THE MALAY PEKlXSULA. 



I I 



Malays, together with snrue of the northern Sam-Sams, universally 

 prefers the Mohammedan religion,. Until about the year 1250 they 

 were pagans, or followed some corrupt form of Hindu idolatry. 

 But 1 he powerful Sultan Mahmud Shah, having cul-^pltMl Inlum in Ihu 

 13th century, upread thy m-w doiMrinp tlimnghuHt 1 1 i h dominions 

 during his long reign of 57 years. His rule extended over 

 the provinces of Malacca, Johor, Pataui, Kedah, and Pcrak on tho 

 mainland, the neighbouring islands of Lingga and Bentan, and 

 apparently several districts in Sumatra^ The Mussulman faith was 

 thus rapidly diffused throughout the Peninsula, and at the beginning 

 of the 16th century the Portuguese found all the Stndts Malays 

 zealous followers of the Prophet, while a large portion of south- 

 east, Malaysia was still pagan. 



Apparently to the Malay stoek must bo affiliated the primitive 

 commit ii ity of troglodytes, who occupy the ten amah islands in the 

 inland uea of Tall-sab, recently, for the tirst time, explored by .Mr. 

 Davidboii arid MM, Deloncle and Macey, The archipelago i v« ry- 

 where abounds in caves, in which tho natives ore bom, live, and die, 

 occupied exclusively in collecting and preparing for the Chines* 

 market the od thus swallows' m-HtK covering the wnlln of ihi'ir ro..-ky 

 dwellings-. In gathering the nests, from which a revenue of nearly 

 £30,000 is derived, they display extraordinary agilily acid hardihood. 

 At one time they hcom to have been brought under Hindu influences, 

 for in one of the caves there is a shrine furnished with Brahman 

 religiouB emblems, and containing two rudely-carved wooden images 

 of great antiquity, representing the king and the queen of the 

 swallows. 



The Malay Language. — The Malay language is the most 

 important of the many il infects composing the Malayan section 

 of the Mnlaycv Polynesian or oceanic family. The area over 

 which it is spoken comprises the peninsula with the adjacent 

 liio-Linggn Archipelago and other islands, the greater part of the 

 coast districts of Sumatra and Borneo, the Moluccas, the seaports of 

 Java, ami to a less extent those of Celebes, besides Tidor, Ternnte, 

 and parts of Jilolo. It had already become the general medium of 

 communication throughout Malaysia from Sumatra to the Philippine 

 Islands when the Portuguese first appeared in that region nearly 

 400 years ago t But before that time there appears to have 

 been no written standard ; nor have any monumental records 

 been found with inscriptions written in Malay before the adoption 

 (>t ike Arabic cfet ratter. 



