Sri Lankan Moors
Encyclopedia
The Sri Lankan Moors are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka
comprising 8% of the country's total population (approx. 2 million people in 2005). They are predominantly followers of Islam. The Moors trace their ancestry to Arab
traders who settled in Sri Lanka some time between the 8th and 15th centuries. The Arabic language
brought by the early merchants is no longer spoken, though many Arabic words and phrases are still commonly used. Until the recent past, the Moors employed Arwi
as their native language, though this is also extinct as a spoken language.
Moors today use Tamil
as their primary language with influence from Arabic. Those from central and southern Sri Lanka also widely use Sinhala, an Indo-European
language spoken by the ethnic Sinhalese
majority in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan Moors lived primarily in coastal trading and agricultural communities, preserving their Islamic cultural heritage while adopting many Southern Asian customs. During the period of Portuguese colonisation, the Moors suffered widespread persecution, and many fled to the Central Highlands and the East Coast
, where their descendants remain.
The Tamils
of Sri Lanka, throughout history, have attempted to categorize the Sri Lankan Moors as belonging to the Tamil race
. However many Moors feel that this is wrong. Scientifically they are different races, due to the fact that after the Arab traders settled in Sri Lanka and adapted to the Tamil language, so that it was easier for them to communicate with the Tamils. This meant that mistakenly Tamils concluded that the Moors were from their race. The features of Sri Lankan Moors are also very different, they commonly have lighter skin tone hair color. Therefore they are two completely different races, who speak the same language. Tamil culture and traditions are very different. Tamils follow the Hindu culture and religion whereas the Sri Lankan Moors follow the Arabic cultural traditions and practise the religion Islam. It is claimed that this was a bid to eliminate the minority community from having its own unique identity. The Government of Sri Lanka, however, treats the Muslims as of origin and as a distinct ethnic group compared to the Tamils.
The manner in which Islam developed in Sri Lanka is very similar to that on the Malabar Coast
of India. Tradition has recorded that Arabs who had settled down on the Malabar coast used to travel from the port of Cranganore to Sri Lanka on pilgrimage to pay homage to what they believed to be the footprint of Adam on the top of a mountain, which, even today, is called Adam's Peak
.
Ibn Batuta, the famous 14th-century Arab traveller, recorded many facets about early Arab influence in Sri Lanka in his travelogues.
Before the end of the 7th century, a colony of Muslim merchants had established themselves in Ceylon. Fascinated by the scenic splendour and captivated by the traditions associated with Adam's Peak, Muslim merchants arrived in large numbers and some of them decided to settle in the island encouraged by the cordial treatment they received by the local rulers. Most of them lived along the coastal areas in peace and prosperity, maintaining contacts, both cultural and commercial, with Baghdad
, Hadramout, Oman
and other Islamic cities.
According to Tikiri Abeyasinghe in his Portuguese Rule in Ceylon, 1594–1612, Colombo (1966), Lake House Investments Ltd., p 192, tradition has it that,
The first Arabs who practiced Islam arrived in Sri Lanka around the 7th–8th century, and there is evidence that there was a settled community of Arabs in Ceylon in pre-Islamic times.
The circumstances that helped the growth of Muslim settlements were varied. Most of the majority Sinhalese depended more on agriculture than trade, thus trade was open to the Muslims. The Sinhalese Kings considered the Muslim settlements favorably on account of the revenue that they brought them through their contacts overseas both in trade and in politics. The religious tolerance of the local population was also another vital factor in the development of Muslim settlements in Ceylon.
The early Muslim settlements were set up mainly around ports on account of the nature of their trade. It is also assumed that many of the Arab traders may not have brought their womenfolk along with them when they settled in Ceylon. Hence they would have been compelled to marry the Sinhalese and Tamil women of the island after converting them to Islam. The fact that a large number of Moors in Sri Lanka speak the Tamil language can be attributed to the possibility that they were trading partners with the Tamils of South India and had to learn Tamil in order to carry out their business. The integration with the Muslims of Tamil Nadu (Marakkar
), in South India, may have also contributed to this. Moors are also sometimes referred to as Marakkala in Sinhala language. It is also possible that the Arabs who had already migrated to Ceylon, prior to Islam, had adopted the Tamil language as a medium of communication in their intercourse with the Tamil-speaking Muslims of South India. The Muslims were very skillful traders who gradually built-up a very lucrative trading post in Ceylon. A whole colony of Arab Muslims
is said to have landed at Beruwela (South Western coast) in the Kalutara
District in 1024.
