The Use of Domesticated Animals as A Medium of Transportation in Traditional Malay Society

Geographical factor made of Malaya to have the great value of civilization. Historical studies proved that the great civilization was closely related to the natural phenomena that creates various cultures and significant identity of Malaya. Besides the natural elements like plants and vegetation (wood plant, roots and spices), animals also became one of the main contributors to Malaya such as elephant, buffaloes and also horses. Research proved that these three animals were important as main transportation during the old times for Malay people. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of these animals to fulfill the people needs during the old times especially in the transportation sector. The elephant was important when the railway and highway still not exist. The buffalo were dominant in agriculture sector, while the horses were very important especially for aristocrats. They used it as either for private ownership, for war purpose and also sports. This article was written based on qualitative method by taking all the sources from various literatures such as Malay manuscript, western manuscript and others. Therefore, in this article, the dynamic and the change that happened on the use of animals as transportation will be discussed and to be proved on being told by Malay people. Hopefully, this article can increase the understanding for the future researcher and the usage of animals as transportation will be discussed in different point of view