Lou Wilson
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Registered: September 2006
Location: Philadelphia. PA USA
Posts: 116
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They live outside of Colombo.
Their ancestors were bought from Malaysia over 200 years ago by the British as mercenaries. When the British fought the Dutch in 1796, the Malay soldiers in the latter's service provided stiff and brave resistance. The bravery and discipline of the Malay troops appealed to the British who decided to retain their services and formed a full battalion in Sri Lanka. Thus was born the Malay regiment of Sri Lanka, the first ever Malay regiment to be formed and receive Queen's colours in 1802.
he British not only 'martialised' the Malays like the Gurkhas to serve in their native army, but also took firm steps to strengthen the numbers of Malays in Sri Lanka by inviting Malay families from the areas in the Peninsular Malaya which were under their control.
In 1802, the Sultan of Kedah had sent a contingent of his Malay subjects to serve in Sri Lanka who were also joined by a number of Malays from Penang, Malacca and Singapore. Reinforced by new blood from Malaya, the Sri Lankan Malay community truly gained roots in Sri Lanka and was thoroughly indigenous with its own culture and language.
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