Though the Muslims did not engage in propagating Islam amongst the natives of Ceylon, many of the native women they married were converted to Islam.
There is also a report in the history of Sri Lanka of a Muslim ruler, Vathimi Raja, who reigned at Kurunegala
(North Central Province
) in the 14th century. This factor cannot be found in history books due to their omission, for reasons unknown, by modern authors. Vathimi Raja was the son of King Bhuvaneka Bahu I, by a Muslim spouse, the daughter of one of the chiefs. The Sinhalese son of King Bhuvaneka Bahu I, Parakrama Bahu III, the real heir to the throne was crowned at Dambadeniya under the name of Pandita Parakrama Bahu III. In order to be rid of his step brother, Vathimi Raja, he ordered that his eyes be gouged out. It is held that the author of the Mahavamsa
(ancient history of Ceylon) had suppressed the recording of this disgraceful incident. The British translator, Mudaliyar Wijesinghe, states that original Ola (leaf script) was bodily removed from the writings and fiction inserted instead. The blinded Vathimi Raja (Bhuvaneka Bahu II or Al-Konar, abbreviated from Al-Langar-Konar, meaning Chief of Lanka of Alakeshwara) was seen by the Arab traveller Ibn Batuta during his visit to the island in 1344. His son named Parakrama Bahu II (Alakeshwara II) was also a Muslim. The lineage of Alakeshwara kings (of Muslim origin) ended in 1410. Although all the kings during this reign may not have been Muslims, the absence of the prefix -Shri Sangha Bodhi- (pertaining to the disciples of the Buddha) to the name of these kings on the rock inscriptions during this hundred year period may be considered as an indicator that they were not Buddhists. Further during Ibn Batuta's visit a Muslim ruler called Jalasthi is reported to have been holding Colombo, maintaining his hold over the town with a garrison of about 500 Abyssinians.
In spite of this the Muslims have always maintained very cordial relationships with the Sinhalese Royalty and the local population. There is evidence that they were closer to the Sinhalese than to the Tamils. The Muslims' relationship with the Sinhalese kings grew stronger and in the 14th century they even fought with them against the expanding Tamil kingdom and its maritime influence.
By the beginning of the 16th century, the Muslims of Sri Lanka, the descendants of the original Arab traders, had settled down comfortably on the island. They were very successful in trade and commerce and integrated socially with the customs of the local people. They had become an inseparable, and even more, an indispensable part of society. This period was one of ascendancy in peace and prosperity for the Sri Lankan Muslims.
an highlands and the East Coast
, which were under the rule of local kings. As a result, there are substantial Moor populations in these regions today. In recent times, the Sri Lankan Civil War
has produced large population movements in the northern region of the country, resulting in significant demographic changes. Hence the once-flourishing Muslim (mostly Moor) community is now non-existent in the Northern Province
of the country as a result of the Hindu Tamil Tigers' ethnic cleansing carried out by Tamil Tiger rebels in 1991. This caused the Moors to fled towards the southern and western Sri Lanka. Most of the expelled Northern population now reside in the western Puttalam
region of the country. Overall, the majority of Sri Lankan Muslims still reside in Sri Lanka, however there are small growing communities in the Arab World
, Europe, North America and Australia.
, but they govern themselves through Islamic law
.
, Colombo
, Kalutara
and Beruwala
. Moors in Puttalam
and Mannar
predominantly make a living as prawn farmers, and fishermen. Moors in the west coast trace their family lines through their father. Along with those in the Central Province, the surname of many Moors in Colombo
, Kalutara
and Puttalam
is their fathers' first name, which is similar to the traditional Arab
and Middle Eastern kinship system.
, hence their cultural identity is strongly defined by their religion. Unlike the Sinhalese
and Tamil people who adhere to several faiths, virtually all Moors adhere to Islam, hence in a Sri Lankan context the term Muslim is often used interchangeably as both a religious and ethnic term to describe the Moors.
Most Sri Lankan Moors follow Sunni Islam
through the Shafi school of thought, though there are also small populations that follow other Islamic sects such as Shia Islam.
was used extensively by the Moor community, however it is now virtually extinct as a spoken language and is confined only to religious texts. Today, the Tamil script
is commonly used; however the official script used in religious affairs is still Arwi, which is a modified form of the Arabic script.
