Introduction
This article identifies the earliest Austro-Asiatic natives of Peninsular Malaysia which is the ethnic Senoi. The word Senoi is derived from the language of Temiar-Semai tribes meaning 'people'.The ethnic Malays, who are the majority ethnic group in Malaysia, call these people 'orang asli' which is a Malay word meaning the aborigines of Peninsular Malaysia. This article does not talk about the other two groups of 'orang asli' like the Northern Aslian who are genetically Negrito people and the 'sea people' who are Austronesian people.
Homeland
The homeland of the Senoi is in Peninsular Malaysia aka West Malaysia. The Senoic people live mainly in the Titiwangsa Mountains of states of Perak, Pahang, Selangor, Kelantan and Terengganu nowadays. |
The southernmost Senoic tribe is the Mah Meri which means 'forest people'. Mah Meri tribe is unique because they are the only Senoic tribe that lives on an island whereas the rest live in the mountains. The Mah Meri people is mostly found on Carey's Island in state of Selangor nowadays.
The Mah Meri originally came from Kota Tinggi in southeastern Johor state and there were traces of their settlements in Johor, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan as late as the mid 19th century. The feud between the two migrant groups i.e. ethnic Malays and ethnic Bugis drove them to their current location.
Migration to Peninsular Malaysia
Where did the Senoic people come from before reaching Peninsular Malaysia?The Senoic people reached Peninsular Malaysia during the second wave of migration estimated about 4500 BC-6000 BC from Chao Phraya River basin in central Thailand (Baer, 1999) (Matisoff).
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| Migration path in red |
When the Senoic people first migrated to the Peninsular, they met the Semang people who are racially Negritos and not from East Asian aka Mongoloid race.
The Negritos in Malaysia adopted a pidginised Senoi language long ago due to their small numbers when compared to the dominance of Senoic people. Similarly, the Negritos in Philippines adopted the language of the first East Asian group i.e. Austronesian Filipino who they interacted with.
Subgroups
The different Senoic tribes can be classified into two or three branches of Austro-Asiatic based on the different but related languages that they speak; linguists named these languages 'Aslian'. Each branch has many subgroups as follows:
- Northern Aslian: Che Wong.
- Central Aslian/Senoi: Temiar, Semai, Jahut
- Southern Aslian/Semelaic: Semelai, Semoq Beri, Mah Meri, Temoq.
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| Senoic subgroups |
Strictly speaking, Senoi refers only to the Central Aslian people.
The Temoq people of Senoi origin are usually left out of government classification due to the need to simplify each 'native' group i.e. Semang, Senoi, Proto-Malay into six sub-tribes each; however, they are truly Senoi people.
The Semelai identify themselves as proto-Malays but there is a mystery of why they speak the Southern Aslian language of the Temoq people instead. The Semelai people have acknowledged that Temoq people were the natives of Bera Lake so it's probable that the Semelai have intermarried with the Temoq people who originally lived there.
Similary, genetic studies done by Yunzhi Huang indicated that Temuan tribe was originally Senoi people who adopted the proto-Malay language; it's probable that there were also some intermarriage between the proto-Malay with the original natives which resulted in the Temuan tribe.
Contrary to popular beliefs, the Jakun in southern Malaysia were also originally Senoic people because their vocabulary were a mix of Malayic and Senoic words as provided by the British colonial writers Skeat and Blagden.
In summary, the migration of the proto-Malay who came from southernmost Peninsular to central Peninsular Malaysia resulted in the intermarriage between the proto-Malay and the Senoic people forming the three tribes of Semelai, Temuan and also Jakun. Therefore, there are actually ten Senoic tribes rather than the six officially classified by the government.
The video below is a documentary about the Mah Meri tribe and their most important festival is the Hari Moyang festival.
The Malaysian government is trying to assimilate the Senoic people into the Malay race and had forcefully changed some Senoic people to the religion of Islam even though they did not convert voluntarily.
