ÖÖI 8x 3 ^c- 0 - Acehbooks.org

S U M A T R A . 183
In fact the word " Malay" all over the eaft, no longer denotes an in- General achabitant
of Malayo, ftrictly, nor one claiming his defcent from thence; theword ° f
but a perfon whofe language and religion are the fame with theirs. Thus " Mala )'-"
every black Chriftian is called, in India, a Pcrtugtiefe, though his veins
boaft not a drop of European blood. The entire conformity of thofe
people with the real Malayans, would induce us to think, on a fuperficial Q . . .
view, that they are, altogether, no other than a colony from the penin- Menancabow
fula; 01' that an army from thence, conquered that part of the ifland, from Malayo.
and extirpated the ancient inhabitants : to which opinion fome have
added a conjecture; founded however on no hiflory or tradition j that
the firft fultan was a defcendant of the Caliphs, and fettling in Sumatra,
acquired extenfive authority, as fome others of that defcription, denominated
Xtriffs, have down to the eaftward. But to thefe hypothefes,
there are ftrong objections. The idea entertained by the people, and objections to
ftrengthened by the glimmering lights that the old writers afford us, that opinionbefpeak
an antiquity to this empire that ftretches far beyond the probable
ffira of the eftablifliment of Mahomenatifm in the ifland. This
antiquity is proved by the extenfive and acknowledged jurifdiction of
Menangcabow, at a period fo early, that when the Europeans firft vifited
Sumatra, about the year 1500, it was then in the wane. The fuperftitious
veneration for that ancient monarchy extends itfelf, not only
where Mahomenatifm has made a progrefs, but among the Battas, and
other people not tinctured with that faith ; which would not be likely
to attend the government of a foreign intruder, who introduced a religion
which they have refufcd to accept. So memorable an event would
certainly have been long preferved by regular tradition, and fome traces
of it would have been difcoverable, even at this time. The fultan, in
the lift of his titles, would not fail, any more than the Xeriffs in the
eaft, to boaft of this facred extraction from the royal prophet, which
he does not at all allude to; The mod intelligent Indians whom I have
confulted on this head; among whom was Raddeen, before mentioned,
who as a prince himfelf, was converfant in thefe topics; pofitively afferted,
that Menancabow is an original Sumatran empire, antecedent to the
introduction of the Arabian faith; instructed, but in no lhape conquered^
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