People / group

Malays

Also known as Malay people

The Malays are an Austronesian people of the Malay Peninsula, eastern Sumatra, the coasts of Borneo and southern Thailand. Most are Muslims, and Malay culture took shape in sultanates such as Malacca and Johor, whose language became a lingua franca of maritime South-East Asia. They form the majority population of Malaysia and Brunei.

Malays
Image: Orhanghazi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 3 profiles

Ayutthaya KingdomSocioeconomyJohor SultanateGovernance, ImpactMalaysiaFoundation, Socioeconomy, Governance

Mentioned in 7 state histories

Sultanate of SingoraDutch MalaccaRaj of SarawakUnfederated Malay StatesJapanese occupation of MalayaCrown Colony of SarawakMalayan Union

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Malays. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/malays
MLA
“Malays.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/malays. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Malays.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/malays.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Malays’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/malays (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