Malays (ethnic group) in the context of Riau Malays

Malay (UK: /məˈleɪ/ mə-LAY, US: /ˈmeɪleɪ/ MAY-lay; endonym: Bahasa Melayu, Jawi script: بهاس ملايو) is an Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on mainland Asia. The language is an official language of Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore. Indonesian, a standardized variety of Malay, is the official language of Indonesia and one of the working languages of Timor-Leste. Malay is also spoken as a regional language of ethnic Malays in Indonesia, southeast Philippines and the southern part of Thailand. Altogether, it is spoken by 60 million people across Maritime Southeast Asia.

The language is pluricentric and a macrolanguage, i.e., a group of mutually intelligible speech varieties, or dialect continuum, that have no traditional name in common, and which may be considered distinct languages by their speakers. Several varieties of it are standardized as the national language (bahasa kebangsaan or bahasa nasional) of several nation states with various official names: in Malaysia, it is designated as either Bahasa Melayu ("Malay language") or in some instances, Bahasa Malaysia ("Malaysian language"); in Singapore and Brunei, it is called Bahasa Melayu ("Malay language") where it in the latter country refers to a formal standard variety set apart from its own vernacular dialect; in Indonesia, an autonomous normative variety called Bahasa Indonesia ("Indonesian language") is designated the bahasa persatuan/pemersatu ("unifying language" or lingua franca) whereas the term "Malay" (bahasa Melayu) refers to vernacular varieties of Malay indigenous to areas of Central to Southern Sumatra and West Kalimantan as the ethnic languages of Malay in Indonesia.

The Malay world or Malay realm (Indonesian/Malay: Dunia Melayu or Alam Melayu) or Malaysphere is a political concept or an expression that has been used by different authors and groups over time to denote several different notions, derived from varied interpretations of 'Malay' either as an ethnic group, as a racial category, as a linguistic group or as a cultural group. The use of the term Malay in much of the conceptualisation is largely based on the prevalent Malay cultural influence, manifested in particular through the spread of the Malay language in Southeast Asia as observed by different colonial powers during the Age of Discovery and spread of Islam. The term remains highly controversial in Indonesia and outside the Malay-speaking areas, because it is considered politically charged and irredentist rather than purely cultural.

The concept in its broadest territorial stretch may apply to a region synonymous with Austronesia, homeland to the Austronesian peoples, that extends from Easter Island in the east to Madagascar in the west. Such description has its origin in the introduction of the term Malay race in the late 18th century that has been popularised by orientalists to describe the Austronesian peoples. In the development of further research, the Malay race was categorized as a Malayo-Polynesian languages. In a narrower sense, the Malay world has been used as a synonym for Malay sprachraum, referring to the Malay-speaking countries and territories of Southeast Asia, where different standards of Malay are the national languages or a variety of it is an important minority language. The term in this sense encompasses Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Thailand, and is sometimes used interchangeably with the concepts of 'Malay Archipelago' and 'Nusantara'.

Srivijaya (Indonesian: Sriwijaya), also spelled Sri Vijaya or Sriwijaya, was a Malay thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia) that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th to 11th century AD. Srivijaya was the first polity to dominate much of western Maritime Southeast Asia. Due to its location, Srivijaya developed complex technology using maritime resources. In addition, its economy became progressively reliant on the booming trade in the region, thus transforming it into a prestige goods-based economy.

The earliest reference to it dates from the 7th century. A Tang dynasty Chinese monk, Yijing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for six months. The earliest known inscription in which the name Srivijaya appears also dates from the 7th century in the Kedukan Bukit inscription found near Palembang, Sumatra, dated 16 June 682. Between the late 7th and early 11th century, Srivijaya rose to become a hegemon in Southeast Asia. It was involved in close interactions, often rivalries, with the neighbouring Mataram Kingdom, Khmer Empire and Champa. Srivijaya's main foreign interest was nurturing lucrative trade agreements with China which lasted from the Tang to the Song dynasty. Srivijaya had religious, cultural and trade links with the Buddhist Pala of Bengal, as well as with the Islamic Caliphate in the Middle East.

