Refine your search

The results of your search are listed below alongside the search terms you entered on the previous page. You can refine your search by amending any of the parameters in the form and resubmitting it.

Kuragala Cave Temple is an ancient Buddhist holy site in the Sabaragamuwa province of Sri Lanka which has roots in the pre-Christian era and declared at the beginning of 20th century as a protected place by the department of archaeology of the country.<br/><br/>

There is a small mosque and a shrine at the place used by Dafthar Jailani, a Sufi group, for prayer. The mosque and the temple have co-existed since 10th century CE.
The name Beruwala is derived from the Sinhalese word for the place where the sail is lowered. It marks the spot for the first Muslim settlement on the island, established by Arab traders around the 8th century AD. A large population of Sri Lankan Moors, many of them are gem merchants, still live in the town-- particularly in the "China Fort". Msjid-ul-Abrar , a landmark of Beruwala and Sri Lanka's oldest mosque, was built by Arab traders on a rocky peninsula overlooking the town.
The name Beruwala is derived from the Sinhalese word for the place where the sail is lowered. It marks the spot for the first Muslim settlement on the island, established by Arab traders around the 8th century AD. A large population of Sri Lankan Moors, many of them are gem merchants, still live in the town-- particularly in the "China Fort". Msjid-ul-Abrar , a landmark of Beruwala and Sri Lanka's oldest mosque, was built by Arab traders on a rocky peninsula overlooking the town.
The name Beruwala is derived from the Sinhalese word for the place where the sail is lowered. It marks the spot for the first Muslim settlement on the island, established by Arab traders around the 8th century AD. A large population of Sri Lankan Moors, many of them are gem merchants, still live in the town-- particularly in the "China Fort". Msjid-ul-Abrar , a landmark of Beruwala and Sri Lanka's oldest mosque, was built by Arab traders on a rocky peninsula overlooking the town.
The name Beruwala is derived from the Sinhalese word for the place where the sail is lowered. It marks the spot for the first Muslim settlement on the island, established by Arab traders around the 8th century AD. A large population of Sri Lankan Moors, many of them are gem merchants, still live in the town-- particularly in the "China Fort". Msjid-ul-Abrar , a landmark of Beruwala and Sri Lanka's oldest mosque, was built by Arab traders on a rocky peninsula overlooking the town.
The name Beruwala is derived from the Sinhalese word for the place where the sail is lowered. It marks the spot for the first Muslim settlement on the island, established by Arab traders around the 8th century AD. A large population of Sri Lankan Moors, many of them are gem merchants, still live in the town-- particularly in the "China Fort". Msjid-ul-Abrar , a landmark of Beruwala and Sri Lanka's oldest mosque, was built by Arab traders on a rocky peninsula overlooking the town.
The name Beruwala is derived from the Sinhalese word for the place where the sail is lowered. It marks the spot for the first Muslim settlement on the island, established by Arab traders around the 8th century AD. A large population of Sri Lankan Moors, many of them are gem merchants, still live in the town-- particularly in the "China Fort". Msjid-ul-Abrar , a landmark of Beruwala and Sri Lanka's oldest mosque, was built by Arab traders on a rocky peninsula overlooking the town.
The name Beruwala is derived from the Sinhalese word for the place where the sail is lowered. It marks the spot for the first Muslim settlement on the island, established by Arab traders around the 8th century AD. A large population of Sri Lankan Moors, many of them are gem merchants, still live in the town-- particularly in the "China Fort". Msjid-ul-Abrar , a landmark of Beruwala and Sri Lanka's oldest mosque, was built by Arab traders on a rocky peninsula overlooking the town.
There have been Muslims in Sri Lanka for well over a thousand years. Trading dhows plied the waters between the Middle East and the island known to Arab sailors - like Sinbad - as Serendib even in pre-Islamic times. The first Muslim merchants and sailors may have landed on its shores during Muhammad's life time. By the 10th century this predominantly Arab community had grown influential enough to control the trade of the south-western ports, whilst the Sinhalese kings generally employed Muslim ministers to direct the state's commercial affairs. In 1157 the king of the neighbouring Maldive Islands was converted to Islam, and in 1238 an embassy to Egypt sent by King Bhuvaneka Bahu I was headed by Sri Lankan Muslims.<br/><br/>

