Vol.:(0123456789) Journal of Maritime Archaeology https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-019-09247-8 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER The Malay Traditional Boat: Defending Malay Heritage Objects in Kelantan, East Coast of the Malaysian Peninsula Mohd Rohaizat Abdul Wahab 1,2  · Zuliskandar Ramli 2 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract All nations have their own historical heritage and artifacts as proof of their glory and achievements. The cultural heritage of the coastal community in the Malay World is one of its highest achievements. The development of boat-making technology and naviga- tion by the stars have been recognized by many local and foreign scholars as contributing to the advancement of humankind. The creation of various types of boats in the Malay World has also attracted the attention of many Western scholars who study these tradi- tional boats. This article attempts to rediscover the precious Malay historical heritage of the East Coast, the Malay traditional boat, by connecting research conducted by Smyth, Gibson-Hill, Masengi and Shibata and that of other renowned scholars who carried out studies by recording information on traditional Malay boats on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. However, the recordings made by previous researchers were done at a time when traditional boat fndings were few, and these were not in perfect condition. The discovery of only four traditional boat types in seven diferent locations suggests that the Malay herit- age—which was once the glory of the Malays—has been forgotten. Keywords Traditional Malay boat · Kelantan · Location · Cultural heritage Introduction Preserving historical artifacts is one of the best ways to maintain historical and cultural traditions. Preserving historical artifacts not only involves the material cultural, proven by the existence of physical objects but also intangible items. Non-physical objects—such as behavior, dance, music, oral stories, rituals and knowledge of skills—need to be preserved to ensure that the knowledge and traditions will not be lost. However, tangible artifacts * Mohd Rohaizat Abdul Wahab rohaizat@upm.edu.my Zuliskandar Ramli ziskandar@ukm.edu.my 1 Institute for Mathematical Research, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Laboratory of Archaeology and Archaeometry, Institute of the Malay World (ATMA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia