Note † — APPENDIX.

[^] “As Ptolemy places Ma-Lancapuri in the same longitude with the Pauranies, he must have used the same data, which he had, probably, received from the Hindoos, whom he conversed with at Alexandria. Ma-Lanca being, according to the Pauranies, in the centre of the peninsula, it must be of course in about four degrees of latitude north, and there it is placed by Abul Fayil, and in 4°. 20′, by Ptolemy. Ma-Lanca is called, in the Pauranies, Yamala and Malaya, which last denomination it still retains. It is styled also Chanchan-apuda, or with the Golden Skirts. It may be translated the country of the Golden Feet, a title assumed by the emperor of Ava, and other kings of that part of the world: and the Malayan breeze is as famous in the East, as the Sabaean in the west, and its capital was also called Saba or Zaba. In the beginning of the Brahmanda-purans, it is declared, that the stronghold of Yama Tri-cuta, that is to say, the peninsula of Malacca, is one hundred yo-janas long, and thirty broad, which is sufficiently accurate. Ptolemy mentions, there is a place, called Malaioncolou, probably, from the Sanscrit, Malaya-Culum, which implies a place on the borders or shores of Malaya; the same is called Maletur by Marco Polo; Malayatir and Malaya-Culom, are synonymous.[†] It is singular, that the city of Canca-Nagera, or Ma-Lancapuri, is placed by Ptolemy in the exact latitude of the river Dinding, in the Perak territory, (which is known as the Temala, or Land of Tin, of the same author,) and which is, no doubt, the same city alluded to in the Sejara Malaya, or Malayan Annals, written in the year of the Hajeirat, 1021, or a little more than two centuries ago. It is therein mentioned, that Rajah Suran Padshah, (said to be a descendant of Alexander the Great,) formed the design of subjugating China, and for this purpose his men-at-arms, and the rajahs dependant on him, assembled from every quarter, with their hosts, to the number of one thousand and two lacs. With this prodigious host, he advanced against China, and in his course, forests were converted into open plains—the earth shook, and the thickets moved—the lofty grounds became level, and the rocks flew off in shivers, and the large rivers dried up. Two months he marched on without delay, and the darkest night was illuminated by the light of their armour, like the lustre of the full moon; and the noise of the thunder could not be heard for the loud noise of champions and warriors, mixed with the cries of the horses and elephants. Every country which Rajah Suran approached, he subdued and reduced under his subjection, till at last he approached the country of Gangga Nagara, the rajah of which was named Ganggi Shah Juana, which city is situated on a hill of very steep approach in front, but of easy access in the rear.[†] Its fort was situated on the banks of the river Dinding, in the vicinity of Perak.” It is also worthy of notice, that there are two rivers under this mountain, which bear the name of Sangah Kechil and Sangah Besar, or the small and great Laugah. It will also be observed, by a reference to any of the charts of the straits of Malacca, that there is an island, called Callum, or Collong, which forms the straits of the same name, and which are about a day’s sail from the Dindings. There is a river of the same name on the main, from which much tin is exported, and which is, perhaps, the Malaion-Colon of Ptolemy, and Malaya-Culum of the Sanscrit, notwithstanding the powerful arguments against such a supposition. It must not be omitted to notice besides, that there is another river to the southward of Colong, called Langar, which bears such a striking affinity to Lanca. An intelligent author (Mr. Crawford) asserts, that ‘The word Kolon is, without any alteration, Javanese, and means the west, and the compound word, Malayu-Kolon, exactly in the order in which it stands, means, ‘Malays of the west;’ and there is an unanswerable objection against supposing Malayu-Kolon to be on the Malayan peninsula, or supposing this to be the Golden Chersonesus or Khruse, at all, which will occur at once to every one familiar with the well-known history of the Malays. It is this—in the age of Ptolemy, and for many ages after it, the Malayan peninsula was uninhabited, or inhabited only by a few negro savages, resembling the cannibals of Andaman, wretched beings, with whom there could have been no intercourse, or at least no commerce. Malays did not emigrate from Sumatra, their parent-country, and settle in the Malayan peninsula, until the comparatively modern period of 1160, a thousand years after the time of Ptolemy, while Malacca was not founded until 1252, and every other Malay state, on the peninsula, is of a still more recent foundation.’—History of the Archipelago, vol. iii. p. 190, 191.