Did Wikipedia remove the word "colonial" from the Islam in Sri Lanka article?

Yes. "colonial" appeared 3 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 5. We saved the article's opening paragraph at 6 moments between 2005 and 2025, and the counts come from those saved copies.

When did the Islam in Sri Lanka article stop using the word "colonial"?

The word appeared 3 times in the opening at its peak in 2005. It is absent from today's opening, the part search engines quote and AI systems train on, checked against the live article on 2026-08-02.

How can I verify what Wikipedia's Islam in Sri Lanka article used to say?

Each snapshot on this page links the Wikipedia revision it came from, so you can open their own history and compare. We also keep our own copy of the text, which stays readable if the article changes again.

What did Wikipedia remove from the Islam in Sri Lanka article?

The opening as it read in 2005

Mosque in Galle , Sri Lanka Muslims, who make up approximately 7 percent of the population, comprise a group of minorities practicing the religion of Islam in Sri Lanka . As in the case of the other ethnic groups, the Muslims have their own separate sites of worship, religious and cultural heroes, social circles, and even languages.¹ The Muslim community is divided into three main sections--the Sri Lankan Moors, the Indian Moors, and the Malays, each with its own history and traditions.² The Sri Lankan Moors make up 93 percent of the Muslim population and 7 percent of the total population of the country (1,404,534 people in 2005 ). They trace their ancestry to Arab traders who moved to southern India and Sri Lanka some time between the eighth and fifteenth centuries, adopted the Tamil language that was the common language of Indian Ocean trade, and settled permanently in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Moors lived primarily in coastal trading and agricultural communities, preserving their Islamic cultural heritage while adopting many southern Asian customs. During the period of Portuguese colonization, the Moors suffered from persecution, and many moved to the Central Highlands, where their descendants remain. The language of the Sri Lankan Moors is Tamil, or a type of "Arabic Tamil" that contains a large number of Arabic words. On the east coast, their family lines are traced through women, as in kinship systems of the southwest Indian state of Kerala , but they govern themselves through Islamic law . The Indian Moors are Muslims who trace their origins to immigrants searching for business opportunities during the colonial period. Some of these people came to the country as far back as Portuguese times; others arrived during the British period from various parts of India. The Memon , originally from Sindh (in modern Pakistan), first arrived in 1870 ; in the 1980s they numbered only about 3,000. The Dawoodi Bohras and the Khoja came from northwestern India ( Gujarat state) after 1880 ; in the 1980s they collectively numbered fewer than 2,000. These groups tended to retain their own places of worship and the languages of their ancestral homelands. The Malays originated in Southeast Asia . Their ancestors came to the country when both Sri Lanka and Indonesia were colonies of the Dutch . Most of the early Malay immigrants were soldiers, posted by the Dutch colonial administration to Sri Lanka, who decided to settle on the island. Other immigrants were convicts or members of noble houses from Indonesia who were exiled to Sri Lanka and who never left. The main source of a continuing Malay identity is their common Malay language (bahasa melayu), which includes numerous words absorbed from Sinhalese and Tamil, and is spoken at home. In the 1980s, the Malays comprised about 5 percent of the Muslim population in Sri Lanka.³

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17018103.

The opening as it stood in 2010 19 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Islam in Sri Lanka is practiced by a group of minorities who make up approximately 8% of the population . The Muslim community is divided into three main ethnic groups: the Sri Lankan Moors , the Indian Muslims , and the Malays , each with its own history and traditions. The attitude among the majority of people in Sri Lanka is to use the term '"Muslim" as an ethnic group, specifically when referring to Sri Lankan Moors. The green band on the Sri Lankan flag represents Islam and the Moorish ethnic group The Jami Ul Alfar mosque in pettah area one of the oldest mosques in Colombo Background Note: Sri Lanka - US department of State) bnxnxxn Sri Lanka -International Religious Freedom Report 2006

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The opening as it stood in 2015 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

The green band on the Sri Lankan flag represents Islam and the Moorish ethnic group The Jami Ul Alfar mosque in pettah area one of the oldest mosques in Colombo Islam in Sri Lanka is practiced by 9.7% of the population of Sri Lanka . 1,967,227 persons adhering Islam as per the census of 2012. The attitude among the majority of people in Sri Lanka is to use the term "Muslim" as an ethnic group, specifically when referring to Sri Lankan Moors.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 665494059.

The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear

( Learn how and when to remove this message ) The green band on the Sri Lankan flag represents Islam and the Moorish ethnic group The Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque in Pettah area is one of the oldest mosques in Colombo Islam is a minority religion in Sri Lanka . 9.7% of the Sri Lankan population practice Islam. 1,967,227 persons adhere to Islam as per the census of 2012. Islam in Sri Lanka existed in communities along the Arab coastal trade routes in Ceylon as soon as the religion originated and had gained early acceptance in the Arabian Peninsula.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 960355977.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear

History of Islam in Sri Lanka The green band on the Sri Lankan flag represents Islam in the country. The Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque in Pettah area is one of the oldest mosques in Colombo Islam is the third largest religion in Sri Lanka , with about 9.7 percent of the total population following the religion. About 1.9 million Sri Lankans adhere to Islam as per the Sri Lanka census of 2012. The majority of Muslims in Sri Lanka are concentrated in the Eastern Province of the island. Other areas containing significant Muslim minorities include the Western , Northwestern , North Central , Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces. Muslims form a large segment of the urban population of Sri Lanka and are mostly concentrated in major cities and large towns in Sri Lanka, for example Colombo . Most Sri Lankan Muslims primarily speak Tamil language , though it is not uncommon for Sri Lankan Muslims to be fluent in Sinhalese . The Sri Lankan Malays speak the Sri Lanka Malay language in addition to Sinhalese and Tamil . Islam in Sri Lanka traces its origin back to the arrival of Middle Eastern merchants in the Indian Ocean . By the 16th century, Middle Eastern traders' were the main traders of spice in Sri Lanka, with networks extending to the Middle East. The descendants of these merchants are commonly believed to be the Sri Lankan Moors . Department of Census and Statistics . Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177526546.

The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear

The Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque in Pettah area is one of the oldest mosques in Colombo Islam is the third largest religion in Sri Lanka , with about 9.7 percent of the total population following the religion. About 1.9 million Sri Lankans adhere to Islam as per the Sri Lanka census of 2012. The majority of Muslims in Sri Lanka are concentrated in the Eastern Province of the island. Other areas containing significant Muslim minorities include the Western , Northwestern , North Central , Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces. Muslims form a large segment of the urban population of Sri Lanka and are mostly concentrated in major cities and large towns in Sri Lanka, like Colombo . Most Sri Lankan Muslims primarily speak Tamil , though it is not uncommon for Sri Lankan Muslims to be fluent in Sinhalese . The Sri Lankan Malays speak the Sri Lankan Malay creole language in addition to Sinhalese and Tamil. Islam in Sri Lanka traces its origin back to the arrival of Middle Eastern merchants in the Indian Ocean . By the 16th century, Middle Eastern traders' were the main traders of spice in Sri Lanka, with networks extending to the Middle East. The descendants of these merchants are commonly believed to be the Sri Lankan Moors . Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka . Department of Census and Statistics . Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka. There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1284546204. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.