Punjabi Malaysians are people of full or partial Punjabi descent who were born in or immigrated to Malaysia. Originating from the Punjab region of present-day India and Pakistan, Punjabi immigration to Malaysia began in the 19th century from what was then British India to British Malaya. The Punjabi Malaysian community today numbers over 100,000 – the majority of whom are Sikhs, although there are also sizeable Muslim, Hindu and Christian minorities. They form the largest Punjabi diaspora group in Southeast Asia, while within Malaysia, Punjabis are the fourth largest ethnicity of Indian or South Asian descent after the Tamils, Malayalis and Telugus.
A group of local Punjabi kids in Ipoh, Perak
Malaysian Indians or Indo-Malaysian are Malaysian citizens of Indian or South Asian ancestry. They now form the third-largest group in Malaysia, after the Malays and the Chinese. Most are descendants of those who migrated from India to British Malaya from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. Most Malaysian Indians are ethnic Tamils; smaller groups include the Malayalees, Telugus and Punjabis. Malaysian Indians form the fifth-largest community of Overseas Indians in the world. In Malaysia, they represent the third-largest group, constituting 7% of the Malaysian population, after the ethnic Malays and the Chinese. They are usually referred to simply as "Indians" in English, Orang India in Malay, "Yin du ren" in Chinese.
Malaysian Indians
Candi Bukit Batu Pahat of Bujang Valley. A Hindu-Buddhist kingdom ruled ancient Kedah possibly as early as 110 A.D, the earliest evidence of strong Indian influence which was once prevalent among the pre-Islamic Kedahan Malays.
SS Rajula, operating her fortnightly "Straits Service" between Madras to Penang, Port Klang and Singapore from 1926 to 1972. The vessel transported many Indian migrants between South India to then-British Malaya as well as independent Malaysia.
Thaipusam Celebration in Balik Pulau, Penang. 1937