Malay community

Malays of Sri Lanka would have been a long forgotten minority, had they not maintained
their mother tongue, the Malay at least in a colloquial form. The Malay
community is a distinct ethnic group. They are Muslim by religion. The present
population of Sri Lankan Malays counts only a 5% of the Muslim population, which
is also an 8% of the whole population of Sri Lanka. Except for slight changes in numbers, the percentage of the Malay population remained unchanged. While the present number of Malay population stands at 60,000 persons, one third of them live in Colombo, others are scattered out in several districts of Sri Lanka. Among them, the largest number is 1% of the population of Hambantota district in the southern Sri Lanka.
Despite its small size in number, the Malays have maintained their
language, and culture distinct from other communities such as Sinhala, Tamil and
Moors of Sri Lanka. They have also contributed joining hands with other
communities towards the nation building of a united Sri Lanka. One time they had
represented in the National Council, Parliament including in the first cabinet
of Independent Sri Lanka and engaged in wider range of professions including
Public and Educational service, in the armed forces, judiciary, medical and
engineering etc. However, as a community, the Malays have not achieved much
progress due to several factors including the indifferent policies of the past
governments towards their plight and dilemma.
　Although a three fourth of a century has passed since Edward Reimers, a
renowned archivist first shed lights on Malay community in Sri Lanka, only a
handful of papers were written on the subject until some of serious scholarly
research papers of Dr. Hussainmia were published in 1987 by the Institute of
Malay Language, Literature and Culture (IBKKM) of the Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia. Then his doctoral thesis 'Orang Rejimen, the Malays of the Ceylon
Rifle Regiment' published in 1990 by the same university in Malaysia, turned out
to be a prime source for study and research on Malays in Sri Lanka.
　The purpose of this paper is to study about the Malays of Sri Lanka, their
history and how they formed a distinct ethnic group in Sri Lanka. It will
examine their share of contribution towards the nation building of Sri Lanka and
their present plight and dilemma how to preserve their distinct identity in
parallel with their religious identity as Muslims in a multi-ethnic Sri Lanka.
The Malays assert they are Muslim by religious identity. But they are a distinct
ethnic community with their own language and culture different from others. Less
has been written about this socio-political aspect of the Malay community that
has focused on their distinct identity. Hence, this is an attempt to fill that
long due gap at least in some way.
　To complete this paper, I have mainly depended on interviews with many
Malay gentlemen of different socio-political calibre and informants at the
fieldwork on my several visits to Slave Island in Colombo, Galle, Matara,
Kirinda, Hambantota in Sri Lanka. Several reference materials at the Public
Library in Colombo and borrowed materials from several Sinhala and Malay
scholars and friends in Sri Lanka were indispensable for the purpose.
The Arrivals of Malays in Sri Lanka
The Malays of today's Sri Lanka are said to be the 'descendants of the 17th
century Malay Kings, Princes and Nobles exiled from Java by the Dutch and of the
Malay soldiers brought in by the British in the 18th century from the region
including Malay Peninsula

However, the origin of the Malay community of Sri Lanka goes far beyond the 17th
century A.D. It is impossible to say the exact date of the original arrival of
the Malays to Sri Lanka. But references in Chulawamsa about an invasion by a
Malay King named Chandrabhanu make it presumable that the Malays had contacts
with Sri Lanka earlier than the Dutch period. According to Edward Reimers, there
are also references to the Malays in other historical works of the Sinhalese of
the 13th and 14th centuries A.D. that King Parakramabahu, the Great's Admiral
and captains were Malays and King RajasinghaⅠis said to have had Malays in his
service. This may suggest that there were Malays before they were brought or
arrived during the Dutch and the British colonial rules in Sri Lanka. Therefore,
the arrivals of the Malays can be categorised into three periods. What are they?

