Pacific Ocean. They were also knowledgeable in iron and bronze works as well as possessing good navigational skills. (Source: John F. Cady, Southeast Asia: Its Historical Development, New York, 1964.) Oldest Malay text The Đông Yên Châu inscription around the 4th century AD is the oldest Malay text found. It was written in Old Malay-Cham language, found near Indrapura, Vietnam. However, most scholars consider it established that this inscription was written in Old Cham instead. The shared basic grammar and vocabulary comes as no surprise, since Chamic and Malayic languages are closely related; both are the two subgroups of a Malayic–Chamic group within the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family. The Kedukan Bukit Inscription of 682 CE was found at Palembang, Indonesia. Cham-Malay relation The similarity of the Cambodian Cham language and the Malay language can be found in names of places such as Kampong Cham, Kambujadesa, Kampong Chhnang, etc. and Sejarah Melayu clearly mentioned a Cham community in Parameswara's Malacca around the 15th century. Cham is related to the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar and the Philippines. In the mid 15th century, when Cham was heavily defeated by the Vietnamese, some 120,000 were killed and in the 17th century the Champa king converted to Islam. In the 18th century the last Champa Muslim king Pô Chien gathered his people and migrated south to Cambodia while those along the coastline migrated to the nearest peninsula state Terengganu, approximately 500 km or less by boat, and Kelantan. Malaysian constitution recognises the Cham rights to Malaysian citizenship and their Bumiputera status. Now that the history is interlinked, there is a possibility that Parameswara's family were Cham refugees who fled to Palembang before he fled to Tumasik and finally to Malacca. One of the last Kings of Angkor of the Khmer Empire had the name Paramesvarapada. See also Early history of Burma Early history of Cambodia History of Southeast Asia Prehistoric Asia Prehistoric Indonesia Prehistoric Thailand References Sources External links https://web.archive.org/web/20060503185834/http://www.malaysia.or.kr/history.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20060714191117/http://sejarahmalaysia.pnm.my/portalBI/detail.php?section=sm01&spesifik_id=2&ttl_id=1 History of Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia