The Malay Civilization Science And Technology, Evidence

The Malay Civilization is located on the Peninsula and the islands of Southwest Asia CITATION Iqb15 \l 13321 (Iqbal, 2015). It encompasses present Philippines, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, East Malaysia, Timor-Leste and the islands of Indonesia. It dates back to about 2nd or 3rd century AD (Sabri) or others say 100 AD until 1500 AD CITATION Has08 \l 13321 (Hasni, 2008). Early Malay kingdoms civilizations were Lin Yi which is also called Fu Nan (South Vietnam and Cambodia), Langkasuka, Majapahit, Malacca and Sri Vijaya (Palembang or South Sumatera). The civilization ended when the King of Chapa died in 1823 CITATION Has08 \l 13321 (Hasni, 2008). The early Malay Kingdoms were named
The Malay people are divided into two groups. The Proto Malays also known as Melayu Darat and the Malay Polynesians also called the Melayu Laut. The Proto Malays initially occupied Malaysia and have migrated to the Peninsula believed to be during the Ice age and the second wave due to the expansion of the Champa Kingdom. The Malays from the south (Sumatera) also migrated to the Peninsula due to the advancement of the Malacca sultanate. Other waves of migrations also occurred thereafter CITATION Has08 \l 13321 (Hasni, 2008).
Unlike Java and Cambodia, the territories of the Malay Kingdoms lacked broad fertile plains. The Malayan culture was highly influenced by the Indians who came over to trade. The Indians brought in knowledge in arts and concepts in religion and government CITATION Zai \l 13321 (Sabri).
One aspect that define the Malay Civilization is trade. Malay world before the colonial era was of a business trading civilization. This may be proven by the spread of the Malay language around the archipelago as a result of trading with them CITATION Iqb15 \l 13321 (Iqbal, 2015). The Malayan peninsula was known because of the state of Langkasuka. It was said the largest source of gold in the area. It earned the name Golden Chersonese by Ptolemy. It also supplied tin to renowned seafarers. CITATION Zai \l 13321 (Sabri).
SHIP BUILDING TECHNOLOGY
Since the Malayan Archipelago territories are mostly island countries, boatbuilding is also proven to have been one of the skills developed by the Malayans. Boat building and crossing across the seas are said to have happened first in the archipelago and thus is called the cradle of great seafaring nations such as the Sri Vijaya, Majapahit and Bajau due to the shrinking of the Islands to rising sea waters. This made the people sea-farers and learned to explore every corner of the archipelago.
In Malaya, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippines, the earliest boats are proved to have been present during the 2nd century. Maritime trade and boat construction are particularly associated to the Bugis’s, Madureses, Bajaus (Sea Gypsies), Madars and the Butungeses CITATION Pha12 \l 13321 (Pham, 2012).
In Cambodia, hollowed tree trunks are used as water transportation in rivers and lakes. The size of the boat depends on the size of the trunk used. These tree trnks are dug ut to create hollows in the middle. The dugout are reinforced with fitted timbers or benches to also serve as a seats for boat riders.
Around the archipelago, it is also generic to have rafts sewn from wood planks. “The hulls were built by raising planks on each side of a keel piece, which indicates having evolved from a dugout base”. The technique of fastening the planks is called a lash-lug technique. These ones are believed to have existed as early as the third to fourth century. The boats found in the Philippines have improved beyond the lash-lug technique of fastening to a more sophisticated one.
PICTURE SOURCE: Ballantyne, R.M. Man on the Ocean, 2007
Another type called the Pontian Boat, found in Malaysia in 1926, dated back to 260-430 AD. It has a flush-laid planking attached together using dowels and carved out logs. Bamboo rafts are also very common since bamboo is of abundance to most areas in the archipelago CITATION Pha12 \l 13321 (Pham, 2012).
When Malayans started trading with other archipelagos, seafaring and ship building also became one of the technologies that the Malays learned. A Malay ship is described as having an almost triangular shape with a straight yard. The sail is of a strong matting and the outrigger, mast and yard are all made of bamboo. One of the ships built by the Malays is the Malay Proa which is described to have a faster speed. CITATION Bal07 \l 13321 (Ballantyne, 2007). This is actually a generic boat also seen in other areas only with different terms such as perahu, prauwe or prau CITATION Pha12 \l 13321 (Pham, 2012).
