appeared in mallet-like chignon hair style, simple and kind lifestyle, they fish at rivers and at sea. The coastal village was inhabited by very few peoples and was not ruled by any neighboring kingdoms. The only produce of Malacca was tin, from a river. Tins obtained from river were fired into tin block (konwn as Tin ingot) where each weigh 1.4 jin. Malacca paid annual 40 golds to Siam as tax..

Yet there are some of Austronesians who are olive-skinned and even fair-skinned....

Just to point out the meaning of the term Malay or Melayu in Indonesian sense:
Melayu is an ethnic group, not a race.
The term to describe the common race (that just like najjiah pointed out; used common or similar word " empat/papat/vat" for four, "lima" for five, "enam/anim/nam" for six) we used the term "Austronesian race" instead.
They inhabited huge maritime area from Madagascar to Tahiti, From Ryukyu (Okinawa) to New Zealand.
And this austronesian race doesn't necesarily to be muslim. they can be muslim, christian, hindus, or even animism.
However now most of suku Melayu in Indonesia is muslim.

Here's the Indonesian ethnolinguist map



As you can see at the map of Indonesian ethnolinguistic above, the term Malay (Melayu) for Indonesia is only valid for coastal Malay.
Their area streches along east coast Sumatra, from Medan to Palembang, and coastal Borneo (Kalimantan) including coastal Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah. Malay in the Peninsula also belong to this ethnolinguistic group. And yes, Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Acehnese, Batak, and Minangkabau often refused to be called suku Melayu.

The term of Malayo-Polynesian is means the branch of Austronesian language that spoken by people from Melayu (coastal Sumatra and Malay peninsula) to Polynesia. Thus that means Melayu is not a single race, but just part of Austronesian race.
Later, since anthropological study was mainly done by British (who ruled present day Malaysia), they just simply identify this race as "Malay", their subject and the closest of this race kind in British empire realm, without realizing the vast and variety of race that belong to this groups. Then born the term "Malay race" and "Malay Archipelago"and introduced by British to international world. Later took by modern day Malaysian to "justify" themself as the "center" of this race (which most of Indonesians hold against this claims... ).

Malay Sri Lanka (Ja Minissu)


http://www.lankalibrary.com/cul/Malay_Kurunegala.htm

http://www.lankalibrary.com/cul/malays.htm

http://www.lankalibrary.com/cul/Malay1.htm

http://www.lankalibrary.com/cul/malays2.htm

http://www.rootsweb.com/~lkawgw/index2.html

http://www.rootsweb.com/~lkawgw/malays1.htm



Malay Cape Town (Cape Malays)


http://www.knet.co.za/capemalay/capemalayhistory.htm

http://www.knet.co.za/capemalay/Default.htm

http://www.pilotguides.com/destination_gui...cape_malays.php

http://www.capetown-traveladviser.com/cape...ay-quarter.html

I read lots of malay ethnic definition at this thread but i wonder where is malay race definition and also some malaysian misunderstood my question, i am asking "malay race" not the origin of malays in malaysia.

I really much appreciate if there are malays who able to answer this basic question. May be we, indonesian, have wrong to understand what malaysia called as malay race.

So lets start at the very basic things, are there any malaysian able to describe what is the definition of "malay race"?

That's up to you. As I said, GENERALLY ... get it?

For all likelihood, the little Euro nation called the Netherlands or Holland managed to rape & pillage your nation, whose legacy is being used in a many Indonesian language .... kinda ... yknow, duhhhhh ....

If your prefer your own definition of Malay (which is as defined by Indo's national policy), then be it.

I choose to prefer Malaysian definition & the general term.

We can agree to disagree.

Well, just an epicentre, where we benefitted most from assimilating various Sumatrans, Javanese, Southern Thais, South Philippines, Celebes & Borneoeans cultures to add to localised Malay cultures.

Yeah.. you can steal all of those, BTW the fact of your slogan is not trully asia but the truth is TRULLY Indonesia.

^Hahaha, WORD!

Easy question.

Yes there is a race called Malays. If not why everybody mention it. Or you think everybody is stupid ?

