Story Of The Last Ceylonese Afgans & Their Struggle To Survive

Dr Zameer-Careem being presented the signed autograph of President Ashraf Ghani, by Ambassador Ashraf Haidari

By Tanmaya Das –NOVEMBER 3, 2020

Tanmaya Das

Sri Lanka is a great exponent of cultural diversity, but many living in the country aren’t aware of a minority group called the ‘Ceylonese Afghans’ whose history in the Island can be traced back to the early 15th century. During the British Colonial Era, many Afghans were brought to Ceylon to work as horse-keepers and labourers, and their descendants took to money-lending and rose to become an affluent community in twentieth century Ceylon. By 1970s, almost all Afghans had left the Island and there are only a handful of Afghan descendants living in Sri Lanka today. To learn more about this obscure minority in Sri Lanka, whose history is largely unknown, I met up with the foremost expert on this topic, Dr. Tuan M. Zameer Careem Khan, a Medical doctor and historian, whose paternal great-grandfather, Carim Gunney Baay Khan, a Pashtun (Afghan) coachman, came to Ceylon in the late nineteenth century, and eventually settled, following his marriage to a lady of mixed Ceylonese Malay and Indian descent. Over the past few years, Dr Careem has written extensively on the Afghan community in Sri Lanka, and his efforts to raise awareness about his people have been recognised and supported by His Excellency, M. Ashraf Haidari, Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to Sri Lanka.

How did Afghans land up in Sri Lanka?

Under the British rule, many immigrants from Afghanistan, the North Western Frontier Province and Balochistan (present-day, Pakistan) came to Sri Lanka to work as horse keepers and labourers. In Ceylon, they used the term ‘horse-keepers’ to identify grooms. The tall and muscular Afghans were put to work as labourers, some were involved in the construction of railway lines, and others worked as porters at the Railway stations. Their hefty look also qualified them to be employed as watchmen at the plantations and in private homes.  Their origins in the country, however, can be traced back to the 15th century. In the words of Dr Zameer-Careem, “The advent of Afghans in Ceylon can be traced back to the early 15th century, when a schooner carrying Afghan (Pathan) merchants, was washed ashore by a storm in Batticaloa. According to the narrative, ‘Mattakkalappu Maanmiyam’ (Glory of Batticaloa), these valorous Afghans helped the Mukkuvar tribesmen redeem the villages of Eravur & Akkaraipattu, from the clutches of the Thimilars and coastal Veddhas. They also helped resolve the age-old feud between the Mukkuvars and other local tribes and many settled permanently in Sri Lanka, by marrying local women”.  The descendants of these Pathans who settled in Batticaloa, are now part of the Batticaloa Moor (Muslim) community, who have, for over many centuries followed the matri-clan ‘kudi’ system in Sri Lanka. Dr Careem (2020) writes, “In 1762, an English envoy named John Pybus accompanied by two Pathan (Afghan) emissaries from the court of the Nawab of Arcot (Carnatic), visited Ceylon and met King  Kirti Sri Rajasinghe in Kandy, where they remained for about forty days, living in Rammolle Adigar’s manor on Nagahavidiya”. The second wave of Afghans or Bhais as they were popularly called, came to Ceylon during the early years of British rule. When I asked Dr Careem, why the Afghans in Sri Lanka were called Bhais, he replied saying, “Most Afghans back then bore the title Khan, which was a popular surname among the highly influential Parsis. Hence, the British forbade the Afghans from using ‘Khan’;, therefore most Afghans used ‘Bhai’, meaning brother as their surname. But it should be noted however that the term ‘Bhai’ was also popular among other Indian minority groups, like the Bohras, Memons and Khojas, who rose to prominence in the twentieth century”. Many Sri Lankan authors, like Weerasooriya (1973), have used the term, ‘Bhai’ to identify the Afghans, a community that went from rags to riches, thanks to money-lending.

An Afghan man with Ceylon Moors

Rise of Afghan people during the British Colonial Era

They started lending money to the poor Sri Lankans at a high rate of interest. The Afghans lacked education, but they knew the art of persuasion. The Sri Lankan natives borrowed money and returned the money at double/triple rate to the Afghans. Although the Europeans operated banks during the colonial period, the banks provided loans only to richer people. Since the natives of Sri Lanka couldn’t approach the European-run Banks, they were mostly dependent on the Afghani people for their loans. The borrowing of money from Afghani people made Sri Lankans poorer. Many Ceylonese borrowed money from Pathans and couldn’t repay them. Since Pathans could save a large chunk of their salaries, they started lending money in huge amounts to Sri Lankan natives. At the same time, the poor Sri Lankans returned the money at a higher rate of interest. These business tricks made the Afghans (who worked as horse keepers) richer within a couple of years and eventually, they stopped working under Britishers and money-lending became their full time profession. The stories circulated that many Pathans waited for their debtors outside their workplaces on their paydays. The Pathans captured the houses of the poor debtors who couldn’t pay them back. They were also known to beat their debtors with sticks, and were have been described by Sri Lankan and British authors as an ‘aggressive. Money-craving tribe that preyed on innocent Sri Lankans’. When asked about this, Dr Careem replied, saying; “The Afghans weren’t infallible, they were rapacious money-lenders who subsisted on unconscionable usury, and yes, they always carried with them a truncheon, to clout their swindling debtors. In fact, In 1927, Lady Jean Lachore, donated a sum of 300 Pounds and established the Lady Lochore Loan Fund, to provide debt relief to those hassled by the Afghans. The Chetties, Moors, Jews and the Parsis were also engaged in money-lending, but no other community was subjected to such criticism and hatred as the Afghans, who were shunned, hounded and despised by the majority of Ceylonese, as evinced by authors like Cowell (1933), Menon (1981), De Souza (1919), Feinberg (2005) Schrader (1994) Tambiah (1908). In Ceylon, the Afghans suffered under the same hostility which the Jews experienced in other countries where the locals were improvident”. Dr Careem went on to add that, “Afghans in Ceylon were tough, and were known for their pugnacious attitude, yet they also had a friendly side to them. India’s first foreign secretary, K.P.S. Menon, during his time as the Agent of the Government of India in Ceylon, befriended an Afghan named Kabir Bhai, who became a close ally to his family. Menon, in his autobiography (1981), speaks fondly of his friendship with Kabir Bhai, who was both his confidante and Pashto teacher. Likewise, a painting by German artist, C.W. Allers (1899), depicts an Afghan moneylender playing ‘Dhaam’ with a local on the roadside, thus proving that not all Afghans were tyrants”.

An illustration of an Afghan moneylender playing with a native of Ceylon by German artist Christian Wilhelm Allers. ca. 1899

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