Sri Lankan Malays
ශ්රී ලංකා මැලේ ජනතාව இலங்கை மலாயர் | |
|---|---|
Sri Lankan Malay man and child, 19th century | |
| Total population | |
| 40,189 (0.2% of the population) (2012) Significant portion of the Sri Lankan population with partial Malay ancestry | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Provinces of Sri Lanka | |
| Western | 24,718 |
| Southern | 8,343 |
| Central | 2,889 |
| North Western | 1,675 |
| Languages | |
| Sri Lanka Malay language Sinhala Some Tamil and English | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
Sri Lankan Malays (Sinhala: (ශ්රී ලංකා) මැලේ ජනතාව Shri Lanka Mæle Janathava (Standard); මැලේ මිනිස්සු / ජා මිනිස්සු Mæle Minissu / Ja Minissu (Colloquially); Tamil: இலங்கை மலாயர், romanized: Ilaṅkai Malāyar), historically known as Ceylon Malays, are Sri Lankan citizens with full or partial ancestry from the Indonesian Archipelago, Malaysia, or Singapore.
The term is a misnomer, as it is used as a historical catch-all for all native ethnic groups of the Malay Archipelago 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, 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 reached the island of Sri Lanka from Maritime Southeast Asia (which includes peoples as diverse as Sumatrans to Lucoes) and brought speakers of the Malayo-Polynesian language group to Sri Lankan shores. This migration accelerated when both Sri Lanka and Indonesia were Dutch colonies (1640–1796), while a second wave (1796–1948) came from the Malay Peninsula, when both Malaya and Sri Lanka were in the British Empire. 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.