Which everybody actually? Frustrated white anthropologists who couldn't tell a Chamorro from a Fijian, or Austronesian people with no self-respect who worship the white trash to the extent that they would accept anything fed to them? Count me out thank you very much

Whoever says steal, we successfully integrated the shared heritage thanks to our ancestors that come from Celebes, Java, Sumatra, South Philippines & South Thai, even Borneo that intermarried with local Malay population.

We're truly ASIA. We've major ethnic group from China & India with distinctive culture of their own that also adopted as national heritage.

As for you Mahatir, look at your nation & clean your backyard. Who're you to us anyway, as if we actually care ...

That's your choice. Ain't nobody forcing you to accept whichever defination you prefer.

"Clean your backyard" Another OOT lah... , you guys are really cannot focus to the topic. Up to you lah as this forum are malaysian forum and the moderator are malaysian also (CMIIW).

Yeah, I don't want any part of your so-called "Malay race" , and so do the millions people of Indonesia, so don't claim our heritages as your own, it's disgusting!

*

This is what the wikipedia says


Malay race
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This article is about the Malay race. For the Malay ethnic group, see Malays (ethnic group). For other uses, see Malay.

The concept of a Malay race (Malay: Bangsa Melayu) was proposed by the German scientist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840).[1] Since Blumenbach, many anthropologists have rejected his theory of five races, citing the enormous complexity of classifying races. However, the term Malay is still often used in this context, and it is the basis for Malay identity within the Malaysian nation.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Origins
* 2 Colonial influences
* 3 Malaysian context
* 4 Philippine context
* 5 United States context
* 6 See also
* 7 References

[edit] Origins

In his 1775 doctoral dissertation titled De generis humani varietate nativa (On the Natural Varieties of Mankind), Blumenbach outlined four main human races by skin color, namely Caucasian (white), Ethiopian (black), American (red), and Mongolian (yellow).

By 1795, Blumenbach added another race called 'Malay' which he considered to be a subcategory of both the Ethiopian and Mongoloid races. The Malay race were those of a "brown color, from olive and a clear mahogany to the darkest clove or chestnut brown." Blumenbach expanded the term "Malay" to include the inhabitants of the Marianas, the Philippines, the Malukus, Sundas, as well as Pacific Islands such as Tahitians. He considered a Tahitian skull he had received to be the missing link; showing the transition between the "primary" race, the Caucasians, and the "degenerate" race, the Negroids.

Blumenbach writes:

Malay variety. Tawny-coloured; hair black, soft, curly, thick and plentiful; head moderately narrowed; forehead slightly swelling; nose full, rather wide, as it were diffuse, end thick; mouth large. upper jaw somewhat prominent with the parts of the face when seen in profile, sufficiently prominent and distinct from each other. This last variety includes the islanders of the Pacific Ocean, together with the inhabitants of the Marianne, the Philippine, the Molucca and the Sunda Islands, and of the Malayan peninsula.

I wish to call it the Malay, because the majority of the men of this variety, especially those who inhabit the Indian islands close to the Malacca peninsula, as well as the Sandwich, the Society, and the Friendly Islanders, and also the Malambi of Madagascar down to the inhabitants of Easter Island, use the Malay idiom.[2]

[edit] Colonial influences

The view of Malays held by Thomas Stamford Raffles had a significant influence on English-speakers, lasting to the present day. He is probably the most important voice who promoted the idea of a ‘Malay’ race or nation, not limited to the Malay ethnic group, but embracing the peoples of a large but unspecified part of the South East Asian archipelago. Raffles formed a vision of Malays as a language-based 'nation', in line with the views of the English Romantic movement at the time, and in 1809 sent a literary essay on the topic to the Asiatic Society. After he mounted an expedition to the former Minangkabau seat of royalty in Pagaruyung, he declared that it was the ‘the source of that power, the origin of that nation, so extensively scattered over the Eastern Archipelago’. In his later writings he moved the Malays from a nation to a race.[3]

[edit] Malaysian context

In Malaysia, the early colonial censuses listed separate ethnic groups, such as "Malays, Boyanese, Achinese, Javanese, Bugis, Manilamen and Siamese". The 1891 census merged these ethnic groups into the three racial categories used in modern Malaysia – Chinese, ‘Tamils and other natives of India’, and ‘Malays and other Natives of the Archipelago’. This was based upon the European view at the time that race was a biologically based scientific category. For the 1901 census, the government advised the word “race” should replace “nationality” wherever it occurs.[3]

After a period of generations being classified in these groups, individual identity formed around the concept of bangsa Melayu (Malay race). For younger generations of people, they saw it as providing a unity and solidarity against the colonial powers, and non-Malay immigrants. The Malaysian nation was later formed with the bangsa Melayu having the central and defining position within the country.[3]

[edit] Philippine context

In the Philippines, many Filipinos consider the term "Malay" to refer to the indigenous population of the country as well as the population of neighboring countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. This misconception is due in part to American anthropologists H. Otley Beyer who proposed that the Filipinos were actually Malays who migrated from Malaysia and Indonesia. This idea was in turn propagated by Filipino historians and is still taught in schools. However, the prevalent consensus among contemporary anthropologists, archaeologists, and linguists actually proposes the reverse; namely that the Austronesian people of Malaysia and Indonesia originally migrated south from the Philippines during the prehistoric period.

[edit] United States context
This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

In the United States, the racial classifcation "Malay race" was introduced in the early twentieth century into the anti-miscegenation laws of a number of western US states. Anti-miscegenation laws were state laws that prohibited marriage between whites and African-Americans and in some states also other non-whites. After an influx of Filipino immigrants, these existing laws were amended in a number of western states such as California and Utah to prohibit marriage between whites and Filipinos, who were designated as members of the Malay race. Many anti-miscegenation laws were gradually abolished after the Second World War, starting with California in 1948. In 1967, all remaining bans against interracial marriage were overturned by the United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia.

[edit] See also

* Bumiputra
* Malay Archipelago
* Malay World
* Maphilindo
* Austronesian people
* Ketuanan Melayu, racialist belief that the Malay people are the "tuan" (masters) of Malaysia or Malaya

[edit] References

1. ^ University of Pennsylvania [1]
2. ^ Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, The anthropological treatises of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, translated by Thomas Bendyshe. 1865. November 2, 2006. [2]
3. ^ a b c Reid, Anthony (2001). "Understanding Melayu (Malay) as a Source of Diverse Modern Identities". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 32 (3): 295-313. doi:10.1017/S0022463401000157.

Hi Guys. Mind if I put in my 2 cents' worth? As far as my knowledge permits. The group of people called Malays, speaking the Malay language, whether you call them a race, an ethnic group, have had kingdoms since the early centuries AD, possibly even earlier. There was Funan (much controversy on the true ethnicity of this kingdom, but it was really Malay) in today's Cambodia n the Langkasuka federation (which included Kedah, Ligor, Pattani, Chi Tu, Gangga Negara n Kota Gelanggi) in the Malay peninsula. Later on there was Sri Wijaya in Sumatra n Sailendra (the Javanese claim Sailendra was Javanese, but it was truly Malay) in Java island. To deny these would be to deny history.

However, Malay civilisation in the truest sense of the word first bloomed n blossomed in the Kingdom of Melayu in Jambi. Although Jambi was later conquered by Palembang, the seat of Sri Wijaya, Malay civilisation survived n prevailed throughout the whole Sriwijayan realm, which became essentially the classical Malay empire of all time.

The Malay superfamily of peoples would include the Javanese too, but ever since Majapahit the Javanese seem to have developed a special regard for themselves within this superfamily, unlike the Filipina Malays, the Bruneians, the Bugis etc. who readily acknowledge their position in the Malay family.

The present territory of Indonesia is essentially an amalgam of the former territories of the Majapahit and Sriwijayan empires. The shapes of Malaysia n Indonesia today were decided partly by the arrivals of the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British. Otherwise, if the Malaccan empire had been allowed to prevail a bit longer, the ancient Sriwijaya would have been restored, n we would today have had a much bigger Malay/Langkasuka-led Sriwijaya/Malaysia n a much smaller Javanese-led Majapahit/Indonesia.

Had it not been for wars, genocides n assimilation (in Siam, Funan, Chenla, Champa, Annam, southern China), pestilence, insular isolation etc., the Malay people would have rivalled the Chinese (which are really many races) n the Indians (many races too) in total population.

Just sharing a point.

