Sinhalese surnames often originate from Sanskrit. However, as a consequence of the Portuguese invasion of Sri Lanka, during the 16th and 17th centuries, many Portuguese language surnames were adopted among the Sinhalese people. As a result, Perera and Fernando eventually became the most common names in Sri Lanka.
Origins. The Portuguese Burghers are largely descendants of the Sri Lanka Mestiços, the people of mixed Portuguese and Sri Lankan descent (commonly of a Portuguese father and a Sri Lankan mother) who appeared in the 16th century, after the Portuguese explorers found the sea route to the Indian Ocean.
There are countless other Sri Lankan names of Portuguese origin, like Peiris, Nonis, Gomes, Suwaris, Mendis, Sigera, Pigera, and others.
Da Silva, Menez, Pieres and Ferreira are all Portuguese names. But with time they have been appropriated to roll off the Lankan tongue with more ease as De Silva, Mendis, Peiris and Perera as they were taken up by locals during colonial times.
For Sinhalese people, the name usually consists of three parts. The first name is the patronymic name of the father, ancestor or 'house' and often has the suffix '-ge' at the end of the name. The second name is the personal name and the third name is the surname.
origin) Kelaart, Martinus, Melder, Meynert, Milhuisen, Neydorff, Passe, Philipsz, Scharenguivel, Werkmester, Wille, and Willenberg.
Portuguese Ceylon (Portuguese: Ceilão Português; Sinhala: පෘතුගීසි ලංකාව, romanized: Puruthugisi Lankawa; Tamil: போர்த்துக்கேய இலங்கை, romanized: Porthukeya Ilankai) is the name given to the territory on Ceylon, modern-day Sri Lanka, controlled by the Portuguese Empire between 1597 and 1658.
Although Portuguese possessions in Sri Lanka became a part of the Portuguese Estado da India (State of India), the administrative structure of the Kotte kingdom was retained. The island was divided into four dissavanis, or provinces, each headed by a dissava. Other territorial subdivisions also were retained.
The interaction of the Portuguese and the Sri Lankans led to the evolution of a new language, Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, which flourished as a lingua franca in the island for over three and a half centuries (16th to mid-19th).
Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobane. Arabs referred to it as Serendib. Later European mapmakers called it Ceylon, a name still used occasionally for trade purposes. It officially became Sri Lanka in 1972.
Pereira, Silva, Santos, Oliveira, Machado, Borba, Motta, Matos, Ferreira... Common surnames vary a bit per region but in general are Silva, Pereira, Santos, Oliveira, Ferreira, Sousa.
Being located in the middle of the maritime silk route, Sri Lanka had been a shelter for many trespassers throughout historical times. Interestingly, these foreign settlers make up the majority of the population today of which 99.5% consist of four ethnic groups; Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamils, Moors, and Indian Tamils.
According to the sacred texts, the history of Sri Lanka began when the Sinhalese (of Sinha: lion) of Indo-Aryan origin left North India in the 5th century BC to settle on the island. These Sinhalas were headed by Prince Vijaya and landed on the west coast of the island.
The Polonnaruwa period, witnessed the transfer of the capital from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa in 1073. Famed explorer, Marco Polo, arrived in Sri Lanka in the period between 1254 and 1324, and, in 1505, the Portuguese landed, and occupied the island's coastal regions.
By 1658, the end of the Portuguese rule in Sri Lanka, there were 123 priests across the island – only a minority of them had managed to grasp the local languages of Tamil and Sinhala.
“The intangible Portuguese heritage has been remarkably durable” thus having a significant influence in Asian language, religion, architecture, cuisine, music and dance. However, “the most vibrant Portuguese influence” is on Sri Lankan popular music- chorus Baila.
The history of the fortified city of Galle starts with the arrival of the Portuguese in the island of Sri Lanka at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1505 a group of Portuguese sailors led by Don Lorenzo de Almeida, son of Francesco de Almeida, arrived in the island.
In May 1972, Ceylon was proclaimed a republic and changed its name from Ceylon to the "Republic of Sri Lanka", and in 1978 to the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka". All Army units were renamed accordingly.
The peasants under them are the Sinhalese Bathgama and Tamil Pallars.
Sinhalese people (Sinhala: සිංහල ජනතාව, romanized: Sinhala Janathāva) are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka.
The 'high castes' in Sri Lanka (Govigama,Vellala and any other) constitute the largest segment of the population. The Untouchables (including the Panchamar among the Tamils and the Rodiyas among the Sinhalese) constitute the smallest segment of the population. In between are the middle castes.