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''Keling'' () or ''Kling'' is an
exonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...
to denote a Tamilian or someone deemed to have originated from
South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
. Originally a neutral term, since the mid-20th century it has been considered
derogatory A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility ...
and an
ethnic slur The following is a list of ethnic slurs, ethnophaulisms, or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnic, national, or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pej ...
, and it is sometimes euphemistically referred to as ''the K-word''. The term is used in parts of
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
, particularly the
Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia, and is also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based ...
where there are a significant
Tamil diaspora The Tamil diaspora refers to descendants of the Tamil people, Tamil speaking Emigration, immigrants who emigrated from their native lands in the southern Indian subcontinent (Tamil Nadu, Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry and Sri Lanka) to ...
specifically
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
,
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
and
Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
but cognates exist in neighbouring countries as well. Although the early definition was neutral and linked to the historical Kalinga kingdom, it is now generally considered offensive by Indians in Southeast Asia. In Brunei, the word Kaling was not considered to be pejorative, but due to media influence from Malaysia, the majority of Bruneians now tend to avoid using it. In modern usage it is not commonly capitalised. The term has also been used based on skin tone (colourism) whereby is it more likely to be used against visibly darker-skinned Indians.


Etymology

The word ''Keling'' derives from the ancient
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n kingdom of Kalinga. According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga janapada originally comprised the area covered by the
Puri Puri, also known as Jagannath Puri, () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state ca ...
and
Ganjam Ganjam is a town and a notified area council in Ganjam district in the state of Odisha, India. Brahmapur, Odisha, Brahmapur, one of the major city of Odisha, is situated in this district on the eastern coastline. Geography Ganjam is located at ...
districts. While this was apparently sometimes localized as ''Kalingga'' (as in the Indonesian Kalingga Kingdom), the terminal schwa sound was dropped in common usage to form Keling. Though ostensibly denoting the Kalinga kingdom, the term Keling in ancient Southeast Asia came to be a more general term for
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and its people. The Khmer word Kleng (ក្លិង្គ) derived from the same root. Prior to the introduction of the English word "India", Keling and Jambu Dwipa were used to refer to the country in the Malay and Indonesian, while ''Benua Keling'' referred to the Indian Subcontinent.


Usage

The earliest known occurrence of the word ''Keling'' appears in the ''
Sejarah Melayu The ''Malay Annals'' ( Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: ), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and destruction of the Malacca Sultanat ...
'' (Malay Annals). The legend mentions Raja Shulan as the king of Keling who sets out to conquer China with his descendant Raja Chulan. Scholars identify Raja Chulan with the Chola king of southern India, from whom the term ''Chulia'' derives, as in Penang's Chulia Street. Later parts of the Sejarah Melayu mention the voyages of Hang Nadim and Hang Tuah to ''Benua Keling'' (India). However Keling must not be misunderstood as a specific territory, rather it refers to people of Indian origin and not only the inhabitants of Kalinga. For example, a colonial-era Indonesian tradition refers to the
Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
epic as ''Rama'' meaning "Rama the Indian". After the introduction of Islam, Keling sometimes referred specifically to
Malayalee The Malayali people (; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, occupying its south ...
or
Telugu people Telugu people (), also called Āndhras, are an Ethnolinguistic group, ethno-linguistic group who speak the Telugu language, Telugu language and are native to the India, Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Yanam district of Puducher ...
while
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
is and
Indo-Aryan peoples Indo-Aryan peoples are a diverse collection of peoples predominantly found in South Asia, who (traditionally) speak Indo-Aryan languages. Historically, Aryans were the Indo-Iranian speaking pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia int ...
from Pakistan were often confused with ''Parsi'' or Persians. The Dutch used the words "Clings" and "Klingers" to refer to the Indian inhabitants of Malacca. The British colonial writings also use the word "Kling" to describe the immigrants from Gujarat Presidency and
Coromandel coast The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of B ...
.
John Crawfurd John Crawfurd (13 August 1783 – 11 May 1868) was a British physician, colonial administrator, diplomat and writer who served as the second and last resident of Singapore. Early life He was born on Islay, in Argyll, Scotland, the son of Sam ...
(1856) mentioned that the term "Kling" was used by the Malays and the Javanese as "a general term for all the people of Hindustan (
North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...
), and for the country
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
itself". The 16th-century Portuguese traveller Castanheda wrote of the Keling community in Melaka in the period between 1528 and 1538:
In the northern part f the city of Malaccalive merchants known as Quelins lings — a name applied to South Indians in this part the town is much larger than at any other. There are at Malacca, many foreign merchants ...
In its early usage Keling was a neutral term for people of Indian Muslim origin, but was perceived negatively beginning in the 20th century due to various socio-political factors. From the mid-1900s, words denoting ethnic origin were used derogatively in Malay to imply immigrant status. Consequently, more neutral language was adopted. This can be observed in the book ''Cherita Jenaka'', where the term ''orang Keling'' (Keling people) in the 1960 edition was changed to ''orang India Muslim'' (Indian Muslim people) in the 1963 edition. The phrases ''Keling-a'' (
Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...
; 吉寧仔; POJ: ''Ki-lêng-á''), ''Keling-yan'' (
Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
; 吉寧人;
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
: ''gat-lìhng-yan''),(
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...
; 吉靈仔 ''git-lin-zai''); and ''Keling-kia'' ( Teochew) are frequently used within the Chinese community in Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore. The Hokkien and Teochew suffixes ''-a'' and ''-kia'' are diminutives, oftentimes used to refer to children, while the Cantonese "-yan" means "people".


Cambodia

In Cambodia, the slang term for Indian people is ''Kleng'' (ក្លិង្គ), also derived from the kingdom of Kalinga and cognate with the Malay Keling or Kling. It may also be used as a nickname for people who have stereotypically Indian features such as big eyes and dark skin.


