page_title: Sri Lankan Malays
hierarchical_section_title: Sri Lankan Malays
caption_attribution_description: English: Colonial era photo from Images Of Ceylon website
context_page_description: Sri Lankan Malays, also known in Sinhalese as Ja Minissu, are Sri Lankans with full or partial ancestry from the Malay Archipelago. The term is a misnomer as it is used as a historical catch-all term for all native ethnic groups of the Malay Archipelago who reside in Sri Lanka; the term does not apply solely to the ethnic Malays. They number approximately 40,000 and make up 0.20% of the Sri Lankan population, making them the fourth largest ethnic group in the country and are one of the five main ethnic groups of the country.
  Sri Lankan Malays first settled in the country when both Sri Lanka and Indonesia were Dutch colonies, while a second wave came from the Malay Peninsula, when both Malaya and Sri Lanka were in the British Empire. However, Sri Lanka has had a longer history of Malay presence dating back to as early as the 13th century. Distinct to the present day Sri Lankan Malay population, these Malay migrants were primarily Buddhists who intermarried into the Sinhalese population.
context_section_description: Sri Lankan Malays, also known in Sinhalese as Ja Minissu (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලාංකා මැලේ; Tamil: இலங்கை மலாய், literally "Javanese"), are Sri Lankans with full or partial ancestry from the Malay Archipelago (most of whom are of Javanese descent). The term is a misnomer as it is used as a historical catch-all term for all native ethnic groups of the Malay Archipelago who reside in Sri Lanka; the term does not apply solely to the ethnic Malays. They number approximately 40,000 and make up 0.20% of the Sri Lankan population, making them the fourth largest ethnic group in the country and are one of the five main ethnic groups of the country. 
  Sri Lankan Malays first settled in the country when both Sri Lanka and Indonesia were Dutch colonies, while a second wave (1796–1948) came from the Malay Peninsula, when both Malaya and Sri Lanka were in the British Empire. However, Sri Lanka has had a longer history of Malay presence dating back to as early as the 13th century. Distinct to the present day Sri Lankan Malay population, these Malay migrants were primarily Buddhists who intermarried into the Sinhalese population. Sri Lankan scholars suggest that the Sinhalese population possess a notable Malay connection due to this, meaning a significant portion of the Sri Lankan population would have at least some Malay ancestry.
caption: Sri Lankan Malay man and child, 19th century.
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