The present of past slaves: the socio economic situation of Sri Lankan Kaffir people

Abstract

Introduction

Sri Lankan Kaffir is a group of people or an ethnic group living in Sri Lanka for nearly four hundred years. They were traditionally scattered in some parts of the country, mainly Negombo, Batticaloa and Trincomalee; but they are largely found today about 45 in number, in Sirambiyadiya, a small village located in Puttalam District (Hussein, 2009). The Kaffir community had its early origins in the slave labor brought into the country from Africa during the colonial period. Colonial powers brought them as a part of the naval force, domestic workers, soldiers, servants, sailors, merchants, mystics, mothers, musicians, linguists, dancers, divers, concubines, commanders, administrators, nurses, nannies, palace guards, and bodyguards living a range of experiences across diverse societies, cultures, conditions, and periods (Omar, 2011).

Kaffir people are referred to as Kapiriyo in Sinhala and as Kapili in Tamil without any specific meanings attached to those terms. However, the term Kaffir has a different meaning. It is often used in much of the Indian Ocean world (outside of East Africa) to describe any person of African descent, regardless of religion or faith (Jayasuriya, 2000; Gwyn Campbell, 2006; Omar, 2011). According to the first census of Sri Lanka there were 245 Caffres1 (Kaffirs) living in Sri Lanka and only one Kaffir was found in Colombo town, others resident in other parts of the country (Ferguson, 1873). Kaffirs served as slave people in Sri Lanka and their music tradition, dance, dressing patterns, their language, and religious practices are unique (Brohier, 1973). Sri Lankan Kaffirs are a distinct ethnic group, but are not known to many of the other Sri Lankan groups. They are now no longer a community of slaves, but still live under relatively poor socio economic conditions and without the recognition of others that has been taken as a research problem of this study.

1 The term Caffres was used to denote Kaffir people in the early census of Sri Lanka Ferguson (1873).