| Sinhala | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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c. 15. 0 million |
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 Sri Lanka 14,100,000[1]
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| Languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sinhala | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Predominantly Theravada Buddhism. Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman ( Arabic: سلطنة عُمان) is an Arab Country in Southwest Asia on the southeast Qatar ( قطر; ˈqɑtˁɑr local pronunciation giṭar officially the State of Qatar (Arabic دولة قطر transliterated Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Libya ( ليبيا ar-Latn Lībiyā; Libyan vernacular: Lībya; Amazigh:) officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Singapore The Maldives ( or, or Maldive Islands) officially the Republic of Maldives, is an Island nation consisting of a group of atolls stretching Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Sinhalese or Sinhala (සිංහල ISO 15919: siṁhala ˈsiŋhələ earlier referred to as Singhalese) is the language of the Sinhalese History Origin of the school The Theravāda school is ultimately derived from the Vibhajjavāda (or 'doctrine of analysis' grouping which was a continuation Significant Christianity, small groups of atheists, agnostics, Muslims, others | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Indo-Aryans, Dravidians, Veddahs, Bengalis |
The Sinhala people are the main ethnic group of Sri Lanka. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Atheism Agnosticism ( Greek: α- a-, without + γνώσις gnōsis, knowledge after Gnosticism) is the philosophical view that the A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion Dravidian peoples refers to the peoples that natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. "Vedda" and "Veddas" redirect here For the Sanskrit texts see Vedas. The Bengali people are the ethnic community from Bengal (divided between Bangladesh and India) on the Indian subcontinent with a history dating Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island Although it is said that they originated in the north-east section of India and later settled to Sri Lanka, there are ample evidences to prove that this little island had had long held civilization which evolved to be the Sinhalese civilization in amalgamation with Buddhism. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country They speak Sinhala, an Indo-European language and number approximately 15 million people with the vast majority found in Sri Lanka, while more than 400,000 live in other countries, mainly in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the United Kingdom [4]
Contents |
Etymology
The Sinhalese are also known as "Hela" or "Sinhela". Sinhalese or Sinhala (සිංහල ISO 15919: siṁhala ˈsiŋhələ earlier referred to as Singhalese) is the language of the Sinhalese The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located These synonyms find their origins in the two words: Sinha (meaning "lion") and Hela (meaning "pristine"). The name Sinhala translates to "lion people" and refers to the myths regarding the descent of the legendary founder of the Sinhalese people, the prince Vijaya. Vijaya (c 543 BC - 504 BC) was the first king of Sri Lanka mentioned in the ancient Sri Lankan Pali chronicles The last royal dynasty on the island was the Sinha (Lion) royal dynasty and the word Sinha finds it origins here.
History
- See also: History of Sri Lanka
Legendary accounts relating to the Indian epic saga, the Sanskritic Ramayana, discuss mythological stories of deities battling over the fate of the ancient island of Lanka (presumably modern Sri Lanka), including that of the legendary King Raavana. Traditionally the recorded History of Sri Lanka boasts of 25 chronicled centuries Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical The Rāmāyaṇa ( Devanāgarī: sa रामायण is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage ( Maharishi) Valmiki For the South Indian film see Ravana (film. Ravanaa, also transliterated as Raavana, Ravan or The name of the island and its various peoples are often traced to the people and places named in the saga, or their supposed analogues.
