The Malay world or Malay realm (
Indonesian/
Malay: or ;
Jawi: ), is a concept or an expression that has been used by different authors and groups over time to denote several different notions, derived from varied interpretations of
Malayness
Malayness ( ms, Kemelayuan, Jawi: ) is the state of being Malay or of embodying Malay characteristics. This may include that which binds and distinguishes the Malay people and forms the basis of their unity and identity. People who call themse ...
, either as a
racial category, as a
linguistic group
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in his ...
or as a
cultural group
Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct cultur ...
. The use of the term '
Malay' in much of the conceptualisation is largely based on the prevalent
Malay cultural influence, manifested in particular through the
spread of the Malay language in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
as observed by different colonial powers during the
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafarin ...
and
spread of Islam
The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territorie ...
.
The term remains highly
controversial
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...
outside of Malay-speaking areas and as such is considered politically charged and
irredentist
Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent st ...
rather than purely cultural.
The concept in its broadest territorial stretch may apply to a region synonymous with
Austronesia
The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austrone ...
, homeland to the
Austronesian peoples
The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austro ...
, that extends from
Easter Island
Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its ne ...
in the east to
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
in the west. Such description has its origin in the introduction of the term
Malay race
The concept of a Malay race was originally proposed by the German physician Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840), and classified as a brown race. ''Malay'' is a loose term used in the late 19th century and early 20th century to describe the ...
in the late 18th century that has been popularised by
orientalists
In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...
to describe the Austronesian peoples. In a narrower sense, the Malay world has been used as a synonym for Malay ''
sprachraum
In linguistics, a sprachraum (; , "language area", plural sprachräume) is a geographical region where a common first language (mother tongue), with dialect varieties, or group of languages is spoken.
Characteristics
Many sprachräume are separ ...
'', referring to the
Malay-speaking countries and territories of Southeast Asia, where different standards of Malay are the
national language
A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a nation. There is little consistency in the use of this term. One or more languages spoken as first languages in the te ...
s or a variety of it is an important minority language. The term in this sense encompasses
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and
Southern Thailand
Southern Thailand, Southern Siam or Tambralinga is a southernmost cultural region of Thailand, separated from Central Thailand region by the Kra Isthmus.
Geography
Southern Thailand is on the Malay Peninsula, with an area of around , bounde ...
, and is sometimes used interchangeably with the concepts of '
Malay Archipelago' and '
Nusantara'.
Malayophones (peoples and nations that speak Malay/Indonesian as their native language or recognize it as an official language) number an estimated 330 million people (projected 2025), comprising just under half of the population of Southeast Asia in eight sovereign states and territories: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, where Malay is an official language under the name 'Malay', 'Indonesian' or 'Malaysian';
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...
and parts of
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
and the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, where Malay/Indonesian is recognized as a minority or trade language, and the
Australian territories of the
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
)
, anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''"
, song_type =
, song =
, image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
, map_caption = ...
and
Christmas Island
Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...
, where Malay is the majority language and a significant minority, respectively.
Alternatively, modern scholars correct these extended notions of the Malay world, defining it as a political and
cultural area instead. In this context, the Malay world is reduced to a region that is homeland to the
Malays (ethnic group)
Malays ( ms, Orang Melayu, Jawi: أورڠ ملايو) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations — areas that are c ...
, historically ruled by different
sultanates power, where various
Malayic languages and cultural values are predominant. This area includes the coastal areas of
Sumatra,
Malay Peninsula,
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...
and the smaller islands in between.
The most notable use of the concept was in the early 20th century, embraced in an
irredentist
Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent st ...
fashion, by
Malay nationalists in the form of '
Greater Indonesia
Greater Indonesia (in id, Indonesia Raya) was a political concept that sought to bring the so-called Malay race together by uniting the territories of Dutch East Indies (and Portuguese Timor) with the British Malaya and British Borneo. It was ...
' or 'Greater Malay' (''Indonesia Raya''/''Melayu Raya''), as an aspiration for the natural or desired borders of a modern nation for the Malay race. Classical Malay literatures such as
Sejarah Melayu
The ''Malay Annals'' ( Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: سجاره ملايو), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and demise of the g ...
and
Hikayat Hang Tuah
''Hikayat Hang Tuah'' ( Jawi: حکاية هڠ تواه) is a Malay work of literature that tells the tale of the legendary Malay fiction warrior, Hang Tuah and his four warrior friends - Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu - w ...
do not mention the term "Alam Melayu" (Malay world). The term only developed after 1930, with the first recorded examples coming from ''Majalah Guru'', a
Malay states
The monarchies of Malaysia refer to the constitutional monarchy system as practised in Malaysia. The political system of Malaysia is based on the Westminster parliamentary system in combination with features of a federation.
