indigenous civilization in the Indian Archipelago,
wholly independent of foreign instruction ; that the
principal tribes understood the culture of grain ;
the use of iron, tin, and gold ; of the larger animals
; that they had a national kalendar, and probably
understood the art of writing. If we consider
how small their progress has since been, beyond
what is implied by this statement, we shall not
think very highly of the extent and value of the
improvements which the islanders received from
the Hindus, and the catalogue of them will not be
difficult to sum up. The Hindus may have instructed
the islanders in the knowledge of copper
and silver ; perhaps taught them to tame the horse
and elephant, which are commonly known by Sanskrit
names ; instructed them in the use of cotton
and of the fabric manufactured from it ; in that of
pepper, and the manufacture of a drug from the indigo
plant, and in the culture of some Indian fruits.
Finally, the Hindus taught the East-Insular tribes
a new kalendar, which became supplemental to their
own without superseding it j they modified their
writing, gave them a new literature and a new religion,
fortunately unaccompanied by the unsocial
and revolting genius of genuine Hinduism.
The introduction of a portion of Arabic has, as
in other situations, been, among the tribes of the
-Indian islands, the consequence of the adoption of
the Mahomedan religion. Into the distant regions
of the Archipelago the Alkoran was not introduced
by the sword, and in the days of Arabian conquest
and enthusiasm, but at a comparatively late period,
and by a few straggling merchants. In the proudest
days of Arabian empire, the maritime unskilfulness
of the Arabs must have been unequal to so
distant an enterprise as the conquest and conversion
of the Indian islands.
The exact period of the earliest conversion is
not very well defined, but may be generally stated
at about five hundred years back. The Malays
were the first converts, and were followed by the
Javanese at a long interval of a century and a half,
and by the nations of Celebes at one of two centuries.
Of all the tribes of the Indian islands, the
Malays are the most thorough converts to Maho-
medanism, and they enjoy, among their less zealous
neighbours, the reputation of being good Maho-
medans. They are the only considerable nation
of the Archipelago * who have followed the example
of the great Mahomedan nations of western
Asia, in adopting the Arabic character. This circumstance
gives a facility to the introduction of
Arabic m the written language, and, added to their
superior zeal and longer conversion, is the cause
why much more Arabic is found in the Malay, than
* The Bantamese and Achinese, and people of Mindanao,
do so also, but they are inconsiderable tribes.