The other Lankans

[jamahir]

Then came the armies of Islam in the seventh century. Prophet Muhammad had stated that those Persians who followed the Prophet Zarathustra were to be treated like the ‘People of the Book’, meaning that they were to be protected like the Jews and Christians as recorded in Abu Yusuf’s Kitab Al Kharaj. Unhappily, some of his followers treated the Islamic ideal of tolerance with a pinch of salt. In the days of Caliph Al Mutasim, for instance, there was a case of some misguided people pulling down a Zoroastrian temple in Sughd to erect a mosque, for which offence they were flogged by the Caliphate, as observed by Daniel Chwolsohn in Die Ssabier und Der Ssabismus (1856).

Interesting. I didn't know this.

@django @Zibago @Mentee @The_Showstopper @B+ Dracula @RealNapster
@Spring Onion

This, in turn, has led to losing touch with their language. In Sri Lanka, Sindhi is used only verbally, with the written language all but dying out. Moorjani’s wife, Divya, points out that the community’s identity is at stake when its mother tongue is forgotten.

What do they speak in??

Prominent Parsi families today include the Captains, Choksys, Khans, Billimorias, Pestonjees, and Jillas.

Parsis called Khans. Interesting.

 

[Gibbs]

What do they speak in??

I reckon they speak in Sindi in the households but with the general population English and Sinhalese

The Sri Lankan Malays: Portraits Of A Minority

CHRISTIAN HUTTER

15 December 2016

The Sri Lankan Malays, known to most Sri Lankans as “Ja-minissu” or the Javanese people, are a small Muslim community descended from Indonesian political exiles, soldiers, and convicts who were brought to the island during the Dutch period of rule.

Centuries after their arrival, the Sri Lankan Malays have integrated themselves with the rest of Sri Lankan society. At the same time, however, they remain a distinctive ethnic minority – one with a multitude of stories to tell.

Honeida Packeer (Sourjah)

Honeida sits in her favourite chair; it also is her grandchildrens’ favourite place to sit. Image credit: Roar.lk/Christian Hutter

Honeida Packeer is an active member of the Malay community in Colombo. Having joined Colombo Agencies Ltd. as a typist in 1956, Honeida stayed with the company for twenty-two years, working herself upwards to the position of senior executive. She then migrated to the United States, where she worked for twenty-one years at a management training company as executive in charge of accounting.

The birth of Honeida’s granddaughter in 2001 prompted her return to the island. Today, Honeida is involved in social services, and is a vocal advocate of women’s rights.

According to Honeida, the greatest challenge Sri Lankan Malays face is that a large part of the community is unable to converse in their “mother” language – a distinct dialect of the Malay language that developed in Sri Lanka over the years. The loss of a language, she says, signifies the loss of a cultural and linguistic heritage. But she remains hopeful, and is encouraged by the young people in the Malay community who are rallying to revive interest in the language using the public domain.

Kumala Wijeratne

Kumala sits at the table in her living room, with an unspoiled view of the sea behind her. Image credit: Roar.lk/Christian Hutter

Kumala Wijeratne – who, over the years, has worked as a teacher, a journalist, life insurance agent, and has even run her own batik business – is a jack-of-all-trades and master of just as many.

Not slowed down by the births of her daughter and son, in 1985 and 1986 respectively, she continued to work multiple jobs, even making time for social work, which resulted in her serving as President of the Lions Club for two years running.

Kumala’s husband, Puthra Wijeratne, passed away in 2008 at the age of fifty-seven, following five years of grappling with dementia and, later on, Parkinson’s disease. “He was my husband”, she says, “and he didn’t know who I was.”

There is, however, one memory from those latter stages that she continues to hold dear – her husband, who had lost all ability to communicate, somehow responding to her wish of “Happy Anniversary” with a hearty “Same to you.”

Following his death, Kumala began volunteering at the Lanka Alzheimer’s Foundation, going there every Friday, armed with food, to cook for the twenty-odd people who take part in the foundation’s activity day. She took a break a couple of months ago in preparation for her daughter’s wedding – but until then, she says, “like a prayer, I was there.”

Noor Zulsky Raheem

Noor stands at the billiard table, on the second floor of the Cue Club in Slave Island. Playing billiards or snooker has been a tradition in his family for more than a hundred years. Image credit: Roar.lk/Christian Hutter

Kumala’s brother, Noor Zulsky Raheem, owns and manages the Cue Club in Slave Island, which was founded by their grandfather over a century ago.

The family home he and Kumala grew up in used to stand just behind the club, bordering the Java Lane area, which is now under construction by the Urban Development Authority. While Raheem believes that development is a good thing, he also believes that there are right and wrong ways of going about it. There are ways to do it, he says, without forcing people to leave their homes.

M. J. M. Lafir – the first and only Sri Lankan to win the World Billiards Championship in 1973 – used to frequent the Cue Club. It is Raheem’s hope that next year, when he becomes President of the Billiards and Snooker Association, he will be able to work towards bringing another World Cup win to Sri Lanka.

The Sithi Sisters

The sisters pose for a photograph in their living room. From left to right: Sareena, Naleefa, Nilufa and Rafeeka. Image credit: Roar.lk/Christian Hutter

The Sithi sisters – Sithi Saarena Komaldeen, Sithi Naleefa Ahmad, Sithi Nilufa Khan, and Sithi Rafeeka Ahmad – grew up in Java Lane. They resided in their childhood home their whole lives until they were forcibly evicted in 2012 as part of the City of Colombo Urban Regeneration Project.

Their father, a sailor whose work took him on long voyages all around the world, once boarded a ship from Colombo and never returned. It was only later that news of his death reached them – he had passed away in Romania.

Following their eviction, the sisters were promised an apartment in one of the new buildings coming up on Java Lane, but they remain sceptical. They will believe that promise, they say, once the keys to their new apartment are in their hands.

Nona Waseela Shukra

Nona sits on a plastic chair, in between the railway tracks that border her house. Image credit: Roar.lk/Christian Hutter

Nona Waseela Shukra grew up by the train tracks in Slave Island, and works at AIA Insurance, carrying out tasks like preparing tea for the staff there.

The mass evictions that took place due to the Urban Development Project have left her community splintered, and Nona tells us that those left behind feel the absence of those who were forced to leave.

If she could change anything, she says, she would want to bring good things to her community and the people in it, especially widows and those without a stable income. She wishes she could move to some place better, but adds that she lacks the money to pay rent elsewhere.

J. M. Faleel

Portrait of Mr. Faleel and his bird statue. He insisted that he hold it when posing for the photograph in front of the railway tracks at Slave Island. Image credit: Roar.lk/Christian Hutter

M. Faleel has been living by the train tracks in Slave Island for the past four years. Forced to take on the role of breadwinner the age of sixteen, Faleel began working in electronic maintenance at Hameedias.

According to him, the rent at his home by the train tracks is significantly lower than the rent at his previous house, which is what prompted him and his wife to move here. It is also closer to work, he says, as wells as to the shops and hospitals. While the sound of the trains passing took some getting used to, he now barely bats an eyelid at the one that thunders past.

He insisted that we include his bird statue in the picture – it is one of his prized possessions, he says.

Hakeem Batcha

Hakeem stands in his living room, where he likes to listen to old Hindi songs on his stereo. Image credit: Roar.lk/Christian Hutter

Hakeem Batcha is a retired postmaster from Hambantota, whose work took him all over the island. He was, however, a teacher to begin with, and switched occupations after taking the Postmaster and Signals exam, which he tells us was a competitive one.

Father to four children – one daughter and three sons – he lost one of his sons to the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. Hakeem recalls hearing a commotion outside his house and running out to cries of “the sea is coming into the land!”

Hakeem is saddened by the diminishing usage of the Sri Lankan Malay language, and laments the fact that while all four of his children could converse in the language, his grandchildren cannot do so.

Tuan Zuheer Raban

Tuan stands in the alleyway in front of his house in Slave Island. Image credit: Roar.lk/Christian Hutter

Tuan Zuheer Raban – an army officer turned St. John Ambulance volunteer – is a lifelong resident of Slave Island.

He joined the army at the age of eighteen as a medical officer, and retired as a Colonel fifteen years later. Following his early retirement, Tuan began volunteering with the St. John Association for Sri Lanka. He is now its Vice Chairman.

During the civil war, St John was the only volunteer ambulance service available in the North, and Tuan – together with his team of volunteers – took it upon themselves to serve in the Kilinochchi and Pallai Hospitals, both of which were located in war zones. “You never knew when they were going to shoot,” he says. “It was a dangerous situation.”

In the aftermath of the tsunami of 2004, Tuan was among the first responders. He recalls helping build a trench along the seaside, in which they buried over a thousand bodies. Following the floods earlier this year, Tuan’s division was involved in performing first aid and, later on, organising medical camps.

“I am not a soldier now,” he says. “I am a volunteer officer, and my duty is to save lives. All lives.”

Nasoor Deen

Nasoor at the Java Lane Mosque. The Mosque was built by the Malay Rifle Regiment in 1864. Image credit: Roar.lk/Christian Hutter

Nasoor Deen is a trustee of the Java Lane Mosque, and has been in charge of the mosque, its finances, and its operation for a period of eight years.

Previously having worked in housekeeping, both in Sri Lanka and in Abu Dhabi, Nasoor Deen joined the mosque as a volunteer at the invitation of his friend.

It saddens him, he says, to see that Malay culture in Sri Lanka is diminishing, but he feels he is too weak and lacks the strength to concern himself too much with that type of thing.

When asked whether he is proud of his job, he tells us that “proud” is the wrong word to use, because all he is doing is “answering the call of Allah, the creator.”

Firi Rahman

Firi and Cheeku, a very photogenic bird, pose for a portrait. Image credit: Roar.lk/Christian Hutter

Firi Rahman, a young artist from Slave Island, is half Malay, on his mother’s side.

His work – consisting of hyper-realistic sketches and, more recently, cartography and portraits, which look to bring together the past, present, and future of Slave Island – has been exhibited at major galleries and festivals around the island.

Another one of his passions, which takes up a lot of his time, is looking after injured animals – parrots and squirrels, in particular. At the moment, he has in his care two squirrels and six parrots, including Cheeku, the one pictured here, and the only one, he tells us, that doesn’t bite.

Although he is only half Malay, Firi is fluent in the Sri Lankan Malay language, and is one of the few members of the younger generation that speaks it. He learned it out of his own interest and curiosity, and is adamant that more young people in the community learn it so as to keep their culture alive. It saddens him, he says, that the majority of his younger family members don’t speak the language.

The narratives above, though interesting in their own right, provide only a glimpse into the lives of the Sri Lankan Malay people. There is no doubt that the community – like any other – has myriad stories left to tell, and it is our hope that they will continue to tell them, in the Sri Lankan Malay language that they know so well.

 

[padamchen]

Parsis called Khans. Interesting.

Often spelled as Kahn.

What is interesting but?

We have tons of Hindu surnames as well. These are all adopted less than 300 years ago anyways, to make it easy to merge ...

Places of origin and profession being the most common.

Cheers, Doc

 

[jamahir]

Often spelled as Kahn.

What is interesting but?

Kahn is also a German name or Jewish, right??

Anyway, I got to know now that Kahn is also a Parsi name.

We have tons of Hindu surnames as well. These are all adopted less than 300 years ago anyways, to make it easy to merge ...

Places of origin and profession being the most common.

Cheers, Doc

Ah, yes. Names like Batliwala.

 

[Gibbs]

@jamahir .. Days when Moors in Lanka were distinctly Lankan and celebrated for that, Not Arab wannabe's of today

How Muslims Lived in Colombo Many Moons Ago
4 JUNE 2018
HISTORY

By Asiff Hussein
Sri Lanka’s Muslims, though religiously obliged to observe a moon long fast, are not as abstemious at other times. They have their feasts and festivals which they look forward to with much delight.

This is especially so of the Muslims of Colombo who have two great festivals and plenty of weddings to celebrate. In the olden days they found occasion to celebrate other events like circumcisions and regular mouloods or readings of religious panegyrics, which are now passing into oblivion. Those were the days when large overflowing families gathered together with spouses and children to enjoy some of the most memorable moments they would ever have, fond memories which older folk recall with relish to this day.

Social Life

Colombo’s Muslims are mainly Moors whose Arab or Indian ancestors espoused local women a long time ago. In the olden days, they were mainly concentrated in a flourishing little part of Central Colombo encompassing Old Moor Street, New Moor Street, Messenger Street, Barber Street, Grandpass, Wolfendhal and environs which was collectively known as Theruv, a Tamil word meaning ‘street’ or ‘highway’. It seems that until the early part of the twentieth century, the greater part of Colombo’s Moors lived in these areas and that the drift to the south, to Colpetty, Bambalapitiya and Wellawatte took place later.

One such early bird was Abdul Cafoor, a well known gem merchant, who moved from Colombo Fort to Icicle Hall, a charming building by the seashore of Colpetty. According to Mohamed Sameer, the author of Personages of the Past. Moors, Malays and other Muslims of the past of Sri Lanka (1982), the Moors who had lived in the Moorish quarters of New Moor Street, Old Moor Street and the surrounding areas found that some of their more prominent members like A. M. Wapichi Marikar and Haji Ismail Effendi’s family were migrating to Colombo South after the First World War. As a result, Moors from the Moorish quarters began to migrate to Colombo South to areas like Wellawatte and Kirulapone.

Ceylon Moor family of Colombo. Abdul Rahim & family C.1906
In the olden days, say a hundred years ago or so, these houses formed little knots, sometimes grouped around a mosque, showing what a close-knit community they were. For instance, all houses in Old Moor Street are said to have been interconnected with doors which could be accessed in times of danger or weddings, when two or more houses were opened for the ceremony.

The families, many connected by marriage, were very united, so much so that they did not take offence when any of their number were given funny nicknames by the others. For example, we have M. M. Thawfeeq in his Muslim Mosaics (1972) referring to the practice of calling individuals, and later their families, by nicknames in the Theruv area in the early part of the last century. Some nicknames, he says, may appear derogatory, some flattering, but none, he is certain, were given with malice. “It just happened that there were scores of Hamids, Yoosoofs, Haniffas, Mohideens etc. in that concentration of Ceylon Moors”. The easiest way out, he says, were nicknames emphasizing their attributes, penchants, failings and even physical defects. Among such names were Baang Koli ‘Turkey’, Porichakoli ‘Fried Chicken’ , Katchcha Karupatti ‘Bitter Jaggery’, Velli Baba ‘Silver Baby’, Bavulthavaly ‘Stomach ache’ and Anjishazathu Mapulle ‘Five Cents Bridegroom’ “who traveled as such in a decorated tramcar with his entourage”.

Mohideen & Maimoon Umma of Hulftsdorp (Courtesy Ilyas Haniffa)
Seven Day Feasts

In the olden days, any excuse would do for your typical Moor to indulge in a feast, not just for one, but for seven successive days. This was seen for example, in the circumcision of a boy, which was celebrated with much fanfare, unlike that of a girl, which was a private affair taken care of by the womenfolk.

The ceremony was called sunnattu kaliyanam (circumcision wedding) and the boy, usually between 7-10 years of age, was given the title of sunnattu mappula (circumcision bridegroom). Affluent folk would take the boy to be circumcised around the neighbourhood in procession in a car with an open hood, that moved very slowly so that all may catch a glimpse of the smartly dressed lad. This usually took place at night with gas lamps carried by hired hands lighting the procession. The boy, who would be done by a traditional barber known as Osta would be given gifts of money and gold rings by kith and kin. Then followed the seven night festivities known as el-naal sappadu (seven day feast), which were grand affairs back then. It began with the sunnattu sappadu (circumcision feast), usually a sumptuous dinner for friends and relatives followed by six nights of feasting.

Richer folk celebrated the occasion in still grander style. Take the account of Ahmed Hussain’s circumcision given in A. H. Macan Markar’s Short Biographical Sketches of Macan Markar and Related Families (1977), which took place at Villa Stamboul, Colpetty, on 14th December, 1919, with the extravagance common in those days. “The “Sinnathu Mapulai” had a special suit made for the occasion and also a suite of bedroom furniture. There was a mawlood-un-Nabi recital, followed by a sumptuous dinner for the large number of guests present. The house was illuminated with electric jets. The circumcision was performed by Jalal, the family barber from Galle. On the ensuing six nights, all relations and other guests were welcomed to dinner, the menu being varied each night”.

Circumcision ceremony. Jezima Villa, Bambalapitiya
Maulood Recitals
Another occasion that called for feasting were the mauloods, group recitals of religious panegyrics in memory of the family and companions of the Prophet. These included the badur maulood, commemorating the martyrs who died in the Great Battle of Badr that took place in the days of the Prophet. This was usually recited in Arabic by males who formed a circle or square. Women, too, had their own events,prominent among these being the recital of the Talai Fatiha, a composition in Arabu-Tamil in honour of Fatima, the beloved daughter of the Prophet.

The women did it in better style than the men. They would be seated under a white cloth hanging over like a canopy. Strings of flowers known as malliyapoo would be tied to the canopy, and little trinkets hung on aranakatta or safety pins. These usually comprised of pallimutai (small bottles containing small coloured lozenges) and lightweight toys like water guns and miniature dolls. Once the recital was over, the women would reach out for the trinkets to give their little children, after which every family received their share of neisoru (ghee rice).

