[ENGLISH TRANSLATED ARTICLE] ANSWERING THE MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE MALAYS IN MALAYSIA, THEIR HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION.
Misconception no.1 : The Sultanate of Malacca is the first and only Malay Kingdom in the history of Malay civilization.
Explanation by HE: This is definitely wrong. The Sultanate of Malacca is definitely not the first Malay Kingdom in history or the start of Malay civilization. Before the founding of Malacca, there were many other Malay Kingdoms before Malacca.
For example, the Srivijaya Empire, Langkasuka, Funan, Champa, Ligor, Gangga Negara, Chih Tu, Pan Pan, and many more. The oldest Malay kingdom had existed since 500 B.C; this can be proven with hard evidence, not just answered by hypothesis and theories.
Misconception no. 2: Most of the names of the old Malay Kingdoms had some Indian elements. This means the Indians founded these kingdoms!
Explanation by HE: Names do not represent race, the writer of this article is Helmi Effendy, yet this does not show that Helmi is an Arab. I am Malay, go ahead, take a knife and cut my hand, the dripping blood you’ll see is the blood of a Malay.
Back to the second misconception, the names with Indian elements are because the Malays back then were Hindu-Buddhists. The Ancient Malays were a race with high spirituality. They will do anything to get closer to the religion they follow. For example, after the arrival of Islam, the Malay names and culture were all given a new looking when Islam adapted with the local culture. Embed in the analogy above; this also happened during the time when the Malays followed the Hindu-Buddhist religion.
Names that had Sanskrit elements were taken and were absorbed into the names of the old Malay kingdoms. However, other evidences show that these kingdoms with Sanskrit elements are actually Malay because of the artifacts and evidences found such as the “batu bersurat”, the “hikayat” and foreign accounts or journals of these kingdoms. Foreign accounts of these Malay kingdoms can be read in the Chinese, Arab and Indian chronicles.
Another thing to take note is that, Srivijaya is a Malay Empire.
The name has Sanskrit elements, but they carve their inscriptions using the “Pallava” writings from India. However, the language used is an Ancient Malay language or “Bahasa Melayu Kuno”, and not the Tamil language or anything similar to it.
The inscriptions of the “Prasasti Kedudukan Bukit” are the evidence to support this explanation. I can assure you not even one person who can speak, read or write Tamil can read the “Bahasa Malay Kuno” inscribed on the “Prasasti”!
Misconception no.3: But….but…according to legend, Rajendra Chola conquered and subdued the Peninsular and made the Malay race civilized! The evidence is the Sungai Batu and Lembah Bujang civilazation!
Explanation by HE: The ancient site of the Sungai Batu and Lembah Bujang civilization can be traced ALL THE WAY BACK TO 500 B.C. When Rajendra Chola came to the Peninsular, the Lembah Bujang civilazation was already here. How can you say that the Lembah Bujang civilazation was built and founded by Rajendra Chola when his own ancestor, Vijayalaya Chola who ruled around 848-891 A.D was not born yet? What I'm trying to say is that: the Lembah Bujang civilazation pre-dates Rajendra Chola and his ancestor, Vijaya Chola.
And the kingdom that was attacked by Rajendra Chola at that time was the Malay Srivijaya Empire. At that time, the Srivijaya power was being held by a Malay king who ruled the Lembah Bujang or the Kedah Tua civilization at that time.
Historians believe and totally agree that the Chola Kingdom only raided and plundered Kedah and did not subdue or conquer the Peninsular. They only harassed the trading ports of the Malay Srivijaya Empire. The Srivijaya Empire at that time controlled the international trade of spices between India and China.
The reason why Rajendra Chola attacked the Srivijaya and Kedah Tua kingdom was that he wanted to challenge and harass the trade routes of Srivijaya. 1012-1044 A.D was the time of Rajendra Chola’s reign, which was 1500 YEARS AFTER the existence of the Lembah Bujang and Sungai Batu civilazation.
Names that were given to Kedah such as “Kadaram” cannot be an evidence to say that Kedah was founded by the Tamil people. Other races had their own names for Kedah too.
The Arabs call Kedah as: Qilah, Kalah Bar, Kalah, Qalha, Qilai.
The Chinese call Kedah as: Cheh-Cha,Chieh-cheh,Kie Taa,Kiteh,Kieteha.
The Khmers call Kedah as: Keto.
The Siamese call Kedah as: Sai, Saiburi.
