The Dutch Burghers are an ethnic group in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, of mixed Dutch,

Portuguese Burghers The Portuguese Burghers are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka, of mixed Portuguese and Sri Lankan descent. They are largely Roman Catholic and some still speak the Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese language, a creole based on Portuguese mixed with Sinhalese. ...

and Sri Lankan descent. However, they are a different community when compared with Portuguese Burghers. Originally an entirely Protestant community, many Burghers today remain Christian but belong to a variety of denominations. The Dutch Burghers of Sri Lanka speak

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and the local languages Sinhala and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

. Some Dutch Burghers on the East Coast in Batticaloa do not speak English as their first language but instead a Portuguese-Tamil creole that is still spoken in households. The reason for this is due to the original Dutch settlers there mixing heavily with Portuguese Burgher women centuries ago, hence resulting in Burghers with Dutch surnames (e.g., Barthelot) who speak Portuguese Creole.

Origins

The Dutch Burghers largely descend from the

Dutch people The Dutch (Dutch: ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Netherlands. They share a common history and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Arub ...

, with mixtures of Dutch and Sri Lankans (either a Dutch father and a Sri Lankan mother, or a Dutch father and a Portuguese Burgher mother; when a Dutch man marries a Sri Lankan woman, their children are burgher). However, direct Dutch ancestry is not always the case. Many Dutch Burghers can also claim lineage from other European Protestants who moved to the Netherlands and joined the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

fleeing Catholicism. Hence, names from Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy and so forth are common (e.g., Schockman, Slemmermann, Piachaud, and Sansoni). However, some names have since become extinct (or are on the verge of extinction) in Sri Lanka due to migration following independence and Sinhala-only nationalist movements forbidding Burghers, whose vernacular language was English from continuing the jobs they had maintained prior to independence in the civil service etc.(e.g., Blaze, Leembruggen, Kellar). In the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company took over coastal

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

(present-day Sri Lanka) from the Portuguese. During the Dutch East India Company rule, the Dutch and Portuguese descendants intermarried. In the 18th century, the

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

community (a mixture of Portuguese, Dutch, Sinhalese and Tamil) known as the '' Burghers'' grew, speaking Portuguese or Dutch. ''Burgher'' means "citizen" in Dutch, hence was originally used to differentiate the Dutch from the other Europeans in Ceylon. "Burgher" is now used to describe the Eurasians (of mixed European and Asian ancestry) from Sri Lanka. Being hybrids themselves, Burghers assimilated into Sri Lankan society and have intermarried with Sinhalese and Tamils.

Culture

The Burghers established their own culture and have contributed linguistically to the variety of Sri Lankan English. The Burgher sub-culture, and cuisine has been portrayed effectively through popular literature, notably Carl Muller's trilogy and Michael Ondaatje's ''

Running in the Family ''Running in the Family'' is the seventh studio album by British band Level 42, released in 1987. It features the UK hit singles: "Lessons in Love" (which reached No. 3 in May 1986), "Running in the Family" (No. 6 in February 1987), "To Be wit ...

.''

Current status

The advent of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, many Burghers were confronted by their lack of status. Linguistically disadvantaged by the

Sinhala Only Act The Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956), commonly referred to as the Sinhala Only Act, was an act passed in the Parliament of Ceylon in 1956. The act replaced English with Sinhala as the sole official language of Ceylon, with the exclusion ...

, many Burghers lost their social status, employment and privileges. A mass exodus ensued, where many migrated, Australia being the preferred destination. At the 1981 Census, the Burghers (Dutch and Portuguese) numbered almost 40,000 (0.3% of the population of Sri Lanka). Many Burghers emigrated to other countries following nationalist movements and language revivals post-independence. With English being replaced by Sinhala, universities and jobs were no longer accessible to minorities like the Burghers who spoke English. While numbers of Burghers are placed at around 40,000 some argue that Burghers who still practice their original culture and customs have dwindled to about 15,000 mostly concentrated in Colombo. Dutch Burghers' lifestyle is a mix of Sri Lankan and Western influence, and many embrace their heritage through participation in the Dutch Burgher Union.

Diaspora

The Burgher population worldwide is approximated to be around 100,000, concentrated mostly in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. A large community of Sri Lankans exists in Australia today, of which many are descendants of the migration over the last 50 years. Evident in the many Sri Lanka-Australia Associations, old boys’ and old girls’ school associations are maintained as a reaffirmation of their identity and wish to continue ties with their motherland, Sri Lanka.

References

External links