The origins of baila, a popular dance-music genre of Sri Lanka, are steeped in the history of conquering nations, colonial powers and a rich tapestry of dance and music. On one hand, the genre is intimately linked to the British conquerors in South Africa battling the Boers, settlers of Dutch and German origin, while on the other, it is equally linked to the presence of the Muslim Moors in Spain (eventually seeping into Portugal) during the ninth century, when a dance form called bayle (pronounced bay-lay) evolved from Flamengo. Centuries later, bayle was to become the baila of Sri Lanka.
According to Shelton Weeraratne, a veteran musician and the author of a recent book on Sinhala vocal harmonies, when the Portuguese and the British brought Boer prisoners to Ceylon during their respective periods as colonisers of the island, black South Africans came along as jailors. Eventually, communities of these jailers, known to the British as Kaffirs, settled in Puttalam, on the island's northwestern coast, and in the eastern town of Batticaloa.
In both of these areas, small communities of Kaffirs remain recognisable today, with tightly curled hair and dark features, even after generations of intermarrying with local Sinhalese or Tamils. Although the new-generation Kaffirs are often identified as Sinhalese, there are still around 1000 Kaffirs in Sri Lanka today. Because of their small number, they are politically inactive and are almost forgotten by the other communities. The Kaffirs of Sri Lanka are Catholics, and their 'traditional' language is Portuguese Creole. Their music remains heavily influenced by Portuguese and African forms, and many occasionally sing and dance what is known as kaffrinja, the most direct roots of today's baila.
The Kaffirs were, however, not the only new arrivals to marry local Tamils and Sinhalese. In another direct consequence of colonial rule, and of crucial importance to the popularisation of baila, marriages between European men and native Sri Lankan women gave birth to a whole new ethnic/demographic group called the Burghers. Today, the Burghers make up 0.72% of Sri Lanka's population and unlike Kaffirs, they have their own associations and welfare groups. However, in a country with a population of 20 million of which 75% are Sinhalese (mostly Buddhists), the Burghers, who are Catholics and active in church, are still a minority and are therefore, politically inactive. Socially, however, this ethnicity is known for having a lot of fun and merrymaking.