　The Early Period (1247-1640 A.D.):
　The earliest arrival of the Malays we have known took place in the middle of the 13th century A.D. with the invasion of Chandrabhanu, the Buddhist King of Nakhon Si Tammarat in the Isthumus of Kra of Malay Peninsula. Culawamsa, a chronicle of Sri Lanka has recorded the incident:
　When the eleventh year of the reign of this King Parakramabahu had arrived, a king of the Javaka known by the name of Chandrabhanu landed with
a terrible Javaka army under the treacherous pretext that they were followers of
the Buddha. All these wicked Javaka soldiers who invaded every landing-place and
who with their poisoned arrows, like (sic) to terrible snakes, without ceasing
harassed the people whomever they caught sight of, laid waste, raging their
fury, all Lanka. (Culawamsa LXXXIII, 36-51).
　The term Javaka used in the chronicle is a well-established name for the
Malays of the Peninsula
Chandrabhanu attacked the Sinhala kingdom twice and failed both times. In the
second attack, he himself got killed. But Chandrabhanu had succeeded taking over
the northern part of Sri Lanka and become the ruler of the Javanese
Kingdomin Javapattanam (present Jaffna). This Javaka King of Sri Lanka who is mentioned
in the inscriptions of the South Indian Pandyan King, Jatavarman Vira Pandyan
(A.D.1235-1275) has been identified as Chandrabhanu (Sirisena 1977, 14).
　The Yalpanam Vaipava Malai, the chronicle of Jaffna mentioned of two local
names such as Chavakaccheri
(Javakaccheri-Java settlement) Chavakotte or Ja Kotuwa (Javaka Fort) confirming
the Java/Malay connection with Jaffna. It is presumable that these Javakas may
have moved towards the Kandyan kingdom at a later part of the history and worked
for the King of Kandy, who is said to have a garrison of army consisted of the
Malays. There is a well-known story that a Malay captain named Nouradeen and his
brother were beheaded at the order of the King of Kandy because the brothers
declined the royal offer to head the Malays in the service of the king but chose
to remain loyals to their British master, the King of the Great Britain.
　Beside these Javakas who arrived in Sri Lanka as Chandrabhanu's army or
servicemen during the reign of King Parakramabahu II, there were seafarer
freight careers, and the merchants ventured in ambitious maritime pursuits
around Madagascar. They often called round the coastline of Sri Lanka, which
suggests that many of them may have settled in areas near the harbours such as
Hambantota and around the coastline. According to one of my Malay informants at
Kirinda Malay settlement Hambantota was named after Sampan, the seafarers from the Indonesian archipelago, who called to the natural harbour in the past. These seafarers, and the freight careers of the East, after their conversion to Islam at the beginning of the 16th century A.D. relinquished their ambitious maritime
pursuits in favour of their co-religionists, the Arabs. The visits of Malays
became lesser and ceased visiting Sri Lankan waters at the beginning of the 16th
century A.D. when Arabs and Mohammadians established themselves in the seaports
of Sri Lanka and gradually took over the entire trade of the Island into their
hands. (Edward Reimers, 1924) 　The Dutch period (1640-1796 A.D.): The second arrival of the Malays in Sri Lanka took place during the Dutch administration, which ruled the coastal area of Sri Lanka for a period of more than one hundred and fifty years. Having driven away the Portuguese, who were ruling the coastal area of Sri Lanka, the Dutch established the full control of the coastal area in 1640. They brought
hundreds of Malays from all over in Malay Peninsula and Indonesian islands.
Those who were brought to Sri Lanka consisted of two categories. One being the
political exiles from Indonesia including other deportees expelled by the
Batavia government and second group consisted of all other classes of Malays who were brought to serve the Dutch government in Sri Lanka. This second group included
those recruits for the Military and other services, too.
　Among the first category, it also included princely exiles from various
parts of the Indonesian islands and the Malay Peninsula. The Batavia government
banished the Javanese including the nobles and many other eastern kings, princes
as well as the chiefs and the dignitaries of the region for rebelling against
