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MALAYS

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 477 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MALAYS , the name given by Europeans to the See also:

people calling themselves Orang Malayu, i.e. Malayan folk, who are the dominant See also:race of the See also:Malay See also:Peninsula and of the Malay See also:Archipelago. Broadly speaking, all the See also:brown races which inhabit the portion of See also:Asia See also:south of See also:Siam and Indo-See also:China, and the islands from the Philippines to See also:Java, and from See also:Sumatra to See also:Timor, may be described as belonging to the Malayan See also:family, if the aboriginal tribes, such as the See also:Sakai and See also:Semang in the Malay Peninsula, the Bataks in Sumatra, and the Muruts in See also:Borneo, be excepted. For the purposes of this See also:article, however, only those among these races which See also:bear the name of Orang Malayu, speak the Malayan See also:language, and represent the dominant people of the See also:land, can be included under the See also:title of Malays. These people inhabit the whole of the Malayan Peninsula to the See also:borders of See also:lower Siam, the islands in the vicinity of the mainland, the shores of Sumatra and some portions of the interior of that See also:island, See also:Sarawak and See also:Brunei in Borneo, and some parts of Dutch Borneo, See also:Batavia and certain districts in Java, and some of the smaller islands of the archipelago. Though in these lands they have for npt less than a thousand years enjoyed the position of the dominant race, they all possess a tradition that they are not indigenous, and that their first rulers " came out of the See also:sea," with a large See also:band of Malayan warriors in their See also:train. In the peninsulaespecially, where the presence of the Malays is more See also:recent than elsewhere, many traditions exist which point to a comparatively recent occupation of the See also:country. It has been remarked that there is See also:evidence that the Malays had attained to a certain See also:stage of See also:civilization before ever they set See also:foot in Malaya. For instance, the names which they give to certain fruits, such as the duri-an, the rambul-an and the pulas-an, which are indigenous in the Malayan countries, and are not found elsewhere, are all See also:compound words meaning respectively the thorny, the hairy and the See also:twisted See also:fruit. These words are formed by the addition of the substantial affix " -an," the use of which is one of the recognized methods by which the Malays turn See also:primitive words into terms of more complex meaning. This may be taken to indicate that when first the Malays became acquainted with the fruits which are indigenous in Malayan lands they already possessed a language in which most See also:primary words were represented, and also that their See also:tongue had attained to a stage of development which provided for the formation of compound words by a See also:system sanctioned by See also:custom and the same linguistic See also:instinct which causes a Malay to-See also:day to See also:form similar compounds from See also:European and other See also:foreign roots. For any aboriginal race inhabiting these countries, such important articles of See also:diet as the duri-an, &c., could not fail to be among the first natural See also:objects to receive a name, and thus we find primary terms in use among the Sakai and Semang, the See also:aborigines of the Peninsula, to de-See also:scribe these fruits.

The use by the Malays of artificially constructed terms to denote these things may certainly be taken to strengthen the See also:

opinion that the Malays arrived in the lands they now inhabit at a comparatively See also:late See also:period in their See also:history, and at a See also:time when they had See also:developed considerably from the See also:original See also:state of primitive See also:man. In the Malay Peninsula itself there is abundant evidence, ethnological and philological, of at least two distinct immigrations of people of the Malayan stock, the earlier incursions, it is probable, taking See also:place from the eastern archipelago to the south, the later invasion spreading across the Straits of Malacca from Sumatra at a comparatively recent date. The fact that the semi-See also:wild tribes, which are ethnologically Malayan and distinct from the aboriginal Semang and Sakai, are met with almost invariably in the neighbourhood of the See also:coast would seem to indicate that they reached the peninsula by a sea, not by a land route, a supposition which is strengthened by their almost amphibious habits. Many of these tribes have retained their pristine paganism, but many others it is certain have adopted the See also:Mahommedan See also:religion and have been assimilated by the subsequent and stronger See also:wave of Sumatran immigrants. A study of the See also:local dialects to be met with in some of the districts of the far interior, e.g. the Tembeling valley in Pahang, whose people are now Mahommedans and in many respects indistinguishable from the See also:ordinary Malays of the peninsula, reveals the fact that words, current in the archipelago to the south but incomprehensible to the See also:average peninsula Malays, by whom these more See also:ancient populations are now completely surrounded, have been preserved as local words, whereas they really belong to an older See also:dialect once spoken widely in the peninsula, as to-day it is spoken in the Malayan islands. This would seem to show that in some instances the earlier Malay immigrants See also:fell or were driven by the later invaders back from the coast and sought See also:refuge in the far interior. Until recently many eminent scientists held the theory that the Malayan peoples were merely an offspring of the Mongol stock, and that their advance into the lands they now in- Theories of See also:habit had taken place from the See also:cradle of the Mon- origin. golian race—that is to say, from the See also:north. In the fifth edition of his Malay Archipelago, A. R. See also:Wallace notes the resemblance which he traced between the Malays and the Mongolians, and others have recorded similar observations as to the See also:physical See also:appearance of the two races. To-day, however, See also:fuller data are available than when Wallace wrote, and the more generally accepted theory is that the Malayan race is distinct, and came from the south, until it was stayed by the Mongolian races living on the mainland of See also:southern Asia. The See also:cranial measurements of the Malays and an examination of their See also:hair sections seem to bear out the theory that they are distinct from the Mongolian races.