Weddings Galore
However, it were the weddings that provided the greatest entertainment for all and sundry, rich and poor alike, with grand feasts never seen since they were had over a century ago. Ahmadu Bawa says in his Marriage Customs of the Moors of Ceylon, contributed to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Ceylon in 1888, that on the day of the wedding, a rich feast takes place at the bridegroom’s house. The provender is served in trays, each tray consisting usually of a dish of ghee-rice, a fried fowl, a dish of mutton curry, another of beef, half a dozen vegetable curries, one or two pickles, soup, curdled milk and other things sufficient for eight or ten people. After the men have finished their meal, women are entertained in a similar manner. Towards evening or night, the bridegroom, having received presents and congratulations from his friends, departs to the house of the bride amidst a flourish of tom toms, cymbals, and flutes, under a brilliant display of fireworks, blue lights and pendant lamps. He sits in an open carriage if the bride’s house is distant, or goes on foot attended by two boys dressed up for the occasion and an immense concourse of relatives, friends and the ‘hoi polloi’ to the number of several hundreds.

Neisoru or ghee rice, a favourite at Moor wedding feasts before the biryani became popular (Photo Courtesy author)
Delicious Dishes
In the olden days, it was ghee rice served with the usual accompaniment of fried fowl and mutton curry that figured as the main meal at most Moorish functions. In later times, beginning from about the 1930s, buriyani, a rich rice dish of Indian origin made of fine-grained basmati and a liberal quantity of mutton or chicken cooked in ghee and perfumed with rose water, gained favour among the Moors. A writer named Lionel Juriansz in his article Hungry? published in the Times of Ceylon Christmas Number 1951, observed of the feast of the Moors which he seems to have enjoyed: “For lunch we have buriani with collops of mutton in it. The dish is sprinkled with plums and roasted cadju. Of course we have the usual concomitants, the curried chicken or mutton, fried vegetable curries and a sambol of sliced Bombay onions and green chillies”.

Also served at weddings from time immemorial was that delectable dessert known as Vattilappam made of eggs, a sort of palm sugar known as kitul jaggery and spices. This delectable pudding is perhaps best described by J. P. De Fonseka in his A Gourmet’s Guide to Ceylon, contributed to the Times of Ceylon Christmas Number 1937, who wrote about it as follows: “The Muslim’s is a sweet tooth. He has a pudding (for which Allah be praised) called wattiliappam, a soft, succulent one of jaggery and eggs and all the spices of the earth, which goes down with a demure sweetness like that of the houris in paradise”.

Vattalappam, a delicious pudding that figured in Moor feasts as the dessert (Photo Courtesy Author)
The Fast Begins
But now enough talk of feasts. Let us now talk of the fasts, especially since we are in the holy month of Ramadan, which as every good Muslim believes is the month the angels, including the archangel Gabriel, descends with blessings from the Good Lord.

Ramadan is the month of fasts and the good Muslim casting away worldly things engages in a moon-long fast from dawn to dusk. As noted by M. M. Thawfeeq in his Muslim Mosaics (1972), the Muslim household of Ceylon a generation ago awoke for the pre-dawn meal taken before the fast not by the alarm clock, but by a band of men, Indian fakirs, dressed in turban, long black capes, and cloth, with beads hung round their necks and arms, who used to roam the streets with a staff in one hand and a hurricane lantern in the other. He notes that they worked both sides of the streets, knocking at the doors of slumbering Muslims with their staffs and shouting “Otto Bawa Otto”, a mumbo-jumbo for “wake up, it’s time for starting your fast”. These Indian fakirs, says Thawfeeq, were a devoted lot. “They worked their areas to a plan. And it was easy for them to operate as the Muslims of two or three decades ago, especially in Colombo and main cities, lived huddled together in Muslim-predominated streets like New Moor Street, Old Moor Street, Messenger street, etc”.

In the olden days, until about fifty years ago or so, there was a canon called Beerangi at Colombo Grand Mosque in New Moor Street that would be shot at the time of breaking the fast. When the new moon was sighted, the canon would boom to announce the festival the following day. The Muezzin (caller to prayer) of the mosque, along with workers, would stuff into the barrel newspapers pressed into boluses. The barrel would be moved upwards and the newspaper boluses put in and pressed hard with a metal implement. Gunpowder would then be poured into a little hole and the canon would be fired facing westward. It gave a loud boom that could be heard upto Zahira College in Maradana. This final boom would announce the beginning of the Great Festival of Eid-Ul-Fitr, and the return to the usual life of feasting on every possible occasion.

Canon, Colombo Grand Mosque (Photo Courtesy Author)
The Writer is thankful to Dr. Firazath Hussain, Ilyas Haniffa and Fazli Sameer for sharing their memories to supplement the information contained in the cited works.

https://roar.media/english/life/history/how-muslims-lived-in-colombo-many-moons-ago/

 

[jamahir]

@Gibbs , a fine recollection ^^^, except the unfortunate part about female genital mutilation. In India it is still practiced by the Bohra community.

 

[Gibbs]

@Gibbs , a fine recollection ^^^, except the unfortunate part about female genital mutilation. In India it is still practiced by the Bohra community.

Mate it has been quite a talking point and an issue among the community it self last couple of years, Especially with the Bohra's as you mentioned.. Pressure coming within the Muslims to put t stop to it

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...rs-in-sri-lanka-want-it-to-stop-idUSKBN1DM023

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/fgm-sri-lanka-nick-171218122855118.html

https://tribune.com.pk/story/157750...urge-sri-lanka-ban-female-genital-mutilation/

 

[Nilgiri]

@jamahir .. Days when Moors in Lanka were distinctly Lankan and celebrated for that, Not Arab wannabe's of today

How Muslims Lived in Colombo Many Moons Ago
4 JUNE 2018
HISTORY

By Asiff Hussein
Sri Lanka’s Muslims, though religiously obliged to observe a moon long fast, are not as abstemious at other times. They have their feasts and festivals which they look forward to with much delight.

This is especially so of the Muslims of Colombo who have two great festivals and plenty of weddings to celebrate. In the olden days they found occasion to celebrate other events like circumcisions and regular mouloods or readings of religious panegyrics, which are now passing into oblivion. Those were the days when large overflowing families gathered together with spouses and children to enjoy some of the most memorable moments they would ever have, fond memories which older folk recall with relish to this day.

