Malay nobility

Malay nobility is the system of hereditary and non-hereditary noble titles that has existed in the Malay sultanates of Maritime Southeast Asia since at least the 13th century and still functions today in Brunei, parts of Indonesia and Malaysia wherever a Malay monarchy survives. The Malacca Sultanate gave the system its lasting shape, building on an earlier indigenous mandala style of kingship and absorbing ideas brought by Middle Eastern Muslim merchants and scholars, and it organized nobles into the Pembesar Empat Lipatan, or Four Tiers of Nobility, with four, eight, sixteen and thirty two title holders at each successive tier. Nobles historically served as administrators, military commanders, judges, tax collectors and royal advisers, keeping peace within their assigned territories, representing the ruler to the wider population, and acting as go betweens for the monarch and his subjects. Most present day Malay kingdoms still follow a version of the Malacca era framework, though its administrative and military functions have narrowed mostly to ceremonial or constitutional roles.