Many Arabic and Arabized words exist in the form of Tamil spoken by Moors. Among many examples, greetings and blessings are exchanged in Arabic instead of Tamil
, such as Assalamu Alaikum instead of Vanakkam and Jazakallah instead of Nandri. Furthermore, to a smaller extent words have also been absorbed from Portuguese
, Dutch
, English
and notably, Sri Lankan Creole Malay
.
In recent times, with the advent of teaching Arabic as a compulsory language at schools and the rising of Islamic sentiments of Islamic people worldwide, Arabic has become more popular and used among Sri Lankan Moors.
and Sinhala, the Arwi language
was used as a native language
by the Sri Lankan Moors. Arwi is linguistically related to both Semitic
and Dravidian
tongues now spoken predominantly in the Middle East and Southern India, respectively. It is also believed to be also related to Brahui, a Dravidian language spoken today by nearly 350,000 in East Baluchistan
, Pakistan.
The linguistic "marriage" of Arabic with Sri Lankan dialects is a process that has been active in the region for several centuries. The distinctiveness of the speech behaviour of the Moors of Sri Lanka, has been referred to as Arabic-Tamil, Arabuthamul, Arwi, or Shonakam. It enjoys a religious knowledge affinity with a dialect of Jawi, used by the Malays
of the island, as well as with other northern India derived languages such as Urdu, used by smaller groups of Muslims in the country. The linguistic medium of Arwi is composed of more than one set of grammars and vocabularies that a speaker may switch back and forth from, depending on the situation. Spoken forms of coastal regional Arwi also differ from central regional forms. Compared to many among the Sinhalese
, Tamil, or Burgher
peoples of Sri Lanka who have traditionally tended to be monolingual, Moors were much more at home with Sinhala and Tamil
, and in some instances English
, as well as Arwi.
As a written language Arwi employs an invented orthography for a creolized
, or mixed, system of speech patterns. Arwi spoken in Sri Lanka, contained a mixture of words that have Semitic
, Dravidian
and Indo-European origins (i.e. Arabic
, Tamil
and Sinhalese, respectively). Research on its history has only very recently begun to appear in print. It is believed to have originated during the early stages of Islamizing contact between Sri Lankan peoples with Arab and Persian traders. The principles of its development and structure are possibly related to similar systems known for other similar Islamized speech and writing systems such as Maldivian
, Jawi, Urdu
, and Persian
.
Arwi is known to be a matter of at least scholarly interest in some parts of Sri Lanka today. Languages such as Sinhala, Tamil and English have replaced it in many contexts. Several reasons can be attributed to the decline of Arwi including the popularization of English during colonial times and the lack of competitive printing facilities. Furthermore, the early 20th century adoption of an Arabic-dominant Islamic school curriculum by scholars has also contributed to the extinction of Arwi as a spoken language and its overall decline in Sri Lanka.
Today, the Arwi language exists only as a written medium for religious uses. Alongside standard Arabic, it is often used in formal religious ceremonies; however, unlike Arabic, Arwi is seldom taught in religious schools and is consequently in deep decline. The most notable usage of Arwi can be found in devotional chants such as the Talaifatiha, which is exclusively conducted exclusively by women during certain religious festivals.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
comprising 8% of the country's total population (approx. 2 million people in 2005). They are predominantly followers of Islam. The Moors trace their ancestry to Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
traders who settled in Sri Lanka some time between the 8th and 15th centuries. The Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
brought by the early merchants is no longer spoken, though many Arabic words and phrases are still commonly used. Until the recent past, the Moors employed Arwi
Arwi language
Arwi is a written register of the Tamil language that uses an Arabic alphabet. It typically has extensive lexical influences from the Arabic language. Arwi was used extensively by the Muslim minority of Tamil Nadu state of India and Sri Lanka...
as their native language, though this is also extinct as a spoken language.
Moors today use Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
as their primary language with influence from Arabic. Those from central and southern Sri Lanka also widely use Sinhala, an Indo-European
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
language spoken by the ethnic Sinhalese
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
majority in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan Moors lived primarily in coastal trading and agricultural communities, preserving their Islamic cultural heritage while adopting many Southern Asian customs. During the period of Portuguese colonisation, the Moors suffered widespread persecution, and many fled to the Central Highlands and the East Coast
Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
The Eastern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and 2006 the province was...