Nine of the state ...
monthly magazine, and the newspaper ''Saudara'', which was published in Penang and circulated throughout the
Straits Settlements. The term "Alam Melayu" developed and became popular after the emergence of the Malay nationalism movement in the second quarter of the 20th century.
Malay world culture has also had an impact on cultures outside of the traditional Malay world most notably in
Sri Lanka and Thailand. In Sri Lanka,
Indonesian-
Javanese cultural influences have had a deep impact on many aspects of modern
Sri Lankan culture
The culture of Sri Lanka mixes modern elements with traditional aspects and is known for its regional diversity. Sri Lankan culture has long been influenced by the heritage of Theravada Buddhism passed on from India, and the religion's legacy ...
.
Javanese culture has deeply influenced
Sri Lankan cuisine
Sri Lankan cuisine is known for its particular combinations of herbs, spices, fish, vegetables, rices, and fruits. The cuisine is highly centered around many varieties of rice, as well as coconut which is a ubiquitous plant throughout the count ...
with many dishes like ''
sambal
Sambal is an Indonesian chilli sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of a variety of chilli peppers with secondary ingredients, such as shrimp paste, garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. ''Sambal'' is an ...
'', ''
dodol
''Dodol'' is a sweet toffee-like sugar palm-based confection commonly found in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Originating from the culinary traditions of Indonesia, it is also popular in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philipp ...
'' and
''nasi kuning'' (''kaha buth'') having their origins in the
Malay archipelago (especially
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
).
The Sri Lankan
sarong
A sarong or sarung () is a large tube or length of fabric, often wrapped around the waist, worn in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, Northern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, and on many Pacific islands. The fabric often has woven plaid o ...
, the ''
raban
Rоban or Rоbana ( Sinhalese: රබාන) is one-sided traditional drum type played with the hands, used in Sri Lanka.Its mainly played in Aurudu Kreeda (The Srilankan New Year). The body of these drums are made by carving the Jack or Vitex tre ...
'', the practice of making ''
batik
Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. This technique originated from the island of Java, Indonesia. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a ''ca ...
'' as well as the traditional use of the
outrigger canoe
Outrigger boats are various watercraft featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull. They can range from small dugout canoes to large plank-built vessels. Outrigger ...
among other things were introduced to Sri Lanka through
Indonesian contact.
In Thailand, some of the national
cuisine has absorbed
Malay and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n influences with
Javanese-origin dishes like ''
satay
Satay ( , in USA also , ), or sate in Indonesian spelling, is a Southeast Asian dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. The earliest preparations of satay is believed to have originated in Javanese cuisine, but ...
'' being ubiquitous in the country.
Historical origin
Early conception
Territorial identification of Malay is of ancient origin. Various foreign and local records show that ''Melayu'' (Malay) and its similar sounding variants appear to apply as an old toponym to the ancient
Sumatra region in general. In the 7th century, the term gradually developed into an
ethnonym throughout the consolidation of
Srivijaya as a regional power.
Tomé Pires
Tomé Pires (1465?–1524 or 1540)Madureira, 150–151. was a Portuguese apothecary from Lisbon who spent 1512 to 1515 in Malacca immediately after the Portuguese conquest, at a time when Europeans were only first arriving in Southeast As ...
, an apothecary who stayed in Melaka from 1512 to 1515, after the
Portuguese conquest, explained how the former Malacca classified merchants calling its port into four groups, of which the Malays or ''Melayu'' did not appear in the list, suggesting they were not then regarded as category outside the Melaka itself.
Another term, ''Malayos'' or the 'Sea of Malayu' was espoused by the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
,
Manuel Godinho de Erédia to describe areas under
Malaccan dominance. The area covers the
Andaman Sea in the north, the entire
Strait of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...
in the centre, a part of
Sunda Strait in the south and the western
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...
in the east. It was generally described as a
Muslim centre of international trade, with
Malay language
Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spo ...
as its ''
lingua franca''.
Erédia's description indicates that ''Malayos'' was a geo-religio-sociocultural concept, a concept of geographical unity characterised by the common religious belief and cultural features.
An identical term, ''
Tanah Melayu'' (literally 'Malay land') is found in various Malay texts, of which the oldest are dating back to the early 17th century. It is frequently mentioned in the ''
Hikayat Hang Tuah
''Hikayat Hang Tuah'' ( Jawi: حکاية هڠ تواه) is a Malay work of literature that tells the tale of the legendary Malay fiction warrior, Hang Tuah and his four warrior friends - Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu - w ...