Their language, which is neither mono-syllabic nor tonic, has nothing in See also:

common with that of the Mon-See also:Annam See also:group. It has, moreover, been pointed out that had the Malays been driven southwards by the stronger races of the mainland of Asia, it might be expected that the people inhabiting the country nearest to the border between Siam and Malaya would belong to the Malayan and not to the Mon-Annam or Mon-Khmer stock. As a See also:matter of fact the Sakai of the interior of the peninsula belong to the latter race. It might also be anticipated, were the theory of a southward See also:immigration to be sustained, that the Malays would be new-comers in the islands of the archipelago, and have their See also:oldest settlements on the Malayan Peninsula. The facts, however, are in exact See also:contradiction to this; and accordingly the theory now most generally held by those who have studied the question is that the Malays form a distinct race, and had their original See also:home in the south. Where this home See also:lay it is not easy to say, but the facts recorded by many writers as to the resemblance between the Polynesian and the Malayan races, and the strong Malayan See also:element found in the See also:languages of the former (see Tregear's See also:Maori and See also:Comparative Polynesian See also:Dictionary, See also:London, 1891), have led some students to think that the two races may have had a common origin. See also:John See also:Crawfurd, in the Dissertation to his Dictionary of the Malay Language, published in 184o, noted the prevalence of Malayan terms in the Polynesian languages, and attributed the fact to the casting away of See also:ships manned by Malays upon the islands of the Polynesian Archipelago. The appearance of the same Malayan words in localities so widely separated from each other, however, cannot be satisfactorily accounted for by any such explanation, and the theory is now more generally held that the two races are probably allied and may at some remote period of history have shared a common home. It has been suggested that their separation did not take place until after the See also:continent which once existed in the north Pacific had become submerged, and that the Malays wandered northward, while the Polynesian race spread itself over the islands of the southern archipelago. All this, however, must necessarily be of the nature of the purest See also:speculation, and the only facts which we are able to deduce in the See also:present state of our knowledge of the subject may be summed up as follows: (a) That the Malays ethnologically belong to a race which is allied to the Polynesians; (b) that the theory formerly current to the effect that the Sakai and other similar races of the peninsula and archipelago belonged to the Malayan stock cannot be maintained, since recent investigations tend to identify them with the Mon-Annam or Mon-Khmer family of races; (c) that the Malays are, comparatively speaking, new-comers in the lands which they now inhabit; (d) that it is almost certain that their See also:emigration took place from the south; (e) and that, at some remote period of their history, they came into See also:close contact with the Polynesian race, probably before its See also:dispersion over the extensive See also:area which it now occupies. The Malays to-day are Sunni Mahommedans of the school of Shafi'i, and they habitually use the terms Orang Malayu, i.e. a Malay, Religion and Orang See also:Islam, i.e. a Mahommedan, as synonymous Religion expressions. Their See also:conversion from paganism took and super- place during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries of our era. stltions.

The See also:

raja of See also:Achin, in See also:northern Sumatra, is said to have been converted as See also:early as 1206, while the See also:Bugis people in See also:Celebes are supposed not to have become Mahommedans until 1495. Mahommedanism undoubtedly spread to the Malays of the peninsula from Sumatra, but their conversion was slow and See also:gradual, and may even now in some respects be regarded as imperfect. Upon the bulk of the Malayan peoples their religion sits but lightly. Few are found to observe the See also:law concerning the Five See also:Hours of See also:Prayer, and many fail to put in an appearance at the See also:Friday congregational services in the mosques. The Fast of Ramadhan, however, is generally observed with some faithfulness. Compared with other Mahommedan peoples, the Malays are not fanatical, though occasionally an out-break against those of a different creed is glorified by them into a See also:holy See also:war. The See also:reason of such outbreaks, however, is usually to be found in See also:political and social rather than in religious grievances. See also:Prior to their conversion to Mahommedanism the Malays were subjected to a considerable See also:Hindu See also:influence, which reached them by means of the traders who visited the archipelago from See also:India. In the islands of See also:Bali and See also:Lombok the people still profess a form of See also:Hinduism, and Hindu remains are to be found in many other parts of the archipelago, though their traces do not extend to the peninsula. Throughout, however, the superstitions of the Malays show indications of this Hindu influence, and many of the demons whom their See also:medicine-men invoke in their magic practices are clearly borrowed from the See also:pantheon of India. For the See also:rest, a substratum of superstitious beliefs, which survives from the days when the Malays professed only their natural religion, is to be found firmly rooted in the minds of the people, and the influence of Mahommedanism, which regards such things with horror, has been powerless to eradicate this. Mr W.

W. See also:

Skeat's Malay Magic (London, 1900) is a compilation of all the writings on the subject of Malay superstitions by the best authorities and contains considerable original matter. The Malays of the coast are a maritime people, and were See also:long famous for the daring See also:character of their acts of piracy. They are now peaceable See also:fisher-folk, who show considerable m, of ingenuity in their calling. Inland the Malays live by Mod o preference on the See also:banks of See also:rivers, See also:building houses on piles some feet from the ground, and planting groves of coco-See also:nut, betel-nut, See also:sugar-See also:palm and fruit-trees around their dwellings. Behind their villages the See also:rice-See also:fields usually spread, and rice, which is the See also:staple See also:food of the people, is the See also:principal article of See also:agriculture among them. Sugar-See also:cane, See also:maize, See also:tapioca and other similar products are grown, however, in smaller quantities. In planting rice three methods are in use: the cultivation of swamp-rice in irrigated fields; the planting of ploughed areas; and the planting of See also:hill-rice by See also:sowing each See also:grain separately in holes bored for the purpose. In the irrigated fields the rice See also:plants are first grown in nurseries, and are subsequently transplanted when they have reached a certain stage of development. The Malays also See also:work See also:jungle produce, of which the most important are See also:gutta, rattans, agila See also:wood, camphor wood, and the beautiful kamuning wood which is used by the natives for the hilts of their weapons. The principal manufactures of the Malays are See also:cotton and See also:silk cloths, earthenware and See also:silver vessels, mats and native weapons. The best cotton cloths are those manufactured by the Bugis people in Celebes, and the batek cloths which come from Java and are stamped with patterns.

The best silks are produced by the natives of Pahang, See also:

Kelantan and See also:Johor in the Malay Peninsula. See also:Lord See also:Leighton pronounced the silver See also:ware from Malaya to be the most See also:artistic of any exhibited at the Colonial See also:Exhibition held in London in 1886. The pottery of the Malays is See also:rude but curious. When the first Europeans visited the Malay Archipelago the Malays had already acquired the See also:art of manufacturing See also:gunpowder and See also:forging See also:canon. The art of See also:writing also appears to have been independently invented by the Malayan races, since numerous alphabets are in use among the peoples of the archipelago, although for the writing of Malay itself the Arabic character has been adopted for some hundreds of years. The Malays are excellent See also:boat-builders. While the Malays were famous almost exclusively for their piratical expeditions they naturally See also:bore an evil reputation among Europeans, but now that we have come into closer Character, contact with them, and have learned to understand Ba them better, the old opinions concerning them have been greatly modified. They used to be described as the most cruel and treacherous people in the See also:world, and they certainly are callous of the See also:pain suffered by others, and regard any See also:strategy of which their enemies are the victims with open admiration. In ordinary circumstances, however, the Malay is not treacherous, and there are many instances recorded in which men of this race have risked their own lives on behalf of Europeans who chanced to be their See also:friends. As a race they are exceedingly courteous and self-respecting. Their own See also:code of See also:manners is See also:minute and strict, and they observe its provisions faithfully. Unlike many Orientals, the Malays can be treated with a friendly familiarity without such treatment breeding lack of respect or leading to liberties being taken with the See also:superior.

