The concept of Malay world or Malay
realm (Malay: Dunia
Melayu or Alam Melayu, Jawi: دونيا ملايو or عالم ملايو) has multiple
meanings depending on its context.
Linguistically, it may refers to the Malay-speaking countries and territories of Southeast Asia - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore,
and Southern Thailand.
In a geo-political context, the term has been coined by many and
used interchangeably with the Javanese concept
of Nusantara and the colonial term of Malay Archipelago. It has been even more broadly defined
as a region, homeland of the Austronesian
people that extends
"from the Easter Islands in the east to Madagascar in
the west". However, these
wider definitions of the Malay world remained controversial and criticized for
their primary derivation from the anachronistic concept of a Malay race.
In a cultural sense, the Malay world is more appropriately refers
to the homeland of ethnic Malays that was historically ruled by various
Malay sultanates in Maritime
Southeast Asia. This area includes the Malay peninsula, the coastal areas of Sumatra and Borneo,
and the smaller islands lie in between these areas.
Origin
According to the
16th century's account of Portuguese historian, Emanuel Godinho de Erédia, the
early phase of the Malay world began with the consolidation of Laut Melayu("Malay
sea") under Melakan dominance
in 15th century. The area
referred by Erédia as "Malayos sea" covers the Andaman Sea in
the north, the entire Malacca Strait in the centre, a part of Sunda Strait in
the south, and the western part of South China Sea in the east. The region was generally
described as a Muslim centre of international trade with Malay language as its lingua franca.
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...starting point by the Island
of Pulo Catay in the region of Pattane (Pattani),
situated in the east coast in 8 degrees of latitude, the pass round to the
other or western coast of Ujontana (Malay peninsula), to Taranda and Ujon Calan
situated in the same latitude in district of Queda (Kedah):
this stretch of territory lies within the region of "Malayos" and
the same language prevail throughout.
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Erédia's description indicates that Laut Melayu was a geo-religio-sociocultural
concept, a concept of geographical unity characterized by the common religious
belief and cultural features. This
was strongly attested when the notion of Malayness and the common Malay identity
based on Islam began
taking shape during the Melakan era. The
subsequent expansion of Melakan commercial and religious influence beyond this
cultural border had resulted in the early stage of Malayisation process,
heavily marked by the spread of Classical Malay language, Islam and Malay customs. This assimilation process continued
and intensified even after the demise of Melaka in the early 16th century. The
post Melakan era saw the rise of numerous Melakan-modelled Malay sultanates in
a larger geographical sphere of the region, ranging from the small sultanates
like Asahan, Deli, Langkat and Serdang,
to the powerful imperial sultanates like Brunei, Johor and Pattani. The emergence of these sultanates
resulted in a broader Malay cultural and commercial influence and the eventual
expansion of the Malay world.
The strong Malay cultural and linguistic diffusion in the region
as observed by the European scholars during colonial era, would later became
the basis for the construction of several anthropological, geographical and
linguistic terms. Among the
examples are the concept of Malay race, the name Malay Archipelago for the region, and several linguistic
terminologies such as Malayo-Polynesian
languages and Malayic languages. These xenisms have been
very influential in shaping various modern views on the extent of the
"Malay world".
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