Sri Lankan Malays

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sri Lankan Malays Melayu Sri Lanka
Total population
50,000
Regions with significant populations
Sri Lanka, others
Languages
Sri Lankan Creole Malay, Sinhalese, others
Religions
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Malays,Javanese,Sri Lankan Moors

The Malays of Sri Lanka originated in Southeast Asia and today consist of about 50,000 persons. Their ancestors came to the country when both Sri Lanka and Indonesia were colonies of the Dutch. Most of the early Malay immigrants were soldiers, posted by the Dutch colonial administration to Sri Lanka, who decided to settle on the island. Other immigrants were convicts or members of noble houses from Indonesia who were exiled to Sri Lanka and who never left. The main source of a continuing Malay identity is their common Malay language (Bahasa Melayu), which includes numerous words absorbed from Sinhalese and the Moorish variant of the Tamil language. In the 1980s, the Malays made up about 5 % of the Muslim population in Sri Lanka.

[edit] See also

• Islam in Sri Lanka

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