The Malayan Union (Malay: Kesatuan Malaya; Jawi: كساتوان مالايا) was a union of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single government to simplify administration. Following opposition by the ethnic Malays, the union was reorganised as the Federation of Malaya in 1948.

Malay Indonesians (Malay/Indonesian: Orang Melayu Indonesia; Jawi: اورڠ ملايو ايندونيسيا‎) are ethnic Malays living throughout Indonesia. They are one of the indigenous peoples of the country. Indonesian, the national language of Indonesia, is a standardized form of Riau Malay. There were numerous kingdoms associated with the Indonesian Malays along with other ethnicities in what is now Indonesia, mainly on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. These included Srivijaya, the Melayu Kingdom, Dharmasraya, the Sultanate of Deli, the Sultanate of Siak Sri Indrapura, the Riau-Lingga Sultanate, the Sultanate of Bulungan, Pontianak Sultanate, and the Sultanate of Sambas. The 2010 census states that there are 8 million Malays in Indonesia; this number comes from the classification of Malays in East Sumatra and the coast of Kalimantan which is recognized by the Indonesian government. This classification is different from the Malaysia and Singapore census which classify Malays as a broader racial category, which aside from the core ethnic Malays also includes all Muslim ethnic groups from the Indonesian archipelago (inc. Acehnese, Banjarese, Bugis, Mandailing, Minangkabau and Javanese) as Malays.

Thai Malays (Standard Malay: Orang Melayu Thailand/Siam, Thai: ไทยเชื้อสายมลายู: Jawi: ملايو تاي; Pattani Malay: Oré Nayu Siae, Bangso Yawi; Bangkok Malay: Oghae Nayu Thai), with officially recognised terms including 'Malayu-descended Thais' and 'Malay', is a term used to refer to ethnic Malay citizens of Thailand, the sixth largest ethnic group in Thailand. Thailand is home to the third largest ethnic Malay population after Malaysia and Indonesia. Most Malays live primarily in the four southernmost provinces of Yala, Narathiwat, Satun and Pattani. They live in one of the country’s poorest regions. They also live in Songkhla, Phuket and Ranong. Trang province, home to a sizeable Muslim population, also has many people who are of Malay descent. Some live in Thailand's capital, Bangkok. They are descended from migrants or deportees who were relocated from the South from the 13th century onwards.

The Government of Brunei is the union government created by the constitution of Brunei where by the Sultan of Brunei is both head of state and head of government (Prime Minister of Brunei). Executive power is exercised by the government. Brunei has a legislative council with 36 appointed members, that only has consultative tasks. Under Brunei's 1959 constitution, Hassanal Bolkiah is the head of state with full executive authority, including emergency powers since 1962. The Sultan's role is enshrined in the national philosophy known as "Melayu Islam Beraja" (MIB), or Malay Islamic Monarchy. The country has been under hypothetical martial law since a rebellion occurred in the early 1960s and was put down by British troops from Singapore. The Seat of the Government is located in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.

Sri Lankan Malays (Sinhala: (ශ්‍රී ලංකා) මැලේ ජනතාව Shri Lanka Mæle Janathava (Standard); මැලේ මිනිස්සු / ජා මිනිස්සු Mæle Minissu / Ja Minissu (Colloquially); Tamil: இலங்கை மலாயர், romanized: Ilaṅkai Malāyar), historically known as Ceylon Malays, are Sri Lankan citizens with full or partial ancestry from the Indonesian Archipelago, Malaysia, or Singapore.

The term is a misnomer, as it is used as a historical catch-all for all native ethnic groups of the Malay Archipelago who reside in Sri Lanka; it does not apply solely to the ethnic Malays. Sri Lankan Malays are primarily of Javanese, Ambonese, Bandanese, Balinese, Madurese, Malay, Bugis, and Peranakan Chinese descent. They number approximately 40,000 and make up 0.2% of the Sri Lankan population.