Social Life

Colombo’s Muslims are mainly Moors whose Arab or Indian ancestors espoused local women a long time ago. In the olden days, they were mainly concentrated in a flourishing little part of Central Colombo encompassing Old Moor Street, New Moor Street, Messenger Street, Barber Street, Grandpass, Wolfendhal and environs which was collectively known as Theruv, a Tamil word meaning ‘street’ or ‘highway’. It seems that until the early part of the twentieth century, the greater part of Colombo’s Moors lived in these areas and that the drift to the south, to Colpetty, Bambalapitiya and Wellawatte took place later.

One such early bird was Abdul Cafoor, a well known gem merchant, who moved from Colombo Fort to Icicle Hall, a charming building by the seashore of Colpetty. According to Mohamed Sameer, the author of Personages of the Past. Moors, Malays and other Muslims of the past of Sri Lanka (1982), the Moors who had lived in the Moorish quarters of New Moor Street, Old Moor Street and the surrounding areas found that some of their more prominent members like A. M. Wapichi Marikar and Haji Ismail Effendi’s family were migrating to Colombo South after the First World War. As a result, Moors from the Moorish quarters began to migrate to Colombo South to areas like Wellawatte and Kirulapone.

Ceylon Moor family of Colombo. Abdul Rahim & family C.1906
In the olden days, say a hundred years ago or so, these houses formed little knots, sometimes grouped around a mosque, showing what a close-knit community they were. For instance, all houses in Old Moor Street are said to have been interconnected with doors which could be accessed in times of danger or weddings, when two or more houses were opened for the ceremony.

The families, many connected by marriage, were very united, so much so that they did not take offence when any of their number were given funny nicknames by the others. For example, we have M. M. Thawfeeq in his Muslim Mosaics (1972) referring to the practice of calling individuals, and later their families, by nicknames in the Theruv area in the early part of the last century. Some nicknames, he says, may appear derogatory, some flattering, but none, he is certain, were given with malice. “It just happened that there were scores of Hamids, Yoosoofs, Haniffas, Mohideens etc. in that concentration of Ceylon Moors”. The easiest way out, he says, were nicknames emphasizing their attributes, penchants, failings and even physical defects. Among such names were Baang Koli ‘Turkey’, Porichakoli ‘Fried Chicken’ , Katchcha Karupatti ‘Bitter Jaggery’, Velli Baba ‘Silver Baby’, Bavulthavaly ‘Stomach ache’ and Anjishazathu Mapulle ‘Five Cents Bridegroom’ “who traveled as such in a decorated tramcar with his entourage”.

Mohideen & Maimoon Umma of Hulftsdorp (Courtesy Ilyas Haniffa)
Seven Day Feasts

In the olden days, any excuse would do for your typical Moor to indulge in a feast, not just for one, but for seven successive days. This was seen for example, in the circumcision of a boy, which was celebrated with much fanfare, unlike that of a girl, which was a private affair taken care of by the womenfolk.

The ceremony was called sunnattu kaliyanam (circumcision wedding) and the boy, usually between 7-10 years of age, was given the title of sunnattu mappula (circumcision bridegroom). Affluent folk would take the boy to be circumcised around the neighbourhood in procession in a car with an open hood, that moved very slowly so that all may catch a glimpse of the smartly dressed lad. This usually took place at night with gas lamps carried by hired hands lighting the procession. The boy, who would be done by a traditional barber known as Osta would be given gifts of money and gold rings by kith and kin. Then followed the seven night festivities known as el-naal sappadu (seven day feast), which were grand affairs back then. It began with the sunnattu sappadu (circumcision feast), usually a sumptuous dinner for friends and relatives followed by six nights of feasting.

Richer folk celebrated the occasion in still grander style. Take the account of Ahmed Hussain’s circumcision given in A. H. Macan Markar’s Short Biographical Sketches of Macan Markar and Related Families (1977), which took place at Villa Stamboul, Colpetty, on 14th December, 1919, with the extravagance common in those days. “The “Sinnathu Mapulai” had a special suit made for the occasion and also a suite of bedroom furniture. There was a mawlood-un-Nabi recital, followed by a sumptuous dinner for the large number of guests present. The house was illuminated with electric jets. The circumcision was performed by Jalal, the family barber from Galle. On the ensuing six nights, all relations and other guests were welcomed to dinner, the menu being varied each night”.

Circumcision ceremony. Jezima Villa, Bambalapitiya
Maulood Recitals
Another occasion that called for feasting were the mauloods, group recitals of religious panegyrics in memory of the family and companions of the Prophet. These included the badur maulood, commemorating the martyrs who died in the Great Battle of Badr that took place in the days of the Prophet. This was usually recited in Arabic by males who formed a circle or square. Women, too, had their own events,prominent among these being the recital of the Talai Fatiha, a composition in Arabu-Tamil in honour of Fatima, the beloved daughter of the Prophet.

The women did it in better style than the men. They would be seated under a white cloth hanging over like a canopy. Strings of flowers known as malliyapoo would be tied to the canopy, and little trinkets hung on aranakatta or safety pins. These usually comprised of pallimutai (small bottles containing small coloured lozenges) and lightweight toys like water guns and miniature dolls. Once the recital was over, the women would reach out for the trinkets to give their little children, after which every family received their share of neisoru (ghee rice).

Weddings Galore
However, it were the weddings that provided the greatest entertainment for all and sundry, rich and poor alike, with grand feasts never seen since they were had over a century ago. Ahmadu Bawa says in his Marriage Customs of the Moors of Ceylon, contributed to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Ceylon in 1888, that on the day of the wedding, a rich feast takes place at the bridegroom’s house. The provender is served in trays, each tray consisting usually of a dish of ghee-rice, a fried fowl, a dish of mutton curry, another of beef, half a dozen vegetable curries, one or two pickles, soup, curdled milk and other things sufficient for eight or ten people. After the men have finished their meal, women are entertained in a similar manner. Towards evening or night, the bridegroom, having received presents and congratulations from his friends, departs to the house of the bride amidst a flourish of tom toms, cymbals, and flutes, under a brilliant display of fireworks, blue lights and pendant lamps. He sits in an open carriage if the bride’s house is distant, or goes on foot attended by two boys dressed up for the occasion and an immense concourse of relatives, friends and the ‘hoi polloi’ to the number of several hundreds.

