started to speak this newly evolving langguage and this was called Sinhala. This poeple started to form a cohesive unit and gradually evolved in to the Sinhala people. They later absorbed many of the Chola and Pandyan and others who invaded and setteled amongst them . In fact around 50% of the ancestors of the present day Sinhlas only migrated form southern TamilNadu and Kerala ( when Kerala was Tamil speaking too ) around 600 to 100 years ago. The now consit the Sinhala castes of Karawe,Salagama. Durawe, Hunu etsc MOst menbers of the SInhaa arstocrtic families are of almost pure south Indain Tamil descent. Basically aroudn 2500 years ago aryan migrants came form north India, They married local and Pandyan Tamil womenthier Sinhala decendants were only a saml powerful minority. around 2300 years ago Buddhism came to Sri Lanka . The Local Tamils HIndus in the south central north central Sr Lanka toghether with the Veddhasm and these Rayan /Tamil deecendants converted to Buddhism and adopted th enewly evolving language called SInhala which was mixture of Tamil/ Sansrit and Pali. Around 400 years ago durign the POrtuguese rule the Tamils living in the western and southern Littoral were forcibly converted to Chatholism and man y of them later became Buddhists. These newly converted Catholic/Buddhist Tamils chabged thier languag and became Sinhalese. After independence around 60 years ago the Tamil population in the Chilaw . Puttalam districts were forcibly Sinhalised by the
