The Memon People arrived in Ceylon (in modern Sri Lanka) from
Sindh region (in modern
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
) in the year 1870s.
Sunni Hanafi Muslim by origin, the
Memon people
The Memon are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group that originated in the Sindh region of Pakistan. The majority of the Memon people around the world follow the Hanafi fiqh of Sunni Islam. The Memon people have cultural similarities with the Khoja, Khat ...
are
entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
and traders who settled in
Ceylon (in modern Sri Lanka) for business opportunities during the
colonial period. Some of these people came to the country as far back as the Portuguese period. Memons arrived during the British period from the Kathiawar region (in modern state of Gujarat, India) during the
Partition of India in 1947. Majority of Memons arrived in Sri Lanka were from the historical village called
Kutiyana
Kutiyana (Devanagari: कुंतियाणा; Gujarati: કુતિયાણા) is a city and a municipality in Porbandar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is situated on the banks of Bhadar river.
History
Source:-
The name o ...
, in
Junagadh
Junagadh () is the headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, southwest of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (the state capital), it is the seventh largest city in the state.
Literally ...
District,
State of Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth- ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. Along with the
Kathiawar Memons, many Other Memon families from out of the popular Kathiawar Memon villages also arrived, and they are known and identified as the Mir, Pinjara, Allahrakha, khatri and Mulla within the Memon community in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Memons are strictly following the traditional and cultural values of the International Memon community. Memons in Sri Lanka are represented by th
Memon Association of Sri Lanka
History
![Memon Association of Ceylon - 1956](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Memon_Association_of_Ceylon_-_1956.jpg)
Early 1900s, Kathiawar Memon merchants and traders; mainly from
Kutiyana
Kutiyana (Devanagari: कुंतियाणा; Gujarati: કુતિયાણા) is a city and a municipality in Porbandar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is situated on the banks of Bhadar river.
History
Source:-
The name o ...
,
Porbandar and
Upleta
Upleta is a city and tehsil in the Rajkot district of the state of Gujarat, India.
It contains within it two towns and 49 villages.
Geography
Upleta is located at . It is about from Dhoraji, in the Rajkot district of Gujarat, on the banks of the ...
traveled to
Ceylon (in modern
Sri Lanka) to trade and exploit business opportunities. Memon people started the trading route between India and Sri lanka in early 1930s. Memon merchants brought variety of Indian products to
Ceylon (in modern
Sri Lanka), it mainly consisted textiles and it was sold in the
Colombo Pettah market.
Reason for mass migration and settlement of Memon people around the world was due to the Gujarat's Hindu-Muslim riot in 1947, which was initiated due to the
Partition of India. Many Memons in the Kathiawar region were attacked and were looted by the mobs, which resulted in great loss to the Memon community especially in the
Junagadh
Junagadh () is the headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, southwest of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (the state capital), it is the seventh largest city in the state.
Literally ...
District and surrounding villages in modern state of Gujarat in India. After the riots, extremely affected Memon people from the Kathiawar region were replaced in refugee camps in the bordering cities nearby the State of Gujarat, India.
Lately, Memon people started migrating to other states within India, and large number of them migrated and settled in modern
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
. Memon merchants who were involved in the trading route between India and Sri Lanka, decided to migrate and settle in Ceylon (in modern Sri Lanka) along with their families.
Memon people were firstly based in Colombo 12 in the early 1950s and gradually started to expand and move to other parts of the
Colombo city
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo met ...
. Memon association of Ceylon was formed in the year 1956 in Hullsdorf, Colombo by well known personalities of the Memon community in Sri Lanka.
Lately it was changed to Memon association of Sri Lanka.
See also
*
Memon People
The Memon are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group that originated in the Sindh region of Pakistan. The majority of the Memon people around the world follow the Hanafi fiqh of Sunni Islam. The Memon people have cultural similarities with the Khoja, Khat ...
*
Gujarati People
*
Kathiawari Memon
*
Saurashtra (region)
References
Further reading
*''Memons of Sri Lanka - Men Memoirs Milestones.'' Asiff Hussein and Hameed Karim Bhoja. (2006). Published by The Memon Association of Sri Lanka.
External links
Memon Association of Sri Lanka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Memons In Sri Lanka
Pakistanis in Sri Lanka
Social groups of Sri Lanka
*
Memon
Sri Lankan people of Pakistani descent