HISTORY OF SRI LANKAN MALAYS

        The history of Sri Lankan Malays can be traced back to remote antiquity. Sri Lankan chronicles describe an invasion by a Javaka ‘Malay’ ruler Chandrabahanu from Nakhon Sri Dhammarat, also known as Pattani, who wanted to seize the much revered relic of Lord Buddha. Chandrabhanu not only defeated the Polonnaruwa Kingdom, but also established his own Java kingdom in Sri Lanka’s northern peninsula, which is now known as the Jaffna region. According to the Kudumiya Malai inscription, the Pandyan Ruler in South India killed Chandrabhanu’s son, putting an end to the brief period of Malay monarchic rule in Sri Lanka in the early 13th century. The Kings of Lanka also maintained strong religious and commercial ties with the Sri Vijayan Empire, which ruled over a vast area that included Java, Sumatra, and other parts of modern-day Indonesia, Malaya, Siam, and the Philippines. External as well as internal factors prompted the alliance with this empire. Constant invasions from neighboring Indian states would have compelled Sri Lankan counterparts to form alliances with powerful nations. It was also a diplomatic move to strengthen ties with the royal families of Sirivijaya. The common ties of Buddhism and trade would have made things easier, and there is ample evidence to prove that matrimonial alliances between Sri Lankan and SriVijayan Royal houses existed. There is evidence of some seafaring activities by the Malays in the early Christian era, whose ancestors sailed to and settled in as far west as Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The original seafarers are likely to have landed on Sri Lanka’s southern coast. The littoral town of Hambantota, gets its name from ‘Sampan’, Malay for a boat or skiff used for transporting provisions, and Tota, Sinhala for landing bay or anchorage, and it can be ascertained with tolerable authority that ancient Hambanthota most likely welcomed the Sampan-sailing Malay sea nomads who settled and merged with the ancient Sri Lankan population.

