Zeylan: Difference between revisions
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{{Nation|common_name=Zeylan|local_name=ලංකාව|capital=Kolamba|government_type=Constitutional diarchy|languages=Sinhalese (official) </br> Dutch (official) </br> Creole (lingua franca) </br> Tamil </br> Malayalam|largest_city=Kolamba|currency=Guilder}}
'''Zeylan''' (Sinhalese: ලංකාව ''Lankava'', Tamil: ''ஈழம்'' ''Ijlam'') is a teardrop-shaped island nation in southern Asia. It is a constitutional [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diarchy diarchy], having the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] monarch (as a constituent of the [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]]) and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Kandy Kandyan] monarch as joint heads of state.
== History ==
==== Transitional period (1521-1638) ====
===== Fall of Kotte and rise of Kandy =====
===== Crisis of the 16th century =====
==== Dutch colonial period (1638-1981) ====
===== Relationship with independent Kandy =====
===== Governance =====
== Government and Politics ==
==== Dynamics of the diarchy ====
==== Political factions ====
== Demographics ==
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===== Sinhala =====
The majority of Zeylanese people are of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_people Sinhala] origin, making up around 3/5ths of the population. They are overwhelmingly Theravada Buddhist and have been the dominant ethnicity in Zeylan for over two millennia. A large part of their identity is tied to the canonical Kandyan monarchy, the eighth Sinhalese kingdom in history.
=====
Most Zeylanese Tamils are descendants of ancient migrants from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Crowned_Kings Triumvirate], with the last migrants arriving in the 18th century. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_Kingdom Jaffna kingdom] was the main Tamil political force in Zeylan until Portuguese conquest in 1619. Tamils, making up around 10% of the population, are concentrated in the eastern and northern parts of the island and are usually [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaivism Shaivites].
===== Burghers =====
Ethnogenesis of the Burghers began in the 17th century with the arrival of Portuguese and Dutch colonialists who married local Sinhala and Tamil women, forming a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creole_peoples creole] people. Numbering less than a million people, majority of them live in coastal urban areas, practice Christianity, and speak Creole. Many have also emigrated to the [[Netherlands]] and [[New Batavia]].
=====
The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Moors Moors], of Indian, Arab, & Persian origin, are characterized by their Muslim religion and Tamil language. Zeylanese Javanese & Malay people, despite being Muslim too, are classified separately since they speak their own language. Chinese people have also settled in Zeylan since the 17th century. A community of [[Tauland|Taulanders]], numbering a few thousand people, live in Kolamba and Galle. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Kaffirs Afro-Zeylanese] came from Mozambique, [[Cape Republic|the Cape]], & Abyssinia as slaves or immigrants from the 16th to 19th centuries.
▲===== Javanese =====
====
A majority of Zeylanese people are multilingual, speaking their mother tongue and one or two other languages. Creole serves as the lingua franca in urban areas, Sinhalese as the predominant mother tongue, and Dutch as the language of formal diplomacy and international business.
=====
The language began as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin pidgin] in the 16th century between Portuguese traders and the Sinhala. By the late 17th century under Dutch rule, the pidgin developed into a fully formed creole. It is Portuguese-based and is a mixture of Dutch, Sinhalese, Tamil, Malay, southern varieties of Chinese, Javanese, & [[Tauaans]]. It is used as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernacular vernacular] lingua franca throughout most of the coast and is spoken (or at least understood) by approximately 5/6ths of the population.
== List of monarchs ==
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