Sinhalese
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Multi Racial Multi Cultural Family in Ceylon
Sbarrkum recounts his mother’s multiracial family in Galle, mixing Sinhalese, Irish, Jaffna Tamil and Barbadian ancestry, and argues that children of mixed marriages belong to no single community and so…
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Nepal Newar and Sinhala Quasi-Historical Myths
Sbarr Kumarakulasinghe summarises Naomi Appleton’s article on the Simhala story, which Sinhalese chroniclers, Nepal’s Newar traders and Jaffna Tamils each claim as an origin myth, and adds a note on…
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Sri Lanka Genetics
A note quoting a study on the population history of Sinhalese, which finds excess sharing with Marathas and so supports a western Indian rather than eastern Indian origin for the…
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Koneswaran, Tenavaram Temples and God Upulvan
Starting from a reader’s visit to two Sri Lankan temples, the author traces Sinhala place-names such as Gokkana and Devundara and the history of the god Upulvan, a Buddhist guardian…
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Revoking 13th Amendment in Sri Lanka and Elections in the US.
The author argues Sri Lanka needs a centralised state, warning that provincial devolution under the 13th Amendment could become de facto federalism and a client state of India, and offers…
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2019 Sri Lanka Presidential Elections
A breakdown of Sri Lanka’s 2019 presidential election, won by Gotabaya Rajapaksa with 52.5 per cent on 83 per cent turnout. The author argues that Tamil and Muslim bloc voting…
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Live Blogging: Documenting post-war ethno-religious violence in Sri Lanka
Live notes on Dr Farzana Haniffa’s lecture on post-war ethno-religious violence in Sri Lanka, covering the 1958 and 1983 anti-Tamil violence, Muslim concentration in the East, anti-Halal campaigns and the…
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Sri Lanka, Tamils, Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing?
Sbarrkum disputes accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing against Sri Lanka’s government, citing 2012 census figures that most Sri Lankan Tamils live in Sinhalese-majority areas, and arguing the LTTE pushed…
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Comment of the Day – the State of Sri Lanka
X.T.M promotes a comment from sbarrkum correcting views of Sri Lanka as part of greater India, arguing it has no upper-caste varnas, a polyglot history and strong social indicators, followed…
