Ceylon Malay

Historically, the Malay community of Sri Lanka is composed of the descendents of the settlers from what is present day Indonesia and those from the landmass of present day Malaysia.

In 1764 it was reported that 2408 Malays serving in Dutch army in Sri Lanka. In 1796 British gain control of coastal Sri Lanka from the Dutch, and begin waves of migration from Malays and establish military schools beginning around 1802 in which Malay language is taught.

The Alamat Lankapuri or News of the Island of Lanka was the first newspaper printed in the Malay vernacular, a language written in Arabic characters with the addition of six letters from other alphabets and existed nine years from 1869 to 1878.

In 1875 the Wajah Selong or Light of Ceylon was published its fortnightly issues circulating largely amongst the Malay-speaking races in Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, Java, Batavia, Holland etc.

In 1901, as much as one-third of the entire population of the Malays in Ceylon lived in the precincts of the Colombo Municipal Council. There were in that area some 4351 Malays. It was the seat of the Ceylon Malay Rifles till is demobilization in 1872. Afterwards, the ex-soldiers were settled in civilian jobs in the locality.

Although Malays have taken pains to affirm their loyalty to their host nation, they have also strengthened relations with Malays in other countries and attempted to foster their own cultural and literary traditions.
Ceylon Malay

Tambralinga attack Sri Lanka (1247)

Tambralinga was a kingdom comprising a considerable area of the Malay Peninsula with Ligor as its capital. Tambralinga became an important center of the Thevada Buddhist School. Pali literature from Sri Lanka regarded Tambralinga as important twelfth century center of Buddhist scholarship.

After the invasion of Rajendra Cola the Srivijaya kingdom has hardly any political control over the Malay Peninsula. Until the thirteenth century Tambralinga was a pivot in politics of the southern Bay, also having asserted its independence on the century.

Dharmaraja Chandrabhanu was a king of the Tambralinga which active period 1230-70. In 1247 he sent an expedition to Sri Lanka with the ostensible aim of obtaining a Buddhist relic and controlled the northern part of the islands.

Dharmaraja Chandrabhanu spent more than 30 years in the conquest of Sri Lanka.

But its move to take over the whole island was frustrated by the Pandyans from south India who attacked Tambralinga in alliance with Ceylon. In 1270 Chandrabhanu attacked Sri Lanka again and was defeated by the Pandays badly enough that Tambralinga had not recovered when attacked by the Siam twenty years later.

Its rapid rise to prominence since the 13th century till beginning of 14th century, Tambralinga had occupied the entire Malay Peninsula and become one of the dominant Southeast Asian States.

By the end of the 14th century, Tambralinga had become part of Siam named Nakhon Si Thammaraj.

Tambralinga attacks Sri Lanka (1247)