'', a well known classical work that began as oral tales associated with the legendary heroes of Melaka Sultanate. ''Tanah Melayu'' in the text is consistently employed to refer to the area under Melakan dominance. In the early 16th century, Tomé Pires coins an almost similar term, ''Terra de Tana Malaio'' for the southeastern part of Sumatra, where the deposed Sultan of Melaka,
Mahmud Shah established his exiled government.
The application of ''Tanah Melayu'' to the
Malay Peninsula entered into the European authorship, when
Marsden and
Crawfurd noted it in their historical works published in 1811 and 1820 respectively. Another important term, the ''Malaya'', an English term for the
Peninsula, was already used in English writings from the early 18th century.
Due to the lack of available research, it is difficult to trace the development of the concept of the Malay world as a term which later refers to the
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...
. However, thus classical territorial identifications are believed to have formed an important antecedent for the future conceptualisation of the Malay world. The term "Alam Melayu" itself did not exist before the 20th century.
Classical Malay literature
Classical Malay literature, also known as traditional Malay literature, refers to the Malay-language literature from the Malay world, consisting of areas now part of Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia; works from countries such as the Phili ...
s between the 14th century to the 20th century never mentioned "Alam Melayu" or any similar term. Instead, the term emerged along with the emergence of the Malay identity and nationality movement after 1930, mentioned in Malay
periodicals
A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also exampl ...
such as ''Majalah Guru'' magazine, ''Saudara'' newspaper, ''Majlis'' newspaper, and ''Puisi-Puisi Kebangsaan'' newspaper.
Malay as a racial category
The broader concept of Malay world has its origin from the conceptualisation of Malay as a race by the German scientist
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (11 May 1752 – 22 January 1840) was a German physician, naturalist, physiologist, and anthropologist. He is considered to be a main founder of zoology and anthropology as comparative, scientific disciplines. He ...
. Blumenbach identified 'Malay' as a subcategory of both the
Ethiopid and
Mongoloid
Mongoloid () is an obsolete racial grouping of various peoples indigenous to large parts of Asia, the Americas, and some regions in Europe and Oceania. The term is derived from a now-disproven theory of biological race. In the past, other terms ...
races, and expanded the term to include the native inhabitants of the
Mariana Islands, the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, the
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...
,
Sunda Islands,
Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
, as well as
Pacific Island
Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...
s like the
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...
ans. This broad conception of Malay was largely derived from the strong presence of
Malay cultural influence, particularly in
linguistic
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, throughout Southeast Asia at the time of European colonisation.
The Malay language was one aspect of the prestige of the sultanates in the region, and considered as a language of the educated people in Southeast Asia during the 17th and 18th century. An 18th century European account even suggests that one is not considered a very broadly educated man in the east, if he don't understand
Malay.
The popularisation of Malay as a racial category was in essence a colonial product, the significant role of which played by the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
since the 17th century and that of the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
since the 18th century in identifying
the Archipelago
The Archipelago is a township in central Ontario, Canada, along the Georgian Bay in the Parry Sound District.
The municipality consists of two non-contiguous parts, separated by Carling and the Parry Sound. The northern part includes the villa ...
as the Malay world. The view held by
Thomas Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...
for example, had a significant influence on English-speakers, lasting to the present day. He should probably be regarded as the most important voice in projecting the idea of a 'Malay' race or nation, not limited to the traditional
Raja-Raja Melayu or even their supporters, but embracing a large if unspecified part of the Archipelago.
William Marsden, another British "merchant-scientist", classified the inhabitants of the Archipelago as Malays, based on religion (
Islam), language (
Malay) and origin.
Malay territoriality in three tiers
In the late 19th century, an important innovation was introduced into the political vocabulary of the
Malay language
Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spo ...
. The word ''kerajaan'', which had in older times usually meant "king", "royalty" and "kingdom", began to be defined as "government". In the same period, the term ''negeri'' was increasingly being used as a word equivalent to "state", in contrast to its earlier use in court texts more in the sense of a 'settlement' than of a political entity. With growing frequency, publications of the 1870s and 1880s employed the term to refer either to individual
Malay sultanate
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
s or any political state in the world beyond the Malay territories.
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
historian,
Wilkinson, prefers the term "state" to refer to an administrative or territorial unit in the Malay Peninsula in his time, while he uses the word "kingdom" or "sultanate" for a Malay polity of older times. While Wilkinson often uses "the Peninsula" or "the Malay Peninsula", he also calls the Peninsula "
Malaya." His use of the word "Malaya" occasionally includes not merely the Peninsula under British rule but also its other parts under
Siamese rule. In referring to
the Archipelago
The Archipelago is a township in central Ontario, Canada, along the Georgian Bay in the Parry Sound District.