the Batavia rule. In 1709, Susuna Mangkurat Mas, the King of Java, was exiled to
this country by the Dutch with his entire family and followers. This was
followed in 1723 by 44 Javanese Princes and Noblemen, who surrendered to the
Dutch at the Battle of Batavia, were exiled to Sri Lanka
All these lived in the four main coastal towns under the jurisdiction of the
Dutch, namely Colombo, Galle, Trincomalee, and Jaffna (Hussainmia, 1990, 40).
Others including the slaves were confined to quarters on the Slave Island
surrounded by Bere Lake in the center of Colombo. The majority of people living
in the area even today are the Malays. The Dutch is said to have stocked the
lake around the island with crocodiles, preventing the slaves' escape. Those who
escaped were flogged and branded for a first offense, hanged for a second.
The Dutch government also established a first settlement for the Malays,
who served them, in an area close to the Slave Island. A Dutch report dated 25th
June 1681 indicates that a piece of land 13 Morgen (about 28 acres) in extent
was granted to the Javanese Malays situated at Wolvendahl. There were 196 houses
and had coconut and jak trees planted.
　It is not known the exact number of exiles brought to Sri Lanka during the
Dutch period. But by the end of 18th century A.D., it appears that at least 200
members of eastern nobility were resident in the Island. With their families,
the number of Malay people amounted close to 2000 people.
　The British Period (1796-1948 A.D.):　It was the British who brought
the third category of Malays to Sri Lanka. Many came from the Malay Peninsula
and became the permanent source of providing military manpower and to serve the
British in the island. The British drove the Dutch away and took control of the
coastal area in 1796. Frederic North, the first British Governor of Sri Lanka,
at first, did not like the idea of incorporating the Malays, the soldiers who
fought against the British during the Dutch rule over Sri Lanka and had become
prisoners of war after the Dutch fell to the British, into his military. But he
agreed to take the 300 Malay soldiers under custody of the British when the
Dutch surrendered. The Dutch had stipulated that the Malays should be sent back
to Java Island at the cost of the British, who in turn first sent them to
Chennai, India and later incorporated into the British military in Sri Lanka.
This was the starting point that recruited hundreds of Malays into the British
military service, thereafter.
　Governor North was also the first British Administrator, who initiated
reforms in the military and formed Malay Corps raising their salaries resembling
to those of the native Corps. As a result, these Malay Corps were admitted into
the King's service on 23 April 1801 forming a Malay Regiment for the first time
outside Malay Peninsula. The Malays became the first Asians to hold commissions
from the British Sovereign. By this time, the strength of the Malay Corps
amounted to 1200 soldiers.
　During North's time, he established several Malay colonies in Sri Lanka
starting from Mahagampattu region, in the southern part of Sri Lanka. The first
one was opened in Hambantota, which is now a major Malay invalid settlement in
the south. Later, two other settlements were established in the villages of
Kirinda and Palatupana. The settlers were assigned to different kinds of work
including in the saltpans found in the region and farming and fishing etc. The
region at the time was a jungle and not even a coolie from other community
wanted to work in the area. Having seen the Malays were enduring the hard life,
Governor North was pleased with the Malays and wrote that 'they were hard
workers and courageous and not easily terrified with little dangers and
inconveniences' (Hussainmia 1990, 63) in one of his dispatches to the Home
Government.
　Thereafter, Governor North decided to recruit Malays to enlarge his forces.
His recruitments largely came from Malay Peninsula as he set up recruiting
agency for the first time in Penang (Prince of Wales Island) around 1800. He
also tried to bring Malays from other British colonies like, Cochin in India,
Island of St. Helena etc. But larger number came from Malay Peninsula with their
families to settle in Sri Lanka to serve the British military. The Malays were
periodically brought to Sri Lanka until the recruitment was halted in 1803 after
