'Sikh' (12,952) and 'Punjabi' (5,672) category under 'Punjabi'. The percentages in the table refer to the proportion of each language group within the larger Resident Indian community in Singapore. The Singaporean Indian demographic is characterised by an ethnic majority (54.18%) and a large number of smaller groups. Ethnic Tamils in Singapore include the descendants of Tamil settlers from India and Sri Lanka (sometimes referred to as 'Ceylonese'). Ethnic Malayalees, tracing their heritage to Kerala in southern India, form the second largest community, making up 7.57% of the local Indian population. Tamils and Malayalees are the two main south Indian ethnolinguistic communities in Singapore, forming two-thirds of the Indian population. Meanwhile, the three main north Indian ethnolinguistic groups in Singapore (the Punjabi, Gujarati, and Sindhi communities) constitute 7.67% of the Singaporean Indian populace. The remaining 29.68% is composed of many smaller groups with ancestry from both southern India (such as the Telugus) and northern India (such as the Hindustanis, the Malay colloquial term for Hindi-speaking Indians), or ethnically mixed Singaporeans with paternal Indian ancestry. History Pre-colonial period Ancient India exerted a profound influence over Southeast Asia through trade, religious missions, wars and other forms of contact. Pre-colonial Singapore was part of 'Indianised Kingdoms' like Srivijaya and the Majapahit, which formed part of a cultural region known as Greater India. Prior to the spread of Islam, Singapore and the rest of the Malay world, was Hindu-Buddhist. One of the most extensive and enduring Indian influence in Malay culture is the vast number of Indian loan words in the Malay language. Indian influence is also seen in symbols and mythology associated with ancient Singapore. The Sejarah Melayu or Malay Annals describe the Indian prince who founded Singapore – Sang Nila Utama – as being a descendant of Alexander the Great and an Indian Princess. Meanwhile, the royal and sacred associations of Fort Canning Hill, the seat of ancient rulers, are related to the Hindu Mount Meru concept. Archaeological digs have unearthed Hindu-Buddhist artefacts from the pre-colonial period. In 1822, John Crawfurd documented the ruins of a Hindu or Buddhist temple on Fort Canning Hill. Singapore's two most important pre-colonial artefacts are the Singapore Stone, which is inscribed with an Indic script and a gold armlet bearing the motif of a Hindu 'kala' head. Colonial period: 1820s–1950s Migration and settlement Following the Portuguese colonisation of Malacca (Malaysia) in 1511, the Portuguese government encouraged their