Misconception no.4: The Malay race never existed; it was made up by the British! The word ‘Malay’ was also made up and given by the British!
Explanation by HE: Actually, the Malay race has existed for a very long time. Even before the arrival of the British. The race and name ‘Malay’ has existed for a long time and can be read in the accounts or journals of the Chinese Dynasties. The Yuan and Ming Dynasties wrote Malay names and even the word ‘Malay’ in their chronicles.
Among the earliest record of the word ‘MALAY’ in History can be found in Ptolemy’s map as early as the first century A.D which wrote about the region of ‘The Golden Chersonese’(Semenanjung Emas) otherwise known as the ‘Maleu-kolon’ . While in the Chinese chronicles there are the words ‘Malay’ spoken in a different way such as Bok-la-yu, Mok-la-yu, Ma-li-yu-er, Oo-lai-yu, and Oo-lai-yu. Written in history, there are records showing that there was an ancient kingdom using the word Malay as their name in the Nusantara as early as the 7th Century A.D.
In the 14th century, Mpu Prapanca, a famous Javanese poet in Majapahit wrote in his work, Desawarnama (1365), listed and identified the regions known as Malay land. This includes, Jambi, Palembang, Minangkabau, Siak, Kampar, Rokan, Pane, Kampe, Aru, Mandaileng, Tumiang, Perlak, Samudra, Lamuri, Barusin Sumatera, Langkasuka, Kedah, Kelantan and also Pahang in the Malay Peninsular.
In history, the name “Tanah Melayu” has been used even before the British arrival. Among the evidences is the written accounts of the Portuguese explorer, Tome Pires who lived in Malacca from 1512 to 1515 had referred Malacca as “Terra de Tana Malaio”.
It was also recorded in history, Singgahsari, a kingdom in Java, wanted to destroy the remaining kingdoms that was still loyal to the Srivijaya Empire in Sumatera. The Singgahsari Kingdom launched a war campaign to Sumatera and it was known as the “Ekspedisi Pamalayu” or “The Pamalayu Campaign”.
Misconception no.5: The Malays are “Pendatangs” or foreigners who come from Yunnan, Taiwan and Indonesia.
Explanation by HE: Actually, the theory of Malays coming from Yunnan and Taiwan is obsolete and the academic world believes that the new Malay origin theory is that the Malays came from the ancient Sunda continent.
Among the academics or historians that agree with this theory is Dr. Stephen Oppenheimer, a scientist from Oxford University, it is written in his book, ‘Eden in the East: the Drowned Continent of Southeast Asia (1998)’.
You can read the theory that was brought up by him; his book has been accepted by the Academic World. This theory is based on Ethnology evidence, archaeology, linguistics, DNA analysis, folklore and geography.
Misconception no.6: Bahasa Melayu is a made up language and influenced by foreign languages. For example, 60% of Bahasa Melayu are from Tamil and Sanskrit. Bahasa Melayu has only three original words.
Explanation by HE: This is one of the most famous misconceptions. Bahasa Melayu or the Malay language is part of the Malay-Polynesia languages or the Malay-Polynesia family. So please stop claiming that “90% of the Malay language is derived from Sanskrit or Tamil” (Sanskrit is part of the Indo-Aryan family language, not Austronesian while Tamil is in the Dravidian family language) or “Bahasa Melayu has only 3-4 original words”.
If you say those in any Linguistic seminars, you will be bashed by James T.Collins, K. Alexander Adelaar, Robert Blust and by many more researches from the West who study the languages in the Malay World. So please be ashame of yourself for saying that. The borrowing of languages and words do tend to happen in the Malay civilization because of the encounters of other races with the Malays have often happened.
The Malays are a race that has founded civilizations in between the main route of the east and west. Their ports have been visited by many races. It was written that the Kingdom or Sultanate of Malacca would receive at least 2000 ships visiting her port every day from around the world. It was also stated that there were 88 languages spoken in the Port of Malacca. Usually, a race that creates a huge empire would always have encounters with other races and this is not surprising. Even the English language has borrowed over 100 Malay words.