Afghan Arabs (Arabic: أفغان عرب; Pashto: افغان عربان; Dari: عرب‌های افغان) were the Arab Muslims who immigrated to Afghanistan and joined the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War. The term does not refer to the Central Asian Arabs of Afghanistan who are an ethnic Arab minority group living in the north western parts of the country. Despite being referred to as Afghans, they originated from the Arab world and did not hold Afghan citizenship.

It is estimated that between 8,000 and 35,000 Arabs immigrated to Afghanistan to partake in what much of the Muslim world was calling an Islamic holy war against the Soviet Union, which had militarily intervened in Afghanistan to support the ruling People's Democratic Party against the rebelling jihadists. The Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was the first Arab journalist from a major Arabic-language media organization to cover the Soviet–Afghan War, approximated that there were 10,000 Arab volunteer fighters in Afghanistan during the conflict. Among many Muslims, the Afghan Arabs achieved near hero-status for their association with the defeat of the Soviet Union in 1989, and it was with this prestige that they were later able to exert considerable influence in mounting jihadist struggles in other countries, including their own. Their name notwithstanding, none of them were Afghans, and some who were grouped with the community were not even Arabs. A number of the foreign jihadists in Afghanistan were Turkic or Malay, among other ethnicities, or non-Arabs from Arab countries, such as Kurds.

Kubang Pasu, officially known as the Kingdom of Kubang Pasu Darul Qiyam (Malay: کرجاءن کوبڠ ڤاسو دار القيام, romanized: Kerajaan Kubang Pasu Darul Qiyam; Thai: เมืองกุปังปาสู; RTGS: Mueang Kupangpasu) was a Malay kingdom located in the northern Malay Peninsula. The state was established in 1839 as a gift to Tunku Anum of the Kedahan nobility, for his efforts in ending the conflict between Kedah and Siam in the aftermath of the Siamese invasion in 1821. The kingdom had two monarchs before it was re-integrated into Kedah in 1859.

The Royal Malay Regiment (Malay: Rejimen Askar Melayu DiRaja; Jawi: ريجيمن عسکر ملايو دراج‎) is the premier unit of the Malaysian Army's three infantry regiments. At its largest, the Malay Regiment comprised 27 battalions. At present, three battalions are parachute trained and form part of the Malaysian Army Rapid Deployment Force. Another three battalions have been converted into mechanised infantry battalions while the remaining battalions are standard light infantry. The 1st Battalion Royal Malay Regiment acts as the ceremonial foot guards battalion for the King of Malaysia, and is usually accompanied by the Central Band of the Royal Malay Regiment. As its name suggests, the regiment only recruits ethnic Malays.

Papia Kristang or Kristang is a creole language spoken by the Kristang, a community of people of mixed Portuguese and indigenous Malay ancestry, chiefly in Malaysia (Malacca), Singapore and Perth, Western Australia.

In Malacca, the language is also called Cristão, Portugues di Melaka ('Malacca Portuguese'), Linggu Mai ('mother tongue'), or simply Papia ('to speak'). In Singapore, it is generally known as Kristang, where it is undergoing sustained revitalisation.

Singaporean Chinese or Chinese Singaporeans (simplified Chinese: 新加坡华人/华裔新加坡人; traditional Chinese: 新加坡華人/華裔新加坡人; pinyin: Xīnjiāpō Huárén / Huáyì Xīnjiāpōrén) are Singaporeans of Han ancestry. As of the 2020 census, they constitute 75.9% of the resident population, making them the largest ethnic group in Singapore. In Singapore, "Chinese" is an umbrella term defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural contexts as pertaining to Greater China and bears no necessary relation to the contemporary People's Republic of China, whose citizens are classified separately when in Singapore. As a result, some Singaporeans of Han ancestry would simply just consider themselves "Singaporean", viewing themselves as distinct from the "China Chinese" in terms of culture, identity and social reality.

