Malays (ethnic group)  

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Fast Facts
Malay Melayu
Total population
c. 22 million
Regions with significant populations
Majority populations  Malaysia 12.3 million (2006 estimate) [1]  Brunei 0.25 million (2006 estimate) [1] Minority populations  Indonesia 6.9 million (2000 census) [1]  Thailand 1.9 million (2006 estimate) [1]  Singapore 0.45 million (2000 census) [1]
Languages
Malay, Indonesian, Yawi, Thai
Religion
Islam (approx. 99.9%)[1]
Related ethnic groups
Malaysian Malays, Malay Singaporean, Overseas Malays.

Tun Abdul Razak, a Malay of Bugis descent.

Malays (Malay: Melayu) are an ethnic group of Austronesian peoples, predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands between these locations. This term is distinct from the concept of a Malay race which encompasses a wider group of people, including most of Indonesia and the Philippines. The term Melayu in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, however, refers to a person who professes Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom, and who has at least one ancestor from the Malay Peninsula or Singapore.^[1] Thus, the legal definition is not a biologically-based category.

2.   The Encyclopedia of Malaysia offers three possible theories of the origin of the Malay people:

1. the Yunnan theory, Mekong river migration (published 1889);
2. the New Guinea theory (published 1965); and
3. the Taiwan theory (published 1997).

The lastest theory suggests that the ancestors of the Malay people were descendants of Austronesian-speakers who migrated from the Philippines, and were originally from Taiwan. Believed to be seafarers who were well-versed in oceanography, they moved around from island to island in great distances between New Zealand and Madagascar, serving as navigation guide, crew and labour to Indian, Persian, and Chinese traders for nearly 2,000 years. Over the years, they settled at various places and adopted various cultures and religions. Notable Malay seafarers of today are Moken and Orang laut.

3.   According to the Kedah Annals, Kadaram (Kedah Kingdom 630-1136) was founded by Maharaja Derbar Raja of Gemeron, Persia around 630 AD. Together with the other Malay literature, Sejarah Melayu, it also alleged that the bloodline of Kedah royalties came from Alexander the Great. The colonial Kambujas of Hindu-Buddhism faith, the Indo-Persian royalties and traders, as well as traders from southern China and elsewhere along the ancient trade routes intermarried with the aboriginal Negrito Orang Asli, Proto Malays, and native seafarers to form a new group of people known as the Deutero Malays, now deemed also as "Malays".

4.   Malay culture reached its golden age during Srivijayan times and they practiced Buddhism, Hinduism, and their native Animism before converting to Islam in the 15th century. Speaking various Malay dialects, the Malay ethnic group is the majority in Malaysia, Brunei, and the five southernmost provinces of Thailand (which historically made up the old Malay kingdom of Patani), and a sizable minority in Singapore and Indonesia. The peninsular dialect, as spoken in the Malaysian states of Pahang, Selangor, and Johor, is the standard speech among Malays in Malaysia and Singapore. Other peninsula dialects include the Kedah-Perlis dialect (in its purest form is the most difficult to understand), the Melakan dialect, the Minangkabau dialect of Negri Sembilan, the Perak dialect, and the Trengganu dialect. In Thailand, the Malays of Satun Province speak the Kedah-Perlis dialect, while those in the Pattani Province speak the Kelantanese lingo. On the other hand, the Riau dialect of eastern Sumatra has been adopted as a national tongue, Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), for the whole Indonesian population.   more... at Wikipedia