Let me share you the original Malay words that you may often hear: air, akar, aku, alu (pasangan kepada lesung), alur, anak, api, balai, **barat, bara, baru, bau, bayang, benua, beras, beri, besi, betina, bibir, bintang, buah, bukit, bulan, bulu, bunuh, cucuk, dahi, danau,
dapur, darah, darat, daun, dekat, dendam, dengar, duri, ekor, gatal, habuk, hampar, hanyut, hantar, hantu, hari, hati, hidung, hirup, hujan, hulu, huma, ikan, induk, ini, itu, jahit, jarum, kail, kanan, kayu, kerbau, ketawa, kiri, kita, kuku, kulit, kutu, labah-labah, labuh, langit, laut, layar, leher, lelap, lesung, lintah, liput, luar, ludah, makan, malam, mati, mentah, mimpi, minum, nanah, nasi, nyiur, orang, padi, pahit, paku, palu, panah, peha, penuh, puluh, putih, ratus, rumah, tahi, tampi, tanah, tanak, tanam, tangis, telinga, telur, timur, tiup, tua, tuli, ubi, udang, urat, yu (ikan).
Misconception no.7: The Malays don’t have their own writing system.
Explanation by HE: This statement came from those who never read history or never understood history. They read from Facebook and become gulliable. This proves nothing and that you are not as equal as Professor Khoo Kay Kim or Professor Nik Suhaimi. NOT EVEN CLOSE.
The Malays do have their writing system. The Jawi did come from the Arabic writing but was changed by the Malays to adapt with the Bahasa Melayu. There were also writing systems which existed earlier than Jawi such as the “Tulisan Tanjung Tanah, Rejang and Rencong.
Misconception no.8: The Orang Asli are the REAL owners of this land.
Explanation by HE: You need to understand the definition of Orang Asli. Orang Asli in Malaysia have two categories. The first category is Aslian while the second category is called Melayu-Proto. The Malays are divided into two which is Melayu-Proto and Deutro. They are the clumps or groups of Austronesian races that never received any kind civilization. The Melayu-Proto are more advanced (they lived at the coastlines and were more open to international socialisation)
The Melayu Proto that lived in the coastlines started trading activities which slowly changed them to become the Melayu Deutro. They then founded kingdoms and city states and admit their races as ‘Malayu’.
[Conclusion]
With some misconceptions which I heard and seen written and said by some of our non-Malay friends, I hope that these misconceptions that keep playing in your mind can be explained. At the same time, I open this post for comments for any questions related to the Malay civilization. This way, we can find a better understanding and explain these misconceptions.
Original Writer: -HE-
Translated by: -OF-
Link: https://www.facebook.com/thepatriots2020/posts/390218621172169:0
Admin welcome any scholarly comment to deny this fact and will publish it.
Misconception no.1 : The Sultanate of Malacca is the first and only Malay Kingdom in the history of Malay civilization.
Explanation by HE: This is definitely wrong. The Sultanate of Malacca is definitely not the first Malay Kingdom in history or the start of Malay civilization. Before the founding of Malacca, there were many other Malay Kingdoms before Malacca.
For example, the Srivijaya Empire, Langkasuka, Funan, Champa, Ligor, Gangga Negara, Chih Tu, Pan Pan, and many more. The oldest Malay kingdom had existed since 500 B.C; this can be proven with hard evidence, not just answered by hypothesis and theories.
Misconception no. 2: Most of the names of the old Malay Kingdoms had some Indian elements. This means the Indians founded these kingdoms!
Explanation by HE: Names do not represent race, the writer of this article is Helmi Effendy, yet this does not show that Helmi is an Arab. I am Malay, go ahead, take a knife and cut my hand, the dripping blood you’ll see is the blood of a Malay.
Back to the second misconception, the names with Indian elements are because the Malays back then were Hindu-Buddhists. The Ancient Malays were a race with high spirituality. They will do anything to get closer to the religion they follow. For example, after the arrival of Islam, the Malay names and culture were all given a new looking when Islam adapted with the local culture. Embed in the analogy above; this also happened during the time when the Malays followed the Hindu-Buddhist religion.
Names that had Sanskrit elements were taken and were absorbed into the names of the old Malay kingdoms. However, other evidences show that these kingdoms with Sanskrit elements are actually Malay because of the artifacts and evidences found such as the “batu bersurat”, the “hikayat” and foreign accounts or journals of these kingdoms. Foreign accounts of these Malay kingdoms can be read in the Chinese, Arab and Indian chronicles.
Another thing to take note is that, Srivijaya is a Malay Empire.
The name has Sanskrit elements, but they carve their inscriptions using the “Pallava” writings from India. However, the language used is an Ancient Malay language or “Bahasa Melayu Kuno”, and not the Tamil language or anything similar to it.
The inscriptions of the “Prasasti Kedudukan Bukit” are the evidence to support this explanation. I can assure you not even one person who can speak, read or write Tamil can read the “Bahasa Malay Kuno” inscribed on the “Prasasti”!
