Andaya, L. (2002) - Orang Asli and The Melayu in The History of The Malay Peninsula. Journal of The Malaysian Branch of The Royal Asiatic Society, 75 (1 (282) ), 23-48.

ORANG ASLI AND THE MELAYU IN THE HISTORY OF THE MALAY PENINSULA
Author(s): LEONARD Y. ANDAYA

Source: Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 75, No. 1 (282)
(2002), pp. 23-48
Published by: Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41493461 .
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ORANG ASLI AND THE MELAYU IN THE HISTORY
OF THE MALAY PENINSULA1
bv
LEONARD Y. ANDAYA
present-day Malaysia,the dominantethnicity is the Melayu (Malay), followed

numerically by the Chineseand the Indians.A verysmallpercentagecomprisesa
In groupof separateethnicities that have been clusteredtogetherby a Malaysian
government statuteof 1960 underthe generalizedname of Orang Asli (the Original
People).Accordingto 1994 figures, thoselistedas OrangAsli numbered 92,203,or less
than1 percentofthetotalpopulation. Onlyfewlivein thejungles,and some40 percent
areregarded as lowlandor coastaldwellers.Although thegovernment has listednineteen
subgroupings oftheOrangAsli,theyare generally dividedintothreebroaddivisions:the
Semangor Negito,the Senoi and theOrangAsli Melayu.2The Semangare scattered
acrossthenorthern andcentralareasofthePeninsula.In 1994,therewerelessthan2,700,
withsomeverysmallgroupssuchas theMendriqof Ulu Kelantanwith150 inhabitants
and theKensiuof Kedah witharound230. The Senoi comprisethelargestof theOrang
Asli communities and are dividedintothe Semai (withsometimesa distinction made
betweenthelowlandor westernSemaiand theuplandor easternSemai) and theTemiar.
The Semai is thelargestOrangAsli groupwithsome 26,076 in 1994,followedby the
Temiarwith 15,122. Finally,thereare the Orang Asli Melayu who are the closest
culturallyto theMelayu.The largestcommunities in 1994 weretheTemuanwithsome
16,015 and the Jakun with 16,637.3
Benjaminsuggeststhattheconventionalized three-categorydivisionof theOrang
Asli shouldbe regardedas 'institutionalised societalpatterns'.He prefersto call the
divisionsas the Semang,the Senoi and the 'Malayic', in whichthe last includesthe
spectrum fromtheOrangAsli MelayutotheMelayuthemselves. The Semangmaintained
theirprincipally foragingactivities;the Senoi adoptedswiddenagriculture and a more
sedentary lifestyle,whileengaginginsometradeandtrapping; andtheMalayiccombined
a basic fanningor fishingsubsistencewiththemoreimportant collectionand tradeof
forestand marineproducts:4 In thefollowingdiscussionthethreegeneralizedcategories
' I wouldliketothankJuliEdo,Geoffrey ColinNicholas

andKirk Endicott
forbeingsowilling
Benjamin,
tosharewith metheirintimate
knowledge ofOrangAslicommunities.
Theorigin oftheterm 'Semang'ismost thenorthern
likely Asliansemaaq, meaning or'human
'people'
'Senoi'inTemiar
being'. and'Seng-oi'
inSemai bothmean 'Semai'isa term
'people'. which
theTemiar
usefortheir southern neighbours,
though theSemaithemselves refer
totheir group as
collectively
There
'Seng-oi'. hasbeena variety
ofnames totheSemai
applied intheliterature,
butthepractice
isfor
thegroup tocallthemselvesbythename oftheir orterritory.
village Juli
Edo,'Claiming ourAncestors'
Lands:AnEthnohistorical StudyofSeng-oi LandRightsinPerak, Ph.Dthesis',
Malaysia', Australian
i NationalUniversity,
1998,do.10,17-18.
BarbaraWatson Andaya andLeonardY.Andaya, AHistory 2ndedn,Honolulu
ofMalaysia, & London:
UniversityofHawaiiPress& Palgrave,1998,pp.3-4.
GeoffreyBenjamin hasmaintainedthisviewina number ofhisworks, inhis'IntheLong
particularly
Term:Three Themes inMalayan Cultural inK.Hutterer
Ecology', andT.Rambo Values
Cultural
(eds.),
andTropical EcologyinSoutheast
Asia, AnnArbor:CenterforSouthandSoutheast Asian 1985.
Studies,
23

PART1,2002
of Semang,Senoi and OrangAsli Melayuwill be maintained withthe awarenessthat

theseare neither fixednorinflexible boundariesbutmergeintoone another.Amongthe
'Orang Asli' themselves,however,theyapply names usuallyassociatedwith their
specificareaor bya local termmeaning'humanbeing'.Theywouldverylikelyechothe
sentiments oftheOrangAsliandOrangLaut(Sea People)inJohor whoregardthemselves
as 'leaves ofthesametree'.5
Today,the Semanglive in thecoastalfoothillsand inlandrivervalleysof Perak,
interiorPahang and Ulu Kelantan,and rarelyoccupy lands above 1000 metresin
elevation.In theearlytwentieth century, however,Schebestacommented thattheareas
as
regarded Semangcountry included lands from Chaiya and Ulu Patani (Singoraand
Patthalung) to Kedah andto mid-Perak and northern Pahang.6Most live on the of
fringes
thejungleand maintainlinkswithMalay fannersand Chineseshopkeepers. In thepast,
theyappear to have also frequented the coasts. Excavationsin the earlypartof the
twentiei centuiy of a settlement siteon thePerakcoastbelievedto be datedto 'Hindu
times'(mostlikely sometime in the earlyfirstmillennium AD), revealedthepresenceof
skeletons'showingdistinctNegroaffinities'.7 Semangappearto have had a long
The
associationwithfarmersand merchants, and were activeparticipants in international
trade.8Theywerethusfavourably placedto exploittheresourcesof boththejungleand
thelowlands.In additionto maintaining theirlivelihoodfromthejungle,theycollected
forestproductsto trade,or soughtwage labourwiththelowlandcommunities.9 Unlike
theirMalay and Senoi neighbours, whofocusprimarily on farming witha littlehunting
and fishing,the Semang adapt themselvesto whateverecological 'space' is leftby
surrounding communities. This factwas also notedearlyin the twentieth centuryby
Schebesta,who commented that'it is a conditionofNegrito[i.e. Semang]lifethatthey
should be able to attachthemselvesat will to theirtechnologically more dominant
neighbours whenever thereis some bounty to be gained.'10
AmongtheSenoi,theTemiaroccupytheupperreachesof theriversin theremote
interiormountains of theMain Rangeand havelimitedcontactwiththelowlands,while
theSemailive mainlyintheplainsandthefoothills ofPerak.The OrangMelayuAsli are
foundprincipally fromSelangorsouthward. Perhapsthrough longassociationwiththeir
dominant Melayuneighbors, they are seen as farmore acculturated to theMalay way of
lifethantheothers.
A more recent
formulation
isfound inhis'OnBeing TribalintheMalayWorld', inGeoffreyBenjamin
andCynthia Chou(eds.),TribalCommunitiesintheMalayWorld Rambo
, forthcoming. supportsthis
bysuggesting
perspective that
theSemang evolvedoutofa basicMongoloid population recent
inrelatively
times
after Thelatter
theriseofagriculture. development ensured a distinctive
wayoflifefrom theother
twopatterns described
byBenjamin. See A. Terry Rambo, 'WhyaretheSemang: Ecology and
onPeninsular
Ethnogenesis inA.Terry
Malaysia', Rambo etal(eds.),Ethnic andtheControl
Diversity of
Natural
ResourcesinSoutheast
Asia, AnnArbor: CentreforSouth andSoutheastAsianStudies,
1988,pp.
19-35.
^ J.R.Logan, 'TheOrang Benua ofJohore',JournaloftheIndian ArchipelagoandEastern
Asia, 1,1847,
p.247.
6 PaulSchebesta,Among theForestDwarfs ofMalaya, KualaLumpur: OxfordUniversityPress,1973
[1928].
' IvorH.N.Evans, TheSemang ofMalaya, London: FrankCass& Co.Ltd.,1968[1937], p. 13.
A.Terry Rambo,Primitive
Polluters:
Semang Impact ontheMalaysian RainForest
Tropical Ecosystem,
AnnArbor: ofMichigan
University Museum ofAnthropology, 1985, p.44.
* Ibid.,
p.38;Evans, TheSemang ofMalaya, pp.11,13.
1U Quoted inGeoffreyBenjamin, toPaulSchebesta,
'Introduction' Among theForest
Dwarfs ofMalaya,
KualaLumpur: Oxford Press,
University 1973[1928],p.viii.
24

JMBRAS
VOL.75
A commonmisconception oftheOrangAsliis thattheypractisea nomadiclifestyle

and roamthejungleswithoutanyfixedterritorial base. Schebestaearlierremarked that
theSemangdo notwanderrandomly in thejunglebutas faras possibleremainwithin
theirownterritories.11The SemangBatekdo movebeyondtheirterritories in searchof
spouses,buttheytendto remainwithintheirown familiarterritory wheretheyknow
wherefoodandotherresourcescan be foundandwheretheyhaveclose kin.12In thelate
nineteenthcentury, Swettenham observedthata Senoi groupkeptexclusivelyto itsown
valleyand was frequently at odds withneighbours on eitherside.13The Senoi on the
KamparRiverintheKintadistrict ofPerakwerereported in 1915to movewithina small
radiusof thefoothillsand regardedthePahangborderarea as an unknown, unexplored
land.14Remainingforgenerations withina specificboundedterritory regardedas their
fieldof exploitationenablestheOrangAsli communities to gainan intimate knowledge
oftheresources oftheirtraditionallands.Suchknowledgeis indispensable inlocatingand
extractingthe valuable resins,aromaticwoods and rattansfor international trade.
Moreover, associationwitha specificterritorynurturesphysical andemotional well-being
amongtheOrangAsli.15
The marginal roleoftheOrangAsli in modernMalaysiareflects therapidtransfor-
mationbeginningin theearlytwentieth centuryof the predominantly junglelandscape
intoone of clearedlandsforplantation agriculture.In thepast,theOrangAsli had an
economicallyimportant function in internationaltradeas collectorsof jungleproducts.
The declinein demandforthesegoods,coupledwithnewinterests in timber,rubberand
palmoil, had a disastrouseffecton thelivesoftheOrangAsli. Notonlydid theylose a
majorsourceofrevenue,buttheirwayoflifewas threatened bytherapiddenuding ofthe
jungle. Unable to bargainfroma positionof strength as in the past, theybecame
increasinglymarginalized in Malay(si)ansociety.Nevertheless, theMelayuhave hadto
acknowledgethespecialplace of theOrangAsli in Malaysiansocietybecausethelatter
can legitimatelyclaimto be bumiputera (sonsofthesoil),a termcreatedbytheMalaysian
government to justifyspecial privilegesto the 'original'inhabitants of the land. The
OrangAslithemselves viewthetermcynically andcontinue to stressthattheyandnotthe
Melayuweretheoriginalpeoplein theland.A reconstruction oftheearlyhistory of the
Orang Asli in the Peninsula supports this and the
contention, highlights changing
relationshipbetweentheOrangAsli communities and theMelayuoverthecenturies.
Early Habitation of the Peninsula

