Riau Malays

Malay (Chinese: 末羅瑜國; pinyin: Mòluóyú Guó), derived from the word Malaya dvipa from the Hindu scripture Purana which means land surrounded by water which refers to a Old Malay Kingdom in Jambi in the 7th century.[1]

The name riau itself has three opinions. First, from Portuguese word, rio means river.[2][3] In 1514, there was a Portuguese military expedition exploring the Siak River, with the aim of finding the location of a kingdom that they believe exists in the area, at the same time pursuing the followers of Sultan Mahmud Syah who withdrew to Kampar after the fall of the Sultanate of Malacca.[4][5] The second opinion "riau" comes from the word "riahi" which means sea water, which is thought to have come from the book One Thousand and One Nights.[3]

The third opinion is taken from the word rioh or noisy which comes from the naming of the local people which means crowded, the hustle and bustle of working peoples, which became known since Raja Kecik moved the center of the Malay kingdom from Johor to Riau ulu in 1719.[3] This name was used as one of the four main countries that formed the kingdoms of Riau, Lingga, Johor, and Pahang. However, the result of the London Treaty of 1824 between Dutch and England resulted in the splitting of this kingdom into two. The Johor-Pahang hemisphere is under British influence, Meanwhile, the Riau-Lingga hemisphere was under the influence of the Dutch.[6][7]

Riau is thought to have been inhabited since 10,000,000-14,000,000 BC. This conclusion was drawn after the discovery of tools from the Pleistocene era in the Sengingi River watershed in Kuantan Singingi Regency in August 2009. The stone tools found included a penetak ax, perimbas, shaver, flakes, and core stones which are the basic ingredients for making shaver, and flakes. The research team also found some wood fossils that are thought to be older than the stone tools. It is suspected that the human user of the tools found in Riau is Pithecanthropus erectus, as has been found in Central Java.[8][9]

Muara Takus Temple located in Kampar Regency is a proof of civilization heritage Malay Kingdom (a kingdom centered in eastern Sumatra which is the origin of the formation of the Malays).

The Riau Malay Empire was also a continuation of the Sriwijaya Empire heritage based on religion Buddhist. This is evidence of the discovery of Muara Takus Temple which is thought to be the center of the Srivijaya government, which has an architecture resembling the temples in India. Besides that, George Cœdès also found similarities in the structure of the Srivijaya government with the Malay sultanates of the 15th century.[10] The Malay kingdom started from the 12th century Bintan-Tumasik Kingdom, followed by a period of Islamic Malay Sultanates.

The earliest text that discusses the Malay world is Sulalatus Salatin or what is known as Sejarah Melayu by Tun Sri Lanang, in 1612.[11] According to the book, Seguntang Hill is the place where The Sapurba came, whose descendants were scattered throughout the Malay World. Sang Mutiara became king in Tanjungpura and Sang Nila Utama became king of Bintan before finally moving to Singapore.[12]

"So all the Malay customs are also valid according to Syarak and Syariah. It is these customs that have been passed down from generation to generation to the land of Johor, the land of Riau, the land of Indragiri, the land of Siak, the land of Pelalawan, and all the lands of the Malays. All customs that are not based on Islamic law are wrong and cannot be used anymore. Since then, Malay customs have been called syarak-based customs which adhere to the book of Allah and the sunnah of the Prophet".[13]

— Tonel, 1920.

Malay society in general is identical with Islam which is the foundation of the source of their customs. Therefore, the customs of the Riau Malays bersendikan syarak and syarak bersendikan Kitabullah.[14][15]

Prior to the arrival of Islam to the archipelago, many parts of the region were under the Srivijaya Kingdom between the 7th and 14th centuries which were heavily influenced by Hindu-Buddhist traditions.[16] At that time Islam had been introduced when the Maharaja of Srivijaya sent a letter to the Caliph Umar bin Abdul Aziz, containing a request to send a messenger to explain Islamic law to him.[17]

In the 12th century, the entry of Islam into the archipelago was brought through the Samudera Pasai which had been recognized as the pioneer of the Islamic empire in the archipelago in its time.[18]

The process of Islamic expansion occurred through trade, marriage and missionary activities of Muslim scholars. These factors led to the peaceful spread and growing influence of Islam throughout the Malay World. A strong factor in the acceptance of Islam by the Malay community is the aspect of human equality, which according to the ideology of the people at that time adhered to the caste system in Hinduism, where the lower caste society is lower than the higher caste members.[19]

The golden age when Malacca became an Islamic sultanate. Many elements of Islamic law, including political science and administration, are incorporated into Malacca law, especially Law Qanun Malacca. The ruler of Melaka was given the title 'Sultan' and was responsible for the religion of Islam. In the 15th century Islam spread and developed throughout the Melaka region including the entire Malay Peninsula, Riau Islands, Bintan, Lingga, and several areas on the east coast of Sumatra, namely Jambi, Bengkalis, Siak, Rokan, Indragiri, Kampar, and Kuantan. Malacca is considered a catalyst in the expansion of Islam to other areas such as Palembang, Sumatra, Patani in Southern Thailand, North Borneo, Brunei, Sulu Islands, and Mindanao.[20]

On the other hand, people Sakai and Talang Mamak still adhere to Animism. Along with the times, many residents of Sakai and Talang Mamak have embraced Islam. Even so, the shift in belief did not eliminate their habit of practicing the teachings of their ancestors.

Raja Ali Haji, an poet as well as the first founder of Malay grammar through the book Pedoman Bahasa which became the first dictionary single language in the archipelago.

Riau Malay language has a fairly long history, because the history began in the Sriwijaya Empire, At that time Malay had become the language of trade in the Archipelago. Initially the center of the kingdom was in Malacca then moved to Johor, and finally moved to Riau. Since then, Riau has been given the title as the center of the Malay kingdom. Therefore, the Malay language of the Malacca era was known as Malacca Malay, Johor Malay is known as Johor Malay and Riau Malay is known as Riau Malay.

Riau Malay language has been nurtured in such a way by Raja Ali Haji, so that this language already has standards in its day and has also been widely published, in the form of; literary books, history and religion books in the era of classical Malay literature in the 19th century.