Neisoru or ghee rice, a favourite at Moor wedding feasts before the biryani became popular (Photo Courtesy author)
Delicious Dishes
In the olden days, it was ghee rice served with the usual accompaniment of fried fowl and mutton curry that figured as the main meal at most Moorish functions. In later times, beginning from about the 1930s, buriyani, a rich rice dish of Indian origin made of fine-grained basmati and a liberal quantity of mutton or chicken cooked in ghee and perfumed with rose water, gained favour among the Moors. A writer named Lionel Juriansz in his article Hungry? published in the Times of Ceylon Christmas Number 1951, observed of the feast of the Moors which he seems to have enjoyed: “For lunch we have buriani with collops of mutton in it. The dish is sprinkled with plums and roasted cadju. Of course we have the usual concomitants, the curried chicken or mutton, fried vegetable curries and a sambol of sliced Bombay onions and green chillies”.

Also served at weddings from time immemorial was that delectable dessert known as Vattilappam made of eggs, a sort of palm sugar known as kitul jaggery and spices. This delectable pudding is perhaps best described by J. P. De Fonseka in his A Gourmet’s Guide to Ceylon, contributed to the Times of Ceylon Christmas Number 1937, who wrote about it as follows: “The Muslim’s is a sweet tooth. He has a pudding (for which Allah be praised) called wattiliappam, a soft, succulent one of jaggery and eggs and all the spices of the earth, which goes down with a demure sweetness like that of the houris in paradise”.

Vattalappam, a delicious pudding that figured in Moor feasts as the dessert (Photo Courtesy Author)
The Fast Begins
But now enough talk of feasts. Let us now talk of the fasts, especially since we are in the holy month of Ramadan, which as every good Muslim believes is the month the angels, including the archangel Gabriel, descends with blessings from the Good Lord.

Ramadan is the month of fasts and the good Muslim casting away worldly things engages in a moon-long fast from dawn to dusk. As noted by M. M. Thawfeeq in his Muslim Mosaics (1972), the Muslim household of Ceylon a generation ago awoke for the pre-dawn meal taken before the fast not by the alarm clock, but by a band of men, Indian fakirs, dressed in turban, long black capes, and cloth, with beads hung round their necks and arms, who used to roam the streets with a staff in one hand and a hurricane lantern in the other. He notes that they worked both sides of the streets, knocking at the doors of slumbering Muslims with their staffs and shouting “Otto Bawa Otto”, a mumbo-jumbo for “wake up, it’s time for starting your fast”. These Indian fakirs, says Thawfeeq, were a devoted lot. “They worked their areas to a plan. And it was easy for them to operate as the Muslims of two or three decades ago, especially in Colombo and main cities, lived huddled together in Muslim-predominated streets like New Moor Street, Old Moor Street, Messenger street, etc”.

In the olden days, until about fifty years ago or so, there was a canon called Beerangi at Colombo Grand Mosque in New Moor Street that would be shot at the time of breaking the fast. When the new moon was sighted, the canon would boom to announce the festival the following day. The Muezzin (caller to prayer) of the mosque, along with workers, would stuff into the barrel newspapers pressed into boluses. The barrel would be moved upwards and the newspaper boluses put in and pressed hard with a metal implement. Gunpowder would then be poured into a little hole and the canon would be fired facing westward. It gave a loud boom that could be heard upto Zahira College in Maradana. This final boom would announce the beginning of the Great Festival of Eid-Ul-Fitr, and the return to the usual life of feasting on every possible occasion.

Canon, Colombo Grand Mosque (Photo Courtesy Author)
The Writer is thankful to Dr. Firazath Hussain, Ilyas Haniffa and Fazli Sameer for sharing their memories to supplement the information contained in the cited works.

https://roar.media/english/life/history/how-muslims-lived-in-colombo-many-moons-ago/

What's interesting is I can understand many of the Moor's Tamil better than I can the jaffna tamil and eastern SL dialect....a few moors I was listening to literally almost sound like the Brahmin Tamil dialect I know (preferring the "ch" sound over the "th" sound as one example). But they are also pretty variable, some Moors I cannot understand as well....they have much more variance in their dialect I think. This applies to lot of the Muslim groups in TN and Kerala as well....after all the islamic Tamil literature does extend far back by more than a millenia.

There should be a deeper study into the language patterns, very interesting.

@SOUTHie

 

[HeinzG]

What's interesting is I can understand many of the Moor's Tamil better than I can the jaffna tamil and eastern SL dialect....a few moors I was listening to literally almost sound like the Brahmin Tamil dialect I know (preferring the "ch" sound over the "th" sound as one example). But they are also pretty variable, some Moors I cannot understand as well....they have much more variance in their dialect I think. This applies to lot of the Muslim groups in TN and Kerala as well....after all the islamic Tamil literature does extend far back by more than a millenia.

There should be a deeper study into the language patterns, very interesting.

@SOUTHie

As far as I am concerned there are no apparent differences between Eastern Sri Lankan Tamils and the Northern Tamils. In fact I don't see any difference between them and the so called Estate Tamils in the Central hills. Obviously I am no expert in the Tamil language nor I can read of write it except for few words, my opinion is solely based on the outside observations as I have worked with several members of the Jaffna Tamils community and Estate Tamil community.

Are there any plans to repatriate Tamils back to India now that civil war have ended?

There is no need to repatriate anyone to India unless of course they don't want to live with us as a one single community.

