There have been Muslims in Sri Lanka for well over a thousand years. Trading dhows plied the waters between the Middle East and the island known to Arab sailors - like the legendary Sinbad - as Serendib even in pre-Islamic times. The first Muslim merchants and sailors may have landed on its shores during the Prophrt Muhammad's life time. By the 10th century this predominantly Arab community had grown influential enough to control the trade of the south-western ports, whilst the Sinhalese kings generally employed Muslim ministers to direct the state's commercial affairs. In 1157 the king of the neighbouring Maldive Islands was converted to Islam, and in 1238 an embassy to Egypt sent by King Bhuvaneka Bahu I was headed by Sri Lankan Muslims. From where did the Moors come? ( The origins of the Sri Lankan Moors is a matter that has aroused much controversy in academic circles. While it is generally believed that the Moors are descended from Arabian merchants who espoused local women, there are those historians who continue to argue that the Moors originally hailed from South India, mainly on the basis of their spoken language - Tamil. ) Marakkala: the Sri Lankan Moors ( The Arabs who came for trade did not settle down in Ceylon? ) Ceylon during the 8th century and landed at Jaffna and also settled down in Colombo, Beruwela, Galle and Trincomalee."Marakkalage" meaning the house which belongs to the man who came in a big wooden vessel.) Thousands of Muslims in northern Sri Lanka were ordered to leave their properties by the LTTE in 1991. They were only allowed to take minimum of their posessions and limited amount of cash. Everything else got confiscated by the Tamil Tigers. This act is described by some as ethnically cleansing the North. Tamil Tigers later apologised to Muslims after it was heavily criticised by human rights activists. 'Tigers say Tamils are discriminated against by Sinhalese. But they did the same thing against Muslims,' said a senior peace envoy from Norway to the BBC Sinhala service. Forgotten Muslims of Sri Lanka New ( Muslim refugees at the Norochcholai Alamkudah Mullaitivu B refugee camp are doubtful of a fresh start of a new life in Wanni.MS Abdeen, a refugee in Puttalam camp, said there future is uncertain as there is no civil administration in LTTE-controlled areas.)