Banda is an
Austronesian language of the
Central Maluku subgroup. Along with
Kei
Kei may refer to:
People
* Kei (given name)
* Kei, Cantonese for Ji (surname), Ji(姫)
* Kei, Cantonese for Qi (surname), Qi(奇, 祁, 亓)
* Shō Kei (1700–1752), king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
* Kei (singer) (born 1995), stage name of South Kor ...
, it is one of the two languages of the
Kei Islands
The Kai Islands (also Kei Islands) of Indonesia are a group of islands in the southeastern part of the Maluku Islands, located in the province of Maluku. The Moluccas have been known as the Spice Islands due to regionally specific plants such ...
in the
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 province of
Maluku.
Originally, the Banda language was spoken on the
Banda Islands
The Banda Islands ( id, Kepulauan Banda) are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about south of Seram Island and about east of Java, and constitute an administrative district (''kecamatan'') within the Central M ...
until the
Dutch military campaign in 1621, during which almost all indigenous inhabitants were killed, enslaved or exiled. Survivors of the campaign found refuge on the island of
Kei Besar, where the language is still in active use in the villages ''Banda Elat'' and ''Banda Eli''.
References
Central Maluku languages
Languages of the Maluku Islands
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