According toone reconstruction oftheOrangAslipastsynthesized byBellwood,overthe
last40,000yearsthereweretwomajorraceswhichoccupiedthePeninsula:theAustraloid
andtheSouthern Mongoloid.16 The Semangpopulationstemmedfromtheformer, while
11 Schebesta, Anions theForest
12 Kirk -pp.83,149.
Dwarfs,
'BatekHistory,
Endicott, Interethnic andSubgroup
Relations, Dynamics', inRobert L. Winzeler
(ed.),IndigenousPeoples andtheState:Politics,
Land,andEthnicityintheMalayan Peninsulaand
Borneo , NewHaven: YaleSoutheast
Asian Studies,
MonographNo.46,1997, p.49.
13 Quoted inWalter
William Skeat
andCharles Otto PaganRacesoftheMalay
Blagden, , London:
Peninsula
Macmillan, 1906,Vol.1,p.521.
^ IvorH.N.Evans, 'NotesontheSakaioftheUluKampar', Federated
Museums Journal 7(1),1916,p.23.
ColinNicholas, 'Becoming OrangAsli:Survival intheFaceofModernity', Conference on Tribal
Communities intheMalay 24-27March
World, p.3.
1997,Singapore,
AsBellwood points theuseofsuchterms
out, isforheuristic
purposes,andthereality
istheintergrading
ofboth.See PeterBellwood, PrehistoryoftheIndo-Malaysian , revdedn,Honolulu:
Archipelago
UniversityofHawaii Press, p.70.
1997,
25

PART1,2002
theSenoi weredescendant of thelaterSouthernMongoloidmigration. The archaeologi-

cal recordbecomesmoredetailedonthePeninsulawithassemblagesfoundinHoabinhian
sitesdatedbetween16,000and 8,000yearsago. The hunting and gathering Hoabinhians
wereancestralto theSemangand,to a lesserextent, to theSenoi.The latter'sbiological
affinity was morewiththeNeolithicSouthern Mongoloidpopulation whichmigrated into
thePeninsulaabout2000 . Thereappearsto havebeena rather sharp transition from
theHoabinhianto theNeolithic,withthechangemarkedby theintroduction of agricul-
tureand Austroasiatic The
languages.17 Semangadopted Austroasiaticlanguages,and so
today both the Semang and the Senoi speak Austroasiatic languagesin the subgroup
Aslian, which has distant relationshipswithMon and Khmer.18 The Semang,however,
continuedto maintaintheirhuntingand foraginglifestyleand did not adopt the
agriculturaldevelopmentsof the Neolithic.In this regard,they were much more
descendants of theHoabinhiansthantheNeolithicSouthern Mongoloidsassociatedwith
theSenoi.19Benjaminviewsthepresentdistinction ofthreemajorOrangAsli categories
as theresultof a consciouschoiceby groupsrefusing to be partof a stateand hence
becominglabelled as 'tribal'.These so-called'tribais'thenadoptedcertainlifestyles
associatedwiththeSemang,theSenoi andtheMalayic.20
By a comparative analysisofAslianlanguages,Benjaminsuggeststhattherewas a
splitbetweenthe ancestorsof the northern Aslian-speaking Semang and the central
Aslian-speakingSenoi some 5,000 years ago, therebydemonstrating a common
ancestry.21Bellwood more recentlyhas acknowledgedthe possibilitythat both
processes- migrationand internalpeninsulardevelopments - contributedto the
differences.22 The hopethathistorical geneticswould help determine theearlyhistory of
theOrangAsli has largelybeendampenedby Fix's warningthat'thehistory of genetic
loci is notequitivalent to thehistory ofpopulations and maytellus nothing usefulabout
recenthumanhistory. ' The
findings regardingpossiblelinks ofthe Orang Aslipopulations
withothergroupsextendas farback as 60 millionyearsago and to themore'recent'
58,000yearsago, fartoo earlyforanyrealuse forthereconstruction of theearlyprehis-
toryof theOrangAsli.23Baer,nevertheless, argueson thebasis of geneticfindings that
'Malayan prehistory cannotbe encapsulatedin termsof separatewaves of migrating
17 Thisis notto thattheNeolithicculture found inthePeninsula wasdueentirely tothe

say,however,
migration oftheSouthern Mongoloid Ithasbeenargued
population. thatinthelaterNeolithicinthe
second halfofthefirst millennium
,stone andglassbeadsfound incistgraves
intheBernam valley
andinsitesinKualaSelinsing, Perak,indicate
trade links oftheinhabitantswith
India, SriLanka,the
Mediterranean andpossibly Africa.
SeeNikHassan Shuhaimi, theOrigins
'Tracing oftheMalays and
Orang Asli:From Archaeological Jumal
Perspective', Arkeologi Malaysia,10,1997,p. 102.
SeveralDNAstudies examiningthegenetic
historyofOrang Asliwithother
groupssuggestthattheSemai,
at least,showcloseaffinity toKhmers. A. Baer,'TheGenetic History oftheOrang Asli:Uniting
Patchwork Data',inPeter Bellwood etal.(eds.),Indo-PacificPrehistory:TheMelaka , Vol.3,
Papers
Bulletin
oftheIndo-Pacifc Association,
Prehistory 19,p.6.
Bellwood, Prehistory oftheIndo-MalaysianArchipelago, pp.265-6.
Benjamin, 'OnBeing p.6.
Tribal',
Geoffrey Benjamin, 'Austroasiatic
SubgroupingsandPrehistory intheMalay inP.Jenner,
Peninsula', L.
C. Thompson andS. Starosta Austroasiatic
(eds.), Studies, Honolulu: ofHawaii
University Press,1976,
pp.37-128.
Bellwood, Prehistory oftheIndo-MalaysianArchipelago, p.265.
GlanG. Fix,'Genes, Language andEthnic Groups: Reconstructing Orang AsliPrehistory',
inPeter
Bellwood etal (eds.),Indo-Paci TheMelaka
fiePrehistory: , Vol.3,Bulletin
Papers oftheIndo-Pacific
PrehistoryAssociation, 19,2000,pp.12,16.
26

VOL.75
JMBRAS
peoples',24thussupporting Benjamin'scontention of OrangAsli

thatthedifferentiation
groupsoccurred withintheMalayPeninsulaitself.
By the timethatthe Austronesian-speakers began to appear in the region,the
ancestorsoftheOrangAsli werealreadyestablished on theMalayPeninsula.According
to linguistic
reconstruction,theancestorsoftheAustronesian speakersbeganto moveout
ofsouthern China(perhapsfromZhejiangor Fujian)intoTaiwanat aboutthelatefifth or
the fourthmillenium. The move out of Taiwan southwardto Luzon occurred
sometime in thethirdmillenium . By at least2000 , therewas another moveto the
southof the ProtoMalayo-Polynesian speakers,who were separatingfromthe other
subgroupsof Austronesianspeakers on Taiwan. They migratedto the southern
Philippines,Sulawesi,BorneoandMaluku,andreachedtheMalayPeninsulasometime in
thefirstmillennium . TheyfoundthePeninsulaalreadysettledby a hunting/foraging
and an agriculturalAustroasiatic-speakingpopulationwhichhad been thereforat least
500 yearspreviously.25 If we acceptBellwood'sreconstruction, thensometimebetween
2000 and 1500 , theNeolithicagricultural community of Austroasiatic
speakershad
moveddownfromcentralThailandto inhabitthePeninsulaas farsouthas Selangor.It is
believedthathavingmovedintoareaswheretheincidenceofmalariawas farlowerthan
intheiroriginalhomelands, theAustroasiatic-speakingpopulationincreasedsubstantially
andspreadbothto thecoastsandtheinterior. Thepresenceoftheseancestors oftheSenoi,
and to a certainextentthe Semang,preventedthe further expansion the eaily
of
Austronesian speakersintothe Peninsula.26The picturethatis presented
by archaeologi-
cal andlinguisticevidencebythefirstmillenium is oneofthedominanceoftheances-
torsoftheOrangAsli in thePeninsulaovertherestricted numbers ofthelaterarrivalsof
Austronesian-speaking populations.
The Expansion of the Austronesian- and

Malayic-speaking Communities
Elsewherein theregion,theAustronesian speakershad spreadrapidlyalongthecoasts,
movinginlandonly afterthe coasts had been settled.It has been suggestedthatthe
primary motivationfortherapidexpansionoftheAustronesian speakerswas founderrank
enhancement. Founderfamiliesachievedthe higheststatusin the community, thus
spurringambitiousindividualsto open new landsand foundnew communities. In this
way,thevastexpanseofocean,withitsnumerous lands,was rapidlysettledfromcentral
Vietnamto New Zealandand EasterIsland.As theAustronesian-speaking communities
settledareasand adaptedto theirecologicalniches,differencesin languageand culture
developed.27The Malayic speakerswereone of thelargestlinguistic communities that
evolvedfromthisdevelopment.
While mostlinguistshave aigued fora west BorneohomelandfortheMalayic
speakers,Sumatrahas also been mentioned as anotherpossibleoriginalhome.Froma
homelandperhapsin west Borneo,linguistshave suggestedthattherewas a move
24 Baer,
'TheGenetic p.8.
History',
Bellwood,PrehistoryoftheIndo-Malaysian , pp.242-1;265-6.
Archipelago
ZD Ibid.,
pp.258-9.
Peter
Bellwood, Founder
'Hierarchy, andAustronesian
Ideology J.FoxandClifford
inJames
Expansion',
Sather in Austronesian
(eds.),Explorations , Canberra:
Ethnography of Anthropology,
Department
Australian
National pp.27-32.
1996,
University,
27

PART1,2002
sometimearound100 of Malayic speakersdowntheriversto thecoasts,thenout

