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