According to local legend, the Sinhalese are descended from the exiled Prince Vijaya and his party of several hundred who arrived on the island between 543 to 483 BCE after having been made to leave their native regions of Orissa, Bengal and the Sinhapura kingdom in north west India. Vijaya (c 543 BC - 504 BC) was the first king of Sri Lanka mentioned in the ancient Sri Lankan Pali chronicles Orissa (ଓଡ଼ିଶା is a state located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. Etymology and ethnology The exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is unknown though it is believed to be derived from the Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang The origin legend and early recorded history of the Buddhist Sinhalese is chronicled in two historic documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli roughly around the 4th century BCE, and the much later Chulavamsa (believed to have been penned in the 13 century CE by a Buddhist monk named Dhammakitti). Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices The Mahavamsa, ("Great Chronicle " is a historical poem written in the Pali language of the kings of Sri Lanka. Pali ( ISO 15919 / ALA-LC: Pāḷi is a Middle Indo-Aryan language or Prakrit of India. The Cūḷavaṃsa, also Chulavamsa, (Pāli "Lesser Chronicle " is a historical record written in the Pāli language of the kings These are unique sources with regard to age and longevity, and cover the histories of the powerful ancient kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. Anuradhapura, (අනුරාධපුර in Sinhala, அனுராதபுரம் in Tamil) is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, famous The second most ancient of Sri Lanka 's kingdoms Polonnaruwa was first declared the capital city by King Vijayabahu I who defeated the Chola invaders in 1070 The Mahavansa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well developed agrarian society. Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many A reservoir is most broadly a place or hollow vessel where Fluid is kept in Reserve, for later use An agrarian society is one that is based on Agriculture as its prime means for support and sustenance The oral tradition of the Sinhalese people also speaks of many royal dynasties prior to the Sinha royal dynasty: Manu, Tharaka, Mahabali, Raavana, etc. Oral tradition, oral culture and oral lore is a way for a society to transmit history, literature, law and other Knowledges
Buddhism was introduced to the Sinhalese from India by Mahinda, the son of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka the Great, during the 3rd century BCE. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Mahinda ( Sanskrit: महिन्द्र Mahindra) (born 3rd century BCE in Magadha, now in Bihar, India) was a Buddhist Ashoka ( Devanāgarī: अशोकः IAST: Aśokaḥ, aɕoːkə(hə Prakrit Imperial title Devanampriya Priyadarsi It has since been closely tied to both the Sinhalese identity and the history of Sri Lanka. Traditionally the recorded History of Sri Lanka boasts of 25 chronicled centuries
Genetic and anthropological assessments
Most Sinhalese, like most Indian populations show a high degree of genetic similarity that stems from a population that formed on the island roughly 12,000 years ago. A 2003 Stanford study analyzing the origins of various South Asian populations (including 40 Sinhalese and over 90 Tamils from Sri Lanka) found that most of the population of the island and India in general: taken together, these results show that Indian tribal and caste populations derive largely from the same genetic heritage of Pleistocene southern and western Asians and have received limited gene flow from external regions since the Holocene.
These findings are corroborated by numerous other studies including a 2004 Biomedical Central Study: Gene flow from West Eurasia - broadly, the average proportion of mtDNAs from West Eurasia among Indian caste populations is 17% (Table 2). In the western States of India and in Pakistan their share is greater, reaching over 30% in Kashmir and Gujarat, nearly 60% in Indian Punjab, and approximately 50% in Pakistan (Table 11, see Additional file 6, Figure 11, panel A). These frequencies demonstrate a general decline (SAA p < 0. 05 Figure 4) towards the south (23%, 11% and 15% in Maharashtra, Kerala and Sri Lanka, respectively) and even more so towards the east of India (13% in Uttar Pradesh and around 7% in West Bengal and Bangladesh). The low (<3%) frequency of the western Eurasian mtDNAs in Rajasthan may be in part a statistical artifact due to the limited sample size of 35 Rajputs.
Overall, the evidence supports the strong possibility that the Sinhalese are largely indigenous to Sri Lanka and adopted the Indo-Aryan largely by cultural diffusion. Ultimately, the genetic evidence also shows substantial genetic drift that corresponds to geography and in the case of Sri Lanka supports the notion that most Sinhalese stem from very early migrants, rather than later invaders: Modern Pakistani, Indian, and Sinhalese donors, examined for combinations of mini- and microsatellite loci, along with a number of Y chromosome and mtDNA markers (24), show varying degrees of diversity, which is expected from their geographic position and ability to receive waves of migrants pulsing from Southwest Asia and West Asia at different times. DYS287 or Y chromosome Alu insertion polymorphism also clearly demonstrate the gradual decline in insert-positive Y chromosomes from Africa to East Asia, reaching a transition point from polymorphic levels (1 to 5%) to private polymorphism in Pakistan.
Thus, not surprisingly other studies done from different perspectives and goals substantiate these findings. In a 2003 American Journal of Human Genetics study entitled The Genetic Heritage of the Earliest Settlers Persists Both in Indian Tribal and Caste Populations, the 'West Asian', presumably Indo-Aryan and other, genetic indicators show that, their frequency is the highest in Indian and Pakistani Punjab, 60%, and diminishes threefold, to an average of 7%, in the rest of the caste groups in India. . . These findings all include sample groups from Sinhalese populations in Sri Lanka who were thus compared to other South Asian and other Eurasian groups. From an anthropological perspective, the modern Sinhalese represent a fusion of a wide variety that nonetheless is overwhelmingly indigenous to the island of Sri Lanka and the genetic variations (based on Y-chromosomes and MtDNA only) between the Sinhalese and their Tamil and Veddah neighbors appears to be largely marginal and may be restricted to a small degree of sporadic differences rather than anything universal although some genetic drift has taken place that corresponds to language barriers.
