Mahabharata in Malay language

Even from the first centuries before Christ, it could be seen that the Indian arts, culture and literature had spread to the Malay islands. Initially, the coming of Indians to the Malay Islands was centered on business. Eventually, in the course of time, trade connections turned into cultural connections. With cultural connections, Indian arts and literature began to be rooted in the Malay islands. Due to that, the famous epics of the Mahabharata and Ramayana were translated into the ancient Javanese language and were used. Mahabharata stories from ancient Javanese language had been translated into Malay language. After the conversion of the Malays into Islam, the Mahabharata stories had been translated into Malay language followed by translations from the Arabic and Persian languages as well. Mahabharata stories In Malay literature are more prominent in their puppet shows.