However, the most popular etymological hypotheses link silat to any similar-sounding word. The most common theory is that it derives from sekilat meaning "as (fast as) lightning". It may also come from si elat which means someone who confuses, deceives or bluffs. A similar term, ilat, means an accident, misfortune or a calamity. Another theory is that it comes from silap meaning wrong or error. Some styles contain a set of techniques called Langkah Silap designed to lead the opponent into making a mistake. The word Melayu means Malay and might have come from the Sanskrit term Malaiur or Malayadvipa which can be translated as “mountain insular continent”, the word used by ancient Indian traders when referring to the Malay Peninsula. Silat is sometimes called gayung or gayong in the northern Malay Peninsula. In other regions the word gayung refers to the spiritual practices in silat. Silat Melayu is sometimes mistakenly called bersilat in English-language writings but this is actually a verbal form of the noun silat.
History / Origins
The first martial skills in the Malay Archipelago were those of the indigenous tribes (orang asal) who would use hunting implements like spears, machetes, blowpipes and bows and arrows in raids against enemy tribes. Certain tribes were well-known warriors and pirates such as the Iban and the Tringgus of Borneo. Aboriginal populations on the peninsula were mostly replaced by Deutero-Malays and Chamic people in a wave of migration from mainland Asia around 300 B.C. These settlers were rice-farmers from whom modern Malays are directly descended. The areas from where they originated are concurrent with the early evidence of silat. The silat tradition has deep roots in Malay culture and can trace its origin to the dawn of Malay civilization, 2000 years ago.
Early kingdoms
The Malays had already established regular contact with both India and China before the 1st century. Silat was largely shaped by Chinese and Indian martial arts, as evidenced by Kedah's 2nd-century Bujang Valley civilisation which housed various Indian weapons including an ornate trisula. The local adoption of the Indian religions of Hinduism and Buddhism resulted in the founding of early Malay kingdoms throughout the region, notably Langkasuka (1st century), Gangga Negara (2nd century), and the Kedah Kingdom (7th century).
From these ancient Malay city-states, the earliest forms of silat Melayu were developed among various social classes. Tradition credits silat tua (lit. "old silat") as the first system of silat Melayu to have been founded on the peninsula. The area from Isthmus of Kra to the northern Malay peninsula, a border area between Malaysia and Thailand where it was created, is culturally significant and considered to be the "cradle of Malay civilization and culture".
Gangga Negara, one of the peninsula's oldest kingdoms, was eventually destroyed by Rajendra Chola I of the Tamil Chola empire. Today, most Malaysian Indians are Tamils, who influenced several Southeast Asian martial arts through silambam. This staff-based fighting style was already being practiced by the region's Indian community when Malacca Sultanate was founded at the beginning of the 15th century. During the 18th century silambam became more prevalent in the Malay Peninsula than in India, where it was banned by the British government. The bamboo staff is still one of silat's most fundamental weapons.
Champa
The Cham people are an ethnic group of Malayo-Polynesian stock originating in present-day Vietnam and Cambodia. They are believed by many archaeologists to have created the prototype of a kris as far back as 2000 years ago. The Chams established the kingdom of Champa in an area that constitutes today’s southern Vietnam around the first century A.D. The kingdom remained independent from the Chinese who controlled Vietnam's north and in its refusal to submit, Champa frequently waged wars against China as well as other neighboring kingdoms, Đại Việt and Khmer Empire.
As a result of their experience in wars, commanders of Champa are known to have been held in high esteem by the Malay kings for their knowledge in silat and for being highly skilled in the art of war, as mentioned in the Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals). It is said that Sultan Muhammad Shah had chosen a Cham official as his right hand or senior officer because the Chams possessed skill and knowledge in the administration of the kingdom.
Legend
A Malaysian variant of story explains that the first complete system of silat was created by a woman who was carrying a basket of food on her head when birds tried to steal the food from her. She dodged the birds coming from all directions while at the same time balancing the basket on her head and attempting to chase the birds away with her hands. She arrived home late and was scolded by her husband who had no food to eat. He tried to beat the woman but she avoided all his attacks and was completely untouched. Her husband had grown tired and after listening to her explanation for being late, asked his wife to teach him what she had learned. Together they created the rudiments of silat.
Sultanate era
The Islamic faith first arrived in the shores of what are now the states of Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu, beginning in the 12th century. This event was subsequently followed by the emergence of powerful Malay sultanates like the Kedah Sultanate (1136), Brunei Sultanate (1363), Malacca Sultanate (1402) and Pattani Kingdom (1516), that dominated the western Malay archipelago and northern Borneo.
Source : Wikipedia.
