During the uncertainty of the first years of British rule in Ceylon, 5 Independent Companies of Malays were formed by the Honourable East India Company from the captured Dutch forces in Ceylon and India.
On the 23rd April 1801, The Malay Regiment of 1200 soldiers was formed by Frederic North, the 1st British Governor of Ceylon.
Four more Ceylon regiments were formed and disbanded before the formation of the Ceylon Rifle Regiment in 1814, which was then itself disbanded in 1873.