By P M Amza/Colombo Telegraph

Colombo, December 2 – Across the narrow waters of the Palk
Strait, Indian and Sri Lankan Muslims have shared a continuous story of
exchange — of trade, faith, learning, and language. Long before modern borders,
the Indian Ocean served as a cultural highway. From the ports of Kayalpattinam,
Kilakkarai, and Calicut sailed merchants and scholars whose influence shaped
the identity of Sri Lankan Muslims. Their imprint is visible not only in
commerce and architecture but also in the spiritual and linguistic heritage
that continues to link the two shores.

Economic and Maritime Connections

The earliest Muslim presence in Sri Lanka is inseparable
from South Indian maritime commerce. From the tenth century onwards, Tamil
Muslim traders from the Coromandel and Malabar coasts — known locally as
Marakkars or Rowthers — established settlements along the island’s western and
eastern shores. Their networks dealt in pearls, gems, and spices, connecting
Colombo and Galle with Nagapattinam and Kayalpattinam.

They introduced the hundi system of credit and bilingual
commercial records in Tamil and Arabic. Many later settled permanently in
Beruwala, Puttalam, and Batticaloa, laying the foundation of the Muslim
mercantile class. During the colonial period, Indian Muslim entrepreneurs
diversified into textiles, jewellery, and the import of food grains,
integrating Sri Lanka into the broader Indian Ocean economy.

By the nineteenth century, Indian Muslim families in Colombo
and Kandy had become key players in urban trade and philanthropy, establishing
guilds, mosques, and charitable endowments. 
In later decades, the Indo–Lanka Free Trade Agreement strengthened these
traditional commercial ties, particularly in textiles, gems, and the spice
trade—sectors in which Muslim trading families continue to excel.

Religious and Scholarly Interactions

Religious life among Sri Lankan Muslims bears a strong South
Indian imprint. The spread of Islam along the island’s coasts was guided by
Sufi missionaries and scholars who crossed from Tamil Nadu. The Qadiriyya,
Rifaiyya, and Shadhiliyya orders, rooted in South India, found lasting
followings in Sri Lanka. Shrines such as Nagore Dargah and Erwadi became
pilgrimage centres for both communities, with saints like Hazrat Shahul Hameed
of Nagore venerated by sailors from either shore.

South Indian ulama shaped the curricula of early Sri Lankan
madrasas. Many of the island’s teachers were graduates of Indian seminaries
like Baqiyat-us-Salihat in Vellore and Jamia Nizamia in Hyderabad. They
introduced standardized methods of Qur’anic and legal education, while Sri
Lankan scholars travelled to India for advanced study. This exchange created a
shared spiritual and intellectual universe that endures to this day.

The Arwi Tradition: A Shared Linguistic Heritage

One of the most distinctive products of Indo-Lankan Muslim
contact was Arwi, or Arabic-Tamil — a hybrid language that used Arabic script
to write Tamil. Originating in Tamil Nadu’s coastal settlements such as
Kayalpattinam and Kilakkarai, Arwi enabled Tamil-speaking Muslims in both
countries to access Islamic learning without abandoning their mother tongue.

 Between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, Arwi
flourished as the medium of religious and literary communication. Thousands of
texts — Qur’an commentaries, Sufi poetry, and legal manuals — circulated across
the Bay of Bengal. Early Sri Lankan madrasas employed Arwi in teaching Arabic,
while merchants used it for correspondence and contracts.

Arwi represented a bilingual consciousness: Tamil in sound,
Arabic in spirit. It unified Muslim communities through a script that embodied
both faith and linguistic pride. Though later displaced by English and Sinhala,
Arwi manuscripts preserved in Beruwala, Kattankudy, and Puttalam remain
enduring symbols of this shared intellectual heritage.

Cultural and Architectural Enrichment

Indian Muslim influence also shaped the cultural fabric of
Sri Lankan Muslim life. Shared customs, cuisine, and dress reflected a deep
interweaving of South Indian and island traditions. The sarong, thobe, and
angavastram became markers of identity across the region. Culinary favourites
such as biriyani, halwa, and pathiri travelled from the kitchens of Malabar and
Coromandel to Colombo and Kattankudy.

Marriage ceremonies, musical forms like māppila pattu, and
festivals such as Kanduri at saints’ shrines retained nearly identical rituals
on both shores. The architectural styles of mosques and tombs — domes, arches,
and minarets — reflected a blend of Indian and local designs.

