15/11/2025
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Modern Malays are generally recognised as an Austronesian ethnoreligious group native to Southeast Asia. โฝยนโพโฝยฒโพ Their origins, however, remain one of the most discussed and contested topics in the regionโs diverse cultural landscape. To better understand how the Malay people emerged, examining their genetic background offers an important starting point.
A 2015 genetic study revealed that Malay populations carry four major ancestral components: Austronesian (17%โ62%), Proto-Malay (15%โ31%), East Asian (4%โ16%) and South Asian (3%โ34%).โฝยณโพ Over centuries, layers of migration, interaction, and intermarriage have shaped this blend, creating the rich and diverse genetic landscape that characterizes the Malay population today.
๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ง๐ฌ
The widely accepted view holds that Austronesian ancestors first emerged in Taiwan around 6,000 years ago before expanding southward, though their deeper origins and ties to populations beyond Taiwan have long been debated. In 2025, reconstructions of phylogenetic relationships and geographic patterns, using mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome markers, and genome-wide data, offer a more detailed picture. These findings suggest that the Pre-Austronesian populations likely arose along the coastal regions of Southeastern China during the early Neolithic period over 10,000 years ago. They lived primarily on marine resources alongside hunting and gathering. โฝโดโพ
Over time, they mixed with ancient northern Chinese groups and adopted early millet and rice cultivation, giving rise to the Proto-Austronesians between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago. From this lineage emerged the Early Austronesians (roughly 4,000โ7,000 years ago), who moved into Taiwan around 6,000 years ago before dispersing across Maritime Southeast Asia, largely through the Philippines, around 4,100 years ago. โฝโดโพ
It is worth to note that prior to the southward migration and expansion of the Han Chinese, the regions of Southern China were home to a diverse array of non-Chinese peoples. โฝโตโพ Over millennia, a complex process of migration, conflict, assimilation, and cultural exchange occurred, significantly shaping the demographics and history of modern-day Southern China. Many of the descendants of these ancient groups are now recognised as distinct ethnic minorities within China.
๐๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐จ-๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ
Another key ancestral component of the Malay population is the Proto-Malays. A 2025 mtDNA analysis showed that Proto-Malay genes, specifically those of the Jakun subgroup, belong to the N21a haplogroup, which dates back roughly 19,000 years and originates from N21, itself derived from haplogroup N. These deeper lineages appear largely confined to Mainland Southeast Asia, having been identified in regions such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Yunnan, China. Further genetic analysis also indicates a close relationship between the Proto-Malays and the Khmers, the Austroasiatic speakers of Cambodia. โฝโถโพ This finding supports the migration hypothesis, which proposes that the Proto-Malays moved from Yunnan to the Malay Peninsula via mainland Southeast Asia, 4000 years ago. โฝโถโพ This theory is further corroborated by cultural, linguistic, and archaeological evidence observed across the histories of these populations. โฝโถโพ
๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐จ-๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ
A theory suggested that the original Deutero-Malays migrated directly from southern China (after the migration of the Proto-Malays) over 1500 years ago and intermarried with the Proto-Malays. โฝโทโพ Another theory proposes that the Malays of today are themselves Deutero-Malays, descended from the Proto-Malays who intermingled with other Southeast Asian populations as well as South and East Asian traders. โฝโธโพ This mixed ancestry is reflected in their genetic makeup, which shows traces of both South and East Asian lineages as stated above. โฝยณโพ The roots of this admixture can be traced back to the rise of the early kingdoms, among others the ๐ญ๐-๐๐๐-๐๐-๐๐ and ๐บ๐๐๐-๐๐ kingdoms in the Malay Peninsula, which are documented as far back as 200 BC in the Book of the Former Han (ๅๆผขๆธ). โฝโนโพโฝยนโฐโพ These early states were actively engaged in extensive maritime trade networks connecting ancient China and India, facilitating cultural and genetic exchange over centuries. These early states later followed by other Buddhist maritime states like Langkasuka, Kedah, Srivijaya, Tambralinga that dominating the region until at least 14th century.
๐๐จ๐๐๐ซ๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ
The rise of Melaka Sultanate in the 15th century brought about the emergence a heavily Islamised Malay identity. โฝยนโพ It was during the period of Melaka and its other succeeding Malay sultanates particularly Johor, spanning from the 15th century onwards, that the modern Malay cultural identity as we know today began to take form. โฝยฒโพ
๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ
โฝยนโพ Barnard (2004), p. 4
โฝยฒโพ Milner (2010), p. 230
โฝยณโพ Deng, L., Hoh, BP., Lu, D. et al (2015)
โฝโดโพ Ko, A.MS., Tu, HP. & Ko, YC (2025)
โฝโตโพ Wang, G. (1958), p. 4-5
โฝโถโพ Yap, WS., Cengnata, A., Saw, WY. et al (2025)
โฝโทโพ Fix AG (1995)
โฝโธโพ Comas D, Calafell F, Mateu E, Perez-Lezaun A, Bosch E, et al. (1998)
โฝโนโพ Wheatley, P. (1957)
โฝยนโฐโพ Wang, G. (1958), p. 22-22
๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ
Barnard, Timothy P. (2004), Contesting Malayness: Malay identity across boundaries, Singapore: Singapore University press, ISBN 978-9971-69-279-7
Comas D, Calafell F, Mateu E, Perez-Lezaun A, Bosch E, et al. (1998) Trading genes along the silk road: mtDNA sequences and the origin of central Asian populations. Am J Hum Genet 63: 1824โ1838.
Deng, L., Hoh, BP., Lu, D. et al (2015). Dissecting the genetic structure and admixture of four geographical Malay populations. Sci Rep 5, 14375. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep14375
Fix AG (1995) Malayan paleosociology: implications for patterns of genetic variation amongst the Orang Asli. American Anthropology 97: 313โ323.
Ko, A.MS., Tu, HP. & Ko, YC (2025). Genetic insights into the origin, admixture, and migration of the early Austronesian peoples. J Hum Genet. https://doi.org/10.1038/s10038-025-01380-8
Milner, Anthony (2010), The Malays (The Peoples of South-East Asia and the Pacific), Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 978-1-4443-3903-1
Wang, G. (1958). The Nanhai Trade: A Study of the Early History of Chinese Trade in the South China Sea. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 31(2 (182)), 1โ135. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41503138
Wheatley, P. (1957). Possible References to the Malay Peninsula in the Annals of the Former Han. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 30(1 (177)), 115โ121. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41503110
Yap, WS., Cengnata, A., Saw, WY. et al (2025). High-coverage whole-genome sequencing of a Jakun individual from the โOrang Asliโ Proto-Malay subtribe from Peninsular Malaysia. Hum Genome Var 12, 4 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41439-024-00308-6