From about 1350 onwards the predominantly Arab strain in Sri Lankan Islam began to change as Tamil Muslims from neighbouring South India moved to the island in increasing numbers. By the late 15th century, when Portuguese vessels first arrived in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka's Muslims were truly indigenous to the island, representing a mixture of Sinhalese, Arab and Tamil blood, and speaking Tamil with Arabic overtones, sometimes known as 'Tamil-Arabic'. None of this made any difference to the newly-arrived Portuguese, for whom all Muslims were 'Moors' - the name given to their traditional enemies in Morocco and southern Spain. The name Moro - employed as a derogatory designation by the Portuguese - stuck, and is today 'worn with pride' by Sri Lankan Muslims, in much the same way as the 'Moros' of the southern Philippines.
There have been Muslims in Sri Lanka for well over a thousand years. Trading dhows plied the waters between the Middle East and the island known to Arab sailors - like Sinbad - as Serendib even in pre-Islamic times. The first Muslim merchants and sailors may have landed on its shores during Muhammad's life time. By the 10th century this predominantly Arab community had grown influential enough to control the trade of the south-western ports, whilst the Sinhalese kings generally employed Muslim ministers to direct the state's commercial affairs. In 1157 the king of the neighbouring Maldive Islands was converted to Islam, and in 1238 an embassy to Egypt sent by King Bhuvaneka Bahu I was headed by Sri Lankan Muslims.<br/><br/>

From about 1350 onwards the predominantly Arab strain in Sri Lankan Islam began to change as Tamil Muslims from neighbouring South India moved to the island in increasing numbers. By the late 15th century, when Portuguese vessels first arrived in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka's Muslims were truly indigenous to the island, representing a mixture of Sinhalese, Arab and Tamil blood, and speaking Tamil with Arabic overtones, sometimes known as 'Tamil-Arabic'. None of this made any difference to the newly-arrived Portuguese, for whom all Muslims were 'Moors' - the name given to their traditional enemies in Morocco and southern Spain. The name Moro - employed as a derogatory designation by the Portuguese - stuck, and is today 'worn with pride' by Sri Lankan Muslims, in much the same way as the 'Moros' of the southern Philippines.
There have been Muslims in Sri Lanka for well over a thousand years. Trading dhows plied the waters between the Middle East and the island known to Arab sailors - like Sinbad - as Serendib even in pre-Islamic times. The first Muslim merchants and sailors may have landed on its shores during Muhammad's life time. By the 10th century this predominantly Arab community had grown influential enough to control the trade of the south-western ports, whilst the Sinhalese kings generally employed Muslim ministers to direct the state's commercial affairs. In 1157 the king of the neighbouring Maldive Islands was converted to Islam, and in 1238 an embassy to Egypt sent by King Bhuvaneka Bahu I was headed by Sri Lankan Muslims.<br/><br/>

From about 1350 onwards the predominantly Arab strain in Sri Lankan Islam began to change as Tamil Muslims from neighbouring South India moved to the island in increasing numbers. By the late 15th century, when Portuguese vessels first arrived in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka's Muslims were truly indigenous to the island, representing a mixture of Sinhalese, Arab and Tamil blood, and speaking Tamil with Arabic overtones, sometimes known as 'Tamil-Arabic'. None of this made any difference to the newly-arrived Portuguese, for whom all Muslims were 'Moors' - the name given to their traditional enemies in Morocco and southern Spain. The name Moro - employed as a derogatory designation by the Portuguese - stuck, and is today 'worn with pride' by Sri Lankan Muslims, in much the same way as the 'Moros' of the southern Philippines.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese. It was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia, including establishing colonies in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India.<br/><br/>
 
In 1658, the VOC sent Baldaeus from The Netherlands to Jaffna in northern Ceylon to work as a missionary.<br/><br/>

In this painting, Baldaeus wears Mughal dress including a checked turban. The Sinhalese man wears a lungi and appears to be of the farming caste of Vellalas.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese. It was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia, including establishing colonies in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India.
Faxian (traditional Chinese: 法顯; simplified Chinese: 法显; pinyin: FÇŽxiÇŽn; also romanized as Fa-Hien, Fa-hsien, Fa Xian) (337 – c. 422 CE) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled by foot all the way from China to India, visiting many sacred Buddhist sites in what are now Xinjiang, China, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and between 399 and 412 to acquire Buddhist scriptures.<br/><br/>

