Wani bincike da aka yi kan kwayoyin halittar Asiya ya nuna cewa asalin mutanen gabashin Asiya sun fito ne daga kudu maso gabashin Asiya.^[14] Ƙungiyoyin ƴan asalin ƙasar da ke tsibirin za a iya raba su zuwa ƙabilu uku: Negritos, Senoi, da proto-Malay.^[15] Mazaunan farko na Malay Peninsula sun kasance mai yiwuwa Negritos.^[16] Waɗannan mafarauta na Mesolithic tabbas sune kakannin Semang, ƙungiyar Negrito ta ƙabila.^[17] Senoi ya bayyana a matsayin ƙungiya mai haɗaka, tare da kusan rabin layin DNA na mitochondrial na mahaifa suna komawa zuwa kakannin Semang da kusan rabin zuwa ƙaura na kakanni daga Indochina.Masanan sun ba da shawarar cewa su zuriyar masana aikin gona ne na farko da ke magana da harshen Austroasiatic, waɗanda suka kawo yarensu da fasaharsu zuwa yankin kudancin tsibirin kimanin shekaru 4,000 da suka wuce.Sun haɗu kuma sun haɗa kai da ƴan asalin ƙasar.^[18] Proto Malays suna da asali daban-daban ^[19] kuma sun zauna a Malaysia ta 1000 KZ sakamakon fadada Austronesia.^[20] Ko da yake suna nuna wasu alaƙa tare da wasu mazauna a Maritime kudu maso gabashin Asiya, wasu kuma suna da zuriyarsu a Indochina a kusa da lokacin Glacial na ƙarshe game da shekaru 20,000 da suka wuce.Yankunan da suka ƙunshi abin da ke yanzu Malaysia sun shiga cikin hanyar Maritime Jade Road.Cibiyar kasuwanci ta kasance tsawon shekaru 3,000, tsakanin 2000 KZ zuwa 1000 CE.^[21]Masana ilimin dan adam sun goyi bayan ra'ayin cewa Proto-Malay ya samo asali ne daga abin da yake a yau Yunnan,kasar Sin .^[22] Wannan ya biyo bayan watsewar farko-Holocene ta cikin Malay Peninsula zuwa cikin tsibiran Malay.^[23] A cikin 300 KZ, Deutero-Malays sun tura su cikin ƙasa, zamanin Iron Age ko Bronze Age sun fito ne daga Chams na Cambodia da Vietnam .Rukunin farko a yankin da ke amfani da kayan aikin karfe, Deutero-Malay sune kakannin kakannin Malayyan Malasiya na yau kuma sun kawo dabarun noma na zamani.^[17] Malay sun kasance cikin rarrabuwar kawuna a siyasance a ko'ina cikin tsibiran Malay, kodayake an raba al'adu da tsarin zamantakewa.^[24]