The Malays are indolent, See also:

pleasure-loving, improvident beyond belief, fond of See also:bright clothing, of comfort, of ease, and they dislike toil exceedingly. They have no See also:idea of the value of See also:money, and little notion of honesty where money is concerned. They would always See also:borrow rather than See also:earn money, and they feel no shame in adopting the former course. They will frequently refuse to work for a wage when they most stand in need of See also:cash, and yet at the invitation of one who is their friend they will toil unremittingly without any thought of See also:reward. They are much addicted to gambling, and formerly were much given to fighting, though they never display that See also:passion for war in the abstract which is characteristic of some of the See also:white races, and their courage on the whole is not high if judged by European See also:standards. It is notorious, however, on the coasts that a Malay gang on See also:board a See also:ship invariably gets the better of any fight which may arise between it and the See also:Chinese See also:crew. The sexual morality of the Malays is very lax, but See also:prostitution is not common in consequence. See also:Polygamy, though allowed by their religion, is practised for the most See also:part among the wealthy classes only. The Malays are an intensely aristocratic people, and show a marvellous See also:loyalty to their rajas and chiefs. Their respect for See also:rank is not marred by any vulgarity or snobbery. The ruling classes among them display all the vices of the lower classes, and few of the virtues except that of See also:courtesy. They are for the most part, when See also:left to their own resources, cruel, unjust, selfish and improvident.

Much has been written concerning the acts of homicidal See also:

mania called See also:amuck (amok), which word in the See also:vernacular means to attack. It was formerly believed that these outbursts were to be attributed to madness pur et See also:simple, and some cases of amok can certainly be traced to this source. These are not, however, in any sense typical, and might equally have been perpetrated by men of another race. The typical amok is usually the result of circumstances which render a Malay desperate. The See also:motive is often inadequate from the point of view of a European, but to the Malay it is sufficient to make him weary of See also:life and anxious to See also:court See also:death. Briefly, where a man of another race might not improbably commit See also:suicide, a Malay runs amok, killing all whom he may meet until he himself is slain. The See also:nervous affliction called latah, to which many Malays are subject, is also a curious trait of the people. The victims of this affliction lose for the time all self-See also:control and all sense of their own identity, imitating the actions of any See also:person who chances to See also:rivet their See also:attention. Accounts of these manifestations will be found in Swettenham's Malay Sketches (London, 1895) and See also:Clifford's Studies in Brown Humanity (London, 1897). The Malays See also:wear a loose coat and See also:trousers, and a cap or See also:head- kerchief, but the characteristic See also:item of their See also:costume is the sarong, a silk or cotton See also:cloth about two yards long by a yard and a See also:quarter wide, the ends of which are sewn together, forming a See also:kind of skirt. This is worn See also:round the See also:waist folded in a See also:knot, the See also:women allowing it to fall to the See also:ankle, the men, when properly dressed in accordance with ancient custom, folding it over the hilt of their waist-weapon, and draping it around them so that it reaches nearly to the See also:knee. In the See also:hall of a raja on state occasions a head-kerchief twisted into a See also:peak is worn, and the coat is furnished with a high See also:collar extending round the back of the See also:neck only.

This coat is open in front, leaving the See also:

chest See also:bare. The trousers are See also:short and of a See also:peculiar cut and material, being coloured many hues in parallel See also:horizontal lines. The sarong is of Celebes manufacture and made of cotton, to the See also:surface of which a high See also:polish is imparted by See also:friction with a See also:shell. The typical fighting costume of the Malay is a sleeveless jacket with texts from the See also:Koran written upon it, short tight drawers reaching to the See also:middle of the thigh, and the sarong is then See also:bound tightly around the waist, leaving the hilt of the See also:dagger worn in the See also:girdle exposed to view. The principal weapon of the Malays is the kris, a short dagger with a small wooden or See also:ivory handle, of which there are many varieties. The blade of a kris may either be wavy or straight, but if wavy the number of waves must always be uneven in number. The kris most prized by the Malays are those of Bugis (Celebes) manufacture, and of these the kind called tuasek are of the greatest value. Besides the short kris, the Malays use long straight kris with very narrow See also:blades, shorter straight kris of the same form, short broad swords called sundang, long swords of ordinary See also:pattern called pedang, somewhat shorter swords curved like scimitars with curiously carved handles called chenangkas, and short stabbing daggers called tumbok lade. The principal tools of the Malays are the parang or golok, a heavy See also:knife used in the jungle, without which no See also:peasant ever stirs abroad from his See also:house, the beliong or native See also:axe, and the pisau raut, which is used for scraping rattan. Their implements are very primitive, consisting of a plough fashioned from a See also:fork of a See also:tree, and a rude See also:harrow. See also:Reaping is usually performed by the aid of a curious little knife which severs each See also:ear of grain separately. The fisherfolk use many kinds of nets, which they manufacture themselves.

Sails, paddles, oars and punting-poles are all in use.

End of Article: MALAYS

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