the British lost to the Kandyan kingdom in the war against Kandyan Kingdom on
24th June 1803. The defeat was largely attributed to the desertion of Malay
soldiers who formed the main strength of the British garrison.
　The desertion of 'British Malays' had occurred mainly because of the 'Kandy
Malays' who were in the Kandyan King's service and offered security and
protection to the Malay soldiers in the British side. 700 Malays deserted to the
Kandyan side leaving only 250 Malay soldiers behind. Governor North was so
furious that he immediately ordered the halt of recruiting the Malays. But he
later changed his mind and resumed taking the Malays into the service. He
changed his mind in consideration of the loyalty of Captain Nauradeen who led
the Malays in the British force and the assurance and "invariable attachment"
shown by the Malay exiles living in Sri Lanka to the British government. He then
rebuilt the Malay Regiment, which was left with only 600 soldiers by recruiting
more from the Malay Peninsula and other east islands. North continued his effort
to strengthen the Regiment until his departure from Sri Lanka at the end of
1805.
Formation of Malay Community in Sri Lanka
　The Malay community of Sri Lanka is formed of a number of people arrived in
Sri Lanka at different periods of time, on different reasons and from a diverse
region of eastern islands that included Malay Peninsula, Java and other
Indonesian islands. They are popularly known as "Jaminissu" among the Sinhalese
community and "Jamanusar" among the Tamil community meaning "People from Java"
in both languages. The term "Javaka" we found in the Culawamsa also has a
similar meaning: "Person from Java" (Java+ka) (Java+person) while the Malays
call them "Melayu" in Malay language. How did they form the Malay community?
　There are several factors that helped form the Malay community of Sri
Lanka. Firstly, the formation of a separate regiment for Malays in the British
military played an important role towards the formation of the Malay community.
By the time of Governor North's departure from Sri Lanka, he had laid a
foundation for a future Malay community of Sri Lankan style. During his tenure
of 10 years as Governor, he persuaded 75% of the Malays that included exiles of
various class and people come from different islands in the East living in Sri
Lanka to join the British military service. During his administration, North
recruited Malays from all over including locals and those from the Malay
Peninsula. He set up a separate military regiment for Malay soldiers, formed a
Boy's company to give prior training to the children of the Malay soldiers and
formed an Invalid Regiment to help them find alternative jobs. North set up
Malay settlements and provided jobs. He even looked after the children and wives
of those soldiers who died in the battle. The Malay regiment played a central
role in promoting welfare for the Malay soldiers and communicating with other
Malays and settlements in cities and villages in the island. On top of that, the
Malay Military mosque, primarily set up to serve the spiritual need of the
soldiers, also attracted the Malays living around the area. The mosque served as
a center promoting friendship among the Malays came from different places of
origin.
　Secondly, the Malays themselves played a formidable role in maintaining
their language and customs. Although they came from same region of the East
islands, they spoke variety of dialects spoken in Malaya and Java islands.
During the time of the Dutch rule over Batavia, the people living in the area
had developed a separate dialect called "Batavia dialect" which is a form of
simple spoken Malay. As the majority of people came from this area to Dutch
Ceylan it is possible that they retained the "Batavia dialect" and got mixed with local languages in Sri Lanka. This was only natural because of their long absence from their native land. Further, there was no proper learning and teaching of
standard Malay language in Sri Lanka neither in the past nor even at present.
This may have contributed to the creation of a Sri Lankan styled "Malay"
language. In fact, Malay and Sinhala languages share a common root of Sanskrit
language. The Malay language, like Sinhala has a strong influence from Sanskrit
language as Java, Sumatra had Buddhist and Hindu empires in the past. A close
look at some examples below give us a better picture of the fact.

