babuwaloliondo
JF-Expert Member
- Mar 14, 2011
- 378
- 174
The Sri Lankan Kaffirs (cafrinhas in Portuguese, කාපිරි kāpiriyō in Sinhala, and காப்பிலி kāpili in Tamil) are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka who are partially descended from 16th century Portuguese traders and Bantu slaves who were brought by them to work as labourers and soldiers to fight against the Sinhala Kings.[SUP][2][/SUP][SUP][3][/SUP] They are very similar to the Zanj-descended populations in Iraq andKuwait, and are known in Pakistan as Sheedis and in India as Siddis.[SUP][2][/SUP] The Kaffirs spoke a distinctive creole based on Portuguese, the Sri Lanka Kaffir language, now extinct. Their cultural heritage includes the dance styles Kaffringna and Manja and their popular form of dance music Baila.
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