, where their descendants remain.
History
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
of Sri Lanka, throughout history, have attempted to categorize the Sri Lankan Moors as belonging to the Tamil race
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
. However many Moors feel that this is wrong. Scientifically they are different races, due to the fact that after the Arab traders settled in Sri Lanka and adapted to the Tamil language, so that it was easier for them to communicate with the Tamils. This meant that mistakenly Tamils concluded that the Moors were from their race. The features of Sri Lankan Moors are also very different, they commonly have lighter skin tone hair color. Therefore they are two completely different races, who speak the same language. Tamil culture and traditions are very different. Tamils follow the Hindu culture and religion whereas the Sri Lankan Moors follow the Arabic cultural traditions and practise the religion Islam. It is claimed that this was a bid to eliminate the minority community from having its own unique identity. The Government of Sri Lanka, however, treats the Muslims as of origin and as a distinct ethnic group compared to the Tamils.
The manner in which Islam developed in Sri Lanka is very similar to that on the Malabar Coast
Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain...
of India. Tradition has recorded that Arabs who had settled down on the Malabar coast used to travel from the port of Cranganore to Sri Lanka on pilgrimage to pay homage to what they believed to be the footprint of Adam on the top of a mountain, which, even today, is called Adam's Peak
Adam's Peak
Sri Pada , is a tall conical mountain located in central Sri Lanka...
.
Ibn Batuta, the famous 14th-century Arab traveller, recorded many facets about early Arab influence in Sri Lanka in his travelogues.
Before the end of the 7th century, a colony of Muslim merchants had established themselves in Ceylon. Fascinated by the scenic splendour and captivated by the traditions associated with Adam's Peak, Muslim merchants arrived in large numbers and some of them decided to settle in the island encouraged by the cordial treatment they received by the local rulers. Most of them lived along the coastal areas in peace and prosperity, maintaining contacts, both cultural and commercial, with Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, Hadramout, Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
and other Islamic cities.
According to Tikiri Abeyasinghe in his Portuguese Rule in Ceylon, 1594–1612, Colombo (1966), Lake House Investments Ltd., p 192, tradition has it that,
[...]the first Mohammadans of Ceylon were a portion of those Arabs of the House of Hashim, who were driven from Arabia in the early part of the 8th. century by the tyranny of the Caliph, Abdel Malik bin Marwan, and who proceeding from the Euphrates southwards made settlements in the concan in the southern parts of the peninsula of India, on the island of Ceylon and Malacca. The division of them that came to Ceylon formed eight considerable settlements along the Nort-East, North and Western coast of that island; viz., one at Trincomalee, one at Jaffna, one at Colombo, one at barbareen, and one at Point de Galle.[...]
The first Arabs who practiced Islam arrived in Sri Lanka around the 7th–8th century, and there is evidence that there was a settled community of Arabs in Ceylon in pre-Islamic times.
The circumstances that helped the growth of Muslim settlements were varied. Most of the majority Sinhalese depended more on agriculture than trade, thus trade was open to the Muslims. The Sinhalese Kings considered the Muslim settlements favorably on account of the revenue that they brought them through their contacts overseas both in trade and in politics. The religious tolerance of the local population was also another vital factor in the development of Muslim settlements in Ceylon.
Marakkar
Marakkar or Maraikayar or Maraicayar or Maricar or Marican is a distinctive Tamil- and Malayalam-speaking Muslim people of the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in India.Traditionally, the Maricars engaged in mercantile commerce...
), in South India, may have also contributed to this. Moors are also sometimes referred to as Marakkala in Sinhala language. It is also possible that the Arabs who had already migrated to Ceylon, prior to Islam, had adopted the Tamil language as a medium of communication in their intercourse with the Tamil-speaking Muslims of South India. The Muslims were very skillful traders who gradually built-up a very lucrative trading post in Ceylon. A whole colony of Arab Muslims
Arab Muslims
Arab Muslims are adherents of the religion of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, or genealogically as Arabs. They greatly outnumber other ethnic groups in the Middle East. Muslims who are not Arabs are called mawali by Arab Muslims....
is said to have landed at Beruwela (South Western coast) in the Kalutara
Kalutara
Kalutara is a resort town located approximately 40 km south of Colombo in Sri Lanka.- Overview :Once an important spice-trading center, the city's name is derived from the Kalu Ganga River . In the 11th Century, the town was temporarily made a capital on the orders of a South Indian Prince...
