Proto-Malay
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Malay Archipelago: | |
| Indonesia | c. 13,000,000–15,000,000 (2010) |
| Malaysia | 65,189 (2010) |
| Languages | |
| Malayic languages, Semelaic languages, Batak languages, Dayak languages, Indonesian language, Malaysian language, English language | |
| Religion | |
| Animism, Islam, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Senoi (Semaq Beri people, Mah Meri people), Orang laut, Malays (ethnic group), Native Indonesians, Malagasy people | |
The term Proto-Malay, which translates to Melayu Asli (aboriginal Malay) or Melayu Purba (ancient Malay) or Melayu Tua (old Malay), refers to Austronesian speakers who moved from mainland Asia, to the Malay Peninsula and Malay Archipelago in a long series of migrations between 2500 and 1500 BCE, before that of the Deutero-Malays about a thousand years later. The Proto-Malays have ancestry of the first humans living in Southeast Asia.
The Proto-Malays are believed to have been seafarers knowledgeable in oceanography who possessed advanced fishing as well as basic agricultural skills. Over the years, they settled in various places and adopted various customs and religions as a result of acculturation and inter-marriage with most of the people they come in contact with, such as the Semang and Senoi peoples.