By P M Amza –

Introduction

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.

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