Memons in Sri Lanka

Last updated
Sri Lankan Memon
Total population
7,000 - 10,000
Regions with significant populations
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka
Languages
Memoni, English language,
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Memons, Bohras in Sri Lanka

Kathiawari Memons, a sub-group of the Memons, arrived in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from the Kathiawar region of Gujarat, India beginning in the 1870s.

Contents

Sunni Hanafi Muslims by origin, the Memons are entrepreneurs and traders who settled in Sri Lanka for business opportunities during the colonial period. Some of these people came to the country as far back as the Portuguese period. They settled permanently in Sri Lanka after the partition of India in 1947.

The majority of these Memons were from the historical village of Kutiyana, in Junagadh, Gujarat, India; among other villages in Kathiawar. They are variously known as Mir, Pinjara, Allahrakha, Khatri and Mulla.

Sri Lankan Memons are strictly following the traditional and cultural values of the International Memon community. Memons in Sri Lanka are represented by the Memon Association of Sri Lanka.

History

Memon association of Ceylon - Place of gathering (Jamath Khana) for Memons in Colombo in the year 1956 Memon Association of Ceylon - 1956.jpg
Memon association of Ceylon - Place of gathering (Jamath Khana) for Memons in Colombo in the year 1956

Early 1900s, Kathiawar Memon merchants and traders; mainly from Kutiyana, Porbandar and Upleta traveled to Ceylon (in modern Sri Lanka) to trade and exploit business opportunities. Memon people started the trading route between India and Sri lanka in early 1930s. Memon merchants brought variety of Indian products to Ceylon (in modern Sri Lanka), it mainly consisted textiles and it was sold in the Colombo Pettah market.

Reason for mass migration and settlement of Memon people around the world was due to the Gujarat's Hindu-Muslim riot in 1947, which was initiated due to the Partition of India. Many Memons in the Kathiawar region were attacked and were looted by the mobs, which resulted in great loss to the Memon community especially in the Junagadh District and surrounding villages in modern state of Gujarat in India. After the riots, extremely affected Memon people from the Kathiawar [1] region were replaced in refugee camps in the bordering cities nearby the State of Gujarat, India.

Lately, Memon people started migrating to other states within India, and large number of them migrated and settled in modern Pakistan. Memon merchants who were involved in the trading route between India and Sri Lanka, decided to migrate and settle in Ceylon (in modern Sri Lanka) along with their families.

Memon people were firstly based in Colombo 12 in the early 1950s and gradually started to expand and move to other parts of the Colombo city. Memon association of Ceylon was formed in the year 1956 in Hullsdorf, Colombo by well known personalities of the Memon community in Sri Lanka. [2] Lately it was changed to Memon association of Sri Lanka.

See also

Related Research Articles

The Memon are a Muslim community in Gujarat India, and Sindh, Pakistan, the majority of whom follow the Hanafi fiqh of Sunni Islam. They are divided into different groups based on their origins: Kathiawari Memons, Kutchi Memons and Bantva Memons from the Kathiawar, Kutch and Bantva regions of Gujarat respectively, and Sindhi Memons from Sindh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathiawar</span> Peninsula in Western India

Kathiawar is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about 61,000 km2 (23,500 sq mi) bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat in the east. In the northeast, it is connected to the rest of Gujarat and borders on the low, fertile hinterland of Ahmedabad. It is crossed by two belts of hill country and is drained radially by nine rivers which have little natural flow aside from in monsoon months, thus dams have been built on some of these. Kathiawar ports have been flourishing centres of trade and commerce since at least the 16th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saurashtra (region)</span> Region of Gujarat, India

Saurashtra, also known as Kathiawar, is a peninsular region of Gujarat, India, located on the Arabian Sea coast. It covers about a third of Gujarat state, notably 11 districts of Gujarat, including Rajkot District. It was formerly a state of India before it merged with Bombay state. In 1961 it separated from Bombay and joined Gujarat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Sri Lanka</span> History of Islam in Sri Lanka

Islam is the third largest religion in Sri Lanka, with about 9.7 percent of the total population following the religion. About 1.9 million Sri Lankans adhere to Islam as per the Sri Lanka census of 2012. The majority of Muslims in Sri Lanka are concentrated in the Eastern Province of the island. Other areas containing significant Muslim minorities include the Western, Northwestern, North Central, Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces. Muslims form a large segment of the urban population of Sri Lanka and are mostly concentrated in major cities and large towns in Sri Lanka, like Colombo. Most Sri Lankan Muslims primarily speak Tamil, though it is not uncommon for Sri Lankan Muslims to be fluent in Sinhalese. The Sri Lankan Malays speak the Sri Lankan Malay creole language in addition to Sinhalese and Tamil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memoni language</span> Indo-Aryan language

Memoni is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Kathiawari Memons, from the Kathiawar region of Gujarat, India. Memon from Okha Port, Kutch and some other communities from Kathiawad also use Memoni at their homes.