through theTambelanand Riau islandsto theMalay Peninsula,and finallyto southeast
Sumatra.As withtheearliermigration of Austronesian speakers,theMalayic speakers
met resistanceon the Malay Peninsuladue to thepresenceof Austroasiatic-speaking
communities. No suchobstaclewas presentin Sumatra, andso theysettledthecoastsand
theinterior of southeastSumatra,and perhapsalso expandedto othersiteson theeast
Sumatran coast.28
In southeastSumatra, theMalayicspeakersspreadalongtheMusi and theBatang
Hari and theirtributaries,
and intotheinterior highlands.29 In thefirstmillennium AD,
they createda riverineMelayu cultureveiy likelymodelledafterthat which had
developedalongtheinterior riverine
andlakeenvironment ofwestBorneo.30Fromthese
settlements in Sumatraemergedpolitiesknownin historicaltimesas Srivijayaand
Malayu,whichdominated bothsidesof theStraitof Melaka and theinterior of Sumatra
betweentheseventhand thefourteenth centuries.
The traditions establishedat thesetwo
riverinekingdomsspreadinlandandbecamereconstituted intheMinangkabauhighlands
in themid-fourteenth century. Laterthatcentury, a princefromPalembang,one of the
earlysitesof Srivijaya,emigrated firstto Bentan,thento Singapore, Muar,and eventual-
ly to Melaka on the Peninsula. He married theQueen of Bentan and thedaughters of
Orang Laut and Orang Asli leaders,thereby a
developing kinship network to support his
pretensions in his new homeland.31 Accompanying himwerehis loyalMelayusubjects
fromPalembang,IiisOrangLautandpossiblyhissubjectsamongtheforestdwellers.32
The arrivaloftheseMelayufromSumatracomprised thethirdperiodofarrivalsto
the Peninsulaof descendantsof the Austronesian speakers.The firstwas the Proto
Malayo-Polynesian speakers sometime in thefirstmillennium ; thesecondwas the
movement of theMalayicspeakersfromwestBorneoaround100 ; andthethirdwas
theMelayufromPalembangin thelatefourteenth century AD. The first twoperiodswere
unsuccessful inpenetratingbeyondthecoasts,andwererestricted to onlycertainareason
thePeninsula.The Melayu,too,wereinitiallyrestricted to thecoastwhichwell suited
theirestablishedwayoflife.TheAustroasiatic populations, ortheOrangAsli,maintained
theirdominanceon thePeninsulaandweretheprimaiyinhabitants intheinterioruntilthe
nineteenth century.33 On the coast, however,the rapidrise and economicsuccess of
Peter
Bellwood, 'AustronesianPrehistory inSoutheastAsia:Homeland, Expansion andTransformation',
inPeterBellwood, James J.FoxandDarrell Tryon (eds.),TheAustronesians
, Canberra:Departmentof
Anthropology,Australian
National 1995,
University, pp.105-6.
BarbaraWatson Andaya, ToLiveas Brothers: Southeast Sumatra intheSeventeenth andEighteenth
Centuries
, Honolulu:UniversityofHawaii Press,
1993,pp.15-16.
JamesT.Collins, Malay, World Language oftheAges:ASketch ofItsHistory, KualaLumpur: Dewan
BahasadanPustaka, 1996, p.3.
UsingChinese dynasticrecords,Wang believesthattheMing court
only cametoknow oftheexistenceof
Melakain 1403.Wang, inBastin andRoolvink. Thefoundation ofthekingdom mayhaveoccurred
sometime inthelatefourteenth
century sinceitwasimportant enoughtohavebeenregarded asa rival
of
Siamasa regionalentrepot.SeeWang Gungwu, 'TheOpening ofRelations
between China andMalacca,
1403-5',inJohn BastinandR.Roolvink Malayan
(eds.), andIndonesian Studies: Presented
Essays toSir
Richard Oxford:
Vinstedt, Clarendon Press, 1967,pp.99-100.
OneoftheprincipalsupportersofthePalembang princewasa nativeofPalembang calledDemang Lebar
Daun.Somehavespeculated thatDemang LebarDaunwasa chief ofa forest
tribebecauseofhispeculiar
name.'Demang' isa title
associated
with forest
dwellers,and'Lebar Daun',or'Broad Leaf',resonates
farmore withthetypes ofnames oftheinteriorpeoplesthan those
oftheMelayu.
Bellwood, oftheIndo-Ma
Prehistory laysianArchipelago, p.266.
28

JMBRAS
VOL.75
Melaka in thefifteenth
century enabledtheMelayuto deal withtheOrangAsli initially
as equals,and graduallyas subjects.This transformation
in therelationship
was a direct
resultofchangesin demandforSoutheastAsianforestproducts in international
trade.
History of External Trade among the Orang Asli

Although itis generally believedthatOrangAsliinvolvement ininternational tradebegan
withthefounding of thekingdomof Melaka,in facttheOrangAsli had a veryancient
traditionofexchangewiththeoutsideworld.About8000 , in theHoabinhianperiod,
archaeologists have been able to determine thattherewas a tradein coastalshellsfor
forestproducts suchas rattan, resin,treebarkandstoneformakingtools.Thenabout3000
, thistradeinvolvedtheOrangAsli withcommunities as farawayas northwestern and
centralThailand,withthetempoof tradeincreasing fromabout2000 . Thereis also
evidenceofan activemaritime tradeinvolving forestproducts around500 . Thistrade
would have continuedas a resultof the presenceof important politiesin southern
Thailand,theIsthmusandthenorthern halfoftheMalayPeninsulafrom500 untilthe
founding ofMelaka in thefifteenth century.34
Amongthemaincoastalportsmentioned byforeign sourcesareTambralinga (in the
vicinity of Nakhon Si Thammarat or Ligor), Takola (on the northwest coast,perhapsin
theneighbourhood ofTrang),Kalah (on thewestcoastofthePeninsulaorinTenasserim),
Kataha(Kedah),Chi tu (theinterior of Kelantanon theeastcoastof thePeninsula),Pan
or
pan(Kelantan Terengganu on theeast coast)andDan dan(perhapsinTerengganu). The
Bujangvalley in southern Kedah, around SungaiMas andPangkalanBujang, was also the
site of a majorentrepot betweenthefifthand eleventhcenturiesAD. Another of the
ancientsettlements in thenorthwas SathingPhra,locatedon theeasterncoast of the
Isthmus betweenSongkhlaandNakhonSi Thammarat. According tointerpretationsofthe
archaeologicalevidence,agricultural surpluscontributed to the rise of urbanization in
SathingPhra,thoughitwas involvedin international tradesincethesecondcentury AD.
Afterthe sixthcentury, therewas a greatincreasein SathingPhra's tradedue to the
completion oftwo canals linking theeastto thewest,andbytheconsciousdecisionofthe
leadersto sacrificeagrarianfortradinginterests. Betweenthe mid-ninth and the late
thirteenth centuries, it is said to have come under 'Indonesian' (Srivijaya and Melayu?)
dominance. Thepresenceofmoatsandlong-distance canalsinvitescomparison withthose
associatedwithAngkorBoreiand Oc Eo in present-day southern Cambodia.35 Based on
thesefindings, Sathing Phra appears to resemble a number of other settlements in the
Isthmusand thenorthern halfof thePeninsula.It was verylikelypartof an extensive
international tradesystemwhich extendedto the Mekong delta, wherepreliminary
archaeological findings suggesta 'complexoccupation'fromapproximately 500 , with
AngkorBorei beingthecentreby about AD 500. It mayhave peaked in the sixthand
seventhcenturiesand declinedsometimebetweenthe tenthand thirteenth centuries.
AngkorBorei mayhave been partof a largerpoliticaland economicsysteminvolving
Angkor,36 andperhapseventhe'oppositeshore'on theeasterncoastof theIsthmusand
34 NikHassan, theOrigins',
'Tracing p. 103.
JaniceStargardt, Works
'Hydraulic andSoutheast , inDavidG. Marr
AsianPolitics andA. C. Milner
Asiainthe9thto14th
Southeast
(eds.), Centuries & Canberra:
, Singapore Institute Studies
forSoutheast
& ResearchSchoolofPacific
Studies, Australian
National
University, pp.24-5,28,30.
1986,
Minam T.Stark ofthe1995-1996
etal. 'Results Archaeological atAngkor
FieldInvestigations Borei,
Cambodia',Asian pp.8,12,26-7,30.
, 38(1),1999,
Perspectives
29

PART1,2002
theMalay Peninsula.
The coastalsettlementsontheIsthmus andthenorthern partoftheMalayPeninsula
became the major redistribution centresfor forestproductsduringthe period of
Indianizationinthefirstmillennium anda halfAD. In themid-fifth centuiy,Pan pan and
Dan dan wereamongtheportsvisitedby Chineseto purchasearomaticwoods. Chi tu
brought camphoras tribute to Chinain 610, and is mentioned as partof Funan.37By the
earlyeighthcentury, ArabandPersianmerchants sailedfromthePersianGulfto portsin
Sumatra,theMalay Peninsulaand Tenasserim to purchasearomaticsto tradeforsilkin
China.38A tenth-century ArabicsourcecitesKalah as a portwhereall typesofspicesand
aromatics, includingcamphorandgaharuwood, wereexported.39 References to thistrade
are foundin foreignsourcesrightintothe eaiiy modernperiod.By the mid-fifteenth
centuiy,the portcityof Melaka had become the heirof a long traditionof coastal
internationalemporiaintheregionandthedirectsuccessorofSrivijaya.Melakanotonly
servedas a redistribution centreof the fabledspices fromMaluku,but also as the
collectionpointforthemuch-desired forestproducts ofresins,aromaticwoodsandrattan
fromthejunglesof SumatraandtheMalayPeninsula.
On thePeninsula,thecollectionof resins,aromaticwoods and rattanswas a task
thatideallysuitedthe OrangAsli withtheirknowledgeof thejungle. A networkof
exchangesdevelopedamongthedifferent OrangAsli groupsbecause of theirareas of
habitation.The more interiorSenoi would have negotiatedthe exchangeof certain
productswiththe Semang,who thenbroughttheseproductsto theMalay or Chinese
tradersat thefringeof thejungleor on thecoast.The Semangthemselves wouldhave
the
exploited jungleswithintheirterritories. As indicatedabove,archaeological evidence
of a sitedatedsometimein thefirstmillennium AD indicatesthepresenceof possibly
Semangremainson thePerakcoast. Studiesof theSemanghaveidentified a particular-
ly adaptivesocial systemsuitedto shiftsin subsistenceor economicsituations. Withthe
increasein externaltradeassociatedwithIndianization, the Semangwould have been
ideallyplacedto participateandbenefitfromthisnewdevelopment. In thesouthern third
ofthePeninsula,jungleproducts wouldhavebeencollectedbytheOrangMelayuAsli to
be tradedto theoutsideworld.
The importance oftheOrangAsli was further strengthened becausetheyoccupied
landsthrough whichthetrans-peninsular routespassed. Tradersfromthewestoftenused
thetrans-peninsular routesleadingfromtheBay of Bengalto theGulfof Siam to avoid
thedangersofpiratesin theStraitofMelaka,particularly at thesouthern entrance. Even
if traderssuccessfullyavoidedpiraticalattacks,theystillfacedthenavigational dangers
of islandsand hiddenreefsand sandbanksin thewatersofftheMalay Peninsula. The
narrowIsthmusand thenorthern partof theMalayPeninsulabecamefavouredforthese
trans-peninsularroutes.On theMalay Peninsula,ancientsettlements werefoundalong
thesemajortraderoutesor at thesiteof gold mines.40Theseinterior townswouldhave
47 TheNanhai
Trade:TheEarly
Wang Gungwu, ofChinese
History TradeintheSouthChinaSea,Singapore:
TimesAcademic Press,
1998,pp.52,68.
C. G.F.Simkin,TheTraditional
TradeofAsia,London & NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,
1968,
p.
84.
G.R.Tibbetts,AStudy
oftheArabicTexts Material
Containing onSouth-EastAsia
, Leiden:
E. W.Brill,
1979,p.33.
PaulWheatley,TheGoldenKhersonese,KualaLumpur:Pustaka
Ilmu,1966,pp.151-9;John Miksic,
'Protohistoric
Settlement inEarly
Patterns', , Vol.4,TheEncyclopedia
History ofMalaysia,Singapore:
ArchipelagoPress, pp.66-7.
1998,
30

