The Portuguese Burghers are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka, of mainly Portuguese, Tamil, and Sinhalese descent. They are mainly Roman Catholic and speak the Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese language, a creole based on Tamil and Portuguese. Portuguese creoles are creole languages which have been significantly influenced by Portuguese. ... The Tamil people are an ethnic group from South Asia with a recorded history going back more than two millennia. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... The Burghers are an Eurasian ethnic group, historically from Sri Lanka, consisting for the most part of male-line descendents of European colonists from the 16th to 20th centuries (mostly Portuguese, Dutch and British) with local Sinhalese ancestry. ... The Tamil people are an ethnic group from South Asia with a recorded history going back more than two millennia. ... The Sinhalese are the main ethnic group of Sri Lanka. ... The Tamil people are an ethnic group from South Asia with a recorded history going back more than two millennia. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese or Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole is a language spoken in Sri Lanka. ... // A creole language, or just creole, is a well-defined and stable language that originated from a non-trivial combination of two or more languages, typically with many distinctive features that are not inherited from either parent. ... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ...

Origins

The Portuguese Burghers are largely descendant from the Sri Lanka Mestiços, the people of mixed Portuguese and Sri Lankan descent who appeared in the 16th century, after the Portuguese exploreres found the sea route to the Indian Ocean.

When the Dutch took over Coastal Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), the descendants of the Portuguese took refuge in the central hills of Kandyan Kingdom under Singhalese rule.

In time, the Dutch and Portuguese descendants intermarried. Though under Dutch rule Portuguese was banned; the Portuguese speaking community was so widespread that even the Dutch started to speak Portuguese.

In the 18th century, the Eurasian community (a mixture of Portuguese, Dutch, Sinhalese and Tamil), known as the Burgher, grew, speaking Portuguese or Dutch. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... The Tamil people are an ethnic group from South Asia with a recorded history going back more than two millennia. ... Burgher can refer to: A title. ...

The Portuguese Burghers were more mixed, following Catholicism and speaking a Portuguese creole language. Despite the socio-economic disadvantage, the Burghers maintained their Portuguese cultural identity. In Batticaloa, the Catholic Burgher Union reinforced this. The Portuguese Creole continued to be used amongst the Dutch Burghers families as the informal language until the end of the 19th century. Batticaloa(මඩකලපුව In Sinhala, மட்டக்களப்பு In Tamil) is the provincial capital of the eastern province of Sri Lanka but now both northern and eastern provinces merged and Trincomalee has been declared as the provincial capital of north -East province. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In today's Sri Lanka, the Creole is limited to the spoken form. Most of the speakers are the Burghers in the Eastern province (Batticaloa and Trincomalee). But there are also the Kaffirs (people of African origin) in the Northwestern province (Puttalam). The Portuguese, Dutch and British brought the Kaffirs to Sri Lanka, for labour purposes. They have assumed Portuguese culture and religion; later, there was intermarriage between them and the Portuguese Burghers. Batticaloa(මඩකලපුව In Sinhala, மட்டக்களப்பு In Tamil) is the provincial capital of the eastern province of Sri Lanka but now both northern and eastern provinces merged and Trincomalee has been declared as the provincial capital of north -East province. ... Bay of Trincomalee (View from Temple) Trincomalee North East city of Sri Lanka. ... Puttalam is on the west coast of Sri Lanka. ...

At the 1981 Census, the Burghers (Dutch and Portuguese) were almost 40,000 (0,3% of the population of Sri Lanka). Many Burghers emigrated to other countries. There are still 100 families in Batticaloa and Trincomalee and 80 Kaffir families in Puttalam that still speak the Portuguese Creole; they have been out of contact with Portugal since 1656. 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events Mehmed Köprülü becomes Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. ...