Burmese Malays ( ms, Melayu Myanmar/Melayu Burma, Jawi: ملايو ميانمار, my, ပသျှူးလူမျိုး, ''Pashu''), primarily live in Tanintharyi Region in the southern part of Myanmar. There are some dispersed Malay from the northernmost states of Malaysia and from southern Thailand. They are believed to be of

Kedahan Malay Kedahan Malays ( Malay: ''Melayu Kedah'', Jawi: ملايو ﻗﺪﺡ) or commonly known as Orang Utara ('Northerners'), is a sub-group of Malays who are native to northern Malaysia (in the states Kedah, Penang and Perlis as well northernmost p ...

descent. Some of the

Moken people The Moken (also ''Mawken or'' ''Morgan''; ; th, ชาวเล, lit=sea people, translit=chao le) are an Austronesian people of the Mergui Archipelago, a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand. Most of the 2,0 ...

in the Mergui Archipelago speak a dialect of Malay. In 1865, an Arab-Malay group led by Nayuda Ahmed, traveling and collecting sea products around Mergui Archipelago settled down in Victoria Point Bay, now located in modern-day Kawthaung, which commenced the first wave of migration from Kedah. The Burmese Malays mainly live in Bokpyin Township and a few islands in the southern part of the Mergui Archipelago. The Malay influence is clearly visible in the names of certain settlements near Kawthaung - the words ''Kampong'', ''Ulu'', ''Telok'', ''Tengah'' and ''Pulau'' (Malay words for village, remote, bay, central and island respectively) appear in a handful of settlement names. In the 1917 Ethnological Survey of Burma, there are 6,368 individuals identified as Malays.

Language, culture and religion

The Malays living in Southern Burma are related to the

and maintain strong kinship, cultural and economic links to the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia (Kedah, Penang, Perlis) and Southern Thailand (especially among the Malays in Ranong,

Krabi Krabi ( th, กระบี่, ) is the main town in the province of Krabi (''thesaban mueang'') on the west coast of southern Thailand at the mouth of the Krabi River where it empties in Phang Nga Bay. As of 2020, the town had a population of ...

and Phuket) till today. They speak Burmese and the Kedah-Perlis dialect. Due to the prevalence of Islamic religious schooling among the community, many of these Malays can also read the

Jawi script Jawi (; ace, Jawoë; Kelantan-Pattani: ''Yawi''; ) is a writing system used for writing several languages of Southeast Asia, such as Acehnese, Banjarese, Kerinci, Maguindanaon, Malay, Minangkabau, Tausūg, and Ternate. Jawi is based ...

which was the old Arabic-derived script used in the Malay Peninsula. Most Malays are adherents of the Shafi'i ''

madhab A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within '' fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence). The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. They emerged in the ninth and tenth centurie ...

'' of Sunni Islam. The Mokens, although related to the Malays, have their own Austronesian languages and a separate cultural, societal and religious identity. A sizable wave of return migration from Myanmar in 1980s has also resulted in a large settlement of Burmese Malay community that is concentrated in Bukit Malut, Langkawi, Kedah. The present-day population is estimated to be around 8,000 individuals. The 10,000 residents of Bukit Malut are essentially Malays and not ethnic Rohingya migrants, according to Langkawi Member of Parliament Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. They were actually nomadic Malays who migrated to Thailand and Myanmar before moving back and settled in Langkawi. They all speak Malay well. Nearly 80% of them are fishermen who rely on marine life for a living, supplying fish to Langkawi and as far as Kelantan. They are self-sufficient. Bukit Malut people are Malays, not Rohingya, says former PM Tun Dr Mahathir

References

{{Overseas Malays Malay diaspora Malay people Ethnic groups in Myanmar Ethnic groups in Thailand

Language, culture and religion

See also

References