Who are the ancestors of the Indonesian people, that question often arises in our minds. Then someone answers: one of them is the Malay nation.
The Malay nation that became the ancestors of the Indonesian nation is Proto Malay and Deutro Malay who came from the Austronesian group.
There are at least five theories about the origins of the ancestors of the Indonesian nation: Yunnan Theory, Out of Taiwan Theory, Nusantara Theory, Out of Africa Theory, and Theories According to other Experts.
There are also several stages or migration routes of the ancestors of the Indonesian nation, namely Melanesoid, Proto Malay, and Deutro Malay.
1. Yunnan Theory
According to the Yunnan theory, the ancestors of the Indonesian nation came from Yunnan, China. This theory is also supported by the discovery of an old axe in the archipelago that has similarities to the axe in Central Asia.
It is said that the ancestors of the Indonesian nation had a very strong maritime culture, namely as the original inventors of the outrigger boat which was a characteristic of Indonesian ships at that time. Then, these residents settled in one of the regions in the archipelago and were called the Indonesian Malay nation.
According to the Yunnan theory, there were three migration routes of the ancestors of the Indonesian people, namely Melanesoid (70,000 BC), Proto Malay (2500 BC), and Deutro Malay (1500 BC).
- Melanesoid
The migration route to the Indonesian archipelago first came from the Negroid or Melanesoid race. From Yunnan, this black-skinned nation moved south into Vietnam and reached the archipelago.
The Melanesoid tribe is known to have brought a slightly higher culture compared to the culture of the indigenous people of Indonesia at that time. The arrival of the Melanesoid race also marked the beginning of the Mesolithic Age (middle stone) in Indonesia.
While in Indonesia, they lived in West Papua, Ambon, North Maluku, and East Nusa Tenggara.
- Proto Malay
The migration process of the Melanesoid nation was also followed by the Malay nation, which came in two waves. The first wave was called Proto Malay, who migrated to Indonesia in 2000 BC. They entered Indonesia through two routes, namely:
1. Western Route (Yunnan-Alwin River-Malay Peninsula-Sumatra-Java)
The second wave of migration of the Malay group is called Deutro Melayu who arrived in Indonesia around 500 BC. Deutro Melayu is a race that came from Tonkin or northern Indochina then entered Indonesia via the western route, namely via the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and then spread to all other regions of Indonesia.
According to history, the ancestors of the Indonesian people migrated using outrigger boats.
2. Out of Taiwan Theory
According to the out of Taiwan theory, the ancestors of the Indonesian people came from Taiwan, not China. It is estimated that they came from Taiwan via the Philippines around 4,500 - 3,000 BC. Then,