Burgher people, also known simply as Burghers, are a small Eurasian ethnic group in Sri Lanka descended from Portuguese, Dutch, British and other Europeans who settled in Ceylon. The Portuguese and Dutch had held some of the maritime provinces of the island for centuries before the advent of the British Empire. With the establishment of Ceylon as a crown colony at the end of the 18th century, most of those who retained close ties with the Netherlands departed. However, a significant community of Burghers remained and largely adopted the English language. During British rule, they occupied a highly important place in Sri Lankan social and economic life.

Bharatha People also known as Bharatakula and Paravar, is an ethnicity in the island of Sri Lanka. Earlier considered a caste of the Sri Lankan Tamils, they got classified as separate ethnic group in the 2001 census. They are descendant of Tamil speaking Paravar of Southern India who migrated to Sri Lanka under Portuguese rule. They live mainly on the western coast of Sri Lanka and mainly found in the cities of Mannar, Negombo and Colombo.

Bantva, or Bantwa, is a small town in Saurashtra region of the state of Gujarat in India.

Kutiyana is a city and a municipality in Porbandar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is situated on the banks of Bhadar River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lankan Moors</span> Muslim ethnic minority in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Moors are an ethnic minority group in Sri Lanka, comprising 9.3% of the country's total population. Most of them are native speakers of the Tamil language. The majority of Moors who are not native to the North and East also speak Sinhalese as a second language. They are predominantly followers of Islam. The Sri Lankan Muslim community is mostly divided between Sri Lankan Moors, Indian Moors, Sri Lankan Malays and Sri Lankan Bohras. These groups are differentiated by lineage, language, history, culture and traditions.

The Gujarati people, or Gujaratis, are an Indian ethnolinguistic group who reside in or can trace their ancestry or heritage to a region of the Indian subcontinent primarily centered in the present-day western Indian state of Gujarat. They primarily speak Gujarati, an Indian language. While Gujaratis mainly inhabit Gujarat, they have a diaspora worldwide. Gujaratis in India and the diaspora are prominent entrepreneurs and industrialists and maintain high social capital. Many notable independence activists were Gujarati, including Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Vallabhbhai Patel.

The term Gujarati Muslim is usually used to signify an Indian Muslim from the state of Gujarat in western coast of India. Most Gujarati Muslims have the Gujarati language as their mother tongue, but some communities have Urdu as their mother tongue. The majority of Gujarati Muslims are Sunni, with a minority of Shi'ite groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Colombo</span> Port in Sri Lanka

The Port of Colombo Sinhala: කොළඹ වරාය, Tamil: கொழும்பு துறைமுகம் is the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean. Located in Colombo, on the southwestern shores on the Kelani River, it serves as an important terminal in Asia due to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean. During the 1980s, the port underwent rapid modernization with the installation of cranes, gantries and other modern-day terminal requirements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathi people</span>

The Kathi people is a small group of clans found in the peninsular Kathiawar of Gujarat, western India. It was from the Kathis that the Maratha Empire and later the British Raj renamed the Saurashtra as Kathiawar as the Kathis were prominent there during the 17th-18th centuries. According to A. M. Shah, Kathis are a peasant caste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turk (caste)</span> Ethnic group

The Turk Jamat are a Muslim community found in India. They are descended from the various Turkic tribes that settled in the region. Many members of the community migrated to Pakistan after India's independence and subsequent partition, settling in Karachi.

Indians in Sri Lanka refer to Indians or people of Indian ancestry living in Sri Lanka, such as the Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sindhi diaspora</span> Ethnic Sindhis and their descendants living outside of the Sindh province of Pakistan

The Sindhi diaspora consists of Sindhi people who have emigrated from the historical Sindh province of British India, as well as the modern Sindh province of Pakistan, to other countries and regions of the world, as well as their descendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil settlement of Sri Lanka</span> Migration to Sri Lanka

Tamil settlement of Sri Lanka refers to the settlement of Tamils, or other Dravidian peoples, from Southern India to Sri Lanka. Due to Sri Lanka's close proximity to Southern India, Dravidian influence on Sri Lanka has been very active since the early Iron Age or megalithic period.

Indian Moors were a grouping of people who existed in Sri Lanka predominantly during its colonial period. They were distinguished by their Muslim faith whose origins traced back to the British Raj. Therefore, Indian Moors refer to a number of ethnic groups such as Memons, Bohra and Khoja. These groups tended to retain their own ancestral practices and language. However the largest specific group were Tamils from South India. Indian Moors shared a similar history to Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka, however due to their decline and smaller numbers the Indian Moors have either returned to India or have declared themselves as being classified as Sri Lankan Moors.

The Pathans of Sri Lanka were a Muslim community in Sri Lanka of Pashtun ancestry. Most of them left in the 20th century, however a small number of families living in the country still claim Pathan ancestry.

References

  1. "LANKALIBRARY FORUM • View topic - The Memons of Sri Lanka". www.lankalibrary.com. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  2. "LANKALIBRARY FORUM • View topic - The Memons of Sri Lanka". www.lankalibrary.com. Retrieved 2019-10-09.

Further reading