Sinhalisation is a term, derived from Sinhala, that has number of meanings 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 ...

. it is mainly the assimilation into Sinhalese Culture in which the members of an ethno-cultural group are steadily integrated or "absorbed" into established Sinhalese culture.

Sociological

In a sociological context it could refer to the assimilation of ethno-cultural minorities in Sri Lanka such as the

Sri Lankan Tamils Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pro ...

Colombo Chetties Sri Lankan Chetties (, ) also known as Colombo Chetties, is an ethnicity in the island of Sri Lanka. Formerly considered a Sri Lankan Tamil caste, they were classified as a separate ethnic group in the 2001 census. They were a class of Tamil speak ...

and indigenous

Vedda The Vedda ( si, වැද්දා , ta, வேடர் (''Vēḍar'')), or Wanniyalaeto, are a minority indigenous group of people in Sri Lanka who, among other sub-communities such as Coast Veddas, Anuradhapura Veddas and Bintenne Vedd ...

s into the majority Sinhalese identity, including some Sinhala Buddhists of the interior such as the Demalagattara and some Catholics such as the

Bharatha Bharatha People (, ) also known as Bharatakula and Paravar, is an ethnicity in the island of Sri Lanka. Earlier considered a caste of the Sri Lankan Tamils, they got classified as separate ethnic group in the 2001 census. They are descendant o ...

of the coastal areas of the

island nation An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...

. Buddhism Betrayed?: Religion, Politics, and Violence in Sri Lanka By Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, p. 152-3
/ref>
/ref> Many noted elite families that had contributed to Sinhala nationalism had been of Tamil origin, Sinhalised in the recent past.
/ref>
/ref> (see ttp://sundaytimes.lk/010708/plus6.html abstract here

Political

In a political context it could refer to the Sinhala language-favouring policies of the post colonial governments of Sri Lanka that is considered to be a major cause of the Sri Lankan civil war. It is termed as culturo-ideological

exclusivism Exclusivism is the practice of being exclusive; mentality characterized by the disregard for opinions and ideas which are different from one's own, or the practice of organizing entities into groups by excluding those entities which possess certa ...

by some when one's cultural values and norms are absolutised in such a manner that a particular way of life is enshrined as superior to all others and must therefore be adopted by others (e.g. the

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, nativ ...

reaction to the perceived "Sinhalisation" processes of the Sri Lankan state) It was said to be a cause of the abortive coup by disgruntled Catholic army officers in 1962. Currently some observers note that Sri Lankan political parties such as JHU and JVP adhere to a policy of political Sinhalisation.

Other meanings

Medias use the word "Sinhalisation" to refer to the process by which the Sri Lankan government funded and sponsored settlement of Sinhala people in Tamil-dominant regions in order to make Tamil as minorities. Some reports claims that the Sinhalese and Sinhala military families are settled in houses built by money from the Indian government that was intended to improve the welfare of the Tamil people.

Notes

The ancestor of the Bandaranayke family was a 17th-century Tamil immigrant Pandaram; a non-Brahmin priest known as Neelaperumal Kalukapuge. The term 'Kalu' in Tamil is different in meaning to the Sinhalese meaning. A similar process was witnessed in the

Kandyan kingdom The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom of the Kin ...

, where for example the ancestor of Pilimatalavuva Maha Adikaram and related families trace or claim ancestry from a Pandyan emperor of the late 17th century,Pilimatalavuva Family
by Ananda Pilimatalavuva, 05-08-2019 though the Pandyan kingdom had seized to exist by the 15th century and the region was ruled by the

Madurai Sultanate Ma'bar Sultanate ( fa, ), unofficially known as the Madurai Sultanate, was a short lived kingdom based in the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India. The sultanate was proclaimed in 1335 led by Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan declared his independenc ...

, the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...

and the Nayak dynasties.

References

External links