OUR MOTHER TONGUE

It is well known that Malays are not indigenous to Sri Lanka. Scholars differ in their views as to their earliest date of arrival. The Cūlavamsa , where the word Javaka itself occurs, provides us with the earliest reference to their arrival in this country. Thus the Cūlavamsa records of a Javaka Prince Chandrabanu , to have invaded Sri Lanka twice. The first was in 1247 A.D. and the second in 1258 A.D. Non-literary evidence seems to point to a still earlier period of contact between Java and Sri Lanka, which would have led to the arrival of Malays in Sri Lanka, as early as, the 7th Century comparatively in smaller numbers.

According to publications of Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka (1959), The Malay Kingdom of Seriwijaya had its birth in the 7th century. Historical and linguistic clues point out the origin of the Malays to the area Champa, Cochin-China and Cambodia. But from this point to North Sumatran states of Perlak and Pasai in the 13th century, Malacca in the 15th century, the identity of the Malays had changed tremendously.

Coming back to Sri Lanka, any Javaka or Malay who would have domiciled themselves in this island during these early times, including those who arrived with the invader Prince Chandrabanu, would undoubtedly have been assimilated to the indigenous population of Sri Lanka beyond trace. Apparently there is no evidence to show that they existed as a distinct community or even as a caste or sub-caste of the Sinhalese or Tamils, up to more recent times. Dr. K. D. Wijesekera in his book ‘The people of Ceylon’ states that there is a fair trace of mangloid found in the modern Sinhalese population and a aleveolar prognathis. Dr. K. W. Goonewardena, Professor of History, University of Ceylon, in the Royal Asiatic Society Journal Vol. VII Pt.2 p. 257 states:”I feel that it is worth noting that a number of Sinhalese family names suggests Malay connections e.g. Malaga, Malalasekera, Malalgoda and the fact that many people bearing such names have remarkably Malay features may not be altogether accidental (Fazeer Rawdin – The Island 17.9.1994).

The arrival of the Malays on a large scale took place only during the time of the Dutch. Dutch activities in Java and counter activities of the Javanese led to the arrival of more Malays in Sri Lanka including some members of the Javanese royalty who had rebelled against the Dutch were exiled to Sri Lanka in 1723. These Javanese continued to live in Sri Lanka until the British drove away the Dutch in 1796. Many royalty and soldiers opted to return to Java while others became domiciled in this country. The present Sri Lankan Malays are therefore, the descendants of both Javanese royalty and soldiery. Being well-known for their loyalty and bravery, they had no difficulty in continuing to pursue their vocations under the British who enrolled them in the Ceylon Rifle Regiment. When this Regiment was disbanded in 1873, the Malays joined such services as the Ceylon Police Force, the Prisons Services and the Colombo Fire Brigade amongst others.

The present day Malays have integrated themselves amicably into the complex social structure of Sri Lanka. Even though the Malays have integrated themselves into the social structure of Sri Lanka, they do have their own problems and do not have an articulate means of drawing the attention of the government to the particular predicament the community is placed. Often they are identified with the Sri Lanka Moors due to the religious identity. Ethnically, linguistically and culturally they are distinctly different from the Moors.

Many of the Malays in Sri Lanka are now not very conversant in their own language. Their day to day activities even at home, being conducted in English, Sinhalese or Tamil. Malay is only a spoken dialect today. Being a small community living in areas where the majority population is Sinhala or Tamil or an admixture of Sinhala and Tamil or Moor, the Malays conduct their affairs in English, Sinhala or Tamil or in two or more of these languages. Their education too is obtained in one or the other of these languages. Therefore, then is the Mother Tongue of the Malays – English ? – No; Sinhala ? – definitely not; Tamil ? – Of course not; Standard Malay ? – Cannot be; Sri Lanka Malay ? - Yes of course.

Until recently the Sri Lankan Malays were of the notion that their Mother tongue was a concoction of Bazaar Malay. On 16th July, 2006, Dr. Umberto Ansaldo and Dr. Lisa Lim (University of Amsterdam) presented a lecture on the topic ‘Language documentation and description: Sri Lanka Malay, under the auspices of the Volksagon Foundation’s initiative for the documentation of endangered languages (DoBeS). The event was organized by COSLAM and was held at the Nagarodaya Hall, Colombo 8. The aim of their talk was to introduce their research project they had been conducting in Sri Lanka for the past few years and to share some thoughts on the status of the Sri Lanka Malay (SLM) language.

They stated that the ancestors of Sri Lanka Malay did not speak Malay as we know it today because at that point it did not exist. They spoke many different languages (or dialects or varieties) of Indonesia and the Malay-archipelago. All these varieties of Malay belong to the Austronesian family. But in Sri Lanka they encountered other languages that do not belong to this family. Namely: Sinhala (of the Indo European family) and Tamil (Dravidian). In such a situation of language contact, a fairly common occurrence is language admixture, that is, speakers learn features of each respective language and mix them. Sometimes, especially where you have a new social group emerging with speakers of originally different varieties setting in a new home, a new language, with a new grammar is created. Sri Lanka Malay is such a language. It is a creative product that arises through the highly multilingual skills of its community.