The municipality consists of two non-contiguous parts, separated by Carling and the Parry Sound. The northern part includes the villa ...
, Wilkinson not only uses "the Archipelago" or "the Indian Archipelago", but also "the Malay world", which might have more sociocultural connotations.
Among the textbooks available during
colonial Malaya,
Winstedt's ''Ilmu Alam Melayu'' ('Geography of the Malay world') presents the clearest picture of the territoriality of the Malay community. As expressed in the title, Winstedt attempts to cover most of the Archipelago. He describes not only the British colonies and protectorates in the Malay Peninsula and Borneo, but also the
Netherlands East Indies and the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. The structure of ''Ilmu Alam Melayu'' shows the three-tiered constitution of the Malay world. The Malay world (''Alam Melayu'') is divided into sub-regions, namely, Malaya (''Tanah Melayu''), the
British Borneo territories, the Netherlands East Indies and the Philippines. Malaya, in turn, is made up of the
Malay states
The monarchies of Malaysia refer to the constitutional monarchy system as practised in Malaysia. The political system of Malaysia is based on the Westminster parliamentary system in combination with features of a federation.
Nine of the state ...
(''Negeri-Negeri Melayu''). It is also important to note the standardization of geographical knowledge in this geography textbook. All states in the Peninsula, the main islands and areas of the Netherlands East Indies and all of the Philippines are systematically discussed through the common topics of overview, districts and towns, products, inhabitants and history. Such a systematic and comprehensive catalogue of geographical knowledge helps to convey an image of the Malay world as a territorial entity.
Malay historian Abdul Hadi Haji Hassan, who cites
Winstedt's textbooks in his ''Sejarah 'Alam Melayu'' ('History of the Malay world'), had much in common with
Winstedt's view of the Malay world. According to him, the Malay territories are made up of the Malay states,
Malaya and the Malay world in general. Of the 12 chapters in the three volumes of Abdul Hadi's textbook, four chapters focus on the history of the
Malays in
Malaya, while other chapters deal with the history of the Malays in the Malay world generally. It ought to be added that the history of each colony or state (''negeri'') in the
Straits Settlements and the
Federated Malay States is explained in the fourth and the fifth volumes of the book written by another Malay historian,
Buyong Adil Buyong Adil (born Mohd Yusuf bin Adil; January 1907 – 31 August 1976) was a national historian of Malaysia and author of several books on the history of Malaysia. Buyong was a nickname given by his parents. He was also known as Cikgu Buyong. He wo ...
in 1934 and 1940. Thus, both British and Malay authors conceptualised Malay territoriality in three tiers, that is, the
Malay states
The monarchies of Malaysia refer to the constitutional monarchy system as practised in Malaysia. The political system of Malaysia is based on the Westminster parliamentary system in combination with features of a federation.
Nine of the state ...
,
Malaya and the Malay world.
Malay nationalism
The standardisation of geographical knowledge and systematic quantification, served to objectify the territoriality of the Malay community. Early authors in Malaya also developed a Malaya-centric view on the subject, proclaiming Malaya or ''Tanah Melayu'' as the focal point of the Malay territories. This view reflected the substantialisation of the colonial territorial boundary and provided new objectification of space seems to have played an important role in conceiving a potential national territory. It is probable that these three territorial identities, namely, Malay states, Malaya and the Malay world had much to do with the strands of
Malay nationalism
Malay nationalism ( Malay: ''Semangat Kebangsaan Melayu'' Jawi: سمڠت كبڠساءن ملايو ) refers to the nationalism that focused overwhelmingly on the Malay anticolonial struggle, motivated by the nationalist ideal of creating a ''B ...
.
On the one hand, in the late 1930s, Malay aristocrats and their supporters began to organize Malay state associations. For them, Malay states were the focus of territorial identity. In postwar Malaya, these state-based Malay associations were dissolved into a Malaya-based Malay political party, that is, the
United Malays National Organisation
The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...
. Their territorial identity was gradually shifted from Malay states to Malaya or ''
Tanah Melayu''. On the other hand, in the late 1930s, some Malay non-aristocrat intellectuals formed a pan-Malay-oriented association, that is,
Kesatuan Melayu Muda
Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) ( Jawi: كساتوان ملايو مودا ; "Young Malays Union" in Malay) was the first leftist and national political establishment in British Malaya. Founded by Ibrahim Yaacob and Ishak Haji Muhammad, KMM grew ...
or Young Malay Union. As shown by its President,
Ibrahim Hj Yaacob
Ibrahim bin Yaacob (1911 – 8 March 1979) was a Malayan politician. An opponent of the British colonial government, he was president and founder of the ''Kesatuan Melayu Muda'' (KMM). During World War II, he supported the Japanese during their ...