His journey is described in his important travelogue, 'A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms, Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Xian of his Travels in India and Ceylon in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline'.<br/><br/>

On Faxian's way back to China, after a two-year stay in Ceylon, a violent storm drove his ship onto an island that was probably Java. After five months there, Faxian took another ship for southern China but, again, it was blown off course and they ended up landed at Laoshan in what is now the Shandong peninsula in northern China, 30 km east of the city of Qingdao. He spent the rest of his life translating and editing the scriptures he had collected.
In classical usage, 'India Intra Gangem' refers to South Asia west of the Ganges, while 'India Extra Gangem' refers to peninsular Southeast Asia.
The southeastern coastline of India, known as the Coromandel Coast, was home to three Portuguese settlements by late 1530 at Nagapattinam, São Tomé de Meliapore, and Pulicat. Later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Coromandel Coast was the scene of rivalries among European powers for control of the India trade and the 'Spice Trade'. The British established themselves at Fort St George (Madras) and Masulipatnam, the Dutch at Pulicat, Sadras and Covelong, the French at Pondicherry, Karaikal and Nizampatnam, and the Danish in Dansborg at Tharangambadi.

Eventually the British won out, although France retained the tiny enclaves of Pondicherry and Karaikal until 1954. Chinese lacquer goods, including boxes, screens, and chests, became known as "Coromandel" goods in the 18th century, because many Chinese exports were consolidated at the Coromandel ports.
There have been Muslims in Sri Lanka for well over a thousand years. Trading dhows plied the waters between the Middle East and the island known to Arab sailors - like Sinbad - as Serendib even in pre-Islamic times. The first Muslim merchants and sailors may have landed on its shores during Muhammad's life time. By the 10th century this predominantly Arab community had grown influential enough to control the trade of the south-western ports, whilst the Sinhalese kings generally employed Muslim ministers to direct the state's commercial affairs. In 1157 the king of the neighbouring Maldive Islands was converted to Islam, and in 1238 an embassy to Egypt sent by King Bhuvaneka Bahu I was headed by Sri Lankan Muslims.<br/><br/>

From about 1350 onwards the predominantly Arab strain in Sri Lankan Islam began to change as Tamil Muslims from neighbouring South India moved to the island in increasing numbers. By the late 15th century, when Portuguese vessels first arrived in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka's Muslims were truly indigenous to the island, representing a mixture of Sinhalese, Arab and Tamil blood, and speaking Tamil with Arabic overtones, sometimes known as 'Tamil-Arabic'. None of this made any difference to the newly-arrived Portuguese, for whom all Muslims were 'Moors' - the name given to their traditional enemies in Morocco and southern Spain. The name Moro - employed as a derogatory designation by the Portuguese - stuck, and is today 'worn with pride' by Sri Lankan Muslims, in much the same way as the 'Moros' of the southern Philippines.
There have been Muslims in Sri Lanka for well over a thousand years. Trading dhows plied the waters between the Middle East and the island known to Arab sailors - like Sinbad - as Serendib even in pre-Islamic times. The first Muslim merchants and sailors may have landed on its shores during Muhammad's life time. By the 10th century this predominantly Arab community had grown influential enough to control the trade of the south-western ports, whilst the Sinhalese kings generally employed Muslim ministers to direct the state's commercial affairs. In 1157 the king of the neighbouring Maldive Islands was converted to Islam, and in 1238 an embassy to Egypt sent by King Bhuvaneka Bahu I was headed by Sri Lankan Muslims.<br/><br/>

From about 1350 onwards the predominantly Arab strain in Sri Lankan Islam began to change as Tamil Muslims from neighbouring South India moved to the island in increasing numbers. By the late 15th century, when Portuguese vessels first arrived in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka's Muslims were truly indigenous to the island, representing a mixture of Sinhalese, Arab and Tamil blood, and speaking Tamil with Arabic overtones, sometimes known as 'Tamil-Arabic'. None of this made any difference to the newly-arrived Portuguese, for whom all Muslims were 'Moors' - the name given to their traditional enemies in Morocco and southern Spain. The name Moro - employed as a derogatory designation by the Portuguese - stuck, and is today 'worn with pride' by Sri Lankan Muslims, in much the same way as the 'Moros' of the southern Philippines.
There have been Muslims in Sri Lanka for well over a thousand years. Trading dhows plied the waters between the Middle East and the island known to Arab sailors - like Sinbad - as Serendib even in pre-Islamic times. The first Muslim merchants and sailors may have landed on its shores during Muhammad's life time. By the 10th century this predominantly Arab community had grown influential enough to control the trade of the south-western ports, whilst the Sinhalese kings generally employed Muslim ministers to direct the state's commercial affairs. In 1157 the king of the neighbouring Maldive Islands was converted to Islam, and in 1238 an embassy to Egypt sent by King Bhuvaneka Bahu I was headed by Sri Lankan Muslims.<br/><br/>