Yeah, talk as much as you want, we Indonesians are proud of our heritage, and we would never consider ourselves as "Malay". We do believe that we are in the same Austronesian race with the Malays.

And please don't say anything like "*insert Indonesian ethnicity here* who readily acknowledge their position in the Malay family.", because we don't. Maybe you can say "Bugis people who are forced to accept Malay identity by Malaysian government", but certainly not the Bugis in Indonesia. Trust me, I have close friends who are Buginese and never they tell me they are Malay.

Bugis people in Indonesia are proud of their own distinct features, as they are fierce warriors especially on ships as well as highly-commented in arts and culture. Bugis people, like many other Indonesian ethnicities, have their own traditional script, unlike Malays who never got their own script and borrowed Arabic and Latin instead.

The world's longest written epic was made by the Buginese people, in Buginese language, in Buginese script, and not by Malay people (who got no achievements in literature), not in Malay language (which is a poor language that has to borrow a lot of loanwords from other languages), and certainly not in Malay script (because there were never one!).

C'mon dude. Don't know why you must hate "Malay" word. Ever been bullied by one of them before. j/k
Once I read former Indonesian President B.J. Habibie proudly claim that Bugis was also part of "Rumpun Melayu". Maybe your close friends just didn't speak the truth. You don't have to be Malaysian to accept that words.
Yeah, I agree with you that Malay language was a poor languange that currently used by poor 300 millions people around the globe. Pity for them to use such a poor language. Even pity for people who just have to learn this poor language which so much different from their super cool language.
You know, Malays people doesn't believe copycat. Copy from other script and claim its as indegenous script as it's wonder was not just Malays, at least for me.

I don't hate the Malays, Betong. And I do believe that we are "serumpun", but that "rumpun" name is Austronesian. I'm just telling the truth. Our Indonesian also have Riau Malay as its root, and you know how I'm a proud Indonesian. But I accept that Indonesian (and other Malay languages) as a language is not very flexible and needs to borrow a lot from other languages. It's a different case with our other languages and dialects. But still, I'm all for Bahasa Indonesia, as it's an easy language to learn and because of that it's easy for us to use as a mean of communication among hundreds of ethnicities in Indonesia.

Malay in Sri Langka - do know what type of them.
Malay in Chrismas island - do not know from where there are from, are they exactly malay?
Malay in Myanmar - anyone can tell?
Madagascar malay
Peninsular malay - South Africa
Sulu malay - malay in southern Philippines.
Riau malay
Deli malay - is this exist?
Champa malay
Patani malay (southern Thailand)
Satun malay (southern Thailand)
Johor malay
Kelantan malay
Melaka malay
Pahang malay
Terengganu malay
Sarawak malay
Perlis malay
Perak malay
Kedah malay
P. Pinang malay
Sabah - not sure their custom.
Negri Sembilan ??? Do not know how to describe.

Any other malay? They have different dialect, custom, tradition etc.

DUH ;OF COURSE THERE IS...

THOUGH HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES
the word MALAY has a NEGATIVE CONNOTATION since:


MALAY = NATIVES = BROWN

as what the Spaniards would call as the INDIOS

If I could just add my 2 cents' worth:

No nation or race can be pure. It just isn't possible. Unless you wanna marry your own sister. Even then their offspring, your incestuous descendants (god forbid), won't remain pure for long.

Be that as it may, when a group of people coalesce n live together for a long enougfh time, they form families, then tribes, then races, then nations, which would speak a certain language n practise a certain set of behaviours.

So what's wrong in having a certain race, people, nation or whatever, call themselves Melayu (Malay)? Or Javanese, or Thai, or Khmer, or whatever, for that matter? Nothing whatsoever.

By the way, the earliest reference to a name resembling Melayu is that from an ancient Arakan chronicle naming a king called Marayu as the first king of the ancient Arakan people (ca 2270 BC) in ancient Burma, who would likely have been the ancient cousins of the Malay peoples, along with the other South East Asian peoples.

Scriptural (Jewish/Christian/Islamic) historians/researchers postulate that Marayu was a alternative name (nickname) for Cush (Arabic: Qush), a son of Ham, who was a son of Noah, the celebrated Scriptural (Jewish/Christian/Islamic) prophet of the Great Flood story.

