Slave Island, officially known as Kompagngna Veediya (; ), also known as Kampong Kertel and Kompanna Veediya and formerly known as Javanam Quarters (Javanese Quarter) during Dutch rule, is a suburb in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, located directly south of the

Fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

. The suburb contains Beira Lake, a large lake and its esplanade is visited by many for recreation. Company Roads is mostly a commercial area with hotels, shopping centres,

street food Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

stalls, and is known for its multicultural, especially Malay heritage.

History

The name "Slave Island" was coined during the period of British colonial rule and was a reference to the usage of the island under Portuguese rule as a holding area for African slaves, most of them from the

Swahili coast The Swahili coast () is a coastal area of East Africa, bordered by the Indian Ocean and inhabited by the Swahili people. It includes Sofala (located in Mozambique); Mombasa, Gede, Kenya, Gede, Pate Island, Lamu, and Malindi (in Kenya); and Dar es ...

and

Portuguese East Africa Portuguese Mozambique () or Portuguese East Africa () were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese overseas province. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a str ...

. Many of these slaves later returned to Africa. However, a small group of African descendants remain scattered throughout Sri Lanka and are collectively known as Sri Lankan Kaffirs. In 2023, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister issued instructions to discontinue the use of exonym "Slave Island" in favour of "Kompagngna Veediya” in all three official languages.

Demographic

Kompagngna Veediya is a multicultural area known today for its mix of Malay, Sinhalese and Tamil cultures and is a traditional Malay cultural district in Colombo. The larger ethnic communities in Company Roads are the

Sri Lankan Malays Sri Lankan Malays ( ''Shri Lanka Mæle Janathava'' (Standard); ''Mæle Minissu / Ja Minissu'' (Colloquially); ), historically known as Ceylon Malays, are Sri Lankan citizens with full or partial ancestry from the Indonesian Archipelago, Malays ...

, Sri Lankan Muslims and Sinhalese. There are also various minorities, such as Burghers and others. Religions include

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and various other religions and beliefs. Since colonisation, the neighbourhood was viewed as a distinctly Malay neighbourhood but it has traditionally been multi-ethnic and was home to multiple Asian communities during colonial rule, including

Bengalis Bengalis ( ), also rendered as endonym and exonym, endonym Bangalee, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of South Asia. The current population is divi ...

Afghans Afghans (; ) are the citizens and nationals of Afghanistan, as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora. The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main lan ...

, Marwaris, Burmese and Chinese in addition to Malays.

Infrastructure

Kompagngna Veediya is served by the Company Roads Railway Station. Built with Victorian-era architectural embellishments, the station carries significant architectural and historic value. The building features stylish arches, intricate woodwork and metal installations, which emphasise Victorian-era styles.

Demolitions

Many historic buildings in the Kompagngna Veediya area were either demolished or are awaiting to be demolished due to recent high rise development. Despite the architectural and historic value most buildings are not properly maintained and as a result most have become run down. The shophouse-style buildings in Justice Akbar Mawatha which are to be demolished is said to be the place where D.R. Wijewardene, D.S. Senanayake and Oliver Goonetilleke met to discuss the constitutional reforms that led to Sri Lanka's independence in 1948.

Military

* Rifle Barracks * Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (SLEME)

Diplomatic missions

*Consulate of

Republic of Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the third lar ...

*Consulate of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

*Consulate of

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

*High Commission of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Photos

File:InsideSeema.jpg, The ''Seema Malakaya'' of the Gangarama Temple in the ''Beira'' Lake in the ''Company Roads'' area, is one of many religious structures in Colombo

References

Districts of Colombo Populated places in Western Province, Sri Lanka {{WesternLK-geo-stub