District in 1024.
Though the Muslims did not engage in propagating Islam amongst the natives of Ceylon, many of the native women they married were converted to Islam.
There is also a report in the history of Sri Lanka of a Muslim ruler, Vathimi Raja, who reigned at Kurunegala
Kurunegala
Kurunegala , is the capital of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was also an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th century to the start of the 13th century. The town itself is a busy commercial and a transport hub...
(North Central Province
North Central Province, Sri Lanka
North Central Province is a province of Sri Lanka. Its capital is Anuradhapura. The province is not densely populated with a weak economy, as the land tends to be dry tropical woodlands.-History:...
) in the 14th century. This factor cannot be found in history books due to their omission, for reasons unknown, by modern authors. Vathimi Raja was the son of King Bhuvaneka Bahu I, by a Muslim spouse, the daughter of one of the chiefs. The Sinhalese son of King Bhuvaneka Bahu I, Parakrama Bahu III, the real heir to the throne was crowned at Dambadeniya under the name of Pandita Parakrama Bahu III. In order to be rid of his step brother, Vathimi Raja, he ordered that his eyes be gouged out. It is held that the author of the Mahavamsa
Mahavamsa
The Mahavamsa is a historical poem written in the Pali language, of the kings of Sri Lanka...
(ancient history of Ceylon) had suppressed the recording of this disgraceful incident. The British translator, Mudaliyar Wijesinghe, states that original Ola (leaf script) was bodily removed from the writings and fiction inserted instead. The blinded Vathimi Raja (Bhuvaneka Bahu II or Al-Konar, abbreviated from Al-Langar-Konar, meaning Chief of Lanka of Alakeshwara) was seen by the Arab traveller Ibn Batuta during his visit to the island in 1344. His son named Parakrama Bahu II (Alakeshwara II) was also a Muslim. The lineage of Alakeshwara kings (of Muslim origin) ended in 1410. Although all the kings during this reign may not have been Muslims, the absence of the prefix -Shri Sangha Bodhi- (pertaining to the disciples of the Buddha) to the name of these kings on the rock inscriptions during this hundred year period may be considered as an indicator that they were not Buddhists. Further during Ibn Batuta's visit a Muslim ruler called Jalasthi is reported to have been holding Colombo, maintaining his hold over the town with a garrison of about 500 Abyssinians.
In spite of this the Muslims have always maintained very cordial relationships with the Sinhalese Royalty and the local population. There is evidence that they were closer to the Sinhalese than to the Tamils. The Muslims' relationship with the Sinhalese kings grew stronger and in the 14th century they even fought with them against the expanding Tamil kingdom and its maritime influence.
By the beginning of the 16th century, the Muslims of Sri Lanka, the descendants of the original Arab traders, had settled down comfortably on the island. They were very successful in trade and commerce and integrated socially with the customs of the local people. They had become an inseparable, and even more, an indispensable part of society. This period was one of ascendancy in peace and prosperity for the Sri Lankan Muslims.
Present
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the population of Moors in Sri Lanka has grown from approximately 100,000 persons in the 19th century to over 2 million in 2005. (The population of Sri Lanka is 21,128,772 as of 2009.) In the past, Moors were found throughout Sri Lanka, mostly within urban coastal regions. However, during Portuguese rule in the 17th century they were persecuted on the basis of their religion and were forced to retreat into the KandyKandy
Kandy is a city in the center of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is one of the most scenic cities in Sri Lanka; it is both an...
an highlands and the East Coast
Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
The Eastern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and 2006 the province was...
, which were under the rule of local kings. As a result, there are substantial Moor populations in these regions today. In recent times, the Sri Lankan Civil War
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
has produced large population movements in the northern region of the country, resulting in significant demographic changes. Hence the once-flourishing Muslim (mostly Moor) community is now non-existent in the Northern Province
Northern Province, Sri Lanka
The Northern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and 2006 the province was...
of the country as a result of the Hindu Tamil Tigers' ethnic cleansing carried out by Tamil Tiger rebels in 1991. This caused the Moors to fled towards the southern and western Sri Lanka. Most of the expelled Northern population now reside in the western Puttalam
Puttalam
Puttalam is the capital city of the Puttalam District in North Western Province, Sri Lanka.-History:The history of this dry zone dates back to the arrival of Prince Vijaya, nearly 2500 years ago, when his vessel washed ashore. The name "Puttalam" may be a modification of the Tamil word Uppuththalam...
region of the country. Overall, the majority of Sri Lankan Muslims still reside in Sri Lanka, however there are small growing communities in the Arab World
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
, Europe, North America and Australia.
