Ethnic origin of Malay part 2

Introduction

Part two of this article focused on the Malayic people whereas part one focused on the Malay people.

This article will explain the difference between the terms Malayic and Malay because there seems to be a lot of confusion as to which groups constitute Malay and which groups constitute Malayic.

This article will also list the Malayic people's closest ethnic relatives as we explore their earliest migration path.

Original homeland

The original homeland of the proto-Malayic-Chamic people is in southwestern Borneo where they lived more than 2000 years ago before migrating to Sumatra and Champa.

There were at least three migration paths of the proto-Malayic-Chamic people which are to Champa, Riau islands/Johor and south-eastern Sumatra.

Malay is just one sub-branch of the Malayic people which formed in south-eastern Sumatra whereas Malayic formed in south-western Borneo. Much earlier, the proto-Malayic people migrated from Palawan island of the Philippines in ancient times.

Malayic people

The branches of the Malayic people are listed below.

Malay people in Sumatra and Malay Peninsular
Riau Sea-People (Orang Laut): Riau islands of Indonesia, Orang Seletar & Orang Kanaq of Malaysia, Orang Kallang of Singapore
Malayic Dayak: Kendayan (West Kalimantan), Salako (Sarawak), Ibanic/Sea Dayak (Iban, Mualang, Seberuang, Keninjal)

The Riau Sea-People were mistaken as ethnic Malays but they actually do not have the same culture, religion and history as the more civilized Palembang Malays who first adopted Buddhism and then Islam. More details on the Riau Sea-People can be found in another section of this article.

The Ibanic people are mostly Christians; they are the ethnic majority in Sarawak of Malaysia.

The Kendayan-Salako should not be confused with the Land Dayak such as Bidayuh, which also stay in West Kalimantan and Sarawak, but is from a different Austronesian branch. Many linguistic elements found in proto-Malayic are still found in the Kendayan-Salako languages but lost in other Malayic languages.

The 'Urak Lawoi' people living on the islands in southwestern Thailand is a corruption of the word 'Orang Laut', the Thai people call them 'Chao Lay' which also means 'sea people'. Their ancestors came from Aceh of northern Sumatra led by Tok Kiri in the early 1900s. Their earliest history is still a mystery but some linguists put Urak Lawoi under Malayic branch.

The Chamic people in Vietnam, Cambodia and Aceh are not Malayic people because they migrated to Champa before 192 AD which was before the proto-Malayic formed in south-western Borneo.

The Bugis people in Selangor state of Malaysia are not considered Malayic people as they constitute a different branch of the Austronesian family having originated from Sulawesi of Indonesia.

Closest ethnic relatives

From the Palawan island in the Philippines, the ancestors of the Borneo Austronesians travelled along the western coast of Borneo and formed five earliest branches of Borneo Austronesian.

Austronesians are the earliest natives of Borneo as there are no other recorded ethnic groups living there before their arrival.

Earliest branches of western coast of Borneo

There is another major Austronesian branch which travelled from somewhere in the Philippines (not Palawan island) to the eastern coast of Borneo called the Barito people. The Malayic people belong to the western coastal branch of Borneo and not the eastern coastal branch.

The closest ethnic relatives to the Malayic-Chamic people are the Land Dayak people judging from the location of their earliest recorded homeland before they separated into different branches.

The Chamic people are the closest ethnic relatives to the Malayic people. The Chamic people are considered first cousins to the Malayic people whereas Land Dayak are considered second cousins to the Malayic people. The Iban (Sea Dayak) are considered brother tribe to the Malays as they are descended from the same parent which is Malayic.

Cham people

The Land-Dayak includes the Bidayuh people who live in Sarawak (Malaysia) and West Kalimantan (Indonesia) which is adjacent to the homeland of the Malayic-Chamic people.

Bidayuh people

The Land Dayak and Malayic Dayak people still maintain their traditional culture unlike the Malays who adopted Arabic culture. The video below shows the culture of the Land Dayak.

Migration of the Orang Laut to Malay Peninsular

The earliest wave of Austronesian migration to Malay Peninsular is a very small wave consisting of mostly sea-farers called 'sea people' or 'orang laut'. They live on the Riau islands in Indonesia and also coastal area of southernmost Johor.

Orang Laut in Malaysia

These earliest Austronesian people to Malay Peninsular are the Orang Kuala and Orang Seletar (refer to map below) which the Malaysian government called them 'Orang Asli' which means natives.

The Orang Kuala might actually have come later from Sumatra instead of the Riau islands because their language is quite different from the Orang Seletar. Orang Kuala speaks the Duano language which is almost extinct.

Orang Kanaq are Riau sea people who came from Riau islands (not from Riau province of Sumatra) to Johor during the 1800s AD.

Austronesian natives in Johor

Please note that Jakun were originally Austro-Asiatic people who then intermarried with the Austronesian 'sea people'. The Malaysian government categorized the natives into 7 subgroups each (Negrito, Austroasiatic, Austronesian) for politically simplicity purpose but it does not accurately reflect the true origin of the natives. The Malaysian government wanted to paint a scenario that the Austronesians were equally native to the Austro-Asiatic people and not lesser in numbers which is only 2 early subgroups (Orang Kuala and Seletar).

The Austro-Asiatic people are the true natives in most parts of Malay Peninsular and came earlier than the Austronesians.

The earliest wave of Austronesian people to Malay Peninsular isn't really ethnic Malay but they are considered the Riau 'sea people' which is a branch of the Malayic people.

Conclusion

Strictly speaking, the Malay is an ethnic group that first formed in Palembang-Jambi region of Sumatra during the Sri Vijaya empire narrated in part one of this article.

Malayic people is the most prominent branch of the Austronesian people and Malay people is just a part of the Malayic people. The analogy is the same as German and Anglo-Saxon people are both different parts of the Germanic people. The term German is not the same as the term Germanic.

There will be a video of the origin of Malayic people in the Eastasia Origin Youtube channel sometimes in the near future.

Sources

The languages of Borneo: A comprehensive classification. 2016. By Alexander Smith.
The search for the 'Origins' of Melayu. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 2001. By Prof Leonard Andaya of University of Hawaii.
The Malayic speaking Orang Laut. By Karl Anderbeck. Wacana Vol.14 No.2 (2012)
Sekak tribe. https://babel.antaranews.com/berita/233/professor-iwabuchi-initiates-sekak-tribe-organization
The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives. Peter Bellwood & James J. Fox.
Borneo Research Bulettin. Vol. 37
Jurnal Illmiah Peuradeun. Sept 2017.

East Asian origin, history, language, culture

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