VOL.75
JMBRAS
servedas secondaiycentresfeedingtheportson thecoast.Once thearomaticsand gold

were gatheredfromthe Peninsulaand the Isthmus,theywere transported fromthe
interiorforeststo thecoastsemploying a complexseriesof riversand streamsjoinedby
shortlandroutesservingas portageareas.Wheatleyhas identified six suchtrans-penin-
sularhighways: theKedahRiveror thePerakRivervia thePerakvalleyintoPatani;the
BernamvalleyintothePahangbasin;theMuarRiveracrossthePanarikanlandportage
to Pahang;theBatuPahatvalleyto theEndau,and theancientroutealongtheKelantan
and Galas riverstowardsupperPahang,whichoffered differentriverroutesto thewest
coast.In additionto thesesix peninsular he
routes, has listeda furtherfiveroutesin the
Isthmianregion:the Three Pagoda and Three Cedis; the TenasserimRiver; the Kra
Isthmus; theTakuapaRiver,andtheTrangRiver.AlongtheIsthmianregion,thehistoric
routeswentfromthewestalongriversvia low watersheds to theSouthChinaSea.41
In describing theOrangAsli trade a specifictypeof bamboohighlyprizedfor
in
makingblowguns,Noone mentions thatthemajorroutesacrossthePeninsulafollowed
the tributarieswhichruneast to west offthe majorriversflowingin a north-south
direction.The mainmountain rangeposed no obstaclebecausetheycouldbe crossedat
variouspointswithout AmongtheSemangBatek,forexample,thetributary
difficulty.42
systemsare the 'true waterways'and principalfocus of theirforagingactivities.43
Followingthesetributaries as a majorpartofthetrans-peninsular routeswouldtherefore
have beena naturaldecisionby theOrangAsli in thedeliveryof forestproductsto the
coastsor in thetransshipment of goods betweenthecoasts.The choiceof routeswould
also havebeendetermined by the OrangAsli's intimate knowledgeof thelay of theland
and the locationof treesbearingresins,aromaticwoods and rattans.In thisrole as
collectorsofprimary forestproduce,and as labourersand guidesin thetransshipment of
goods across their lands,the Orang Asli became indispensable to the coastal trading
kingdoms. Theirvalue to thelowlandcommunities is capturedin thestorieswhichstill
survivein thetraditions of theMelayupeople.
Melayu Traditions on Melayu-Orang Asli Relations

Whenthe Portugueseseized Melaka fromtheMelayu in 1511,local documentswere
studiedfor an understanding of the Melayu foe and for an assessmentof the trade
forthePortuguese
possibilities in theregion.The resultwas a workknownas TheSuma
Oriental, writtenbetween1512 and 1515 by thePortugueseapothecary Tom Pires.It
containsvaluabledetailnotonlyoftradeprospects butalso ofcertaintraditions
regarding
the Melayu,includingthe storyof the immigration of the Palembangprinceand his
followersto Melaka. These taleswerebased on storiesreador recitedin Melaka at the
timeofthePortuguese occupationofthatcity.One ofthesetalesrecallsa timewhenthe
on theMuarandBertamriversandat Melakaprovidedassistancetothe
local inhabitants
Palembangprinceand his followersin founding thecity.44These riverswerein Orang
Asli territories,
and any outsiderwould have had to seek accommodation withthe
41 Wheatley,TheGoldenKhersonese
, pp.xi,xxvi-xxvii.
R.O. D. Noone, ontheTrade
'Notes inBlowpipes andBlowpipe inNorth
Bamboo Federated
Malaya',
Museums NewSeries,
Journal, 1/2,1954-5,p. 18.
LyeTuck-Po, andHunter-Gatherer
Forest,
'Knowledge, Movement: ofPahang,
TheBatek Malaysia',
Ph.D thesis, ofHawaii,
University 1997,p.216.
Armando TheSumaOriental
Corteso, ofTom Pires, NewDelhi:
Asian
Educational Vol.
1990,
Services,
2,pp.235,238.
31

PART1,2002
inhabitants oftheland.TheSejarahMelayu(MalayAnnals),a courttextbelievedto have

originated duringthetimeofMelaka'sgreatness inthefifteenth centuiy,wouldhavebeen
amongthedocuments whichTomPiresmusthaveconsulted forhiswork,judgingfrom
thesimilarity ofthetalesofthemoveofthePalembangprincetoMelaka.However,inthe
earliestknownrecensionofthiswork,whichwas editedinJohor in 1612,some 100 years
afterPires'Suma Oriental,thereis no directmentionof theroleof theOrangAsli. The
term'Sakai' is used once in an ambiguousfashion,whichcouldbe interpreted as Orang
Asli or simplysubjectsof one of the principalofficialsin Melaka.45By the early
seventeenth Johor,
centuiy, thedirectsuccessorto theMelakakingdom, was beleaguered
by both the Portuguese and the Acehnese. The timing of the recopying of theSejarah
Melayu coincides with this period of serious challenge to the continuing dominanceof
Johoras thecentreoftheMelayuWorld.46 In theestablished of
practice re-editing while
recopying Malay texts,a Johor court scribe maysimply have ignoredany mention ofthe
contributions ofnon-Melayu groups in order to the
emphasize glory of the Melayu.
However,in the HikayatHang Tuah (The Romance of Hang Tuah), whichis
believedto have originated as an oralepic depicting thedaysof Melaka's greatness, the
in
roleof theindigenousinhabitants thesuccessoftheMelayuventureon thePeninsula
is freelyacknowledged. Thereis frequent mention oftheSakai,buthereitis usedtorefer
to theOrangLaut inhabitants in theislandslyingsouthof theMalay Peninsula.In this
Hikayat,theSakai areemployedinbuildingtheruler'spalace,repairing thecity'scanals,
protecting Melaka's tradersfromenemies,patrolling theseas and reporting to Melaka's
rulers,transportingtherulerand thenobilityof Melakato theislandsforpleasuretrips,
formingthe fighting fleetsfor Melaka, and defendingthe city.47In manyof these
activitiesthe Sakai are said to be undertaking thesetaskstogether withthepeople of
Melaka (i.e. theMelayu).Thereis no hintofantagonism or subservience ofone groupto
another. Among those thatare mentioned as their
offering support tothe firstMelayuruler
ofMelaka are thebatin (OrangAsli or OrangLautheads)andfollowers whocontrolthe
tributaries,and thepenghulu(a Malay titleused forthosewithsome authority overthe
Orang Asli communities) and their Sakai.48 The Sya'ir Perang Johor,too, explicitly
mentionsthe role of the 'Sakai' (referring to theOrangLaut) in the defenceof the
kingdomof Johoragainstitsenemies49
Another Melayudocument, begunsometimein themiddleof thefifteenth centuiy
at theheightofMelaka's power,is theUndang-Undang Melaka (Melaka Legal Digest).
In theselegal prescriptions, the Orang Asli are listedamongMelaka's subjectsand
fighting force(sakai bala tentara).50 Thetenthparagraph (fasai) refersto a law pertinent
to thebiduandaorang,muda-muda orang,hambaorang,sakai orangandthehambaraja.
Liauw explainsthattheyreferto thevarioustypesofseivantsor slavesmentioned in the
Digest.51It is difficult
to knowwhatdistinguished thevariouscategoriesin theMelaka
45 Abdul Rahman oftheRallies

'Teks/Text
HajiIsmail, MS.No.18',inCheahBoonKheng (ed.),Sejarah
Melayu: TheMalayAnnals,KualaLumpur: Branch
Malaysian oftheRoyal
Asiatic 1998,
Society, p.138.
SeeLeonard Y.Andaya,'Aceh's
Contribution
toStandards
ofMalayness', , 61,2001,pp.29-68.
Archipel
Kassim Ahmad, HikayatHangTuah,KualaLumpur:DewanBahasadanPustaka,
1975,pp.14,16,24,57,
69,353,459-60.
45 Ibid.,p. 16.
Sya'irPerang Johor ofLeiden
,University stanzas/verses
Library, 290b.
284a,92a,143b,
LiawYockFang, Undang-Undang Melaka
, TheHague:Martinus
Niihoff,
1976,pp.68,78,176.
31 Ibid.,
p. 180.
32

JMBRAS
VOL.75
period.CouillardcitesSkeatandBlagdenin tracing theetymology oftheterm'Sakai' to

the Sanskrit sakhi,meaning'friend,companion,comrade'.Apparently, thewordsakhi
oftenappearswithseva or siva ('propitious, friendly, dear') in Vedic hymns.Couillard
therefore suggests that 'Sakai' may have been the word used by Indian traderswho
the
regarded Orang Asli as in a
'partners trading alliance'.52 Archaeologicalevidence
mentioned above indicatesthattheOrangAsli communities in thenorthern halfof the
Malay Peninsulawere indeed activein international
trade in centuriespast.
Wilkinsonbelieves thatthe distinction betweenthe various typesof Melayu
subjectswas based on the extentof assimilationto Melayu culture.He suggestsa
hierarchy, withthelowestbeingthesakai whowereaborigines whodidnotspeakMalay;
thentherakyatwhowereaborigines whodidspeakMalay;andfinallythebiduandawho
wereaborigineswho spokeMalay,acceptedMelayuculture,and had been receivedas
equalsintotheMelayucommunity.53
Despite the neatnessof Wilkinson'sconception,thereis evidence that such
categorieswere neverstatic.In the HikayatHang Tuah, the references to biduanda
suggestthattheywere chosen fromnon-Melayucommunities. When a princefrom
Palembangis sentby his fatherto governBentanand Singapore,amongthe retinue
delegatedto accompanyhimare biduandacomposedof 'outsiders'(orangkeluaran).
Uponarrivalin Bentan,theprinceordershisminister to summonpeopleoftheinterior or
local inhabitants(anak orangdalamnegeri)to makeintocourtbiduanda,54Manyofthe
inhabitants ofBentanwouldhavebeenOrangLaut,andtheorangkeluaranin Palembang
may have referredto theindigenous inhabitants.In otherwords,biduandaseemsto have
been a positionreservedfor special non-Melayugroupswho functionedas court
messengers or emissaries.
Duringthe Melaka period,therewas alreadythe beginningof a shiftin the
meaningof the word biduanda.Melaka-bornChinesewere given the honorarytitle
biduandaas a favourby theruler,as werethe Sakai and therakyat.55 The eighteenth-
centuiyMelayutextfromPerak,theMisa Melayu, makesa numberof references to the
'sakai', whichcouldbe interpreted as either'subject'or OrangAsli. Thereis, however,
no doubtin one particular passagethattheSakai accompanying thePanglimaLarutare
OrangAsli. Theyare listedas theOrangBukitGantang(thepeopleof Mt Gantang),the
OrangPengkalan(thepeopleofthelandingplaces,whichareusuallylocatedat a conflu-
ence of riversand landroutesand serveas majorintermediary collectingand redistribu-
tionpoints),andthePematang(thepeoplewhoinhabitthebanksofthemarshlands).56
The textthatperhapsbestcapturesthetoneof mutualrespectin theearlyrelation-
ship between the Orang Asli populationsand the Melayu is the HikayatMerong
Mahawangsa.Although theearliestknownrecensionofthetextis in thefirsthalfofthe
52 MarieAndree 'TheMalays andthe"Sakai": SomeComments onTheir inthe

SocialRelations
Couillard,
Malay KajianMalaysia
Peninsula', , 2(1),1984,p.85. Couillard
alsocites oftheJelai
a description area
tothearrival
prior ofMinangkabau migrants, wherethepenghulu bya batin
appointed isplacedincharge
oftheOrangAsliwhohadconverted toIslam. Basedonthis,
shesuggests that
perhaps'Sakai'couldhave
referred
toOrangAslisubjectsoftherulerwhohadconvertedtoIslam. pp.90-1.AsI havetried
Ibid., to
show, theterm
however, Sakaihadvarying meaningsdependingonthetext.
R.J.Wilkinson,
Malay-English , London:
Dictionary Macmillan,1959,Vol.2,p. 1002,
under'sakai*.
Kassim, HangTuah
Hikayat , pp.16-18.
Wilkinson,
Malay-EnglishDictionary, Vol.1,pp.137-8,
under'biduanda'.
RajaChulanbinHamid,MisaMelayu , KualaLumpur:PustakaAntara,1962,p.99.
33