Somewhat along a similar vein, there is also an ancient Bengali chronicle naming someone called Hind, who was supposed to be a son of Ham (the same Ham as above), who was a son of Noah, as the firsf king of the Bengalis. It would be plausible to postulate that Hind was yet another alternative name (nickname) for Cush. Extending this theory a bit more, Hind would then have been the ultimate ancestor of all the Hindic peoples. Recall also: Indus river, Hindu Kush mountain range, Kushan tribe/kingdom etc. etc.

By the way, Cush is also known to be the ultimate ancestor of the ancient Ethiopians (Habshi, desendants of someone called Habash), believed to be the forerunner of all black Africans. The country Ethiopia was in fact called Cush in ancient times.

With certain general assumptions, this would make South East Asians, the Hindic peoples n the black African peoples as distant cousins in a superfamily of nations.

C ya later, friends.

@hailer: Deli Malay people do exist in Indonesia, in the province of North Sumatra to be exact. They have a beautiful palace from the time of the sultanate. But they are kind of overshadowed, because North Sumatra is known more as the root of Batak ethnicity rather than Malay ethnicity.

batok batok batok make ore.

Of course there is. If you look the people & their customs(exclude Islamic influences, that happens much later) from Malaysia, Indonesia, Phillipines, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos. It's clearly show they're from the same origin.

^Ok that's just plain ignorant to put those people together. Sure Indonesian, Malaysian and Filipino shared the same traits as we are of the same Austronesian race, but Cambodian and Laotians are different. Cambodians are not the same with us, they are Mon-Khmer, and Laotians are Tai-Kadai and rather than to us they are closer Thai people.

Orang Melayu di Semenanjung Malaysia terbahagi kepada 2 kumpulan iaitu Melayu Anak Dagang dan Melayu Semenanjung.

Istilah 'Melayu Anak Dagang' merujuk kepada suku-suku pribumi Nusantara yang bukan penduduk asal Semenanjung. Mereka berasal dari Kepulauan Indonesia, Champa, Filipina dan Brunei.

Melayu Anak Dagang merangkumi:-

* Suku Aceh
* Suku Banjar
* Suku Batak-Mandailing
* Suku Boyan (Bawean)
* Suku Bugis
* Suku Cham
* Suku Jawa
* Suku Kerinci
* Suku Minangkabau
* Suku Rawa
* Suku Yunnan
* Suku Jambi
* Suku Riau

'Melayu Anak Dagang' tidak dianggap sebagai pendatang di Semenanjung kerana penduduk Nusantara menganggap bahawa Kepulauan Melayu adalah hak milik bersama. Itu adalah sebab utama mengapa kerajaan Malaysia memberi mereka status Bumiputra.

Istilah 'Melayu Semenanjung' pula merujuk kepada suku-suku pribumi Nusantara yang merupakan penduduk asal Semenanjung. Melayu Semenanjung merangkumi:-

Suku Kedah Tua
- suku pribumi Semenanjung yang mendirikan Kerajaan Kedah Tua pada awal abad ke-4 Masihi.
- merujuk kepada orang Melayu di Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perlis, utara Perak dan selatan Thai (Satun, Trang, Phuket dll)

Suku Perak
- suku pribumi Semenanjung yang mendirikan Kerajaan Gangga Negara pada awal abad ke-2 Masihi.
- merujuk kepada orang Melayu di Perak (bahagian tengah dan selatan)

Suku Kelantan dan suku Patani
- dua suku pribumi Semenanjung yang mendirikan Kerajaan Langkasuka pada abad pertama atau ke-2 Masihi.
- merujuk kepada orang Melayu di Kelantan, Patani dan wilayah-wilayah lain di selatan Thailand.

Suku Terengganu
- suku pribumi Semenanjung yang asalnya dari keturunan penduduk Kerajaan Langkasuka yang berhijrah ke Terengganu (Terengganu adalah sebahagian jajahan Langkasuka)
- merujuk kepada orang Melayu di Terengganu.

Suku Pahang
- suku pribumi Semenanjung yang mendirikan Kota Muang Pahang - salah satu kota Naksat (Naksat city) di bawah pemerintahan Langkasuka
- Kota Muang Pahang masih tidak ditemui sehingga sekarang.
- merujuk kepada orang Melayu di Pahang.