Sri Lankan Burghers Who Have Shaped Local Literature

Published Tue 3rd October 2017

By Aisha Nazim


have always been, a vibrant part of Sri Lanka’s ethnic fabric. Despite being a minority, their contributions have played an important part in shaping our culture of food, music, fashion, and literature.

Here, we take a look at a few of Sri Lanka’s most popular and award-winning Burgher authors. From contributing to the education sector through academia and literature to sharing glimpses into eras and worlds that are inaccessible to many of us, we have much to be thankful to the Burghers for.

Michael Ondaatje

Michael Ondaatje. Image Courtesy: alumni.utoronto.ca

Ondaatje is perhaps best known for his award-winning book The English Patient, which made it to the silver screen and shot to fame after winning several Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, and securing a BAFTA as well. Having left Sri Lanka during his early childhood, he moved to England and eventually settled down in Canada. His other popular novels include The Cat’s Table (outlining the adventures of a child aboard a passenger ship sailing from Colombo to England in the early 50s) and Anil’s Ghost, which follows the life of a forensic pathologist who returns to Sri Lanka at the height of the Civil War and political conflict. Ondaatje captures different milieus with such ease that it’s no wonder he has numerous awards under his belt. These include the Man Booker International Prize (2007), the Booker Prize for fiction (1992) and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. The last novel he released was in 2011 (The Cat’s Table) but has just announced that his next work, a story of two siblings placed in the aftermath of WW2, will be released next May.

In addition to having a couple of successful novels and a memoir (Running in the Family), he is also a skilled poet with his collection of early poems published in the volume titled There’s a Trick With a Knife I’m Learning to do. His poems are vivid and sensual, filled with rich language akin to his novels.

Jean Arasanayagam

Jean Arasanayagam. Image Courtesy: thuppahi.wordpress.com

Born Jean Solomons, Arasanayagam married into a Hindu Tamil Jaffna family. Coming from a Dutch Burgher family, her union with a community from a completely different cultural background (and exposure to minority issues) coloured much of her writing. Hindu practices, her mother-in-law and her new family were the inspiration behind several of her poems, including Wedding Photographsand Mother in Law. These highlighted domestic scenes, with Wedding Photographs being included in state school literature anthologies for O/Ls.

Her experiences also dealt with ethnic conflict, patriarchy and colonialism. Apocalypse ‘83, as the title suggests, is a collection of poems influenced by ethnic tensions, whereas Shooting the Floricansexplores patriarchal colonialism, with works like ‘Maardenhuis – The House of the Virgins Amsterdam / Kalpitiya,’ depicting how virginal young women from Holland were ferried to Ceylon to be wives for Dutchmen residing here.

Wendy Whatmore

Wendy Whatmore. Image courtesy www.wendywhatmore.com

Students of elocution or speech and drama would be more than familiar with Wendy Whatmore, the founder of The Wendy Whatmore Academy of Speech and Drama. Having contributed to newspapers since she was a child, she established herself as a poet, and wrote the Holy Family Convent’s school anthem, in addition to being a speech and language teacher. Like Arasanayagam, her work has been included in state school literature anthologies. However, unlike Arasanayagam, Whatmore’s poetry catered to children. Her collection The Heart of a Child consists of work she created since her childhood and includes the much-loved classic, Island Spell. Most of the poems are in the first person and follow general rhyming patterns and literary devices making it easy for children to follow. Whatmore is perhaps the only Sri Lankan whose poetry was created specifically for younger readers.

Carl Muller

Image courtesy penguin.co.in

Muller’s portrayal of Lankan Burghers has elicited mirth, horror, praise, and criticism—all with good reason. His characters are anything but subtle, and the situations they are portrayed in are nothing short of outrageous. Reviews of his work are often as colourful and blunt as the novels themselves, with one calling him ‘pungent even in the worst of times.’

Muller himself led an exciting life. The story of his sojourn with the Ceylon Army, and stint as a journalist who eventually moved to work in the Middle East can be found in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Cemetery. Despite its long title, the book is a collection of short stories.

His Burgher Trilogy is a depiction of his dysfunctional family, one that he is unapologetic about. “I thought to myself, I’ll put ’em on record, all of ’em!” he writes, referring to his parents and siblings. It was, he said, a strike back at a family that abandoned him.

Despite the criticism his work has invited, Muller is one of few Sri Lankan authors to be published internationally. Penguin published The Jam Fruit Tree, Yakada Yaka, and Once Upon a Tender Time. Of these, the first won him the Gratiaen Prize in 1993, and Children of the Lion won the State Literary Award four years later.

https://roar.media/english/life/cul...an-burghers-who-have-shaped-local-literature/

They have failed to mention many more famous names.. Michelle De Kretser, Rosemary Rogers etc..

@Nilgiri .. If you get a chance read the Von Bloss series (Jam fruit tree, Yakada yaka, Once upon a tender time) by Carl Muller, so you'll get what makes us working class Burghers tick, Well how we used to atleast

@Godman @Arefin007 @padamchen @waz @Joe Shearer @Saradiel

As a matter of fact the loss of the Burgher communities' contribution to the nation as a whole was on the major calamities of the post independent Sri Lanka. If they were here, Sri Lanka would have fared far better than what it is today.

 

[Chhatrapati]

What's interesting is I can understand many of the Moor's Tamil better than I can the jaffna tamil and eastern SL dialect....a few moors I was listening to literally almost sound like the Brahmin Tamil dialect I know (preferring the "ch" sound over the "th" sound as one example). But they are also pretty variable, some Moors I cannot understand as well....they have much more variance in their dialect I think. This applies to lot of the Muslim groups in TN and Kerala as well....after all the islamic Tamil literature does extend far back by more than a millenia.

There should be a deeper study into the language patterns, very interesting.

@SOUTHie

Dialects vary over time. Even the Tamil that's spoken in old Tamil movies (till the early 90's) is quite difficult for me to understand. There are Muslim who mix their own arabized versions of Malayalam. Such as using B instead V or P. Which is prevalent in Northern Kerala while it's less in Central (where I live) and Southern Kerala.

 

[Samlee]

Interesting. I didn't know this.

