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The Kedayan (also known as Kadayan, Kadaian or Kadyan) are an
ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
residing in
Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
, Federal Territory of Labuan, southwest of
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
, and north of
Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...
on the island of
Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
. According to the Language and Literature Bureau of Brunei, the Kedayan language (
ISO 639-3 ISO 639-3:2007, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages – Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages'', is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. It defines three-letter codes for ...
: kxd) is spoken by about 30,000 people in Brunei, and it has been claimed that there are a further 46,500 speakers in Sabah and 37,000 in Sarawak. In Sabah, the Kedayan mainly live in the southern districts of Sipitang and Beaufort, where they are counted as a part of the local Malay populace (and they are often considered as Bruneians owing to assimilation as well as mixed marriage factors). Whilst in Sarawak, the Kedayans mostly reside in the towns of Lawas, Limbang and Miri (especially the Subis area).


History

The origins of the Kedayans are uncertain. Some of them believe their people were originally from Ponorogo,
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
, which they left during the reign of Sultan Bolkiah. Because of his fame as a
sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of the ship, inc ...
and voyager, the Sultan was well-known to the people of Java,
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
and the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. It is believed that when the Sultan arrived to the island of Java, he became interested in the local agricultural techniques. He brought some of the Javanese farmers back to his country to spread their techniques. The farmers inter-married with the local Bruneian Malay people, giving birth to the ''Kedayan'' ethnicity. Most Kedayans have adopted
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
since the Islamic era of the Sultanate of Brunei. They have also adopted Malay culture. The Kedayans are recognized as one of the indigenous people of
Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
. They are experts in making traditional medicines. The Kedayans are well known for their cultivation of
medicinal plants Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...
, which they grow to treat a wide range of ailments and to make tonics. The language of one of the indigenous tribes, the
Banjar people The Banjar or Banjarese () are an Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic group native to the Banjar Region, Banjar regions (notably Banjarmasin, Banjarbaru, Banjar Regency, etc.) in the South Kalimantan, southeastern Kalimantan regions of In ...
in Kutai, East Kalimantan,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, is said to share more than 90% of the vocabulary with the Kedayan language, despite the fact that the Banjarese do not refer to themselves as Kedayans. Both the Kedayans and the Banjarese are related, to a certain extent, because of the similarities in their languages.


Language

The Kedayan language is similar to Brunei Malay, and it has been claimed that as many as 94% of the words in the two languages are cognate. The main differences in pronunciation are that Kedayan has initial /h/ while Brunei Malay does not, so Kedayan ''hutan'' (forest) is ''utan'' in Brunei Malay; and Kedayan does not have /r/, so Malay ''rumah'' (house) is ''umah'' in Kedayan.


Notable people


Brunei

* Muslim Burut – Bruneian writer


Sabah

* Sapawi Ahmad – former Malaysian federal representative for Sipitang constituency * Dr. Yusof Yacob – former Sabah state minister and Malaysian federal representative for Sipitang constituency * Pengiran Ahmad Raffae – the second of
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
of
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
(also of mixed Bruneian descent) *Datuk Seri Panglima Sr. Safar Untong – Sabah State Secretary since 2019, former Sabah Lands and Surveys Department director from 2014 to 2019 * Noki K-Clique — Sabah famous hip hop and rapper


Labuan

* Bashir Alias – Malaysian senator for Labuan * Rozman Isli – former Malaysian member of parliament for Labuan from 2013 to 2022 * Yussof Mahal – former Malaysian member of parliament for Labuan from 2008 to 2013


Sarawak

* Awang Tengah Ali Hasan – Deputy Premier of Sarawak * Ahmad Lai Bujang – former Malaysian federal representative for the Sibuti constituency


Australia

* Omar Musa - Malaysian-Australian author, poet, rapper and visual artist


References


External links

{{Authority control North Kalimantan Ethnic groups in Brunei Ethnic groups in Sabah Ethnic groups in Sarawak