, the territorial stretch of their imagined homeland covered the Malay world or the
Malay Archipelago as a whole.
Modern conception
Although the extended notions of Malay world still gained widespread currency, such conceptualisation is sometimes described in other terms, perceived as more 'neutral', like
Nusantara,
Indonesian archipelago
The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago ( id, Kepulauan Indonesia) or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands comprising the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands.
History ...
, and
Maritime Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...
. New approaches have also been taken by modern authors to redefine the 'Malay world', by taking into account the historic political pattern of the region, in addition to the existing racial-linguistic spread model.
In this context, modern authors in Malay studies like
Anthony Milner
Anthony Francis Dominic Milner (13 May 1925 – 22 September 2002) was a British composer, teacher and conductor.
Milner was born in Bristol, and educated at Douai School, Berkshire. He was awarded a bursary to attend the Royal College of Music ...
, Geoffrey Benjamin, and Vivienne Wee provide a narrower definition, reducing the concept into a political and
cultural area. Benjamin for example, describes the concept in an historically responsive manner to refer to the areas currently or formerly falling under ''Kerajaan Melayu'' ('Malay kingdoms'), the rule of a Malay king. It does not refer to
Insular Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sou ...
at large, and certainly not the
Austronesian-speaking world as a whole, both of which are usages of Malay world that have crept into scholarly discourse. In this sense, the Malay world refers to various kingdoms and their attendant hinterlands that have existed or still exist along the coasts of
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...
, the east coast of
Sumatra and on the
Malay peninsula.
This limited conceptualisation of Malay world was also espoused by Wee. She added further, that the concept is a spatial configuration that resulted from the serial patterning of political alliances, unified by ''
Sejarah Melayu
The ''Malay Annals'' ( Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: سجاره ملايو), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and demise of the g ...
'', that is a particular genealogical tree of kingship. The other, non-Malay areas would be those where the rulers did not claim to belong to this particular genealogical tree. For example,
Aceh is located on the northern tip of the Sumatran mainland, yet the rulers evidently did not claim to belong to the Malay genealogical tree. And indeed Aceh is generally not regarded as part of ''Alam Melayu''. On the contrary, both the indigenous and foreign texts indicate that Aceh, similar to
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
, was an historical enemy of ''Alam Melayu''. Hence to locate oneself within ''Alam Melayu'' is to claim membership in a specific network of political alliances.
See also
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Malayness
Malayness ( ms, Kemelayuan, Jawi: ) is the state of being Malay or of embodying Malay characteristics. This may include that which binds and distinguishes the Malay people and forms the basis of their unity and identity. People who call themse ...
**
**
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Malayisation
Malayisation (Commonwealth spelling) or Malayization (North American and Oxford spelling) is a process of assimilation and acculturation, that involves acquisition ( ms, Masuk Melayu, literally "embracing Malayness") or imposition ( ms, Pemelayu ...
**
Malay Archipelago
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Indonesian Archipelago
The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago ( id, Kepulauan Indonesia) or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands comprising the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands.
History ...
*
East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...
**
Dutch East Indies
**
Spanish East Indies
The Spanish East Indies ( es , Indias orientales españolas ; fil, Silangang Indiyas ng Espanya) were the overseas territories of the Spanish Empire in Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1898, governed for the Spanish Crown from Mexico City and Madri ...
**
East Indies Company
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Malay race
The concept of a Malay race was originally proposed by the German physician Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840), and classified as a brown race. ''Malay'' is a loose term used in the late 19th century and early 20th century to describe the ...
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Greater Indonesia
Greater Indonesia (in id, Indonesia Raya) was a political concept that sought to bring the so-called Malay race together by uniting the territories of Dutch East Indies (and Portuguese Timor) with the British Malaya and British Borneo. It was ...
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Maphilindo
Maphilindo (for Malaya, the Philippines, and Indonesia), is a proposed, nonpolitical confederation of the three Southeast Asian countries in the Malay Archipelago.
Background
The original plan for a united state based on the concept of ...
References
Bibliography
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* {{citation , title=Melayu : hierarchies of being in Riau, last=Wee, first=Vivienne, year=1985, publisher=
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...
, hdl = 1885/9923
External links
Malay Concordance Project, contains resources for Malay literatures, especially classical Malay literatures
Cultural regions
Regions of Eurasia
Malay culture
Malay people