Misconception no.3: But….but…according to legend, Rajendra Chola conquered and subdued the Peninsular and made the Malay race civilized! The evidence is the Sungai Batu and Lembah Bujang civilazation!
Explanation by HE: The ancient site of the Sungai Batu and Lembah Bujang civilization can be traced ALL THE WAY BACK TO 500 B.C. When Rajendra Chola came to the Peninsular, the Lembah Bujang civilazation was already here. How can you say that the Lembah Bujang civilazation was built and founded by Rajendra Chola when his own ancestor, Vijayalaya Chola who ruled around 848-891 A.D was not born yet? What I'm trying to say is that: the Lembah Bujang civilazation pre-dates Rajendra Chola and his ancestor, Vijaya Chola.
And the kingdom that was attacked by Rajendra Chola at that time was the Malay Srivijaya Empire. At that time, the Srivijaya power was being held by a Malay king who ruled the Lembah Bujang or the Kedah Tua civilization at that time.
Historians believe and totally agree that the Chola Kingdom only raided and plundered Kedah and did not subdue or conquer the Peninsular. They only harassed the trading ports of the Malay Srivijaya Empire. The Srivijaya Empire at that time controlled the international trade of spices between India and China.
The reason why Rajendra Chola attacked the Srivijaya and Kedah Tua kingdom was that he wanted to challenge and harass the trade routes of Srivijaya. 1012-1044 A.D was the time of Rajendra Chola’s reign, which was 1500 YEARS AFTER the existence of the Lembah Bujang and Sungai Batu civilazation.
Names that were given to Kedah such as “Kadaram” cannot be an evidence to say that Kedah was founded by the Tamil people. Other races had their own names for Kedah too.
The Arabs call Kedah as: Qilah, Kalah Bar, Kalah, Qalha, Qilai.
The Chinese call Kedah as: Cheh-Cha,Chieh-cheh,Kie Taa,Kiteh,Kieteha.
The Khmers call Kedah as: Keto.
The Siamese call Kedah as: Sai, Saiburi.
Misconception no.4: The Malay race never existed; it was made up by the British! The word ‘Malay’ was also made up and given by the British!
Explanation by HE: Actually, the Malay race has existed for a very long time. Even before the arrival of the British. The race and name ‘Malay’ has existed for a long time and can be read in the accounts or journals of the Chinese Dynasties. The Yuan and Ming Dynasties wrote Malay names and even the word ‘Malay’ in their chronicles.
Among the earliest record of the word ‘MALAY’ in History can be found in Ptolemy’s map as early as the first century A.D which wrote about the region of ‘The Golden Chersonese’(Semenanjung Emas) otherwise known as the ‘Maleu-kolon’ . While in the Chinese chronicles there are the words ‘Malay’ spoken in a different way such as Bok-la-yu, Mok-la-yu, Ma-li-yu-er, Oo-lai-yu, and Oo-lai-yu. Written in history, there are records showing that there was an ancient kingdom using the word Malay as their name in the Nusantara as early as the 7th Century A.D.
In the 14th century, Mpu Prapanca, a famous Javanese poet in Majapahit wrote in his work, Desawarnama (1365), listed and identified the regions known as Malay land. This includes, Jambi, Palembang, Minangkabau, Siak, Kampar, Rokan, Pane, Kampe, Aru, Mandaileng, Tumiang, Perlak, Samudra, Lamuri, Barusin Sumatera, Langkasuka, Kedah, Kelantan and also Pahang in the Malay Peninsular.
In history, the name “Tanah Melayu” has been used even before the British arrival. Among the evidences is the written accounts of the Portuguese explorer, Tome Pires who lived in Malacca from 1512 to 1515 had referred Malacca as “Terra de Tana Malaio”.
It was also recorded in history, Singgahsari, a kingdom in Java, wanted to destroy the remaining kingdoms that was still loyal to the Srivijaya Empire in Sumatera. The Singgahsari Kingdom launched a war campaign to Sumatera and it was known as the “Ekspedisi Pamalayu” or “The Pamalayu Campaign”.
Misconception no.5: The Malays are “Pendatangs” or foreigners who come from Yunnan, Taiwan and Indonesia.
Explanation by HE: Actually, the theory of Malays coming from Yunnan and Taiwan is obsolete and the academic world believes that the new Malay origin theory is that the Malays came from the ancient Sunda continent.
