Malaysian Telugu

Malaysian Telugus are a group of ethnic Indians who are Telugu speaking. Most of Malaysian Telugus today are 4th or 5th generation who migrated during the colonial period.While most of current Malaysian Telugu ancestors originated from what is now Andra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (then known as Madras state) substantial number of them originated from area of Orissa and Bengal state. While most Telugus come to Malaysia as labourers, some were traders who arrived as refugees. In 1930s anti Indian riots in Burma results in large number of ethnic Telugus fleeing from Burma either back to India ,Thailand or Malaya.Another wave of Telugu migration from Burma occurs during world war two, when Japanease invaded Burma

Officially, there are only 40,000 Telugus in Malaysia, but this is probably an undercount as anybody who declares himself as Indian are recorded as Tamil, a fact of which many Telugus are not aware. Other estimates count the number of Malaysian Telugus as high as 250.000 to 350.000. Intermarriges between Telugus with other south Indian community in Malaysia is common and the children of such marriages identifies themselves as Tamils or Indians,and mistakenly counted as Tamils.

In 1981 the World Second Telugu Conference was held in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian Telugu Association, a non profit NGO serves as representative of Malaysian Telugus and is platform for Telugus to voice their opinions. The Telugu Association was first formed in the region of Lower Perak District in Malaysia on the 17th July 1955, under the banner of Malaya Andhra Sangamu and officially registered on 17th February 1956. On the 16th December 1963 it was renamed as Malaysia Andhra Sangamu. The association name evolved from 1983 onwards as TELUGU ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA (TAM HQ) which is also known as Malaysia Telugu Sangamu. The association is formally registered and operates under the banner of as Persatuan Telugu Malaysia in Bahasa Malaysia.

Telugus along with other Indians from the east coast of India and the Bengal Bay arrived to the shores of ancient "Suvarnabhumi" and other parts of Southeast Asia. Indians from Godavari basin arrived in ancient Malay peninsular, 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 over Southeast Asia. Kalinga is located at the northern part of Andra Pradesh covering Godavari basin and the southern part of Orissa and people of this region now speak either Telugu or Oriya