Indonesia is the birthplace of the Malay civilization, which is the precursor of the Malay ethnic group scattered along the east coast of Sumatra, Singapore, the Malay Peninsula, and the coast of Kalimantan. The epic literature, the Malay Annals, associates the etymological origin of "Melayu" to a small river named Sungai Melayu ('Melayu river') in Sumatra. The epic incorrectly stated that the river flowed to the Musi River in Palembang, while in reality it flowed to the Batang Hari River in Jambi.[8]:298 The term is thought to be derived from the Malay word melaju, a combination of the verbal prefix 'me' and the root word 'laju', meaning "to accelerate", used to describe the accelerating strong current of the river.[9]
Srivijaya's influence spread over all the coastal areas of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, western Java and western Borneo, as well as the rest of the Malay Archipelago. Enjoying both Indian and Chinese patronage, its wealth was gained mostly through trade. At its height, the Old Malay language was used as its official language and became the lingua franca of the region, replacing Sanskrit, the language of Hinduism.[12]
The glory of Srivijaya however began to wane after the series of raids by the Tamil Chola dynasty in the 11th century. After the fall of Srivijaya in 1025 CE, the Malayu kingdom of Jambi, Sumatra, became the most dominant Malay state of the region.[13] By the end of the 13th century, the remnants of the Malay empire in Sumatra was finally destroyed by the Javanese invaders during the Pamalayu expedition (Pamalayu means "war against the Malays").[14]
In 1299, through the support of the loyal servants of the empire, the Orang laut, a prince of Palembang origin, Sang Nila Utama established the Kingdom of Singapura in Temasek.[15] His dynasty ruled the island kingdom until the end of the 14th century, when the polity once again faced the wrath of Javanese invaders. In 1400, his great-great-grandson, Parameswara, headed north and established the Malacca Sultanate.[16] The new kingdom succeeded Srivijaya and inherited much of the royal and cultural traditions, including a large part of the territories of its predecessor.[17][18][19]
The timeline of Srivijayan expansion from Palembang between the 7th–13th century; the state would subsequently be known as Melayu Kingdom before its demise. By the 14th century, a Palembangese-born prince, Parameswara, would later establish the Kingdom of Malacca, bringing the old Palembangese courts traditions and identity into the newfound state.
By the 15th century, the Malacca Sultanate, whose hegemony reached over much of the western Malay Archipelago, had become the centre of Islamisation in the east. As a Malaccan state religion, Islam brought many great transformation into the Malaccan society and culture, and It became the primary instrument in the evolution of a common Malay identity. The Malaccan era witnessed the close association of Islam with Malay society and how it developed into a definitive marker of Malay identity.[20][21][22][23] Over time, this common Malay cultural idiom came to characterise much of the Malay Archipelago through the Malayisation process. The expansion of Malaccan influence through trade and Dawah brought with it together the Classical Malay language,[24] the Islamic faith,[25] and the Malay Muslim culture;[26] the three core values of Kemelayuan ("Malayness").[27] the course of history, the term "Malay" has been extended to other ethnic groups within the "Malay world"; this usage is nowadays largely confined to Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore,[28] where descendants of immigrants from these ethnic group are termed as anak dagang ("traders") and who are predominantly from the Indonesian archipelago.
Contrary to Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore, Malayness has no special position in Indonesian state ideology, except as one of the constituent regional cultures— which tend to be represented on a province-by-province basis. Loyalty for a certain ethnic group was overshadowed with the new inter-ethnic loyalty, advocating the importance of the national unity and national identity of Bangsa Indonesia ("Indonesian nation") instead. Ethnic Malay is only recognised as one of myriad Indonesian ethnic groups, which enjoy equal status with other Indonesians such as Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau, Dayak, Buginese, Ambonese and Papuan.
During the Fall of Suharto, there was a resurgence in Malay nationalism and identity in Kalimantan and ethnic Malays and Dayaks in Sambas massacred Madurese during the Sambas riots.
A Delinese Malay woman in the traditional wedding costume from North Sumatera, Indonesia
The Malay people in Indonesia fall into various sub-ethnicities with each having its own distinct linguistic variety, history, clothing, traditions, and a sense of common identity. According to Ananta et al. 2015,[30] Malay Indonesians include:
↑ The figure is based on the ethnic classification presented in Ananta et al. 2015, which includes figures for every groups with "Malay" in their names as well as Jambi, Bengkulu, Serawai, Semendo peoples, but excludes figures for Palembang, Bangka, and Belitung peoples.[2]
↑ Aris Ananta, Evi Nurvidya Arifin, M Sairi Hasbullah, Nur Budi Handayani, Agus Pramono. Demography of Indonesia's Ethnicity. Singapore: ISEAS: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2015. p. 273.
↑ Reid, Anthony (October 2001). "Understanding Melayu (Malay) as a Source of Diverse Modern Identities". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 32 (3): 295–313.
Mohd Fauzi Yaacob (2009), Malaysia: Transformasi dan perubahan sosial, Kuala Lumpur: Arah Pendidikan Sdn Bhd, ISBN978-967-323-132-4
Munoz, Paul Michel (2006), Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula, Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, ISBN978-981-4155-67-0
Sneddon, James N. (2003), The Indonesian language: its history and role in modern society, University of New South Wales Press, ISBN978-0-86840-598-8
Wolters, Oliver William (1999), History, culture, and region in Southeast Asian perspectives, Singapore: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publications, ISBN978-0-87727-725-5
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Indonesia 
South Sumatra 
Riau 
West Kalimantan 
Bangka Belitung 
Jambi 
Riau Islands 
North Sumatra 
Lampung 
West Java 
Jakarta 
Bengkulu 
Central Kalimantan 
East Kalimantan 
North Kalimantan 
Sunni Islam (98.77%)
Christians (Protestant and Roman Catholic) (0.98%) • 
Vajrayana Buddhist (0.22%) • 
Confucianism (0.014%) • 
Hindu (0.011%) •Other (0.003%) [4] 