Among the academics or historians that agree with this theory is Dr. Stephen Oppenheimer, a scientist from Oxford University, it is written in his book, ‘Eden in the East: the Drowned Continent of Southeast Asia (1998)’.
You can read the theory that was brought up by him; his book has been accepted by the Academic World. This theory is based on Ethnology evidence, archaeology, linguistics, DNA analysis, folklore and geography.
Misconception no.6: Bahasa Melayu is a made up language and influenced by foreign languages. For example, 60% of Bahasa Melayu are from Tamil and Sanskrit. Bahasa Melayu has only three original words.
Explanation by HE: This is one of the most famous misconceptions. Bahasa Melayu or the Malay language is part of the Malay-Polynesia languages or the Malay-Polynesia family. So please stop claiming that “90% of the Malay language is derived from Sanskrit or Tamil” (Sanskrit is part of the Indo-Aryan family language, not Austronesian while Tamil is in the Dravidian family language) or “Bahasa Melayu has only 3-4 original words”.
If you say those in any Linguistic seminars, you will be bashed by James T.Collins, K. Alexander Adelaar, Robert Blust and by many more researches from the West who study the languages in the Malay World. So please be ashame of yourself for saying that. The borrowing of languages and words do tend to happen in the Malay civilization because of the encounters of other races with the Malays have often happened.
The Malays are a race that has founded civilizations in between the main route of the east and west. Their ports have been visited by many races. It was written that the Kingdom or Sultanate of Malacca would receive at least 2000 ships visiting her port every day from around the world. It was also stated that there were 88 languages spoken in the Port of Malacca. Usually, a race that creates a huge empire would always have encounters with other races and this is not surprising. Even the English language has borrowed over 100 Malay words.
Let me share you the original Malay words that you may often hear: air, akar, aku, alu (pasangan kepada lesung), alur, anak, api, balai, **barat, bara, baru, bau, bayang, benua, beras, beri, besi, betina, bibir, bintang, buah, bukit, bulan, bulu, bunuh, cucuk, dahi, danau,
dapur, darah, darat, daun, dekat, dendam, dengar, duri, ekor, gatal, habuk, hampar, hanyut, hantar, hantu, hari, hati, hidung, hirup, hujan, hulu, huma, ikan, induk, ini, itu, jahit, jarum, kail, kanan, kayu, kerbau, ketawa, kiri, kita, kuku, kulit, kutu, labah-labah, labuh, langit, laut, layar, leher, lelap, lesung, lintah, liput, luar, ludah, makan, malam, mati, mentah, mimpi, minum, nanah, nasi, nyiur, orang, padi, pahit, paku, palu, panah, peha, penuh, puluh, putih, ratus, rumah, tahi, tampi, tanah, tanak, tanam, tangis, telinga, telur, timur, tiup, tua, tuli, ubi, udang, urat, yu (ikan).
Misconception no.7: The Malays don’t have their own writing system.
Explanation by HE: This statement came from those who never read history or never understood history. They read from Facebook and become gulliable. This proves nothing and that you are not as equal as Professor Khoo Kay Kim or Professor Nik Suhaimi. NOT EVEN CLOSE.
The Malays do have their writing system. The Jawi did come from the Arabic writing but was changed by the Malays to adapt with the Bahasa Melayu. There were also writing systems which existed earlier than Jawi such as the “Tulisan Tanjung Tanah, Rejang and Rencong.
Misconception no.8: The Orang Asli are the REAL owners of this land.
Explanation by HE: You need to understand the definition of Orang Asli. Orang Asli in Malaysia have two categories. The first category is Aslian while the second category is called Melayu-Proto. The Malays are divided into two which is Melayu-Proto and Deutro. They are the clumps or groups of Austronesian races that never received any kind civilization. The Melayu-Proto are more advanced (they lived at the coastlines and were more open to international socialisation)
The Melayu Proto that lived in the coastlines started trading activities which slowly changed them to become the Melayu Deutro. They then founded kingdoms and city states and admit their races as ‘Malayu’.
[Conclusion]
With some misconceptions which I heard and seen written and said by some of our non-Malay friends, I hope that these misconceptions that keep playing in your mind can be explained. At the same time, I open this post for comments for any questions related to the Malay civilization. This way, we can find a better understanding and explain these misconceptions.
Original Writer: -HE-
Translated by: -OF-
Link: https://www.facebook.com/thepatriots2020/posts/390218621172169:0
Admin welcome any scholarly comment to deny this fact and will publish it.
