Bharatakula also Bharathas are a Sri Lankan caste of Paravar immigrants from Tamil Nadu in India. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ...

Origins

In India they were traditional fishers’ merchants and traders. Most are Roman Catholics although a significant minority has remained Hindus where as other may have converted to Buddhism in Sri Lanka.^{[citation needed]} The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... This article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). ... Buddhism (also known as Buddha Dharma, Pali: बुद्ध धम्म, the teachings of the awakened one) is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, a way of life, a practical philosophy, and a life-enhancing system of applied psychology. ...

Paravar are to be found all over Sri Lanka. Amongst Sri Lankan Tamils Paravar are still a fishing and trading caste although commonly confused with the Karaiyar. The Bharatas or Bharatakula identity is maintained by a relatively prosperous merchant group from India that settled amongst the Sinhalese in the Negombo area. [1] Sri Lankan Tamils also known as Eelam Tamils, Ceylonese or Ceylon Tamils and Jaffna Tamils are today a trans-national minority, and are Tamil people from Sri Lanka. ... ...

Claims of North Indian origins

Already in India, keeping with the tradition of Sanskritisation they had changed their name to Bharatas a Vedic tribe of Indian mythology from North India. In Sri Lanka they have maintained this caste myth and claim North Indian Kshatriya varna or caste origins. [2] Sanskritization is a term coined by late M.N.Srinivas, the eminent sociologist from India, to define the process by which castes placed lower in the caste hierarchy seek upward mobility by emulating the rituals and practices of the upper or dominant castes. ... Vedic may refer to: Ancient India the Vedic civilization the Vedas, the oldest preserved Indo-Aryan texts Vedic Sanskrit, their language (see also Vedic meter, Vedic accent, Vedic chant and Shrauta) the historical Vedic religion traditional Hindu culture: Vedic astrology the Ayurveda (Vedic medicine) Ancient Vedic weights and measures modern... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Kshatriya (Hindi: , from Sanskrit: , ) is the title of the princely military order in the Vedic society. ... Varna (Bulgarian: ) is the third largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 345,371. ...

Assimilation

Along with Colombo Chetty and other relatively recent merchant groups from South India, there is rapid Sinhalisation or assimilation with the Sinhalese majority. But unlike the Colombo Chettys many still speak Tamil at home and even have marital relationships in India. // Origins Colombo Chetty are a formerly endogamous Sri Lankan social group or caste. ... Sinhalisation is a term used to describe a cultural change in which ethnically non-Sinhalese become Sinhalese. ...

According to recent Sri lankan census categories, Bharatakula has been moved out of Sri Lankan Tamil category to simply as a separate ethnic group Bharatha ^[3] thus currently they are neither Sinhalese nor Tamil. [4] see Sri Lankan Tamils ...

Areas of inhabitation

They are primarily found in capital Colombo and in towns north of it, namely Negambo in the Western Province. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Negombo is a small town of about 65,000, approximately 50 km north of Colombo in Sri Lanka. ...

Names

Common last names adopted by Bharatkulas include Fernando, Ferdinandes and Rubeiro. Fernando is the commonest last name.

See also

• Colombo Chettys
• Negambo Tamils
• Paravar
• Karave

// Origins Colombo Chetty are a formerly endogamous Sri Lankan social group or caste. ... Negambo Tamils is a term usually used for Sri Lankan Tamils who live in the western Puttalam district of Sri Lanka. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Karave also Karava or Kurukula are a fishing-related caste or social group found in the southwestern coastal areas of Sri Lanka. ...

References

• ↑ The Census Department’s contribution to Sri Lanka’s political arithmetic

• ↑ Bharathas and Mukkuvas in India