Sri Lankan Moors

Sri Lankan Moors
இலங்கைச் சோனகர்
ලංකා යෝනක
اَیلَࢳَیچْ چٗونَكَرْ‎
Sri Lankan Moor men in regional costume in early 20th century
Total population
1,892,638[1][2]
(9.3% of the Sri Lankan population; 2012)[3]
Regions with significant populations
Province
 Western709,992
 Eastern575,936
 North Western268,709
 Central263,874
 North Central101,958
Languages
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups

Sri Lankan Moors (Tamil: இலங்கைச் சோனகர், romanized: Ilaṅkaic Cōṉakar; Arwi: اَیلَࢳَیچْ چٗونَكَرْ‎; Sinhala: ලංකා යෝනක, romanized: Lanka Yonaka; formerly Ceylon Moors; colloquially referred to as Sri Lankan Muslims) are an ethnic minority group in Sri Lanka, comprising 9.3% of the country's total population.[4][2] Most of them are native speakers of the Tamil language.[5][6][7] The majority of Moors who are not native to the North and East also speak Sinhalese as a second language.[8] They are predominantly followers of Islam.[9] 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.[10]

The Sri Lankan Moors are of diverse origins with some tracing their ancestry to Arab traders who first settled in Sri Lanka around the 9th century, and who intermarried with local Tamil and Sinhala women.[11][12][13] Recent genetic studies, however, have suggested a predominant Indian origin for Moors compared to the Arab origin speculated by some.[14] Perera et al. (2021) in their genetic analysis of the Moors stated the following in their report: "In contrast, Sri Lankan Moors have descended exclusively from Muslim male merchants of either Arabic or of Indian origin, who came to Sri Lanka for trading. During the fourteenth century, they started to settle in coastal areas in Sri Lanka and espoused local women, who were either Sinhalese or Sri Lankan Tamil".[15] The concentration of Moors is the highest in the Ampara, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts.

  1. ^ "Census of Population and Housing - 2012".
  2. ^ a b "A2 : Population by ethnic group according to districts, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
  3. ^ "The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. 7 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Census of Population and Housing - 2012".
  5. ^ Minahan, James B. (2012-08-30). Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-660-7.
  6. ^ Das, Sonia N. (2016-10-05). Linguistic Rivalries: Tamil Migrants and Anglo-Franco Conflicts. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-046179-9.
  7. ^ Richardson, John Martin (2005). Paradise Poisoned: Learning about Conflict, Terrorism, and Development from Sri Lanka's Civil Wars. International Center for Ethnic Studies. ISBN 9789555800945.
  8. ^ Census of Population and Housing, Sri Lanka. 2012. p. 142.
  9. ^ McGilvray, DB (November 1998). "Arabs, Moors and Muslims: Sri Lankan Muslim ethnicity in regional perspective". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 32 (2): 433–483. doi:10.1177/006996679803200213. S2CID 144917663.
  10. ^ Nubin, Walter (2002). Sri Lanka: Current Issues and Historical Background. Nova Publishers. p. 147. ISBN 9781590335734.
  11. ^ Ali, Ameer (1997). "The Muslim Factor in Sri Lankan Ethnic Crisis". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 17 (2). Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs Vol. 17, No. 2: 253–267. doi:10.1080/13602009708716375.
  12. ^ De Silva 2014, p. 47.
  13. ^ Mahroof, M. M. M. (1995). "Spoken Tamil Dialects Of The Muslims Of Sri Lanka: Language As Identity-Classifier". Islamic Studies. 34 (4): 407–426 [408]. JSTOR 20836916.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference :12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Perera, Nandika; Galhena, Gayani; Ranawaka, Gaya (2021-06-17). "X-chromosomal STR based genetic polymorphisms and demographic history of Sri Lankan ethnicities and their relationship with global populations". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 12748. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1112748P. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-92314-9. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 8211843. PMID 34140598.