Indonesia

Traditionally in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, Keling is linked with India while Kalingga refers to the 6th century Kalingga Kingdom, which ultimately derived from the Indian Kalinga kingdom. In modern colloquial Indonesian, it is sometimes used to refer to any dark-skinned person of Indian descent, stereotypically associated with South Indians; this usage is considered offensive.


Malaysia

The word ''Keling'' has been used variously within the Malay community to mean an Indian Muslim, but now it is used more to refer to any Indian. The title " Kapitan Keling" was used for a representative of an Indian community, similar to the "
Kapitan Cina Kapitan Cina, also spelled Kapitan China or Capitan China or Capitan Chino (; ; ; ), was a high-ranking government position in the civil administration of colonial Indonesia, Malaya, Singapore, Borneo and the Philippines. Office holders exercis ...
" of a Chinese community. In early
Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...
of the 1790s the ''Kapitan Keling'' was Cauder Mohideen who, together with the Kapitan Cina Koh Lay Huan and other prominent members of the community, formed the first Committee of Assessors to decide the rates and collection of taxes. This usage is preserved is the name of the Kapitan Keling Mosque, a prominent Penang landmark. In some modern cases ''Keling'' is used as a derogatory term. It was used in 2005 by Members of Parliament in Malaysia because of misconception about Indian Muslim ethnics, which resulted in an uproar accusing the MPs of racism. The definition of the word may vary from one Malaysian state to another. In
Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...
, for example, the term is mainly used to refer to Muslims of Indian descent (In
Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...
, the word ''Mamak'' is used to refer to an Indian Muslim).


Philippines

For the southern Philippines, it has been suggested that the sobriquet "Kiling", which referred to the name of a local Rajah ( Rajah Kiling of Butuan), is not Visayan in origin but rather, Indian, because Kiling refers to the people of India among the Mindanaoans.


Singapore

In Singapore, Chulia Street was formerly known as Kling Street. Its original name is due to the large numbers of Indians from southern India known as ‘men from Kalinga’, or ‘orang kling’ in Malay who had congregated in the area. After Indian convicts were transported to Singapore, the term ‘kling’ was considered a derogatory association with Indians and the street was renamed to Chulia Street, with Chulia being the north Indian term for the Kalinga kingdom. During the
2025 Singaporean general election General elections were held in Singapore on 3 May 2025 to elect all Member of parliament, members of the Parliament of Singapore across Constituencies of Singapore, 33 constituencies. It was the 19th general election in Singapore's history sinc ...
,
Singapore Democratic Party The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is a social liberal political party in Singapore. Founded in 1980 by Chiam See Tong, the party gained its first seat in 6th Parliament of Singapore, Parliament in 1984 Singaporean general election, 1984 when ...
's (SDP) candidate Gigene Wong called her fellow SDP candidate Ariffin Sha a "keling kia", believing it to be a "neutral term that Hokkien speakers use to refer to Indians", during a campaign rally. The public took offence to the derogatory term and Wong acknowledged and apologised for her use of the term with the SDP issuing a public apology at the end of a campaign rally.


Thailand

The equivalent of Keling in the
Thai language Thai,In or Central Thai (historically Siamese;Although "Thai" and "Central Thai" have become more common, the older term, "Siamese", is still used by linguists, especially when it is being distinguished from other Tai languages (Diller 2008:6 ...
is ''Khaek'' (แขก). It is a generic term referring to anyone from South Asia. The term generally has no negative connotation and is used even in polite or formal communication. However, outside influence and confusion with Mughals and Indian Muslims has broadened the meaning in modern times to include certain predominantly Muslims communities, particularly Persians and Arabs. This extended meaning is considered inaccurate and at times rejected as derogatory, especially by Thai Muslims, but has become increasingly widespread.


Names of places

Various place names in Malaysia contain the word Keling for historical reasons, e.g. Tanjong Keling., Kampong Keling, and Bukit Keling, etc. In Penang, the Kapitan Keling Mosque, situated on the corner of Buckingham Street and Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling (Pitt Street), is one of the oldest mosques in George Town. Various other Penang Hokkien street names contain the word ''Keling'', e.g. Kiet-leng-a Ban-san (Chowrasta Road), Kiet-leng-a Ke (King Street/Market Street). In
Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...
, another mosque also uses the word Kling, Kampung Kling Mosque. In
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
, there is a road in Jurong Industrial Estate called Tanjong Kling Road which is probably derived from the word 'Keling'. Chulia Street was formerly known as Kling Street. In Jepara Regency,
Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...
, Indonesia, there is a district called Keling. Locals link the location with the 6th century Kalingga Kingdom. In
Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...
,
East Java East Java (, , ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern ...
, Indonesia, there is a place called Pacar Keling meaning "Keling lover". The words "Kampung Keling" (Lit. Keling Village) Is also commonly used by the locals on various cities across Indonesia the denote an Indian settlement both during the Colonial era and within modern day Indonesia.


See also

*
List of regions of India The administrative divisions of India are subnational administrative units of India; they are composed of a nested hierarchy of administrative divisions. Indian states and territories frequently use different local titles for the same level ...
; Maritime history * Kaling invasion of Southeast Asia * Kalinga historical region of India * Kalingga Hindu Kingdom of Indonesia * Kalinga province of Philippines * Kalinga alphabet of India


References


External links


Dr. S. Jayabarathi from Malaysia's article on KELING

Racism and the Word "Keling"
{{Ethnic slurs Anti-Hindu sentiment Anti-Indian sentiment in Asia Ethnic and religious slurs Culture of Indonesia Culture of Malaysia Racism in Asia Tamil diaspora in Asia