Mr. S. L. Kekulawala in a paper written by in him in 1986 entitled “KINSHIP TERMINOLOGY IN SRI LANKAN MALAY – A CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE UNIVERSALS “ , through a complex analysis based upon the theoretical insight afforded by Professor Joseph Greenberg, Language Universals, Mouton and Company, The Hague, 1966, states that Sri Lanka Malay is a hybrid. Typologically, kinship systems have been classified with reference to parental and parents’ sibling terms i.e. with reference to terms of the first ascending generation. The principal terms on which this classification was based were father, father’s brother and mother’s brother – all males. On this basis four types of kinship terminologies may be set up:

1. The generational type, where father, and father’s brother and mother’s brother are referred to by the same term;
2. The lineal type, where the father is differentiated by the use of a term different from the single term used to refer to both collateral relatives;
3. The bifurcate collateral type, where the three relatives are referred to by three distinct terms and;
4. The bifurcate merging type, where father and father’s brother are denoted by a single term, while mother’s brother is designated by a different term.

Sri Lanka Malay shows characteristics of both the lineal and the bifurcate collateral types; thus with reference to father’s and mother’s elder brother Sri Lanka Malay shows a single term uwa to refer to both parental collateral kin, while a separate term bapa is used to refer to father , thus indicating the possibility of its being classified as lineal. But with reference to father’s and mother’s younger brother, Sri Lanka Malay shows two different terms, muda and mama respectively to refer to the collateral kin, while a separate term bapa is used to refer to father, thus allowing it to be classified as bifurcate collateral. Since SLM is thus seen to be a hybrid of two types, it is necessary to set up a new type – to be called THE LINEO – BIFURCATE COLLATERAL TYPE – to refer to this phenomenon and to classify Sri Lanka Malay as such. Appendix I of S.L. Kekulawala is attached.

Sadly though, according to the findings of Dr. Umberto Ansaldo and Dr. Lisa Lim, Sri Lanka Malay is endangered. A language starts being endangered when it is no longer transmitted by parents to their children. Other reasons for languages being endangered are: (a) decline in functions of use, (b) lack of educational support, (c) lack of prestige, and (d) shift to other languages. Whilst Linguists can be involved in helping to revitalize a speaker population of an endangered language by (1) publishing pedagogical grammars with audio tapes, dictionaries, newspapers, etc, and (2) having courses taught in schools and community colleges, evening classes for adults, programs on the radio and television etc. the onus of revival falls on the Community alone and parents must continue passing on their mother tongue to their children in the home.

Editors Note: Coslam invites Malays to write in their views on the revival of their Mother tongue and selected letters will be published in the next issue of the Majullah.

S. L. KEKULAWALA – APPENDIX I

abang elder male, husband’s elder brother, brother-in-law elder to oneself
ade younger brother, younger sister
anak daughter, son, brother’s sons, brother’s daughter
bapa father
bibi mother’s younger sister
bissar bapa paternal grand father
bissar umbo elder brother’s wife
cici grand daughter, great-grand daughter, ego’s sibling’s grand daughter
cucu grand son, great-grand son, ego’s sibling’s grand son
data elder sister
ipar younger male cousin, husband’s or wife’s younger brother, brother-in-law
younger to oneself, father’s brother’s or sister’s son younger to oneself,
mother’s brother’s or sister’s son younger to oneself
kaka elder brother
kake maternal or paternal grand-father
kiccil umbo younger brother’s wife
mama mother’s younger brother, father-in-law
mama kilaki father-in-law
mami father’s younger sister, mother-in-law
mantu sister’s son or daughter, daughter or son-in-law
mma mother
mma bapa maternal grand-father
moyang kake maternal or paternal great-grand father
moyang nene maternal or paternal great-grand mother
muda father’s younger brother
murtuwa kilaki father-in-law
murtuwa prompang mother-in-law
nene maternal or paternal grand-mother
sudara brother; (rarely, rarely male of female sibling)
sudari sister
umbo younger or older female cousin, husband’s or wife’s younger of
or elder sister, sister-in-law, father’s or mother’s brother’s or sister’s daughter
uwa father’s or mother’s elder brother or elder sister
uwamma father’s or mother’s elder sister