The Proa of the Madura’s are small open vessels of 10 meters in length which may be used for fishing or haul transport. Others use it for trading. This may be a wooden craft of traditional or semi-traditional style.
In Malaysia, there are two types of boats. The bedar and the pinas. These are built without a plan but based on skills acquired by the builders. The hull is built first and then the frames will be fitted to it after. Planks are attached together using natural sealing properties. This technique was said to have come from the Proto-Malayan migrations CITATION Pha12 \l 13321 (Pham, 2012).
THE KERIS AND ANCIENT METALLURGY
Iron soldering was also one of the technologies that defined the Malayan Civilization. There have been researched that have proven that iron has been present in 500-400 BC in Thailand, Burma and Southern Vietnam. This was introduced to these territories from India. In fact there are 40 discovered Iron Age sites in Thailand, 20 in Vietnam and also some in Laos and Cambodia. There were a number of iron tools and weapons recovered in various archeological sites which showed that iron had been of large usage during the ancient Malay civilization.
Iron was widely used in weapon making in the Malay peninsula as it is believed to have a talismanic value. The keris is a distinctive and unique Malay weapon. It is a dagger with a handle set to an angle to the blade. Originally, the handle was shorter and eventually became longer as they found the need to do so CITATION Gar36 \l 13321 (Gardner, 1936) .
It was thought to have originated from India again as a result of trading because of its wavy blade design. Wavy blade designs are distinctive of India. It was however also said that the keris was originally straight but have become wavy only during the 15th century.
The first keris makers and iron workers were called pandai besi, they are thought to have magical powers and are able to have their way with metals. These are usually the leaders of the province as well.
The earliest of these types of weapon seem to be small iron bars welded together, like knitting needle. This was during the time when the Malays have not yet learned to make steel. Iron was also rare and costly in the earlier periods. Ideally it should be made up of two types of iron. A good one is however something made up of up to seven types.
The keris blade is of asymmetric form where the blade is wider in one side than the other with both edges sharpened. It is usually about 12-15 inches long. A pattern is seen on the surface of the blade called pamor CITATION Mai98 \l 13321 (Maisey, 1998). It was said that when some of the iron were imported from India, it has lost its talismanic powers and thus some etchings must have to be made to make it still magical CITATION Gar36 \l 13321 (Gardner, 1936).
Before iron was used, bronze was the widely sed metal in the archipelago. The earliest bronze works were said to have happened in Southeast Asia and is most likely around the Malayan Archipelago. Copper and tin smelting is thought to be due to the growth of trade between the late Neolithic inhabitants and Shang and Zhou in China. The date however has not been established CITATION Hig96 \l 13321 (Higham, 1996)
In Vietnam, the Dong-Son culture was involved in the trade of copper alloys. Craftsmen specialized in creating situla, drums, axes, daggers, figurines and musical instruments. The remnants of which were found in burial sites of community leaders. There were also excavations of iron in Burma and Sri Lanka CITATION Glo15 \l 13321 (Glover, 2015).
The study of the ancient Mayan metallurgy points out that the Malays have earlier used bronze and have shifted to iron eventually. CITATION Glo15 \l 13321 (Glover, 2015)
Bronze artifacts were discovered in Samrong Sen in Cambodia. These were axes, arrowheads, fish hooks nd bangels. French scholars also discovered more in Luang Prabang, Laos and on the Upper Black River. The ones excavated from Nok Nok Tha in Northeast Thailand even predated the Chinese bronze period. These bronzes were dated 3500 BC which was the oldest on the world CITATION Mik17 \l 13321 (Miksic & Yian, 2017)
ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES
The Bujang Valley in Malaysia is a 224 sq m area where ruins dating abck to 2000 years ago may be found. On the excavations done, there were ancient tomb temples called candi tha were discovered. The clay brick monuments discovered date back to 110 AD which is the oldest man-made structure found in Southeast Asia.
In Sungai Batu within the valley, about 90 mounds were discovered which contains monumental archeological findings. This area has been thought to have been a jetty where traders load and unload trade commodities including iron ore. There were also structures found near the river bank which appeared to be bridges, dock, port or terminal CITATION pan15 \l 13321 (panzlithium, 2015) .
The structure found in the area were characterized by four features: wall, floor, stairs and roof. The walls, floors and stairs were made of bricks while the roof were made of tiles. The bricks had various designs such as beaded and polished edges, printed with animal designs, brick with iron and others. Other fra...