History A Historical background and the Origins of Sri Lankan Malays Archeological findings as well as literary records suggest that relationships between Sri Lanka and countries of South East Asia; the Malay Archipelago, extends into several centuries. In S. L. Kekulawala’s account it is said that ancient iconographical findings in West Java dating as back as the 6 th or 7 th century point to connections between Java and Sri Lanka (Kekulawala, 1979). The Directory on Sri Lankan Malays (2008) also states that Kalinga Magha arrived with 24,000 Malay soldiers in 1214. Yet the most cited earliest recorded reference to people of Malay origin is in the Culawamsa which narrates the invasion by Chandrabanu, the Buddhist king of Tambralinga near the Isthmus of Kra in the Malay Peninsula in the 13 th century; during the reign of King Parakramabahu II (AD 1247). Two invasions have been recorded and the Malay king is said to have ruled Jaffna ...