In the 16th century, the
Portuguese and in the 18th century, the Dutch who occupied the island brought
in tens of thousands of people from South India (presently Kerala, Tamil Nadu,
Andhara) and settled them in the Southern parts of the island as menial labourers
(for growing/peeling cinnamon, fishing/pearl diving, coconut planting/plucking,
toddy tapping, and for many other jobs).
Within a few centuries,
the Sinhala population increased exponentially when these people assimilated
with the local Sinhala population by adopting the Sinhala language and the
Buddhist religion.
Today their decedents
(6th generation) are not only claiming the ancient Sri Lankan civilization as
their own ‘Sinhala’ heritage but have also become the patriots and champions of
Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism.
It was the British who
re-discovered the Mahavamsa in the early 20th century and their so called
European ‘Pali Scholars’ misinterpreted it, thereby creating another myth known
as Arya-Sinhala.
Since the Sinhala (Elu)
language (mixture of Sanskrit, Pali and Tamil/Malayalam) was more of Indo-Aryan
in nature, the British declared that the Sinhalese were Aryans from North India
and the Tamils were Dravidians from South India.
Influenced by the
colonial historiography, the Sinhalese declared that they were indigenous to
the island, and that the Tamils were invaders from South India.
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