Suku Johor
- suku pribumi Semenanjung yang mendirikan Kota Gelanggi atau Perbendaharaan Permata pada 650 tahun Masihi.
- Kota Gelanggi adalah dipercayai ibu kota pertama empayar Srivijaya sebelum berpindah ke Palembang, namun kota tersebut masih tidak ditemui.
- merujuk kepada orang Melayu Jati di Johor.


orang Melayu, kebudayaan Melayu dan Bahasa Melayu (termasuk Bahasa Indonesia) berasal dari Semenanjung. Srivijaya juga bermula di Semenanjung dan bukannya Sumatera.

Jika benar orang Melayu berasal dari Kerajaan Melayu di Sumatera, maka siapa yang mendirikan Kerajaan Langkasuka, Gangga Negara, Kedah Tua, Kota Gelanggi, Kota Muang Pahang, Chih-Tu dan Ligor? Semua kerajaan-kerajaan tersebut wujud jauh lebih awal dari Kerajaan Melayu.

Penduduk Indonesia berhijrah dari Dataran Yunnan ke Kepulauan Indonesia melalui Semenanjung Malaysia.
Menurut teori penghijrahan manusia purba, manusia berhijrah dari daratan ke pulau, bukan sebaliknya.

Nice explanation, Hang. But let me make some corrections.

- Whether it is the Malay peninsula or Sumatra, there is no telling which land the Malay settled on first. There's no denying that kingdoms such as Langkasuka etc were built by the Malays, as there are already Malay kingdoms on both the peninsula and Sumatra before Srivijaya. I'm sorry to say, but the peninsula side has no solid proof of Srivijaya starting there, while we on the other hand have both of foreign records and our own to support that the beginning of Srivijaya was on the island of Sumatra (specifically around Palembang, South Sumatra).

- As interesting as Yunnan theory is, Taiwan is the true origin of Austronesian people. From Taiwan, Austronesian people went south to the Philippines archipelago, and then they continue even further to the south, occupying both the peninsula and archipelago.

Another thing. It's very interesting for me that the Malaysian government only acknowledge the Batak-Mandailing ethnicity as "Malay". I guess it's because the other Batak ethnicities (Toba, Karo, Simalungun, etc) are mostly Christians, so they don't count as Malays? What a funny definition of a race/ethnicity.

Batak-Mandailing In Malaya @ Malaysia Is 100% Muslim

The definition to include Mandailings as Malays is exclusive in Malaysia only.

Yup, we are discussing within Malaysia context in this Malaysia thread. We are not talking within Nusantara (Malayo-Polynesian) context. Austronesian too large context.

Austronesian:
1. Atayalic.
2. Tsou-Malayo-Polynesian:
---(a). Rukai-Tsouic
---(b). Paiwan-Malayo-Polynesian:
---------(i). Paiwanic linkage: Amic, Bunun, Kulunic, Paiwan, Puyuma, Saisiyat, Thaoic
---------(ii). Malayo-Polynesian (Nusantara)

all these scientific name make me feel like we r baboons

I read this article at Malaysia Today ....http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/1306/46/..

What Michael Chick talked within Malayo-Polynesian (Nusantara), which is can be justified as the Pribumi or Bumiputra of South East Asia. This context is associated with genetic characteristic of 'Malayo-Polynesian' classification. The Acehnese, Cham (of Vietnam), Malay (East &West Malaysian/Indonesian), Iban (of Borneo), Sundanese, Javanese, Balinese and many more around the Malay archipelago are from this classification which is has similar genetic/dna characteristic. They have their own culture and customs.

But when we talking about the context of the Malay or Melayu, the term of 'Malay' or 'Melayu' is associated with peoples who speak a similar type of Malay languages, and practicing the Malay custom. There are muslim, and islam is apart of their culture and custom.

So I can conclude that:
1. Malayo-Polynesian (Nusantara) = Malay ethnic.
2. Malay(Melayu) = Malay race (Malaysia context), the Malayo-Polynesian people who practicing the Malay custom(where islam is part of their custom).

With similar conclusion, can you say that the English is a race ?