The Red Mosque of Pettah: An Indo-Saracenic Landmark

Among the finest symbols of this shared heritage stands the
Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, popularly known as the Red Mosque, in Pettah, Colombo.
Completed in 1909, it was designed and built by South Indian Muslim craftsmen
in the Indo-Saracenic style — a fusion of Islamic and colonial motifs. Its
striking red-and-white striped façade, onion domes, and minarets evoke Mughal
and South Indian influences adapted to local craftsmanship.

The mosque arose from Colombo’s thriving Indian Muslim
merchant community, who sought a large congregational mosque near the harbour
to serve traders arriving from Kayalpattinam and Calicut. For decades, its
gleaming domes guided sailors entering the port — a spiritual and architectural
beacon of Muslim Colombo.

Beyond its aesthetic grandeur, the Red Mosque was a centre
of scholarship and fraternity. Its trustees corresponded with Indian religious
bodies, imported Arabic-Tamil texts from Madras, and invited preachers from
Vellore and Hyderabad. To this day, it stands not merely as an architectural
marvel but as a living monument to Indo-Lankan Muslim cooperation.

Shared Reform and Mutual Support

During the late colonial era, Indian and Sri Lankan Muslims
found common purpose in education and reform. Indian Muslim thinkers such as
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Badruddin Tyabji influenced Sri Lankan reformers like
M. C. Siddi Lebbe and Wapichchi Marikar, who championed modern education within
an Islamic ethos.

Intermarriages between Tamil Nadu and eastern Sri Lankan
families further consolidated cultural unity. Scholars and traders travelled
frequently between Nagapattinam and Colombo to mediate disputes or deliver
sermons. The annual pilgrimages of Sri Lankan devotees to Nagore Dargah, still
practiced today, symbolize this centuries-old spiritual symbiosis.

Modern Continuities

In the post-independence era, Indian Muslims have continued
to support Sri Lankan Muslim progress through trade, education, and
philanthropy. After the 1977 economic liberalization, Tamil Nadu-based
investors contributed to textile, food, and construction ventures, while
charities funded mosque restoration and scholarships, particularly after the
2004 tsunami.

Academic and religious exchanges have deepened since then.
Sri Lankan students pursue higher studies at Indian madrasas and universities,
while scholars from Chennai and Hyderabad frequently visit for conferences on
Islamic jurisprudence and interfaith dialogue. Collaborative efforts in halal
certification and Islamic finance demonstrate how age-old connections have
adapted to modern contexts.

At a people-to-people level, the relationship functions as a
bridge between the two nations. Shared faith, language, and historical
experience continue to bind the communities, providing an organic foundation
for broader Indo-Lankan goodwill.

Conclusion

The story of Indian Muslims and their contribution to Sri
Lanka is one of mutual enrichment. Through trade, they brought prosperity;
through religion, they brought guidance; through culture and language, they
offered a fusion that shaped the island’s Muslim identity. The Arwi script,
Sufi networks, and the architectural splendour of the Red Mosque together form
a living testament to a civilizational relationship that transcends geography.

In a time when national boundaries often divide what history
once united, the Indo-Lankan Muslim experience offers a reminder that
coexistence and exchange are stronger than isolation. The legacy of these
interactions — from manuscripts to mosques, from shrines to scholarship —
remains a vital part of both nations’ shared heritage. Preserving it is not
just a historical duty but a reaffirmation of the values of tolerance and
interconnection that have long defined the Indian Ocean world.

References

1. Lorna Dewaraja, The Muslims of Sri Lanka: One Thousand
Years of Ethnic Harmony 900–1915, Lanka Islamic Foundation, 1994.

2. Ameer Ali, “The Genesis of the Muslim Community in Ceylon
(Sri Lanka): A Historical Survey,” Asian Studies, University of Peradeniya,
1980.

3. S. Arasaratnam, Maritime Trade, Society and Culture in
the Indian Ocean, Variorum, 1980.

4. S. M. Kamaldeen, Arabic Tamil (Arwi) Literature of South
India and Sri Lanka, Islamic Research Institute, 2002.

5. M. C. Siddi Lebbe, Muslim Education and Reform in Ceylon,
Zahira College Archives.

6. Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque Trustees, Centenary Souvenir:
1909–2009, Colombo.

7. Records of the Nagore Dargah and Erwadi Shrine
Committees, Tamil Nadu State Archives.

END
(P M Amza, Former Sri lanka’s Ambassador to EU, Belgium,
Turkey and Saudi Arabia)