The Malay Archipelago

The Malay Archipelago refers to the thousands of islands which make up five countries today: Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines and Singapore.

The term “Melayu” is even older and dates back to the ancient kingdom of Srivijaya (6th–10th century). The Malays settled in the pasisir (riverine/coastal) regions of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. While the initial Indianisation of the region left Hindu and Buddhist imprints, these were replaced by Islamic influences as early as the 11th or 12th century.

This gave rise to Muslim sultanates with a fairly uniform language, religion and cultural practices.

This stone inscription, one of the earliest in the Malay Archipelago, was commissioned by King Mulavarman of the Kutai kingdom (in modern-day Kalimantan), the oldest Hindu kingdom in Indonesia. Besides describing an incident when King Mulavarman gave 20,000 cattle to the people of Brahmana, the inscription also carries the story and ancestral lineage of King Mulavarman.

The Vo Canh stele is purported to be the oldest material evidence of Buddhism found in Southeast Asia. Found near the village of Vo Canh (near modern-day Nha Trang) in Vietnam, it records the donation of property made by King Sri Mara to his family.

The scripts used in the Malay Archipelago during the pre-Islamic era were Pallava (in Sanskrit), Kawi and Nagari. Pallava originated from the Brahmi script of the Asoka Empire (272–231 BC) in India. During the Gupta Dynasty (320–540 AD), the strong Buddhist influence spread their scripts to this region. By the 8th century, Kawi had developed from Pallava, while Nagari appeared as a variant of the Gupta script.

Hindu religious doctrines were popularised through the oral medium, through epics like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Professional reciters would alter the stories to suit the local context. This contributed to the evolution of an oral literary genre, cerita lipur lara – folk romances to soothe the soul and uplift the spirit.

As writing and knowledge were regarded as sacred during the pre-Islamic period, it was only the ruling class, learned men, court poets and traders who were literate. Religious texts and scriptures were jealously guarded by the few who performed priestly functions. The masses were neither literate nor given the opportunity to acquire the rudiments of the written language.
The objects on display in this gallery are a small sample of the writings of the many ethnic groups in the Malay Archipelago.