[1] See R. B. Newton, "Notes on Literature bearing upon the Geology
of the Malay Peninsula; with an Account of a Neolithic Implement from
that Country" (Geol. Mag., 1901, pp. 128-134). See also the various
reports by J. B. Scrivenor in _Suppl. Perak Gov. Gazette_, 1905.
MALAYS, the name given by Europeans to the people calling themselves
_Orang Malayu_, i.e. Malayan folk, who are the dominant race of the
Malay Peninsula and of the Malay Archipelago. Broadly speaking, all the
brown races which inhabit the portion of Asia south of Siam and
Indo-China, and the islands from the Philippines to Java, and from
Sumatra to Timor, may be described as belonging to the Malayan family,
if the aboriginal tribes, such as the Sakai and Semang in the Malay
Peninsula, the Bataks in Sumatra, and the Muruts in Borneo, be excepted.
For the purposes of this article, however, only those among these races
which bear the name of Orang Malayu, speak the Malayan language, and
represent the dominant people of the land, can be included under the
title of Malays. These people inhabit the whole of the Malayan Peninsula
to the borders of lower Siam, the islands in the vicinity of the
mainland, the shores of Sumatra and some portions of the interior of
that island, Sarawak and Brunei in Borneo, and some parts of Dutch
Borneo, Batavia and certain districts in Java, and some of the smaller
islands of the archipelago. Though in these lands they have for not 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 sea," with a large band of Malayan
warriors in their train. In the peninsula especially, where the
presence of the Malays is more recent than elsewhere, many traditions
exist which point to a comparatively recent occupation of the country.
It has been remarked that there is evidence that the Malays had attained
to a certain stage of civilization before ever they set foot in Malaya.
For instance, the names which they give to certain fruits, such as the
_duri-an_, the _rambut-an_ and the _pulas-an_, which are indigenous in
the Malayan countries, and are not found elsewhere, are all compound
words meaning respectively the thorny, the hairy and the twisted 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 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 primary words were represented, and also that
their tongue had attained to a stage of development which provided for
the formation of compound words by a system sanctioned by custom and the
same linguistic instinct which causes a Malay to-day to form similar
compounds from European and other foreign roots. For any aboriginal race
inhabiting these countries, such important articles of diet as the
_duri-an_, &c., could not fail to be among the first natural objects to
receive a name, and thus we find primary terms in use among the Sakai
and Semang, the aborigines of the Peninsula, to describe these fruits.
The use by the Malays of artificially constructed terms to denote these
things may certainly be taken to strengthen the opinion that the Malays
arrived in the lands they now inhabit at a comparatively late period in
their history, and at a time when they had developed considerably from
the original state of primitive 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 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-wild tribes, which are ethnologically
Malayan and distinct from the aboriginal Semang and Sakai, are met with
almost invariably in the neighbourhood of the 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 Mahommedan religion and have been
assimilated by the subsequent and stronger wave of Sumatran immigrants.
A study of the 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 ordinary
Malays of the peninsula, reveals the fact that words, current in the
archipelago to the south but incomprehensible to the average peninsula
Malays, by whom these more ancient populations are now completely
surrounded, have been preserved as local words, whereas they really
belong to an older 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 fell or were driven by
the later invaders back from the coast and sought refuge in the far
interior.
Theories of Origin.
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 inhabit had taken place from the cradle
of the Mongolian race--that is to say, from the north. In the fifth
edition of his _Malay Archipelago_, A. R. Wallace notes the resemblance
which he traced between the Malays and the Mongolians, and others have
recorded similar observations as to the physical appearance of the two
races. To-day, however, 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 southern Asia. The cranial
measurements of the Malays and an examination of their hair sections
seem to bear out the theory that they are distinct from the Mongolian
races. Their language, which is neither monosyllabic nor tonic, has
nothing in common with that of the Mon-Annam 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 matter of fact the Sâkai of the interior of the peninsula
belong to the latter race. It might also be anticipated, were the theory
of a southward immigration to be sustained, that the Malays would be
new-comers in the islands of the archipelago, and have their oldest
settlements on the Malayan Peninsula. The facts, however, are in exact
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 home in the south. Where this home
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 element found in the languages of the former (see
Tregear's _Maori and Comparative Polynesian Dictionary_, London, 1891),
have led some students to think that the two races may have had a common
origin. John Crawfurd, in the Dissertation to his _Dictionary of the
Malay Language_, published in 1840, noted the prevalence of Malayan
terms in the Polynesian languages, and attributed the fact to the
casting away of 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
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 speculation, and the
only facts which we are able to deduce in the 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
emigration took place from the south; (e) and that, at some remote
period of their history, they came into close contact with the
Polynesian race, probably before its dispersion over the extensive area
which it now occupies.
Religion and Superstitions.
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, and _Orang
Islam_, i.e. a Mahommedan, as synonymous expressions. Their conversion
from paganism took place during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries of
our era. The raja of Achin, in northern Sumatra, is said to have been
converted as early as 1206, while the Bugis people in 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 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
law concerning the Five Hours of Prayer, and many fail to put in an
appearance at the 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 outbreak against those of a
different creed is glorified by them into a holy war. The reason of
such outbreaks, however, is usually to be found in political and
social rather than in religious grievances. Prior to their conversion
to Mahommedanism the Malays were subjected to a considerable Hindu
influence, which reached them by means of the traders who visited the
archipelago from India. In the islands of Bali and Lombok the people
still profess a form of 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 medicine-men invoke in their magic practices are clearly
borrowed from the pantheon of India. For the 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. 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.
