Malaysian Telugus

Malaysian Telugus (Malēṣiyā Teluguvāru; Orang Telugu Malaysia), consists of people of full or partial Telugu descent who were born in or immigrated to Malaysia. Most Malaysian Telugus are descended from migrants during the colonial period. While the ancestors of most Malaysian Telugus originate from what is now Andhra Pradesh, substantial numbers originated from the states of Telangana, Orissa and Bengal. While most Telugus came to Malaysia as labourers, some were professionals and traders who arrived as refugees. In the 1930s, anti-Indian riots in Burma resulted in large numbers of ethnic Telugus fleeing from Burma either back to India, or to Malaya. Another wave of Telugu migration from Burma occurred during World War II, when the Japanese invaded Burma. Telugus along with other Indians from the India's east coast and the Bay of Bengal arrived on the shores of ancient Suvarnabhumi (referring to Malay Peninsula and Lower Burma, meaning "Land of Gold" in Sanskrit) and other parts of Southeast Asia. Indians from the Godavari basin arrived in the ancient Malay peninsula, trading and settling down, thus influencing local customs and culture. Sejarah Melayu addressed India as Benua Keling and Indians as "Keling", a word taken from Kalinga, an ancient Indian kingdom which is likely the source of Indian influence across Southeast Asia. Kalinga is located in the northern part of Andhra Pradesh and the southern part of Orissa with people in this region now speaking either Telugu or Oriya. The current population of Malaysian Telugus are mostly third and fourth generation Telugus who descended from indentured laborers under the Kangani system who arrived in the 19th and early 20th century. Some also paid their own passage after the Kangani system ended in the early 20th century. Most of the Telugu migrants to the Malay peninsula during the colonial era were from northern coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh, often recruited by maistries or kanganis (foremen) from the Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam regions, with some from the East Godavari and Chittoor regions.