But the Malays are people with a history; they
believe themselves that they were the original inhabitants of
the island of Sumatra; however, it is certain that in the twelfth
century they had extended their rule over the whole of that island
and many of its neighbors, and in the thirteenth had established
themselves on this peninsula and had founded an empire extending
over the greater part of the islands down to the coast of Australia.
They had by this time acquired the civilization of India, and their
sultans were powerful monarchs. They carried on a great trade with
China, Hindoostan, and Siam, and their maritime code was regulated
and confirmed, as early as 1276, by Mohammed Shah."
"How is it that they have come to such grief, Doctor?"
"Principally by the fact that they had the feudal, or you may call
it the tribal, system. Each petty chief and his followers made
war on his neighbors if he was strong enough; and as some tribes
conquered others, the empire became split up into an indefinite
number of clans, whose chiefs paid but a very nominal allegiance
to the sultan. So islands broke off from the empire until it had
practically ceased to exist, and the Malays were a people united
only by similar customs and language, but in no other respect, and
were, therefore, able to offer but slight resistance on the arrival
of the Dutch and Portuguese in these regions.
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