PART1,2002
nineteenth centuiy,mostscholarsacknowledgethe inclusionof oral legendsfromthe

earlyhistory ofKedahand thenorthern areasof thePeninsula.The Hikayatrecountsthe
arrivalof a stranger prince,Raja Kelana Hitam,who seeksto becomerulerof Kedah
becauseithas no king.He thusasksthepenghuluor leadersofthebangsa(ethnicgroup)
Semang,Wila,thehillpeople(rakyatbukit),andtheSakaito meetin councilto helphim
finda good land wherehe could settle.Theyperform thistask,and thencome to serve
himfaithfully.WhentheRaja KelanaHitam'skingdomis attacked bymonsters (gergasi),
thesefourbangsa suffer thebruntofthefighting and theirbraveryis measuredby their
dead piled in heaps like mountains.57 The use of thetermbangsa to referto different
groupsamong the Orang Asli is noteworthy. Sometimein the past, each groupwas
consideredto be a uniqueethnicentity and othersdefinedthegroupbychoiceof habitat
and stateof 'civilization'(as understood bythelowlandgroups,suchas theMelayu).In
thistext,theSemang are those located in thejungleand maintainminimalcontactwith
outsiders;the Wila or SemangBila are another typeof Semangwho live close to the
Melayuor Chinesecommunities andareclosesttoassimilation intothedominant lowland
culture;thehillpeoplearetheSenoi,mostlikelytheTemiar,andtheSakai arethesea and
riverinepopulationsin thenorth.
Thereis a striking similarity betweenthelegendofthefoundation ofKedahas told
in theHikayatMerongMahawangsaand thatof Melaka in theSejarah Melayu.In both
cases,therearrivesa stranger princeseekingto becomekingovera landwithouta ruler.
The indigenouspopulationsof OrangAsli and OrangLaut are notonlyinstrumental in
the
guiding prince to a desired but
site, they also then offertheirallegianceand theirlives
in defenceof theirnewlords.Thereis, however, a distinctionin thetalesof therolesof
the indigenouspopulationsin Kedah and Melaka. In the former,the Orang Asli
populations ofSemangand Senoiwererelatively wellpopulated, andso theirintervention
on behalfof a stranger rulerwouldhavebeena crucialfactorin thesuccessor failureof
theventure. ForMelaka,themoreimportant indigenous populationsweretheOrangLaut
because of Melaka's orientation to the sea and international trade.58Of thosetexts
originating fromMelaka and Johor,theword 'Sakai' refersalmostexclusivelyto the
OrangLautpopulationsoftheislands.However,in all ofthetexts,manyof whichwere
recopiedin thenineteenth centuiy, theindigenouspopulationsare neverdescribedin a
demeaningfashion. On thecontrary, theircontributions are openlyacknowledgedand
theirsacrifices,as in theHikayatMerongMahawangsa,poignantly described.
Orang Asli Traditions on Orang Asli-Melayu Relations

Equallyilluminatingis theperception
ofthisrelationship
fromtheviewpoint oftheOrang
intheearlytwentieth
Asli. Writing centuiy,SkeatandBlagden describe
an OrangAslitale
of a batin(an OrangAsli chief)called ChiefIronClaws (BatinBerchanggeiBesi). He
leaves Minangkabauwithhisfollowersand goes firstto Java,wheresomeof hispeople
remainbehind,and thento Melaka,whichwas thenuninhabited. Afterestablishinga
settlementcalledPengkalanTampoi,he goesto Kelangwherehe disappears.His position
is takenbyHangTuah,whohadbeenmadebatinofPengkalanTampoi.He buildsa house
57 SitiHawaSalleh,
Hikayat KualaLumpur:
PenerbitUniversiti 1991,
MerongMahawangsa, Malaya, pp.61,
63,67.
Asa descendant
oftherulers
ofSrivijaya,
thePalembang would
prince haveknown
thevalueofcontrol
oftheseas.
34

VOL.75
JMBRAS
on a hilloverlooking Melaka,and whenthatsettlement becomestoo largeto containthe

Orang Asli population,Hang Tuah decides to go south to Johor.The Orang Asli
communities along the Muar River settlein the two new communities establishedby
HangTuah, one in the interiorcalled Benua Dalam and theother on the coast calledBenua
Laut Jagun.One day,theMelayufromKedah demandtheland occupiedby theOrang
Asli at PengkalanTampoi. The latterrefuse,an attackensues,and theOrangAsli are
defeated.HangTuah'ssons,HangJebatandHangKetuwi(KasturiinMalay),werechiefs
in settlements to theeast and northof PengkalanTampoi.Withtheirfollowerstheyflee
southward, thetwobrothers
but quarreloverpossessionoverlandsand killeach other.
Meanwhile, another son in Kelanggiveshisdaughter in marriage to a Minangkabau chief
settleddownriver. Hang Tuah's daughter becomes batin in Muar and his youngestson
batinin SungeiUjong.Hang Tuahand his offspring the
thusbecome founding batinin
SungeiUjong,Kelang,Johor andMelaka.Whenheandhisdescendants dieout,theOrang
Asli neveragain enjoy the privilegeof electinga batinwiththe powersand duties
formerly heldbyHangTuah's family.59
In thisOrang Asli tale, threeimportant elementsare stressed.The firstis the
assertionthatHang Tuah and Iiis family, includingHang Jebatand Hang Kasturi,were
important earlyleadersoftheOrangAsli community. Thesethreeheroesarewellknown
inMelayufolkloreand in themostpopularofMelayuliterature, theSejarahMelayuand
theHikayatHang Tuah. In theformer, are
they archetypal Melayu heroes,whilein the
latterwork,theyareassociatedwiththeislandsandimpliedto be of OrangLaut origins.
In thisOrangAsli taleandin a number ofothers,theseheroesareclearlyOrangAsli who
are prominent leadersof thecommunity. Only afterthedisappearance of thisfamily, do
thefortunes oftheOrangAsli decline.
A secondfeatureof theOrangAsli tale is theemphasison thepriorsettlement of
the OrangAsli on the Peninsula and theirlarge numbers in the past. Archaeological
evidencediscussedaboveleaveslittledoubtthattheOrangAsli ancestorshad settledthe
PeninsulabeforethearrivaloftheancestorsoftheMelayu.Whatis perhapsless known
is the factthatthe Orang Asli populationin the past,perhapseven up to the eaiiy
twentieth century, was muchlargerin relationto theMelayuthanis thecase today.Oral
tales describethe naturalincreaseof the Orang Asli populationwhichleads to the
foundingof new settlements.Here again, archaeologicalevidence indicates the
widespreadsettlement of theOrangAsli and theiroccupationof theprimelandson the
Peninsula,resulting in therestriction ofearlyAustronesian settlementsto thecoast.
The thirdaspect in the tale is the link with Minangkabau.A youngerson
(culturallyregardedas the most spirituallyendowed) goes with his followersto
Pagaruyung in theMinangkabauhighlandsof centralSumatra. Amongthepeople of
Sumatra, rulersofPagaruyung
the havealwaysbeenregarded withgreatawe becauseof
thesupernatural powers associated with that
royal house. The originsoftheMinangkabau
royalfamily can be traced to its founder, Adityavarman, in the mid-fourteenth century.
Fromthebeginning, thisfamily, based in 'Pagaruyung',60 periodicallydispatched royal
scionsfromthecourtbearinglettersfromtheMaharajadiraja ('GreatKing of Kings',
59 Skeat
andBlagden, Vol.2,pp.267-73.
PaganRaces,
60 Documents
from callthecourt
centuries
tothenineteenth
thesixteenth oftheMinangkabau inthe
rulers
Barisan ofSumatra
highlands though
'Pagaruyung', thecourt todifferent
shifted inaccordance
centres
thematrilineal
with succession
andmatrilocal principle.
35

PART1,2002
translatedby the Dutch as 'Keizer' or Emperor)to the variousrantau,or areas of

Minangkabau settlementoutside the homeland. These letters commanded the
Minangkabau to lendassistancetotheletter-bearers orfacesupernatural punishment.The
long preamble of these the
letters,listing powers of the rulerto control the natural
elementsto his purposeor to invokethe dreadedsupernatural sanctionknown in
Minangkabau as the bisa kawi, were widely known and feared.61 Storiesof thesacred
powers of the Pagaruyung rulerswould have arrivedin the Peninsula duringtheMelayu
immigration ofthe late fourteenth centuiy, or even earlierwith thefree flowofgoodsand
information acrosstheStraitofMelaka.It is likelythatthesestoriesprecededthearrival
in thesixteenth century of theMinangkabausettlers to present-day NegeriSembilanon
the Peninsula.This reputation of the Minangkabauwould have made the OrangAsli
leadersas eageras thenewcomers to createor,in accordancewiththeiroral traditions,
reaffirm a familialbond throughmarriage.Thus were createdthe Orang Asli tales
explaininghowtheMinangkabau werereallydescendants ofearlierOrangAsli whohad
goneto live in Minangkabau andwerethusreturning hometo thelandoftheirancestors.
Hood Sallehhas recordeda creationmythfroman OrangAsli Melayucommunity,
theBiduanda,thatalso refers to a Sumatran connection. According tothistale,theorigins
ofthegroupis attributed to thebatinSriAlamwhoseizeda 'walkingtreetrunk'andkept
itin captivity.The trunk thenproducedforty-four eggs,whichthebatinthenburieduntil
theyhatchedintoforty-four children.Whentheygrewup, he suppliedthemwithbark
clothforclothes.Halfofthesechildren he sentto Sumatrawheretheycolonizedthecoast
'as faras thebordersoftheBatakcountry' (i.e. intheinterior ofSumatra), whiletheother
halfremainedon thePeninsulaandbecametheBiduanda.62 The Biduandamythdoes not
identifytheethnicity ofthegroupin Sumatra.It couldhavebeentheMelayu,oreventhe
Minangkabau. Since the sixteenth century, theMinangkabauhad begunmovingin large
numbers to bothcoastsof Sumatraand to theMalayPeninsula.
Edo, an anthropologist fromthe Semai group,collecteda numberof 'tme tales'
( chermor ) fromhis people. Accordingto one tale, the Orang Asli were the last
descendantsof Adam livingin Mengkah,theland createdby God.63On theirjourney
fromMengkah,someleavetheraftat Sumatraandestablish thesettlement ofPagaruyung.
Anothergroupgoes ashoreat Siam or Siap on theMaluk mountain(said to be in the
northern partof theMalay Peninsula);a thirdgroupcontinuessouthward to theSabine
mountain (believedto be in theeasternside of centralPerak);and thelastdisembark at
MelakaandsettleatMtbedang.64Centuries laterthereis a secondexodusfromMengkah,
whichalso includestheMelayu,'thesecond-last ofthedescendants ofAdam',wholeave
tojoin theiryounger brothers, theOrangAsli.Theylandin Sumatraandoccupytheentire
Foranexcellentaccountofthepowers oftheMinangkabaucourtandexamples ofthese seeJane

letters,
AKingdom
Drakard, ofWords:Language andPower inSumatra,KualaLumpur:Oxford Press,
University
1999.
Hood Mohamad Salleh,
'MoralityandRestraint
among theSemelaiofMalaysia',inH.M.Dahlan (ed.),
TheNascentMalaysian , Bangi:
Society Universiti
KebangsaanMalaysia,
1986, p.57.
isclearly
'Mengkah' 'Mekka', a tradition
indicating influenced
bytheMelayu. Anachronismsoccur
inthe
butasEdopoints
chermor, out,'[t]hese andincorporations
borrowings donot, erode
however, theessence
oftheoriginalSemaistories'.JuliEdo,'Stories
ofMigrationfromNative Sources:TheSemaiOral
Tradition',
Indo-PacificPrehistory:TheMelakaPapers, Vol.3,Bulletin
oftheIndo-PacificPrehistory
Association
, 19,2000,p.42.
MtLedang is thelegendarymountainmentionedintheSefarah Melayuas theabodeofa supernatural
princess.
36