Geographic diaspora
The vast majority of the Sinhalese live in Sri Lanka (mostly in the south and west of the island), but there are significant expatriate communities in Southeast Asia, as well as the Middle East, where Sri Lankans are often employed as guest workers. expatriate foreign worker is a person who works in a country other than the one of which he or she is a Citizen. Smaller communities also exist in Australia, Europe (notably the UK and Italy) and in North America (in particular Canada).
Language
Sinhala, also known as "Helabasa", has two forms: spoken and written. The written form uses many words of Sanskrit origin, whereas the spoken form is unique. Many early Sinhala texts such as the Hela Atuwa were destroyed after their translation into Pali. Pali ( ISO 15919 / ALA-LC: Pāḷi is a Middle Indo-Aryan language or Prakrit of India. Other significant Sinhala texts include Amar Wathura, Kavu Silumina, Jathaka Potha and Sala Liheeni Sandeshaya.
Religion
Most of the Sinhalese (93%) are Buddhists. They are the only ethnic group in South Asia to adhere to the Theravada sect of Buddhism; many Sinhalese Buddhists additionally venerate Hindu deities as well as indigenous gods. History Origin of the school The Theravāda school is ultimately derived from the Vibhajjavāda (or 'doctrine of analysis' grouping which was a continuation A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical [6] There are also sizable Muslim-Sinhalese people who intermarried with Arab traders and become assimilated into the Sri Lankan Moor community. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding The Sri Lankan Moors (also called Muslims, Marakallayos or Sonagar) are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka comprising 9% of the country's
Modern Sinhalese
The Sinhalese identify themselves through their Sinhala language, heritage, (but have no physical difference to other ethnic groups) and their Buddhist faith, which sets them apart from the main ethnic minority of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Tamils. Sri Lankan Tamil people ( or Ceylon Tamils, are an Ethnic group native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka who predominantly speak In recent times, the Sinhalese majority have displayed a political and economic dominance over the island nation.
Due to a policy of universal healthcare provision, life expectancy is quite high reaching 72 years. Female emancipation has led to many social changes including greater parity between the sexes - prominent female politicians have included former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike and President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( April 17, 1916 - October 10, 2000) was a politician from Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (born 29 June 1945) was the fifth President (and fourth to hold the office as Executive president) of The Sinhalese have a stable birth rate and a population that has been growing at a relatively slow pace in comparison to India and other Asian countries. The Sinhalese make up about 74% of the Sri Lankan population.
Notes
References
- De Silva, K. M. History of Sri Lanka (Univ. of Calif. Press, 1981)
- Gunasekera, Tamara. Hierarchy and Egalitarianism: Caste, Class, and Power in Sinhalese Peasant Society (Athlone, 1994).
- Roberts, Michael. Sri Lanka: Collective Identities Revisited (Colombo-Marga Institute, 1997).
- Wickremeratne, Ananda. Buddhism and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka: A Historical Analysis (New Delhi-Vikas Publishing House, 1995).
- Fernando, Basil Thoughts of a Sinhalese about some Sinhala habits (Asian Human Rights Commission, 2006).
Online references
- This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain. The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress ( USA) freely available for use by researchers The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone - Sri Lanka
- The Genetic Heritage of the Earliest Settlers Persists Both in Indian Tribal and Caste Populations, Am. J. Hum. Genet. 72:313–332, 2003.
- Most of the extant mtDNA boundaries in South and Southwest Asia were likely shaped during the initial settlement of Eurasia by anatomically modern humans, Biomedical Central, BMC Genetics 2004, 5:26
- Department of Census and Statistics-Sri Lanka
- Ethnologue-Sinhala, a language of Sri Lanka
- CIA Factbook-Sri Lanka
- Genetic Clues to Dispersal in Human Populations: Retracing the Past from the Present (Science 291, 2 March 2001).
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