MALAY WORLD - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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".