Marsden ingeniously observes, that probably furnished
the first adventurers to the peninsula, and
who bestowed their name on the rising colony, the
prosperity and greatness of which were destined to
eclipse the fame of the parent state. This, I have
no doubt whatever, is the true etymology of the
word Malayu.
It appears that the new colony was at first distinguished
by the appellation of the Leeward people,
while the parent state were denominated the
Windward people. This meteorological distinction
appears to me to have reference to the westerly
or boisterous monsoon ; Bar at, in the Javanese
language, is the general term for wind. In Malay
it is the west wind, or, as would be said in our
more expressive language, the wind. The use of
this correlative language to describe the parent
state' and the colony, was afterwards dropped, and
used more comprehensively, the Windward countries
being all those to the west of the country of
the Malays, but particularly India and Arabia,
those with which the Malays had most intercourse.
It was from the colony, and not the parent stock,
that the Malayan name and nation were so widely
disseminated over the Archipelago. Singapura,
Malacca, and Jehor, colonized the islands Lingga
and Bintan, Kampar and Aru on Sumatra, Borneo
011 the great island of that name, and all the
states which exist on the Malay peninsula. This
4
last country was found by them almost unoccupied,*
or inhabited scantily by two miserable races, who
readily gave way to their superior power and civilization.
The peninsula is the only great country
of the Archipelago wholly occupied by this race ;
for, in a general view, the miserable tribes of savages
need not be considered, and it is therefore
no wonder that it should have assumed the general
name of the country of the Malays, and that strangers
should have naturally looked upon it as the
primitive seat of the Malayan name and nation, t
* There is one circumstance mentioned by the Portuguese
writers, which would seem to throw considerable doubt on this
circumstance. Albuquerque wanted stones to build the fortification,
and found near Malacca abundant materials in the
tombs oj ancient kings. But eight Malay kings only had reigned
at Malacca, whose tombs, even had it been the practice,
which it was .not, to erect splendid tombs to the Malayan
• kings, either Mahomedan or Hindu, would not have supplied
materials for an extensive fortification. The supposed tombs
wqre probably Hindu temples ; and if they were Hindu temples,
there must have been a Hindu population.
+ The authorities quoted by Valentyn for the history of the
Malays, are three works, one called Makuta segala Raj a.raj a,
“ the crown of all kings another, Panurunan segala Raja-
raja, “ the descent of all kings and' a third, called Hang
Tuah. He calls these books “three jewels.” Of the last he says,,
“ I know not who is the author of the book Hang Tuah, but
must declare that it is one of the most beautifully written
works I ever perused.” This favourite of Valentyn is the only
one of the three which I have perused, and I have seen several