Sri Lanka, April 12 -- Muslims of Ceylon and peninsular India, who are ethnologically similar, were in the vanguard of maritime trade in South and South East Asia from the 3rd century BC till the emergence of the Portuguese and other European powers in the 16th Century. These Tamil-speaking Muslims of part Arab ancestry were trading peacefully in the region for centuries. But they were eventually outmaneuvered by European traders who were ruthless, armed, and technologically better equipped than the Muslims.

The Europeans not only had the support of a Metropolitan power back in Europe (Lisbon, Amsterdam or London) but also of local kings who flocked to them out of fear or for politico-military support vis-a-vis their local rivals. While ...