It S Believable If Europeans Learn How To Make Blowpipes From The Malays But Real Pistols And Guns

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NOBODY can tell if this is hoax or historical data blended with fiction and fantasy but post her ancient Romans learned shipbuilding from the Malays thesis, Prof Solehah Yaacob is now staking claim that Europeans learned how to make guns and pistols from her ancestors, too.
While her rightist followers praised the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Arabic linguist senior academician for her “mind archelogy” to unearth the greatness of their Malay forefathers by diverting from historical facts of “Western orientalists”, detractors are having a gala time marvelling at her “wild imaginations and fantasies”.

Self-proclaimed third generation Chinese from Fujian, Mencius Koay did his fellow Malaysians a favour by condensing the Arabic thought professor’s findings in English for the benefit of knowledge sharing at a global scale:
Malays had firearms like cannons and pistols since the 1400s – before the Europeans;Stamford Raffles and Frank Swettenham supposedly said the Portuguese and British learned gun-making techniques from the Malays and Javanese;Weapons historian Hogg claimed that some of the 1500s European gun designs were copied from Southeast Asian designs;Therefore, Europeans learned their weapon systems from Malays.
Editor’s Note: According to western sources, the history of firearms began with the discovery of black powder in ninth century China which gave rise to the hand canon.

The oldest known barrel handgun is the Heilongjiang hand canon which dates back to 1288. Hand canons were fired applying a lit match to a small hole at the rear of the canon where the gunpowder is stored. Matchlocks then began to appear in Europe in the mid-15th century.
In his assessment, the Penangite who ‘graduated; from the “University of Hard Knocks/The Tough Streets of Penang During the 1970’s” contended that claiming that European firearms came from the Malays “requires extraordinary evidence”.
“There isn’t any credible historical consensus for this,” he argued while being puzzled as to why these “superior” firearms failed to save Malacca from the colonisation of three western imperialists – the Portuguuese, Dutch and British.
“Yes, Southeast Asian kingdoms had firearms and metalworking skills. Yes, they had military technology,” snubbed Koay.
“But claiming Europeans learned gun-making from Malays – with no proof – while those same Malays were defeated by European firepower? “That’s not scholarship. That’s nationalist fantasy dressed up as history!”
Similarly exposing the good professor’s findings is Jakarta-based digital creator SEA Heritage & History who echoed Koay’s sentiments.
“After claiming that Europeans learned shipbuilding from the Malays, now they claim that Europeans learned to make pistols/gun from the Malays – but if that were true, why did they never win when facing European military aggression?” asked the dumfounded poster.

“Even the Malacca Sultanate collapsed after just a single major attack by a European power..”
SEA Heritage & History went on to wonder if Prof Solehah has mistakenly mixed up her claim with the modern day rifle “which are originally made in Malaysia ”

All in all, there are many reactions which – with due respect – poked fun at the Malay ancestors instead of raising their stature to reflect greatness of the Malay civilisation. –  Focus Malaysia

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