Malay literature

…afterward, during the Islamic period, Malay became the most important language—and still more so under later Dutch colonial rule so that, logically, it was recognized in 1949 as the official Indonesian language by the newly independent Republic of Indonesia.

The first Malaysian newspaper in the vernacular language, which appeared in 1876, introduced a new style of prose, less literary and nearer to spoken Malay. Becoming immensely popular, the new style was further developed by other newspapers. (Although the early innovators were influenced by the English language,…

Malay literature effectively begins with the coming of Islām in the late 15th century; no literary works dating from the Hindu period (4th to late 15th centuries) have survived. Malay literature can be divided into that which was written in classical Malay, the written language…

…the literatures in Javanese and Malay.