The Malays; a Cultural History Richard Olof Sir Winstedt

First published in 1961, 
The Malays 
reveals the Malay as the inheritor of an ancient and complex civilization made up of Mongolian shamanism; Assyrio-Babylonian and Tantric magic; art motifs from the steppes; Dong-so’n and India; the religions, folklore and literature of Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim; the laws of a peasantry who abandoned democracy for the feudal role of Hindu Rajas, the earthly incarnations of Indra. There are chapters dealing with the origin of the Malays and their descent from Yunnan, their social, political, legal and economic systems, their beliefs and religions and arts and crafts. This book should also be of value to all interested in history, art and the culture of India and of the Far East and to all students of Islam.