From about 1350 onwards the predominantly Arab strain in Sri Lankan Islam began to change as Tamil Muslims from neighbouring South India moved to the island in increasing numbers. By the late 15th century, when Portuguese vessels first arrived in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka's Muslims were truly indigenous to the island, representing a mixture of Sinhalese, Arab and Tamil blood, and speaking Tamil with Arabic overtones, sometimes known as 'Tamil-Arabic'. None of this made any difference to the newly-arrived Portuguese, for whom all Muslims were 'Moors' - the name given to their traditional enemies in Morocco and southern Spain. The name Moro - employed as a derogatory designation by the Portuguese - stuck, and is today 'worn with pride' by Sri Lankan Muslims, in much the same way as the 'Moros' of the southern Philippines.
There have been Muslims in Sri Lanka for well over a thousand years. Trading dhows plied the waters between the Middle East and the island known to Arab sailors - like Sinbad - as Serendib even in pre-Islamic times. The first Muslim merchants and sailors may have landed on its shores during Muhammad's life time. By the 10th century this predominantly Arab community had grown influential enough to control the trade of the south-western ports, whilst the Sinhalese kings generally employed Muslim ministers to direct the state's commercial affairs. In 1157 the king of the neighbouring Maldive Islands was converted to Islam, and in 1238 an embassy to Egypt sent by King Bhuvaneka Bahu I was headed by Sri Lankan Muslims.<br/><br/>

From about 1350 onwards the predominantly Arab strain in Sri Lankan Islam began to change as Tamil Muslims from neighbouring South India moved to the island in increasing numbers. By the late 15th century, when Portuguese vessels first arrived in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka's Muslims were truly indigenous to the island, representing a mixture of Sinhalese, Arab and Tamil blood, and speaking Tamil with Arabic overtones, sometimes known as 'Tamil-Arabic'. None of this made any difference to the newly-arrived Portuguese, for whom all Muslims were 'Moors' - the name given to their traditional enemies in Morocco and southern Spain. The name Moro - employed as a derogatory designation by the Portuguese - stuck, and is today 'worn with pride' by Sri Lankan Muslims, in much the same way as the 'Moros' of the southern Philippines.
There have been Muslims in Sri Lanka for well over a thousand years. Trading dhows plied the waters between the Middle East and the island known to Arab sailors - like Sinbad - as Serendib even in pre-Islamic times. The first Muslim merchants and sailors may have landed on its shores during Muhammad's life time. By the 10th century this predominantly Arab community had grown influential enough to control the trade of the south-western ports, whilst the Sinhalese kings generally employed Muslim ministers to direct the state's commercial affairs. In 1157 the king of the neighbouring Maldive Islands was converted to Islam, and in 1238 an embassy to Egypt sent by King Bhuvaneka Bahu I was headed by Sri Lankan Muslims.<br/><br/>

From about 1350 onwards the predominantly Arab strain in Sri Lankan Islam began to change as Tamil Muslims from neighbouring South India moved to the island in increasing numbers. By the late 15th century, when Portuguese vessels first arrived in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka's Muslims were truly indigenous to the island, representing a mixture of Sinhalese, Arab and Tamil blood, and speaking Tamil with Arabic overtones, sometimes known as 'Tamil-Arabic'. None of this made any difference to the newly-arrived Portuguese, for whom all Muslims were 'Moors' - the name given to their traditional enemies in Morocco and southern Spain. The name Moro - employed as a derogatory designation by the Portuguese - stuck, and is today 'worn with pride' by Sri Lankan Muslims, in much the same way as the 'Moros' of the southern Philippines.