Distribution
East Coast Moors
On the east coast, Last generation of Sri Lankan Moors are primarily farmers, fishermen, and traders, but the present generation is a significant mark on Muslims education of the Island. Their family lines are traced through women, as in kinship systems of the southwest Indian state of KeralaKerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, but they govern themselves through Islamic law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
.
Central and West Coast Moors
Many moors in the central and west of the island are related to business, industrialists, professionals or civil servants and are mainly concentrated in KandyKandy
Kandy is a city in the center of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is one of the most scenic cities in Sri Lanka; it is both an...
, Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Kalutara
Kalutara
Kalutara is a resort town located approximately 40 km south of Colombo in Sri Lanka.- Overview :Once an important spice-trading center, the city's name is derived from the Kalu Ganga River . In the 11th Century, the town was temporarily made a capital on the orders of a South Indian Prince...
and Beruwala
Beruwala
Beruwala, is a small resort town in the south western coastal belt of Sri Lanka. The name Beruwala is derived from the Sinhalese word for the place where the sail is lowered. It marks the spot for the first Muslim settlement on the island, established by Arab traders around the 8th century AD...
. Moors in Puttalam
Puttalam
Puttalam is the capital city of the Puttalam District in North Western Province, Sri Lanka.-History:The history of this dry zone dates back to the arrival of Prince Vijaya, nearly 2500 years ago, when his vessel washed ashore. The name "Puttalam" may be a modification of the Tamil word Uppuththalam...
and Mannar
Mannar, Sri Lanka
Mannar , formerly spelled Manar, is the capital of Mannar District, Sri Lanka. It is located on Mannar Island.Mannar is known for its baobab trees and for its fort, built by the Portuguese in 1560 and taken by the Dutch in 1658 and rebuilt; its ramparts and bastions are intact, though the interior...
predominantly make a living as prawn farmers, and fishermen. Moors in the west coast trace their family lines through their father. Along with those in the Central Province, the surname of many Moors in Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Kalutara
Kalutara
Kalutara is a resort town located approximately 40 km south of Colombo in Sri Lanka.- Overview :Once an important spice-trading center, the city's name is derived from the Kalu Ganga River . In the 11th Century, the town was temporarily made a capital on the orders of a South Indian Prince...
and Puttalam
Puttalam
Puttalam is the capital city of the Puttalam District in North Western Province, Sri Lanka.-History:The history of this dry zone dates back to the arrival of Prince Vijaya, nearly 2500 years ago, when his vessel washed ashore. The name "Puttalam" may be a modification of the Tamil word Uppuththalam...
is their fathers' first name, which is similar to the traditional Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
and Middle Eastern kinship system.
Culture
The Sri Lankan Moors possess a unique culture that differentiates them from the dominant Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic groups on the island. The cultural domain of Sri Lankan Moors has been strongly shaped by Islam, hence most customs and practices are dictated by Islamic law. While preserving many of their ancestral customs, the Moors have also adopted several South Asian practices.Religion
Sri Lankan Moors are predominantly followers of IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, hence their cultural identity is strongly defined by their religion. Unlike the Sinhalese
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
and Tamil people who adhere to several faiths, virtually all Moors adhere to Islam, hence in a Sri Lankan context the term Muslim is often used interchangeably as both a religious and ethnic term to describe the Moors.
Most Sri Lankan Moors follow Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
through the Shafi school of thought, though there are also small populations that follow other Islamic sects such as Shia Islam.
Languages
The Moors speak a modified form of the Tamil language influenced by Arabic. However since there is not an official name for the dialect, it is commonly referred as Tamil, however there are certain words and phrases that are different from the original Tamil language thats spoken by the Tamils. some Moors still use Arabic to read and write in this 21st century. The Sinhala language has also had strong influence on speech, especially in the central region of Sri Lanka where most Moors are multilingual. Arabic is used extensively as a liturgical language. In the past, the Arwi languageArwi language
Arwi is a written register of the Tamil language that uses an Arabic alphabet. It typically has extensive lexical influences from the Arabic language. Arwi was used extensively by the Muslim minority of Tamil Nadu state of India and Sri Lanka...
was used extensively by the Moor community, however it is now virtually extinct as a spoken language and is confined only to religious texts. Today, the Tamil script
Tamil script
The Tamil script is a script that is used to write the Tamil language as well as other minority languages such as Badaga, Irulas, and Paniya...
is commonly used; however the official script used in religious affairs is still Arwi, which is a modified form of the Arabic script.