VOL.75
JMBRAS
island.Initially, theysettleamongtheearliermigrants atPagaruyung, buttheiraggressive

ways force the Pagaruyung people to flee to Melaka. At Mt bedang,thepeople from
Pagaruyung reunite with theirrelativesfrom thefirst
exodus, and theybecomeknownas
Temuanbecause theyhad met (temu ). They decide not to stayat Mt bedang butto
occupy the coastal areas of Melaka.
Manyyearspass andtheMelayufromSumatracometoMelakaledbya princewho
is unsuccessful inbecominga rulerin hisownland.TheRoyalShamanadvisestheprince
to marry an OrangAsli womanfromMt Ledangwhois said to be thebearerofluckand
fortune (bertuah ). He followsthisadviceand thusacquiresthesupportoftheOrangAsli
in theestablishment of his kingdomat Melaka. The OrangAsli thenbecomehispalace
workers, guardsand army,taskswhichtheycontinueto perform forthedescendants of
thisfirstMelakanruler.AmongtheseOrangAsli retainers oftheruleraretheOrangAsli
brothers, HangTuahandHangJebat.Laterthereis a quarrelbetweenthebrothers, which
resultsinthedeathofHangJebat.HangTuah,accompanied byhiswife'sfamilyandthose
of Hang Jebat,as well as theOrangAsli fromMt Ledang,movesnorthward and settles
thearea.Partofthegroupremainsin centralPerakand comesto be knownas mai bareh
(i.e. thelowlandSemai),whileHang Tuahproceedsfurther northward and becomesthe
leaderoftheOrangAsh in UpperPerak.The lastgroupeventually settlesin an areanow
calledLambor.65
The storythenturnsto an episode involvinga Johorprince,Tok Betangkuk(or
NakhodaKassim accordingto others),who marriesan OrangAsli womanwithwhite
blood66and establishesthekingdomof Perak.ThoughtheMelayucome to occupythe
wholeofthePerakRiver,therelations betweentherulerandtheOrangAsli remaingood
and theOrangAsli come to perform suchdutiesas palace workers, guardsand hunting
partnersof the ruler.Othertales collectedby Edo have similarthemesof marriage
betweenMelayuprincesand OrangAsli women(withonlyone exampleof a Melayu
princessmarrying an OrangAsli man). In thesetales,theMelayu has a dreamof the
supernatural partner amongtheOrangAsli and goes in searchforthelatter.Beforethe
marriageis contracted, theOrangAsli alwaysasks and obtainsa commitment fromthe
Melayuprinceto assuregood treatment oftheOrangAsli andto acceptthemas subjects
(raky at).67
Certainthemesare foundintheseOrangAsli 'truetales' fromtheSemai.The first
is thatthe OrangAsli are the originalinhabitants of theland. Althoughone chermor
mentions a commonorigininthelandofMengkah,thereis an acknowledgement thatthe
OrangAsli, the younger brothersof the Melayu, were the firstto come to the Peninsula.
A secondthemeis thespecialrelationship establishedbetweentheMelayurulerand the
Orang Asli population because of an ancient agreement betweenthefounder princeand
an Orang Asli woman.In returnforgood treatment fromthe prince,the OrangAsli
promiseto serveas his fighting forceand as palace workers.This particular themeis
mirrored in theMelayutexts,wherethemilitary contributionoftheOrangAsli groupsis
6^ Juli
Edo,'Traditional
Alliance:
ContactbetweentheOrangAsliandtheAncient Conference
State',
Malay
onTribalCommunities intheMalay
World, 24-27March
Singapore, pp.3-5.
1997,
Among theMalays andthepeople
ofSouth rulers
Sulawesi, aresaidtopossess
'white'
blood.
IntheOrang
Aslitale,
however,the'white'
maybea reference
toa skin
disease inpigment
resulting The
discoloration.
association
ofskindisease
androyalty
isalsofoundinMalay traditions.
Edo,'Traditional pp.5-6.
Alliance',
37

PART1,2002
openly acknowledged.Finally,thereis the themeof a blood link withthe Melayu

establishedin thebeginning of timeand reaffirmed in themarriagebetweena Melayu
prince and an Orang Ash woman endowed with supernatural gifts.For boththeOrang
Asli and theMelayu,a bloodrelationship createdtrustand loyaltywithina 'family'.68
Untiltheestablishment of Britishcolonialrulein thelate nineteenth centuiy,the
Orang Asli retained
theirimportance as collectorsof resins,aromatic woods and rattans
fromthejungle.In theseventeenth and eighteenth centuries, manyadapted a changed
to
economicsituationby also becominginvolvedin the extraction of tin or as casual
labourersand theproducersof foodforminingcommunities. Some also workedin the
ricefieldsoftheMelayu.Theircommercial valuewas stillrecognized, andtherewas veiy
littlepressurefortheexpansionoftheMelayuortheChineseintoOrangAsli landsinthe
interior.Nevertheless, theireconomiccontribution was less appreciatedby theMalays
whoweregenerally on theperipheiy ofthedevelopments oftheextractive industries.
Increasinglyfromtheeighteenth centuiyuntiltheabolitionofslaveryin the1880s,
theOrangAsli becamepreyto Melayuslavers.Endicottarguesthatsuchraidsforcedthe
OrangAsli to adoptsilenttradepractices, andeitherfollowa greater nomadiclifestyle in
isolationfromtheirneighbours or resortto communallonghousesforprotection. It also
createda divisionbetweenthe lowlandSemai who became moreacculturated to the
Melayulifestyle, and the upland Semai who fled to the safety of the mountains. Later
immigrants fromIndonesia were even responsible for the killingof some of the Orang
Asli Melayuin orderto seize theirlands.69The Semang,whotendedto operatein areas
witheasy access to thenon-Orang Asli communities fortradepurposes,wereprobably
mostaffected.The Temiar,on the otherhand,may have escaped muchof the slave
raidingfora numberofreasons.UnliketheSemang,almostall the Temiaroccupylands
in thedifficult mountainous terrain in theheadwaters of therivers.Anotherreasonmay
have been the institution of theMikong , or Malay chiefswho acted as intermediaries
betweentheTemiarandtheoutsideworld.Theylivedon thebordersof thetwoworlds,
usuallyhad Temiarwives,and appointedpenghuluamongtheTemiarto represent their
people.Finally,theTemiardemonstrated theirwillingness to defendthemselves against
theslaveraiders.70
StoriesofMelayupreying on OrangAsli as commodities arerifeinOrangAslitales
and are confirmed by earlytwentieth-centuiy European observers. The radicaltransfor-
mationof a formerly fruitfuland respectful relationship between the Melayu and the
Orang Asli occurredsometime in the eighteenth and nineteenth centurieswhenthelatter
wereno longerviewedas economically usefultotheMelayu.As MelayuslavingofOrang
Asli groupsincreased,the Orang Asli lifestyle, theirway of dress,and even their
physical bodies became objects of ridiculeby the Melayu.Contributing further to the
SO
A lesssanguine oftalesofrelations
interpretation betweentheOrang AsliandtheMelayuis Rawski's
reading ofa modern Semaistory
byDerusKnoon Ngah,recordedbyRobert Dentanin1963.Rawski
argues that
theapparentlyinnocuous
recitation
byDerus,
drawing uponSemai tales
origin andwell-known
Melayu themes,is a covert ofcurrent
critique OrangAsliandMelayu relations.
SeeFrederik
Rawski,
'KejadianManusia: An"Histoire"
ofMalay/Semai Culture
Contac,AsianFolkloreStudies,
58(2),1998,
pp189-222.
KirkEndicott,'TheEffectsofSlaveRaidingandtheAborigines
oftheMalay inAnthony
Peninsula', Reid
(ed.),Slavery,
Bondage andDependency inSoutheast
Asia
, St.Lucia:University
ofQueenslandPress,
1983, 226-9, 232-3.
/u Ibid.,pp.
p.231.
38

VOL.75
JMBRAS
weakeningpositionof theOrangAsli was theinfluxof StraitsChineseand European

capitalin thePeninsulafromthelate nineteenth centuryforthedevelopment ofthetin,
rubber, palm oil andtimber industries.
Land was needed forsuch development, andso the
outsiders seizedthejungleareasthatservedtheOrangAsli communities as theirsource
oflivelihoodandancestralknowledge.
As the Melayu grew in dominance,theymarginalizedthe Orang Asli bothas
economicpartners andas humanbeings.The shiftin attitude was reflectedintheincreas-
ingscornandcontempt withwhichtheMelayubeganto treattheOrangAsli. The refusal
oftheOrangAsli to embraceIslamandto abandontheirforaging and shiftingagricultur-
al lifestyle
confirmed theMelayuviewthattheylacked'civilization'.The processcan be
detectedas earlyas theseventeenth centuryin theSejarah Melayu,butit is farmore
obvious in the variousepisodes recountedin Malay and foreignaccountsfromthe
nineteenth andtwentieth centuries.By contrast,theOrangAslitalescollectedoverthelast
twocenturies attempt to recallan earlierperiodofharmony andcooperation withthegop,
a termwhichtheyuse fortheMelayu.Yet,sadlyevidentin thesetales is themounting
violencethatwas beingcommitted by the gop on the OrangAsli. The tales recently
collectedby WazirJahanKarimfroman OrangAsli Melayu groupin Selangor,the
Ma'Betise', reflecttheviolentencounter withoutsidersand a pessimisticview of the
future.71
Today,theOrangAsli are seekingto securea politicaland culturalspace within
Malaysiansocietybasedon established government policy. The government has institu-
tionalizedthebumiputera ('sons ofthesoil') conceptofprivilegesbasedon indigeny, and
lias insistedon the creationof a 'Malaysian' culturecomposedof elementsfromall
ethnic groupsgrafted upon a Melayubase. It is hopedthatthesegovernment-inspired
initiativeswillencouragea greater acknowledgement andappreciation oftheOrangAsli,
and thusprevent theirbecomingmerelyobjectsofthe'primitivist gaze' of outsiders.72
The Question of Ethnicity

Because ofthedesireoftheMalaysiangovernment to assimilatetheOrangAsli commu-
the of
nities, question ethnicity has become an important partof the debate.Melayu
civilization
has beentermed'an expansive'ethnicity becausein thepastithas tendedto
absorbmanydifferent ethnicgroupsintoitsfold.Eventoday,theConstitution ofMalaysia
definesa Melayuas one who speaksMalay habitually, practisesMelayucultureand is a
Muslim.In thepast,theprincipaldeterminant of Melayuethnicity was Islam,because
manyotherethniccommunities in theStraitsarea sharedthesamelanguageand culture
withthe Melayu. The Melayu languagegraduallybecame the dominantlanguagein
71 WazirJahan Transformations inMa'Betise'Economics andIdeology:

Recurrent Themes of
Karim,
Nomadism', inRazhaRashid (ed.),IndigenousMinorities
ofPeninsularMalaysia:SelectedIssuesand
Ethnographies, KualaLumpur:Intersocietal
andScientific
SdnBhd,1995, pp.112,114-15.
Porath
provides anexcellent
description ofthemannerinwhichtheMeniq,a Semang straddling
group the
border
ofsouthern ThailandandMalaysia, havebeenculturally
packagedbyThaientrepreneursforthe
entertainment
ofthedominant Thaiethnic groupinmallsandother public Thaiperception
places. ofthe
'Sakai'(their
term fortheSemangingeneral) becomesthebasisfortheir
remakingofMeniq See
culture.
Nathan Porath, ThaiLiterary
'Foraging Culture:
A PerformingTribeofSouthThailand',inDavidG.
Anderson andKazunobu Ikeya(eds.),Parks, andPower:
Property, ManagingHunting Practice and
IdentitywithinStatePolicyRegimes , Senri Studies,
Ethnological No.59,Osaka:National Museum of
Ethnology,2001,pp.117-38.
39

PART1,2002
Sumatraas a resultof theimportance ofthekingdomsof Srivijayaand Malayubetween

theseventhandthefourteenth centuries.The processofestablishing a dominant language
in the regionresultedin the absorptionof manysmallerMalayic dialects.Withthe
establishment of the prosperouskingdomof Melaka in the fifteenth century,the
of
prominence Melayulanguage and culture continued. Manygroups living aroundthe
StraitofMelakathusbecamebilingualin Malayand in theirownlanguage.
ThoughMelakaattempted to maketheMalay spokentherethestandard formofthe
the
language, HikayatHang Tuah recounts an episode thatperhaps reflectsthe thinkingof
many of the Melayu in the periodprior to thetwentieth century. In thisepisode,Hang
TuahvisitsthekingdomofIndrapura on Sumatra, andhe asksthemaidensofthecourtto
singa Melayusongforhim.Theydemur,sayingthattheyareembarrassed becausetheir
Malay is 'mixed' ( kacokan ), notas pure as thatof Melaka. Hang Tuah then explainsthat
theMalay ofMelaka is also 'mixed'withJavanese, andtherefore pure themaidens
not as
of Indrapurabelieved.73The Malay spokenin Aceh in the seventeenth centurywas
regarded as thestandard forMalayintheperiod,butMalayspeakersinthecourtofBanjar
on theislandofBorneofounditdifficult tounderstand becauseofthe'Acehnese-isms'.74
In otherwords,theMalay languagewas spokenin manydifferent ways withouta fixed
standarddialect.The Malay spokenin Indrapura or Aceh or Melaka was equallyvalid,
andtherefore bymastering Malayone fulfilled a majorprerequisite forassumingMelayu
ethnicity.
Withregardto Melayuculture, thelongdomination ofSrivijaya(and itssuccessors
in Jambiand the highlandsof Minangkabaufromthe eleventhto the fourteenth
centuries)75 andMelakaintroduced manyofthecustomsoftheMelayuto groupsinJava,
Sumatraand thePeninsula.So dominant weretheMelayu,thatin 1365the'landsofthe
Melayu' extended the whole length of the east coastof Sumatraand aroundto thewest
coastas fardownas Barns,and to theinterior areasup theBatangHari Riverintothe
Minangkabauhighlands.It did not,however,includeanylandson thePeninsula.76 The
storyof the Melayu on the Peninsulaonlybeginswiththe arrivalof the Palembang
immigrants and the foundation of Melaka sometimein thebeginningof the fifteenth
century.These landsof Melayuon Sumatraare todayinhabited by groupsas diverseas
the people of Palembangand Jambi,the Minangkabau, the Batak,the Acehnese,the
Melayuon theeastcoast,andthenumerous OrangAsli and OrangLautgroupsalongthe
east coastof Sumatra.Archaeological evidenceindicatesthatall of thesegroupswould
havebeensubjectto theculturedevelopedin Srivijaya.77 WhenMelakabecamethemost
powerfulMelayu centre in the Strait,it continued the traditionof Srivijayain extending
Melayu culture to areas on the Peninsula and to courts involved in the Melaka trade
73 Kassim Ahmad, HangTuah,p. 189.

In seventeenth-century
Aceh,Nuruddinal-Raniri
wrotetheSratal-Mustakim Path)in
(TheStraight
Malay.A certainMuhammad Arsyad ofBanjar
al-Banjari decided, tocompose
however, a companion
bookcalledtheSabilal-Huhtadin
inorder
toclarify
themany Acehnese words
andexpressions
foundin
it.LiawYockFang, SefarahKesusasteraan
Melayu Jakarta:
Klasik, Penerbit Vol.2,p.
1992-3,
Erlangga,
ne 50.
J Leonard Y. Andaya,'Unravelling
Minangkabau Itinerario,
Ethnicity', EuropeanJournal
ofOverseas
24(2),2000,pp.25-6.
History,
76 StuartRobson & ed.),Desawarnana
(trans. (Nagarakrtagama)
byMpuPrapanca, Leiden:
KITLVPress,
1995,p.33.
F.M.Schnitger,TheArchaeologyofHindoo Leiden:
Sumatra, E. J.Brill,
1937.
40

VOL.75
JMBRAS
netwoik.Melayuculturewas availableto manygroupson bothsides of the Straitof

Melaka,thusfacilitating theadoptionof Melayuethnicity.78
Melayureligion,Islam,thenbecametheonlymajorhurdleforthosewishingto
claimto be be Melayu.It was a requirement thatdid imposeconsiderablehardships on
thosewhomaintained strongbeliefsin local deitiesand spiritsandwereparticularly fond
of thetasteofpork.For some,too,thepig was associatedwithcommunity solidarityat
specialgatheringsofthegroup.All thishadto be foresworn ifone becameMelayu.Yet,
eventhisrestriction provedless of an obstaclethanexpected,and references aboundof
cases ofconversions leadingto a changein ethnicity. Although manyoftheOrangAsli
on thePeninsuladid nothavethesameculturalheritage as thoseon Sumatra, theirlong
contactwiththeMelayugave theman intimate knowledgeof theirlanguageand their
customs.A culturalpracticeamongtheOrangAsli further adoptionofMelayu
facilitated
ethnicity.Individuals generallyjoined a band dominated by theirmaternal or paternal
but
relatives, they often also simply attached themselves to a new for
group personal
reasons.One couldthusbe bornintoone group,butin thecourseof one's lifecometo
join and becomea partof othergroups.Edo citesan exampleof one OrangAsli manin
thepast who wantedto workin a territory inhabitedby anotherOrangAsli band.He
therefore movedintothevillageofthelattergroup,married one of itswomen,and thus
becamepartof thatcommunity.79 The mutualintelligibility of thelanguagesspokenby
some of the Semang and theirsharedlifestylefacilitatedmovementsof individuals
betweenbands.80Those OrangAsli communities who had frequent intercoursewiththe
Melayucould,in time,decideto masukMelayu,or becomea Melayu,by followingthe
clearprescriptionsidentified withthatethnicity. FortheOrangAsli and fortheMelayu,
however, thedefining'boundary'separating thetwowas lifestyle.An OrangAsli who
came to lead a sedentary existenceas an agriculturalist and fulfilledtheotherrequire-
mentsoflanguage,cultureandreligion, couldbecomeacceptedas a Melayu.Such shifts
inethnicidentityoftenoccurred on thefringes oftwoworlds:thejungleoftheOrangAsli
andtheagricultural landsoftheMelayu.
In thepast,theMalays used to designatetheSemangby exonymsreflecting the
of
types ecological zones in which they lived. The SemangPaya were thoseof theplains
and landsbordering themarshes;theSemangBukitwerefoundin the hillyareas,the
SemangBakaufrequented thecoastsandthemangrove forests;andtheSemangBila were
those who hadabandoned theirOrang Asli style of lifeand had frequent with
intercourse
the Malays.81It would have been the SemangBila, the most acculturatedto Melayu
whowouldhavemadethetransition
civilization, to Melayumuchquickerthantheothers.
Dentanhas also observeda similarpattern ofnamingamongtheSemai,thelargestgroup
amongtheSenoi.Unlikethecase oftheSemang,however, theterms usedarenotimposed
fromtheoutsidebutare Semai endonyms. For example,thereare themai chenan('they
of themountains'), mai kuuiteio('theyat theheadsof thewaters',i.e. upriverpeople),
78 Fora historical
discussion
oftheevolution
of'Melayu' seeLeonard
ethnicity, Y.Andaya,'TheSearchfor
the"Origins
ofMelayu',JournalofSoutheast
Asian 32(3),2001,pp.315-30.
Studies,
79 Edo,'Traditional p.20.
Alliance',
'Batek
Endicott, p.36.
History',
* JohnAnderson, Inhabitants
'OftheAboriginal oftheMalayanPeninsula, oftheNegroes,
andParticularly
calledSemang',AppendixinJohn andCommercial
Political
Anderson, Considerations tothe
Relative
Malayan andtheBritish
Peninsula intheStraits
Settlements ofMalacca,Singapore:
MalaysianBranchof
theRoyal Asiatic
Society, p.xxxviii.
1965[1824],
41

PART1,2002
and themai bareh('theyof thelowlands',i.e. peoplelivingneartheMalay and Chinese

townsfoundinthelowlands).82 Becauseofthelocationofthemaibareh,theywouldhave
foundit easierto shiftethnicities thanthoseof themai kuuiteiolivingin themountain-
ous areas.Of thethreemajorcategories ofOrangAsli,itwas theOrangMelayuAsli who
were closestto theMelayu in languageand lifestyle, and therefore best positionedto
change ethnicities.In his Historyof the Peninsular Malays (1923), Wilkinson citesthe
example of the Besisi in
(OrangMelayuAsli) Selangor and Negri Sembilan livingin
Malay houses and the
imitating Melayu way of life.Exceptforlanguage,theywere
indistinguishable fromtheirMelayu neighboursand were becomingmore like them
through intermarriage and conversion to Islam.83
The reverseprocessof MelayubecomingOrangAsli is mentioned by Annandale
writingin the beginningof thetwentieth centuiy.Referring to the area aroundKuala
Lumpur,he statesthatit is notunknownfortheMelayuto go to thejungleand become
members oftheSakai (OrangAsli) group.84 Dunnbelievesthataboriginal Malay groups
inthesouthern halfofthePeninsulaare,infact,descendants ofearlierMalayo-Polynesian
speakers85(hence amongthe first'wave' of Austronesian speakerson the Peninsula
sometime inthefirstmillennium ). By the time, the Melayuimmigrants fromSumatra
arrivedin thePeninsulain the late fourteenth centuiy, these earlyMalayo-Polynesian
speakerswouldhave adoptedthelifestyle ofthedominant OrangAsli communities. The
closenessof theirlanguageand cultureswiththoseof theMelayumayreflecta much
oldercommonculturalheritage andmaynotbe duesimplytogreater intercourse between
thesetwocommunities.
Thereare fewerexamplesoftheprocessofMelayubecomingOrangAsli because
ofthesteadilydeteriorating statusofthelatter vis vistheMelayusincetheestablishment
of Britishcolonial rule in the late nineteenth centuiy.Collectionof forestproducts
continuedto be important in internationaltrade,and even becameintensified withthe
establishment of the settlement of Singaporeby the Britishin 1819. As the primary
collectors, theOrangAsliweredeemedindispensable tothistradeandthusregarded with
somerespect.Nevertheless, evenbythistimethetradein forestgoodswas a minorpart
of a largerexporteconomyinvolving tin,plantation cropsand,in thelatenineteenth and
early twentieth centuries,rubber and later oil palm. The declinein thedemand for forest
productsleftonlyoccasionalwage labourin theminingand plantation sectorsopenfor
Orang Asli employment. Melayu attitudestowards theOrang Asli thusshifted fromone
ofrespectandevenawe in earliercenturies to one ofcontempt fortheirnomadiclifestyle,
'superstitious beliefs',and now theirmenialoccupations.Therewas less reasonfora
Melayu to become an OrangAsli,butan overwhelming incentiveforthelatterto become
Melayu because of economic and politicalrewards and an enhanced statusin Malaysian
society.
82 Robert KnoxDentan, TheSenai

