Malay was first used in the first millennia known as Old Malay, a part of the Austronesian language family. Over a period of two millennia, Malay has undergone various stages of development that deriv
Detail of Rencong script, a writing system found in central Sumatra, Indonesia. The text reads (Voorhoeve's spelling): "haku manangis ma / njaru ka'u ka'u di / saru tijada da / tang [hitu hadik sa]", which is translated by Voorhoeve as: "I am weeping, calling you; though called, you do not come" (hitu adik sa- is the rest of 4th line.)
Kedukan Bukit Inscription, using Pallava alphabet, is the oldest surviving specimen of the Old Malay language in South Sumatra, Indonesia.
The Terengganu Inscription Stone (1303), the earliest evidence of Jawi writing in the Malay world.
Frontispiece of a copy of the Malay Annals (1612), the only available account of the history of the Malay Sultanate in the fifteenth century.
Pallava script
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The Pallava script, or Pallava Grantha, named after the Pallava dynasty of Southern India and is attested to since the 4th century CE. The Pallava script evolved from Tamil-Brahmi. It was used to orig
History of the Malay language
…other islands of the Sunda archipelago, as well as Luzon, Philippines. All these Old Malay inscriptions used either scripts of Indian origin such as Pallava, Nagari or the Indian-influenced old Sumatran characters. The Old Malay system is greatly influenced by Sanskrit scriptures in terms of phonemes…
Kadamba-Pallava script
Pallava script at the 8th century Kailasanatha temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.
The Ciaruteun inscription, a 5th-century Pallava stone inscription discovered in Indonesia
One of the oldest inscriptions discovered in Indonesia, the Yūpa inscriptions of King Mulavarman, king of Kutai Martadipura written in the 4th century AD