Many Arabic and Arabized words exist in the form of Tamil spoken by Moors. Among many examples, greetings and blessings are exchanged in Arabic instead of Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
, such as Assalamu Alaikum instead of Vanakkam and Jazakallah instead of Nandri. Furthermore, to a smaller extent words have also been absorbed from Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and notably, Sri Lankan Creole Malay
Sri Lanka Malay
The Sri Lankan Malay is an Austronesian language formed through a unique mixture of the Sinhalese language and the Tamil language with Malay...
.
In recent times, with the advent of teaching Arabic as a compulsory language at schools and the rising of Islamic sentiments of Islamic people worldwide, Arabic has become more popular and used among Sri Lankan Moors.
Arwi
Prior to the adoption of TamilTamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and Sinhala, the Arwi language
Arwi language
Arwi is a written register of the Tamil language that uses an Arabic alphabet. It typically has extensive lexical influences from the Arabic language. Arwi was used extensively by the Muslim minority of Tamil Nadu state of India and Sri Lanka...
was used as a native language
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
by the Sri Lankan Moors. Arwi is linguistically related to both Semitic
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
and Dravidian
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
tongues now spoken predominantly in the Middle East and Southern India, respectively. It is also believed to be also related to Brahui, a Dravidian language spoken today by nearly 350,000 in East Baluchistan
Balochistan (Pakistan)
Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...
, Pakistan.
Sri Lankan Malays
The Malays of Sri Lanka originated in Southeast Asia and today consist of about 50,000 people...
of the island, as well as with other northern India derived languages such as Urdu, used by smaller groups of Muslims in the country. The linguistic medium of Arwi is composed of more than one set of grammars and vocabularies that a speaker may switch back and forth from, depending on the situation. Spoken forms of coastal regional Arwi also differ from central regional forms. Compared to many among the Sinhalese
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
, Tamil, or Burgher
Burgher people
The Burghers are a Eurasian ethnic group, historically from Sri Lanka, consisting for the most part of male-line descendants of European colonists from the 16th to 20th centuries and local women, with some minorities of Swedish, Norwegian, French and Irish.Today the mother tongue of the Burghers...
peoples of Sri Lanka who have traditionally tended to be monolingual, Moors were much more at home with Sinhala and Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
, and in some instances English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, as well as Arwi.
As a written language Arwi employs an invented orthography for a creolized
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
, or mixed, system of speech patterns. Arwi spoken in Sri Lanka, contained a mixture of words that have Semitic
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...
, Dravidian
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
and Indo-European origins (i.e. Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and Sinhalese, respectively). Research on its history has only very recently begun to appear in print. It is believed to have originated during the early stages of Islamizing contact between Sri Lankan peoples with Arab and Persian traders. The principles of its development and structure are possibly related to similar systems known for other similar Islamized speech and writing systems such as Maldivian
Dhivehi language
Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Maldives where it is the national language. It is also the first language of nearly 10,000 people in the island of Minicoy in the Union territory of Lakshadweep, India where the Mahl dialect of the Maldivian...
, Jawi, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, and Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
.
Arwi is known to be a matter of at least scholarly interest in some parts of Sri Lanka today. Languages such as Sinhala, Tamil and English have replaced it in many contexts. Several reasons can be attributed to the decline of Arwi including the popularization of English during colonial times and the lack of competitive printing facilities. Furthermore, the early 20th century adoption of an Arabic-dominant Islamic school curriculum by scholars has also contributed to the extinction of Arwi as a spoken language and its overall decline in Sri Lanka.
Today, the Arwi language exists only as a written medium for religious uses. Alongside standard Arabic, it is often used in formal religious ceremonies; however, unlike Arabic, Arwi is seldom taught in religious schools and is consequently in deep decline. The most notable usage of Arwi can be found in devotional chants such as the Talaifatiha, which is exclusively conducted exclusively by women during certain religious festivals.