: ANonviolent NewYork: Rinehart
andWinston,
PeopleofMalaya, Holt,
1968, p. 1.
R. J.Wilkinson, A History
ofthePeninsularMalays,3rdedn.inR. J.Wilkinson,
PapersonMalay
Subjects,KualaLumpur:Oxford University 197119231,
Press, pp.18-19.
Nelson Annandale andHerbertC. Robinson,Fasciculi London:
Malayenses, Green
Longman, & Co.,
1903, p.51.
F. L. Dunn, 'Secular
ChangesinTemuan (MalayanOrangAsli)Settlement Subsistence
Patterns, and
Health',Malayan Nature
Journal, p.4.
31(2),1977,
42

JMBRAS
VOL.75
Summary and Conclusion

Melayu-Orang Asli relationscan be tracedbackto about1000 whentheancestors of
the two groupsfirstencountered each otheron the Peninsula.This initialencounter
favoured theOrangAsli whohad settledthelandsome500 to 1,000yearspreviously and
werenumerically thelargerof thetwo.The Malayo-Polynesian speakers who remained
werelimitedto thecoastsbecausetheinterior was alreadypopulatedbytheOrangAsli.
FromtheearlyMalayo-Polynesian speakersinthesouthevolvedsomeofthefirstOrang
in
MelayuAsli, while thecentreand thenorththe Semangand the Senoi populations
developedfromHoabinhianand Southern Mongoloidancestors andcameto speakAslian
languagesbelongingto Austroasiatic.
Archaeologicalevidenceindicatesthatboth coasts in the northern partof the
Peninsulaand the Isthmianarea in present-day southern Thailandwere sitesof major
civilizationsin thefirstmillennium and a halfAD. Theyflourished primarily through
internationaltradethatflowedbetweenone coast to theotherthrough a seriesof river
routesconnectedby shortlandpassages.One of themajorattractions of theseportsto
foreign merchants was the resins, aromatic woods and rattans which were foundin the
northern forestsin the Peninsulaor across the Straitin Sumatra.This networkof
collectors,distributorsand buyersspanningthenorthern regionof theStraitof Melaka
operated as a unit,allowing for the separatedevelopmentof the northern fromthe
southern regions ofthe Peninsula and Sumatra.86 One oftheprincipal beneficiaries ofthis
northern international
trading network was theOrangAsli populations oftheSemangand
theSenoi. Specializedknowledgewas neededto locatetheresin-bearing treesand the
aromaticwoods and rattans. Because of thenatureof rainforests, in whicha plotof land
wouldcontainnumerousdifferent speciesratherthanjust one standof a specifictree,
knowledgeoftheforestwas requiredto locatethedesiredproduct.Moreover,theability
to determine whichparticular treecontainedtheresinsrequiredanothertypeof specialist
skill.The OrangAsh practiceofroaming withina fixedterritoryenabledthemto acquire
an intimate knowledge of what theforest contained.Years of practicalexperiencepassed
downby oraltalesas groupsrevisited sitesalso helpedto maintainwithinthegroupthe
secretsof detecting theelusivebutprofitable forestproducts.87Furthermore, theprinci-
pal trans-peninsularor trans-Isthmian routes went through Orang Asli lands. The latter's
role as guidesand portersmade theman indispensable part of the international trade
network in theseearlycenturies.
Afterthefoundation of Melaka in thefifteenth century,muchof thetradewent
through theStraitand southward, and thoughthenorthern land routeswere stillbeing
used intothe seventeenth century, theywere now trulysecondaryroutes.At approxi-
matelythesameperiodbetweenthefifteenth andtheeighteenth centuries, tinandpepper
came to replaceforestproductsas theprimary exchangeitemsof theregionin interna-
tionaltrade.The miningoftinandthegrowingofpeppercameto be dominated moreby
othergroups,includingtheMelayuand theChinese,thusrelegating forestproductsto a
/ 4A
I develop
this ingreater
argument detail
inLeonardY.Andaya, ofTrade
History intheSeaofMelayu',
Itinerario,
EuropeanJournalofOverseas ; 24(1),2000,pp.87-110.
History
thepractice
Lyeexplains among theBatek,
oneoftheNegritogroups, tooldsites
whoreturn where
they
havetravelled, collected.
hunted, Atsuchsites,
they remember andnarrate andchanges
continuities and
this
reproduce totheyounger
knowledge SeeLye,'Knowledge,
generation. andHunter-Gatherer
Forest,
Movement',pp.150,196.
43

PART1,2002
minorrole.The declinein theuse of thelandroutesin thenorth, combinedwithlower

demandforforestgoods,erodedtheeconomicandthesocialpositionof theOrangAsli.
The final blow came withthe establishment of Britishcolonial controlin the late
nineteenth century, when the junglesbegan to be clearedin orderto createrubberestates
and oil palmplantations. Notonlywas thehabitat, andhencethenomadicjunglelifestyle
of the Orang Asli threatened, but theireconomicparticipation in the international
economyseverely curtailed. Thus began the rapid decline of the economic and social
statusoftheOrangAsli inthemodernizing of
economy Malay(si)a.
The radicalchangein theeconomicpositionoftheOrangAsli had a majorimpact
on Melayu-OrangAsli relations. Whereasin thepastone couldspeakofthemovements
of individuals from one groupto the next,in latercenturiestherewere far fewer
documented cases MelayubecomingOrangAsli thanthereverseprocess.Thisshiftin
of
attitudeis also reflected in thetraditions of theOrangAsli themselves collectedtoward
theendof thetwentieth centuiy. EventhetalesoftheoriginsofOrangAsli groupseither
stateor implythedominanceoftheMelayu.Otherstoriestryto 'justify'physicaldiffer-
ence and the lack of writingby referring to deeds or misdeedsof theirancestors.
Traditional trickstertalesare employedto demonstrate superiority overtheMelayu,but
they nevertheless imply that power actually lay with the Melayu, much inthewaythatthe
Melayu Sejarah Melayu uses such stories to demonstrate unconvincingly Melaka's
superiority over China or Majapahit. The situation had deteriorated to such an extentfor
theOrangAsli thattheMelayubecameconvincedthat'salvation'fortheOrangAsli lay
in theirbecomingMelayuthrough theadoptionofIslamanda sedentary way
agricultural
of life.
Althoughthiseffort towardsassimilation continuesin Malaysiatoday,theoutcry
raisedininternational circlesagainsttheperceivedgenocideofindigenous peoplesaround
the world has brought some respitefor the Orang Asli. Buoyedby other indigenous
groups,a stronginternational lobby,and theUnitedNations,theOrangAsli havebegun
toorganizeandto makea case fortheirpreservation as theoriginalinhabitants oftheland.
Theyarenowseekingto haverestored to themlandswrongfully seizedbasedon thelegal
argument thattheOrangAsli had no senseofa fixedboundedterritory belongingto the
group. Such argumentsare now being counteredby scholarsand legal expertsto
demonstrate thattheOrangAsli haveindeeda developedidea ofa specificboundedter-
ritory as the home oftheirancestorsandas a sourceof thetransmission ofknowledgeto
theyoungergeneration. Assimilation efforts by the Melayu have also spurreda growing
moveamongthevariousgroupsofOrangAsli touse thestatedesignation oftheircollec-
tivityand hence create an 'Orang Asli' ethnicity. They have also come to demandtheir
own advocaterather thanacceptthejudgements of theState-sponsored Officeof Orang
Asli Affairs(JabatanHal-EhwalOrangAsli). Fromthisrenewedsense of identity and
purposeamong the OrangAsli, at least a start will have been made to the
re-establish
mutualrespectwhichhad once characterized therelationsbetweentheMelayuand the
OrangAsli.
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ORANG ASLI AND THE MELAYU IN THE HISTORY OF THE MALAY PENINSULA

Author(s): LEONARD Y. ANDAYA

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present-day Malaysia,the dominantethnicity is the Melayu (Malay), followed

' I wouldliketothankJuliEdo,Geoffrey ColinNicholas

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of Semang,Senoi and OrangAsli Melayuwill be maintained withthe awarenessthat

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A commonmisconception oftheOrangAsliis thattheypractisea nomadiclifestyle

Early Habitation of the Peninsula

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theSenoi weredescendant of thelaterSouthernMongoloidmigration. The archaeologi-

17 Thisis notto thattheNeolithicculture found inthePeninsula wasdueentirely tothe

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peoples',24thussupporting Benjamin'scontention of OrangAsli

The Expansion of the Austronesian- and

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sometimearound100 of Malayic speakersdowntheriversto thecoasts,thenout

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History of External Trade among the Orang Asli

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.182 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 23:35:51 PM

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servedas secondaiycentresfeedingtheportson thecoast.Once thearomaticsand gold

Melayu Traditions on Melayu-Orang Asli Relations

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inhabitants oftheland.TheSejarahMelayu(MalayAnnals),a courttextbelievedto have

45 Abdul Rahman oftheRallies

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period.CouillardcitesSkeatandBlagdenin tracing theetymology oftheterm'Sakai' to

52 MarieAndree 'TheMalays andthe"Sakai": SomeComments onTheir inthe

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nineteenth centuiy,mostscholarsacknowledgethe inclusionof oral legendsfromthe

Orang Asli Traditions on Orang Asli-Melayu Relations

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on a hilloverlooking Melaka,and whenthatsettlement becomestoo largeto containthe

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translatedby the Dutch as 'Keizer' or Emperor)to the variousrantau,or areas of

Foranexcellentaccountofthepowers oftheMinangkabaucourtandexamples ofthese seeJane

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island.Initially, theysettleamongtheearliermigrants atPagaruyung, buttheiraggressive

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openly acknowledged.Finally,thereis the themeof a blood link withthe Melayu

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weakeningpositionof theOrangAsli was theinfluxof StraitsChineseand European

The Question of Ethnicity

71 WazirJahan Transformations inMa'Betise'Economics andIdeology:

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Sumatraas a resultof theimportance ofthekingdomsof Srivijayaand Malayubetween

73 Kassim Ahmad, HangTuah,p. 189.

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netwoik.Melayuculturewas availableto manygroupson bothsides of the Straitof

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and themai bareh('theyof thelowlands',i.e. peoplelivingneartheMalay and Chinese

82 Robert KnoxDentan, TheSenai

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Summary and Conclusion

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minorrole.The declinein theuse of thelandroutesin thenorth, combinedwithlower

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Andaya,BarbaraWatson,ToLiveas Brothers: SoutheastSumatrain theSeventeenth and

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Relationsin theMalayPeninsula',Kajian Malaysia, 2(1), 1984,pp. 81-108.

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