Among the major ethnolinguistic groups in the world, the nusantarian family (also called "Malayo-Polynesian" or "Austronesian" by western authors) undeniably occupied the largest geographical territory prior the modern era. From east to west, this vast territory covered the area from Rapa-nui (Easter Island) to Madagascar, approximately 60% the circumference of the earth. From north to south, it included the island of Taiwan (Pekan, for the Nusantarian natives), the archipelago of Hawaii (from "Hava-iki" or "Little Java", to recollect the ancestral homeland of the Polynesian), and New Zealand (Aotearoa in Maori language).

Beyond this heartland, other regions were frequented by Nusantarians navigators, including the major part of the Pacific Ocean (to South America) and the Indonesian Ocean, as far as East Africa. [1]

The Indonesian voyaged the wide Pacific from Africa to Easter Island, from China to the coral seas of the south. The wanderings of these early Malays were remarkable achievements of navigation. They brought the sail into the Pacific nineteen centuries ago. The reading of the stars was known to them, as was the making of charts. That these voyages took place at an early date is suggested by the fact that as early as BC 2300 the Chinese had charted the heavens to pave the way for the navigator.

The Arabic "Book of Miracles" describes a voyage of three hundred ships made to Madagascar in 945. It is possible that the African coast was reached at this early date.

In all likelihood, the island was discovered in the first centuries of the common era by seafarers from central Indonesia, related to the ancestors of the present people of Southeast Kalimantan.[7] One wonders what drove them so far to the west. In the current state of knowledge, there is obviously no answer to that question. However, it is likely that those people were not the only Nusantarians who frequented the western part of the Indonesian Ocean during that era.

In fact, the Melayu traders (namely, the Melayu speaking Nusantarians kingdoms, the most prominent being one named "Funan" by Chinese authors) traded between the Sea of China and the coastal countries of the Indonesian Ocean, as far as the Roman empire, to the northwest.[8]

And probably, presence of Melayu in that region might have contributed to the process of hinduization of Southeast Asia. While the Merina's ancestors slowly undertook the exploration and colonization of Madagascar, others Nusantarians traded actively with the African coasts and the Middle East. The items traded were mostly spices, ivory, cowries, pearls, hides, slaves, and perhaps silk. It is highly probable (as referenced in some Arabic texts) that Melayu trading posts were established on the coasts of Africa.[9].

Mauritius was visited, but not settled, by early Malay mariners

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