                 The modern history of the Malays of Sri Lanka begins with the Dutch conquest of Ceylon in the mid-sixteenth century, when a large proportion of soldiers from the Indonesian Archipelago (then known as Dutch East Indies) and the Malayan Peninsula (then known as British Malaya) arrived in Ceylon. They were known as ‘Oosterlingen,’ or easterners, by the Dutch because they hailed from the Dutch East Indies. Apart from these soldiers, the early Malay population of Sri Lanka was also dominated by the Javanese/Malay ruling class, which included Sultans, Rajas, princes, courtiers, and their entourages, as well as their retinue of slaves, and servants, deported to Ceylon by the Dutch from Goa, Celebes, Tidore, Java, Maluku, Ternate, Bacan, Timur, Kupang, and other spice islands of the Indonesian archipelago. There were so many political exiles in Sri Lanka that the word ‘disailankan,’ or being sent to Ceylon, became synonymous with banishment in Indonesian. The other place of exile was Cape Town, South Africa, where a similar Malay community later emerged. The Royals and other convicts were imprisoned in Dutch Forts, many of which were built by Malays. Political exiles who were deported to Colombo lived in Hulftsdorf, in an area known as Kampung Pangeran, or Princes’ quarters. These Royal exiles, known for their religious zeal and piety, built several mosques in Ceylon, including the Wekanda Mosque, Peer Saibo Mosque, Kinniya Masjid, and the Colombo Grand Mosque on New Moor Street, and played a crucial role in promoting Islam among the people of Ceylon. Following the arrival of the British colonists, the “Oosteringen/ disailankan” population, which included all of the major ethnic groups from the Eastern archipelago, was collectively identified as “Malays,” despite the fact that the majority were not “ethnic Malays” by origin. After the British arrived, the Malays joined the English troops, and under British rule, they became a “privileged minority,” forming a socially exclusive intermediate stratum between the natives of the island and the British/ Burgher elite. The British preferred the recruitment of Malays, who are well known for their unshakeable fidelity, pervade discipline, perseverance, steadfastness, faultless service, and valour, which have withstood the most severe tests in history. The British not only ‘martialised’ the Malays, such as the Gurkhas, to serve in their native army, but also took firm steps to increase the number of Malays in Ceylon, because the stoutly made Malays possessed greater capacity to endure fatigue and privation than any other race living on the island. Hence the British went to great lengths to recruit Malays from areas of the Malay Peninsula under their control. Malay gentry were especially welcomed, and were offered higher ranks in service depending on the number of followers they brought with them. Several exiled Malay princes had held commissions in the military. For example, three of the five male children of Batara Gowa Amas Madina II, the Makassarese King of Gowa, who was exiled to the island by the Dutch in 1767, had joined the regiment. His eldest son Captain Abdullah fought valiantly and died during the British-Polygar Wars in South India in 1800. While his younger sons, Princes Karaeng Mohammed Nuruddin and Karaeng Mohammed Saifuddin were both captains in the Ceylon Malay Regiment, and when they were both captured and coerced into joining the troops of the King of Kandy, they refused to sever their oath of allegiance to the British, and were put to death. Frederic North (1798-1805), the first Governor of British Ceylon, who was highly impressed by the unimpeachable loyalty of the Malays, devised elaborate plans to establish the Malay Regiment, modeled after the Sepoy Regiments of India. In 1802, the Sultan of Kedah dispatched a contingent of his Malay subjects to serve in Sri Lanka, who were joined by Malays from Malacca, Penang, and Singapore. More Malays were encouraged to immigrate to Sri Lanka with their families and were paid a bounty. With the reinforcement from Malaya, the Sri Lankan Malay community established roots in Sri Lanka. They practically comprised the well-known Ceylon Rifle Regiment (CRR), which became the first Asian regiment in history to be bestowed with the prestigious King’s colours in 1802. For the Malay soldiers and their families, the British established special military schools and libraries. The Malays, like the British regiments, had Malay chaplains to perform religious rites, and the British provided them with land to build mosques and cemeteries. Aside from the colonial army, Malays found employment with both local and foreign Rajas. The Malays served the Cochin Raja on India’s Malabar Coast before being recruited by the British for service in Sri Lanka in 1799. Their support for the local Nayakkar monarchs has also been crucial in historic battles such as the Kandyan British conquests of 1803 and 1815, in which they served as valiant soldiers in both the Kandyan and British belligerents. In 1810, John D’Oyly, the British Resident in Kandy who famously relied on spies disguised as monks and traders to discover the workings of the Kingdom, noted that the Kandyan king’s paid soldiers included 300 to 350 Malays. The Sinhala term Padikara Peruwa, which appears to mean a stipendiary class of paid levies, was used to refer to the Kandyan King’s Malay troop, which was loaded with those of Malay and Javanese descent who had escaped from the clutches of the Dutch. During the reign of King Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe, the Kandyan Malay regiment grew to 22 companies of 32 men each, and by the turn of the nineteenth century, these Malay soldiers made up half of the Kandyan King’s force. Even the military commander of ‘Padikara Peruwa’ was a Makassarese Malay Captain, Karaeng Sankilang, dubbed “Sankelan” by Prof.Paul E.Peiris, son of the exiled King of Gowa [Celebes], Batara Gowa Amas Medina II. During the first British-Kandyan war in 1803, Kapitan Nuruddin and his brother Saifuddin led the British-Malay army into Kandy to fight the Sinhalese troops, while their half brother Prince Sangunglo in the enemy ranks attempted to persuade them to join the Kandyans, and vice versa. Both parties turned down the offers but remained loyal to their respective masters, the British and the Kandyan king. In the service of their kings, the Malay royal brothers fought each other as enemies. Major Davie brutally murdered Prince Sankelan during the Kandyan-British war of 1803. Among the notable Malay/Ja Chieftains appointed during King Wickrama Raja Singh’s reign are Chief Assana Kapitan, Chief Kuppen, Chief Greasy (some books refer to him as Creasy), and Kaladay Kaya (Kayath). Malays held far too many official positions, which was disproportionate to their population size. In fact, the first Sri Lankan to set foot on Australian soil was a Ceylonese Malay non-commissioned officer, Drum Major William O’Deen, who was banished to Australia with his family in 1816. Following the disbandment of the CRR in 1873, a large number of Malay Riflemen were drafted into the Police Force, in which they quickly became the most efficient members. According to George Campbell’s Report on Ceylon Police for 1877, there were 420 Malay constables alone in the force, and by 1879, there were 493 Malays in the Police Constabulary. The war records of the first and second World Wars help to demonstrate the enormous contribution of Malays to Ceylon’s security forces at the time. Malays made up one-sixth of all Ceylonese troops that fought in the ghastly battles. It is worth noting that Kamal Athon Chunchie, a world-renowned British humanitarian and political activist who founded the Coloured Men’s Institute in Britain, was a Ceylonese Malay born in Kandy. Malays made up 75 percent of Ceylon’s police force, 90 percent of the Prison Service staff, 95 percent of Colombo Town guards, and nearly 100 percent of the Colombo fire brigade at the turn of the twentieth century. Baba Hakim Muthaliph of Magampattuwa and Baba Thajon Arifin Doole of Hambanthota were appointed as Maha Wasala Mudaliars (Gate Mudaliyars). Mudaliyar Ahamath Ibrahim Jainu-Deen of Badulla, Mudaliyar Baba Junoor Haji Bahar & Muhandiram Tuan Kitchil Abu Cassim Burah are examples of other Malay feudal chiefs of British Ceylon.