Mode of Life, &c.
The Malays of the coast are a maritime people, and were long famous
for the daring character of their acts of piracy. They are now
peaceable fisher-folk, who show considerable ingenuity in their
calling. Inland the Malays live by preference on the banks of rivers,
building houses on piles some feet from the ground, and planting
groves of coco-nut, betel-nut, sugar-palm and fruit-trees around their
dwellings. Behind their villages the rice-fields usually spread, and
rice, which is the staple food of the people, is the principal article
of agriculture among them. Sugar-cane, maize, 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 hill-rice by sowing each grain separately in holes bored for the
purpose. In the irrigated fields the rice plants are first grown in
nurseries, and are subsequently transplanted when they have reached a
certain stage of development. The Malays also work jungle produce, of
which the most important are gutta, rattans, agila 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
cotton and silk cloths, earthenware and 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, Kelantan and Johor in the Malay Peninsula. Lord
Leighton pronounced the silver ware from Malaya to be the most
artistic of any exhibited at the Colonial Exhibition held in London in
1886. The pottery of the Malays is rude but curious. When the first
Europeans visited the Malay Archipelago the Malays had already
acquired the art of manufacturing gunpowder and forging cannon. The
art of 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 boat-builders.
Character, &c.
While the Malays were famous almost exclusively for their piratical
expeditions they naturally bore an evil reputation among Europeans,
but now that we have come into closer contact with them, and have
learned to understand 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 world, and they certainly are
callous of the pain suffered by others, and regard any 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 friends. As a
race they are exceedingly courteous and self-respecting. Their own
code of manners is 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 superior. The Malays are
indolent, pleasure-loving, improvident beyond belief, fond of bright
clothing, of comfort, of ease, and they dislike toil exceedingly. They
have no idea of the value of money, and little notion of honesty where
money is concerned. They would always borrow rather than 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
cash, and yet at the invitation of one who is their friend they will
toil unremittingly without any thought of reward. They are much
addicted to gambling, and formerly were much given to fighting, though
they never display that passion for war in the abstract which is
characteristic of some of the white races, and their courage on the
whole is not high if judged by European standards. It is notorious,
however, on the coasts that a Malay gang on board a ship invariably
gets the better of any fight which may arise between it and the
Chinese crew. The sexual morality of the Malays is very lax, but
prostitution is not common in consequence. Polygamy, though allowed by
their religion, is practised for the most part among the wealthy
classes only. The Malays are an intensely aristocratic people, and
show a marvellous loyalty to their rajas and chiefs. Their respect for
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 courtesy. They are for the most part, when
left to their own resources, cruel, unjust, selfish and improvident.
Much has been written concerning the acts of homicidal mania called
amuck (_amok_), which word in the vernacular means to attack. It was
formerly believed that these outbursts were to be attributed to
madness _pur et 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 motive is often inadequate from the point of view
of a European, but to the Malay it is sufficient to make him weary of
life and anxious to court death. Briefly, where a man of another race
might not improbably commit suicide, a Malay runs _amok_, killing all
whom he may meet until he himself is slain.
The 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-control and all sense of their
own identity, imitating the actions of any person who chances to rivet
their attention. Accounts of these manifestations will be found in
Swettenham's _Malay Sketches_ (London, 1895) and Clifford's _Studies
in Brown Humanity_ (London, 1897).
Costume, Weapons, &c.
The Malays wear a loose coat and trousers, and a cap or head-kerchief,
but the characteristic item of their costume is the _sarong_, a silk
or cotton cloth about two yards long by a yard and a quarter wide, the
ends of which are sewn together, forming a kind of skirt. This is worn
round the waist folded in a knot, the women allowing it to fall to the
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 knee. In the hall of a
raja on state occasions a head-kerchief twisted into a peak is worn,
and the coat is furnished with a high collar extending round the back
of the neck only. This coat is open in front, leaving the chest bare.
The trousers are short and of a peculiar cut and material, being
coloured many hues in parallel horizontal lines. The _sarong_ is of
Celebes manufacture and made of cotton, to the surface of which a high
polish is imparted by friction with a shell. The typical fighting
costume of the Malay is a sleeveless jacket with texts from the Koran
written upon it, short tight drawers reaching to the middle of the
thigh, and the _sarong_ is then bound tightly around the waist,
leaving the hilt of the dagger worn in the girdle exposed to view. The
principal weapon of the Malays is the _kris_, a short dagger with a
small wooden or 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
blades, shorter straight _kris_ of the same form, short broad swords
called _sundang_, long swords of ordinary pattern called _pedang_,
somewhat shorter swords curved like scimitars with curiously carved
handles called _chenangkas_, and short stabbing daggers called _tumbok
lada_. The principal tools of the Malays are the _parang_ or _gôlok_,
a heavy knife used in the jungle, without which no peasant ever stirs
abroad from his house, the _beliong_ or native axe, and the _pisau
raut_, which is used for scraping rattan. Their implements are very
primitive, consisting of a plough fashioned from a fork of a tree, and
a rude harrow. Reaping is usually performed by the aid of a curious
little knife which severs each ear of grain separately. The
fisher-folk use many kinds of nets, which they manufacture themselves.
Sails, paddles, oars and punting-poles are all in use.