@django @Zibago @Mentee @The_Showstopper @B+ Dracula @RealNapster
@Spring Onion

So What Is So Surprising Muslims Back Then Were Pretty Tolerant and Liberal According To The Standards Of The Times.

Just A Quick Comparison,Muslims Ruled India For 800 Years And There Still 1 Billion Hindus Today Spanish Ruled South America For 400 Years And The Ancient American Religions Have Vanished

Mate it has been quite a talking point and an issue among the community it self last couple of years, Especially with the Bohra's as you mentioned.. Pressure coming within the Muslims to put t stop to it

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...rs-in-sri-lanka-want-it-to-stop-idUSKBN1DM023

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/fgm-sri-lanka-nick-171218122855118.html

https://tribune.com.pk/story/157750...urge-sri-lanka-ban-female-genital-mutilation/

I Was Born In Pakistan And Have Spent Most Of My Life In The Heart Of The Islamic World i.e Gulf and Middle East
I Swear I Never Heard Of FGM In My Life I Only Started Reading About It On The Net

 

[Gibbs]

So What Is So Surprising Muslims Back Then Were Pretty Tolerant and Liberal According To The Standards Of The Times.

Just A Quick Comparison,Muslims Ruled India For 800 Years And There Still 1 Billion Hindus Today Spanish Ruled South America For 400 Years And The Ancient American Religions Have Vanished


I Was Born In Pakistan And Have Spent Most Of My Life In The Heart Of The Islamic World i.e Gulf and Middle East
I Swear I Never Heard Of FGM In My Life I Only Started Reading About It On The Net

I think it's only prevalent in Northern African communities and some smaller Muslim groups like the Bohra as @jamahir mentioned, Not widely practiced but i think there is a movement within the Lankan Bohra's for the need to completely eradicate it

 

[jamahir]

So What Is So Surprising Muslims Back Then Were Pretty Tolerant and Liberal According To The Standards Of The Times.

Just A Quick Comparison,Muslims Ruled India For 800 Years And There Still 1 Billion Hindus Today Spanish Ruled South America For 400 Years And The Ancient American Religions Have Vanished

Good point.

And yet, Tipu Sultan's name is dragged in mud.

I Was Born In Pakistan And Have Spent Most Of My Life In The Heart Of The Islamic World i.e Gulf and Middle East
I Swear I Never Heard Of FGM In My Life I Only Started Reading About It On The Net

FGM, like I said before, happens in India too among the Bohra community. I too came to know of it three or fours years ago.

 

[Gibbs]

What's interesting is I can understand many of the Moor's Tamil better than I can the jaffna tamil and eastern SL dialect....a few moors I was listening to literally almost sound like the Brahmin Tamil dialect I know (preferring the "ch" sound over the "th" sound as one example). But they are also pretty variable, some Moors I cannot understand as well....they have much more variance in their dialect I think. This applies to lot of the Muslim groups in TN and Kerala as well....after all the islamic Tamil literature does extend far back by more than a millenia.

There should be a deeper study into the language patterns, very interesting.

@SOUTHie

I have often heard this as well , That Tamils from India find it a bit difficult with Jaffna Tamils, May be the reason is the Eastern and Tamil Muslims are more later arrivals from South India perhaps.. Plantation Tamils probably speak the the same dialect of someone from Madurai

 

[Nilgiri]

As far as I am concerned there are no apparent differences between Eastern Sri Lankan Tamils and the Northern Tamils. In fact I don't see any difference between them and the so called Estate Tamils in the Central hills. Obviously I am no expert in the Tamil language nor I can read of write it except for few words, my opinion is solely based on the outside observations as I have worked with several members of the Jaffna Tamils community and Estate Tamil community.

You can speak Tamil to some degree I guess?

Yah some Eastern Tamil like tirukonamalai is pretty much same as Jaffna dialect sure. But Mattakalappu (batticalao) Tamil I have heard from cpl ppl I know is quite different, they speak very close to the formal written register of Tamil, its very interesting....I have heard a few dialects like this in the Kaveri Delta area, but its very rare in TN generally. I find it more harder to understand generally (when reading its fine because one can take time etc ...and like Chinese, the writing stays the same in its form and highly standardised) esp when they use lot of the older words that are considered archaic in TN.

Even the Tamil that's spoken in old Tamil movies (till the early 90's) is quite difficult for me to understand.

Hah, reverse for me. I don't like the new movie Tamil at all and I refuse to try understand a lot of it , too much like that Madras bashai abomination

I have often heard this as well , That Tamils from India find it a bit difficult with Jaffna Tamils, May be the reason is the Eastern and Tamil Muslims are more later arrivals from South India perhaps.. Plantation Tamils probably speak the the same dialect of someone from Madurai

Yah the Kandy/central Tamils are pretty much speaking central TN (plains + river valleys) dialect, it is the standard prestige dialect one can say (esp after the Brahmin Tamil got kicked out of that role given politics etc). I have no problem understanding them at all.

Jaffna Tamil is very much almost different language...very formal and they use the proper older structuring and sentencing. Even their Brahmins do not speak anything close to my dialect I have found...but they are very integrated with their own language. I think this key difference meant there was no language upheavals and politics like seen in TN (i.e prestige dialect went from Sangam/Chola Tamil---->Brahmin dialect ---> plains dialect...each shift was significant and left a change on the register/structuring and even grammar)...rather they formed a more united culture, much less casteism/class etc so they preserved an older form of Tamil (from the older Sangam structures) as result that captures this difference. Their underlying culture is also very much more conservative than TN (which has had very huge liberal impositions for various reasons)....for example I have found Jaffnites respect their Brahmin minority much more, quite traditionally too (unlike TN where they are the new outcastes almost)....also when it comes to things like society etc...they keep much closer to ideals like promoting the virtue of strict honouring marriage etc...whereas these things have started to fray and degrade in TN society much more. They in many ways are a better snapshot than can be found in TN of how Tamil culture once was (w.r.t language, ethics and morals).