Sri Lankan Malays ( ''Shri Lanka Mæle Janathava'' (Standard); ''Mæle Minissu / Ja Minissu'' (Colloquially); ), historically known as Ceylon Malays, are

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, ...

n citizens with full or partial ancestry from the Indonesian Archipelago,

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 ...

, or

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 ...

. The term is a

misnomer A misnomer is a name that is incorrectly or unsuitably applied. Misnomers often arise because something was named long before its correct nature was known, or because an earlier form of something has been replaced by a later form to which the nam ...

, as it is used as a historical catch-all for all native ethnic groups of 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 ...

who reside in Sri Lanka; it does not apply solely to the ethnic Malays. Sri Lankan Malays are primarily of Javanese, Ambonese, Bandanese, Balinese, Madurese, Malay,

Bugis The Bugis people, also known as Buginese, are an Austronesian ethnic groupthe most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassarese and Torajan), in the south-western province of Sula ...

, and Peranakan Chinese descent. They number approximately 40,000 and make up 0.2% of the Sri Lankan population, making them the fourth largest of the five main ethnic groups in the country. Sri Lankan Malays first settled in the country in 200 B.C., when the

Austronesian expansion The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesi ...

reached the island of Sri Lanka from

Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...

(which includes peoples as diverse as

Sumatran Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi.2), including adjacent i ...

s to Lucoes) and brought speakers of the Malayo-Polynesian language group to Sri Lankan shores. This migration accelerated when both Sri Lanka and

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, ...

were Dutch colonies (1640–1796), while a second wave (1796–1948) came from the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

, when both Malaya and Sri Lanka were in the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. However, Sri Lanka has had a history of Malay presence dating back to as early as the 8th century. Distinct from the present-day Sri Lankan Malay population, these migrants were primarily Malay and Javanese Buddhists who intermarried into the Sinhalese population. Sri Lankan scholars suggest that the Sinhalese population possesses a notable Malay connection as a result, meaning a significant portion of the Sri Lankan population would have at least some Malay ancestry. Sri Lankan Malays have played an important role in shaping Sri Lankan culture and identity through cultural diffusion, having contributed to many areas of Sri Lankan culture and society including cuisine, cultural traditions, and place names.

History

A significant Malay presence in Sri Lanka dates as far back as the 13th century, when Chandrabhanu Sridhamaraja, a Malay of

Tambralinga Tambralinga or Ho-ling was an Indianised Malay kingdom located on the Malay Peninsula (in modern-day Southern Thailand), existing at least from the 2nd to 13th centuries CE. It possibly was under the influence of Srivijaya for some time, but l ...

, managed to occupy the northern part of the island in 1247; his followers assimilated into the local population. Many ancestors of present-day Sri Lankan Malays were soldiers posted by the Dutch, and later by the British, for the colonial administration of Sri Lanka, who decided to settle on the island. Other immigrants were convicts or members of noble houses from the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

(present-day Indonesia), who were exiled to Sri Lanka and who never left. The main source of a continuing Malay identity is their common

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

, the Islamic faith, and their ancestral origin from the

. Many Sri Lankan Malays have been celebrated as courageous soldiers, politicians, sportsmen, lawyers, accountants, and doctors.

Society

Language

Depending on where they live in the country and other socio-economic factors, Sri Lankan Malays speak Sinhala,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

, and/or English. According to the 2012 census, 79.2%, or 28,975 Sri Lankan Malays also spoke Tamil and 66.2%, or 24,202 also spoke English.

Religion

Like their ancestors in present-day

and

, Sri Lankan Malays are Muslim. Mosques were erected by the local Malays along the coasts of Sri Lanka in places like Hambantota, Beruwela, and Galle. The Jawatte mosque in Colombo and Masjidul Jamiya, the military mosque on Slave Island, are renowned for their architecture and long history. The first two storeys of the Grand Mosque in Sri Lanka was built by Mohammed Balankaya, an exiled Malay noble of the royal house of Gowa (in present-day

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

). Today, the mosque is of great significance and is a symbol of Muslims in Sri Lanka; it is the Grand Mosque of Sri Lanka, where decisions affecting the lives of the island's Muslim population are made. During Dutch rule, the religious makeup of Sri Lankan Malays was diverse and consisted not only of Muslims but also Christians and Hindus who belonged primarily to the Ambonese and Balinese communities, respectively. Due to skewed migration patterns of Ambonese and Balinese settlers to Sri Lanka, which consisted only of men, intermarriage with Sinhalese and Tamil women was common and resulted in the phasing out of the Christian and Hindu communities that existed in the community early on. Evidence shows certain customs, such as marriage rites, performed by Sri Lankan Malays, fused Islamic practices with Hindu and Buddhist elements. However, their close connection to

Wahhabi Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...

thought has resulted in the emergence of a clear Muslim identity, with many of these pre-Islamic practices facing extinction in the community.

Sri Lankan Malay names

First and last names among Sri Lankan Malays are mostly of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

origin and are similar (including equivalents) to names used by

Sinhalese people The Sinhalese people (), also known as the Sinhalese or Sinhala people, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They are the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, constituting about 75% of ...

. Common last names include Jayah, Weerabangsa, Sinhawangsa/Sinhawansa, Jayawangsa, Singalaxana, Bangsa Jayah, and Wangsa. Malay-origin last names include

Lye Lye is the common name of various alkaline solutions, including soda lye (a solution of sodium hydroxide) and potash lye (a solution of potassium hydroxide). Lyes are used as cleaning products, as ingredients in soapmaking, and in various other c ...

, Samath, Cuttilan, Chunchie, Preena, Hannan, Sallay, Doole, Kitchilan, Kutinun, Kanchil, Sainon, Bongso, Bohoran, Kuppen, and Lappen. Arabic names are also used by Sri Lankan Malays, including Saldin, Assan, Rahman, Drahaman, Bucker, Ramlan, Rajap, Jumat, and Mannan. Prefixes of Malay origin such as Tuan, Maas, and Raden for males and Gnei, Nona, Sitti Nona, and Gnonya for females are commonly used as first names among Sri Lankan Malays.

Legacy

Organisations

* All Ceylon Malay Political Union * Colombo Malay Cricket Club * Sri Lanka Malay Association * Malay Association Kolonnawa Electorate (MAKE) * Conference of Sri Lanka Malays * Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam * Kurunegala Malay Association

Malay place names in Sri Lanka

Some place names in Sri Lanka have references indicating the presence of Javanese and Malay communities or their contribution to the location. Some of these are: * Ja Goda * Ja Kotuwa * Thavasikulam * Hambanthota (Sampan- Thota) * Taiyiddi * Thachathopu * Jawatte * Kartel (

Slave Island 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, Sri Lanka, located directly south of ...

) *

Ja-Ela Ja-Ela (, ) is a town, located approximately north of the city centre of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Ja-Ela lies on the A3 highway (Sri Lanka), A3 road which overlaps with the E03 expressway (Sri Lanka), Colombo – Katunayake Expressway at the Ja-Ela I ...

* Javakachcheri ( Chavakachcheri) * street names such as Malay Street, Java Lane, Jalan Padang

Notable Sri Lankan Malays

Notes

References

{{British Ceylon period topics Kingdom of Kandy Malay people