In summary, the migration of the proto-Malay who came from southernmost Peninsular to central Peninsular Malaysia resulted in the intermarriage between the proto-Malay and the Senoic people forming the three tribes of Semelai, Temuan and also Jakun. Therefore, there are actually ten Senoic tribes rather than the six officially classified by the government.
Culture and religion
The most unique cultural aspect of the Senoi people are the interpretations of their dreams which provide a spiritual or creative force for them such as their wood carving creations. Senoi are sometimes known as the 'dream people' due to this cultural aspect. |
| Wood carvings |
The video below is a documentary about the Mah Meri tribe and their most important festival is the Hari Moyang festival.
The Malaysian government is trying to assimilate the Senoic people into the Malay race and had forcefully changed some Senoic people to the religion of Islam even though they did not convert voluntarily.
Closest ethnic relative
The closest genetic relatives of the Senoic people are the Mon people who penetrated as far as present-day southernmost Thailand. This is evidenced by the appearance of Ban Kao pottery in southern Thailand, which originated from Kanchanaburi in Thailand, dated to as early as 1900 BC.
The ethnic Mon are the natives of southern Thailand before the ethnic Malays dominated the southernmost provinces of Thailand, they have since adopted the Southern Thai language and lost their original Mon language.
Whereas the ancestors of Mon people stayed behind in southern Thailand, the ancestors of Senoic people migrated further south into Peninsular Malaysia.
The ethnic Mon are the natives of southern Thailand before the ethnic Malays dominated the southernmost provinces of Thailand, they have since adopted the Southern Thai language and lost their original Mon language.
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| Ethnic Mon monks. Ban Kao pottery (inset) |
Whereas the ancestors of Mon people stayed behind in southern Thailand, the ancestors of Senoic people migrated further south into Peninsular Malaysia.
Conclusion
The Senoic people are the first East Asian (aka Mongoloid) ethnic group to arrive in Peninsular Malaysia and are the true natives there. They were once prevalent in northern and central Peninsular Malaysia.
Strictly speaking, the proto-Malayic people are NOT the natives of Peninsular Malaysia because they first settled in the southern Peninsular Malaysia and also came much later than the Senoic people.
Strictly speaking, the proto-Malayic people are NOT the natives of Peninsular Malaysia because they first settled in the southern Peninsular Malaysia and also came much later than the Senoic people.
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| Temiar people |
The ethnic Malay is the majority ethnic group in Peninsular Malaysia today but their claim of also being natives is based on political and racial dominance reasons and not based on actual historical facts.
Related links
Ethnic origin of Mon
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2019/11/ethnic-origin-of-mon.html
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Sources
- Aslian: Mon-Khmer of the Malay Peninsular. By James A. Matisoff. University of California, Berkeley. http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/matisoff2003aslian.pdf
- Philip Taylor, The Khmer lands of Vietnam: Environment, Cosmology, and Sovereignty, Honolulu, Asian Studies Association of Australia in association with University of Hawaii Press, 2014, pp.36-37, 65, 67, 271
- Classifying the Austroasiatic languages: history and state of the art. By Paul Sidwell. The Australian National University
- Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia: population, spatial distribution and socioeconomic condition. By Tarmiji Masron, Fujimaki Masami, Norhasimah Ismail
- Why are Aslian-speakers Austronesian in culture? EFEO, SIEM REAP, 2006. By Roger Blench.
- Mah Meri tribe ‘ancestors’ day. https://www.thesundaily.my/multimedia/photogallery/mah-meri-EE125215
- Nicole Kruspe (2004). A Grammar of Semelai. Cambridge University Press.
- Correlation between genetic structure and linguistic phylogeny in East Asia. Yunzhi Huang and Hui Li.
- The Malayic speaking Orang Laut. By Karl Anderbeck. Wacana Vol.14 No.2 (2012)
Copyright © eastasiaorigin.blogspot 2017-2022. All rights reserved.
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