           It is heartening to learn that the Malays in Ceylon ranked first among the native races in terms of the number of boys and girls enrolled in school, according to the 1897 Ferguson’s Census. In fact, they had a monopoly on literacy for a long time. During the last two centuries, the Malays in Ceylon have come to play a noteworthy role in the domain of economics, politics, science and the arts which is out of proportion to their negligibly small number. They are also among the most sports-conscious people on the island, having pioneered many activities in a variety of sports, particularly the game of cricket. In fact, the Colombo Malay Cricket Club, founded in 1872, is Sri Lanka’s oldest cricket club, and in 1907, it became the first Ceylonese club to embark on an overseas cricket tour. Later, Malay club cricketers added finesse to their game, and Malays became Ceylon’s club champions in cricket in 1920. Malay men in Ceylon’s Police Force and Rifle Regiment were champions of ‘tug of war,’ an ancient & dynamic tugging contest known among Ceylon Malays as “Tarek Tambang.” The Malays also introduced to Ceylon games native to South East Asia, such as “Pukulan Cheena,” a combination of bare knuckle fighting and wresting, traditional Malay martial art known as “Silat,” and the game of wicker ball known as “Sepak Raga.” The Malays have also left an indelible imprint on the history of place-names in Sri Lanka. Chavakachcheri, Jaffna (Java Pattinum), Kinniya, Samanthurai, Jagama, Jakotuwa, Ja- Ela, Jawatte, Jagoda, Kartel (Slave Island), Bandagiriya, Bolane, Cassimgama, Akbar Town, Taiyiddi (Jaava-veedi), Thachathopu (Jaava-thopu), Thavady and Tavasikulam, just to name a few.

                 When Malays came from the Indonesian Archipelago, they brought their drums, music and their dances, ancient ways their parents taught them, their culinary habits, literature & fashion. They brought kite flying, rabana, the large single-faced circular drum, Anklung, a musical instrument made of two to four bamboo tubes suspended in a bamboo frame bound with rattan cords, Cadjan palm matting, rattan weaving, and the art of making Beeralu lace and the fabled cloth of Java, “sarong,” to Sri Lanka, which is the traditional garment of Indonesian / Malay origin. Sarong or “sarung” is derived from the Indonesian and Malay words for “sheath.” The art of batik printing, which originated in Indonesia and Malaysia, has evolved into a profitable cottage industry in Sri Lanka, thanks to the Malays who introduced Batik to Ceylon. The term batik is derived from the Javanese tik, which means “to dot.”  It is unfortunate that the Malays who have provided exemplary service to Sri Lanka are experiencing a steady demographic decline, with their numbers declining by approximately 8% per decade. Unfortunately, only 40,000 Malays live in Sri Lanka today, accounting for less than 0.18 percent of the population.

Cover picture credits: Gnai Ahamat Bagoos