Evidence of Chinese people trading with and settling among local populations in Singapore dates as early as the 10th century. Prior to the establishment of Singapore as a British trading port, the island was home to a small community of around 120 Malays and 20 to 30 Chinese, mostly traders. The colonial period saw a substantial influx of male Chinese migrants, who often returned to their families in China after earning sufficient income. Over time, more ethnic Chinese arrived in Singapore such as the samsui women and other economic migrants. This led to a more balanced gender ratio and a diversified age distribution, which formed the bulk of the Singaporean Chinese population known today.

Personal names in Malaysia vary greatly according to ethno-cultural group. Personal names are, to a certain degree, regulated by the national registration department, especially since the introduction of the National Registration Identity Card (NRIC).

Malays, Orang Asli, some Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak, and Malaysian Indians adopt patronymic naming customs. On the other hand, Malaysian Chinese, some Malays and Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak use family names.

Islam in the Philippines is the second largest religion in the country, and the faith was the first-recorded monotheistic religion in the Philippines. Historically, Islam reached the Philippine archipelago in the 14th century, through contact with Muslim Malay and Arab merchants along Southeast Asian trade networks, in addition to Yemeni missionaries from the tribe of Ba 'Alawi sada of Yemen from the Persian Gulf, southern India, and their followers from several sultanates in the wider Malay Archipelago. The first Sunni Sufi missionaries then followed in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. They facilitated the formation of sultanates and conquests in mainland Mindanao and Sulu. Those who converted to Islam came to be known as the Moros, with Muslim conquest reaching as far as Tondo that was later supplanted by Bruneian Empire vassal-state of Maynila.

Muslim sultanates had already begun expanding in the central Philippines by the 16th century, when the Spanish fleet led by Ferdinand Magellan arrived. The Spanish referred to Muslim inhabitants of the Philippines as "Moros," after the Muslim "Moors" they had regarded with disdain in Iberia and the Maghreb. The subsequent Spanish conquest led to Catholic Christianity becoming the predominant religion in most of the modern-day Philippines, with Islam becoming a significant minority religion.

Malay Singaporeans (Malay: Orang Melayu Singapura) are Singaporeans of Malay ancestry, including those from the Malay Archipelago. As of the 2020 census, they constitute approximately 13.5% of the country's residents, making them the second largest ethnic group in Singapore. Under the Constitution of Singapore, they are recognised by the government as the indigenous people of the country, with Malay as the national and official language of Singapore.

At the time of the arrival of British colonial official Stamford Raffles in 1819, the estimated population of Malays on the island was approximately 1,000. Another estimate suggests that at the time of Raffles' arrival, the population comprised around 120 Malays, 30 Chinese and some local indigenous Orang Laut tribes. From the nineteenth century until World War II, the Malays generally enjoyed favourable treatment, as they were not resettled for labour and their traditional lifestyles were largely left undisturbed. However, as the British required coolies to support their colonial enterprises, immigration rates among Malays remained relatively low compared to Indians and Chinese immigrants. The latter group notably became the majority ethnic population by the mid-nineteenth century.

Eurasian Singaporeans are Singaporeans of mixed European–Asian descent. The term largely includes – but is not limited to – the creole Portuguese-Malay (largely originating from Malacca) Kristang people, who form a distinct sub-group within the Eurasian community with their own separate language, culture and identity.

The Asian ancestry of Eurasian Singaporeans largely traces to Singapore in the Straits Settlements, British Malaya, British India, Portuguese India, the Dutch East Indies and sometimes to a lesser extent French Indochina and other colonies, while their European ancestry trace back primarily to Western and Southwestern Europe; particularly the British Isles, the Netherlands, and Portugal, although Eurasian settlers to Singapore in the 19th century also came from other European colonies. When the European maritime powers colonised Asian countries from the 16th to 20th centuries, they brought into being a new group of commingled ethnicities known historically as Eurasians.