Academic literature on the topic 'Dutch Reformed Church in Sri Lanka'

Beside the records of the Dutch East India Company (or VOC) stored at the Netherlands National Archives in The Hague, there are various VOC collections kept in Asia that pertain to India and Ceylon. Some of these are relatively well-known: the “Dutch Records” in the Tamil Nadu Archives (Chennai); the records of the VOC government of Ceylon in the Sri Lanka National Archives (Colombo); the records of the Dutch Reformed Church of Ceylon at the Wolvendaal Church (Colombo); and the records of the Asian VOC headquarters at Batavia in the National Archives of Indonesia (Jakarta).

Background of South African IslamIn 1994, South Africans will celebrate three centuries of Islam inSouth Africa. Credit for establishing Islam in South Africa is usuallygiven to Sheikh Yusuf, a Macasser prince who was exiled to South Africafor leading the resistance against the Dutch colonization of Malaysia. Thefitst Muslims in South Africa, however, were actually slaves who hadbeen imported, beginning in 1677, mainly from India, the Indonesianarchipelago, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, by the Dutch colonists living in theCape. The Cape Muslim community, popularly but inaccurately knownas "Malays" and known under apattheid as "Coloreds," is the oldest Muslimcommunity in South Africa. The other major Muslim community wasestablished over a century later by indentured laborers and tradespeoplefrom northern India, a minority of whom weae Muslims. The majority ofSouth African Indian Muslims, classified as "Asians" or "Asiatics," nowlive in Natal and Tramvaal. The third ethnically identifiable group, classifiedas "Aftican" or "Black," consists mainly of converts or theirdescendants. Of the entire South African Muslim population, roughly 49percent are "Coloreds," nearly 47 pement are "Asians," and, although statisticsregarding "Africans" ate generally unreliable, it is estimated thatthey are less than 4 percent. Less than 1 percent is "White."Contributions to South African SocietyAlthough Muslims make up less that 2 petcent of the total population,their presence is highly visible. There ate over twenty-five mosques inCape Town and over one hundred in Johannesburg, making minarets asfamiliar as church towers Many are histotic and/or architectuml monuments.More importantly, Muslims ate uniquely involved in the nation'scultwe and economy. The oldest extant Afrikaans-language manuscriptsare in the Arabic script, for they ate the work of Muslim slaves writingin the Dutch patois. South African historian Achrnat Davids has tracedmany linguistic elements of Afrikaans, both in vocabulary and grammar,to the influence of the Cape Muslims. Economically, the Indian Muslimsaxe the most affluent, owing primarily to the cirmmstances under whichthey came to South Africa. Muslim names on businesses and buildingsare a familiar sight in all major cities and on those UniveAty campusesthat non-Whites were allowed to attend during apartheid ...

Historical records link Christianity in Sri Lanka to colonial rule. In 1505 the Portuguese introduced Catholicism to Sri Lanka and were followed by the Dutch, who in 1658, introduced the Dutch Reformed Church (Protestant). In 1796 the British, who brought with them the Church of England, gained control of the entire country by 1815. Today, five centuries after the advent of colonial rule, the combined number of Roman Catholics and other Christians stands at less than 9% of the total population. The Roman Catholic Church is spread across Sri Lanka, with churches in every district and ministering in all languages and across a wide cross-section of social groups, while growth within Protestant denominations has been stagnant. The Sri Lankan constitution in 1972 recognised Buddhism as the national, state-supported religion. Sri Lankan Buddhists and Tamil Hindus regard Christianity as a residue of the colonial governments. With the cycles of violence, Christian churches find opportunity to bring together believers from the Sinhala and Tamil ethnic groups and work for peace. In addition, with more emphasis on addressing key social justice issues, there is ground for confidence that Christianity in Sri Lanka can sustain itself and flourish in the coming century.