| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Few thousand (2005)[1] ~1,000 (2009) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Sri Lanka | ~1,000 |
| Languages | |
| Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole, Sinhala, Tamil | |
| Religion | |
| Originally folk religion Roman Catholic, Buddhism | |
The Sri Lankan Kaffirs (cafrinhas in Portuguese, කාපිරි kāpiriyō in Sinhala, and காப்பிலி kāppili in Tamil) are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka who are partially descended from 16th-century Portuguese traders and Bantu slaves who were brought by them to work as labourers and soldiers[2] to fight against the Sinhala kings.[3][4] They are very similar to the Zanj-descended populations in Iraq and Kuwait, and are known in Pakistan as Sheedis and in India as Siddis.[3] The Kaffirs spoke a distinctive creole based on Portuguese, and the "Sri Lankan Kaffir language" (now extinct). Their cultural heritage includes the dance styles Kaffringna and Manja and their popular form of dance music Baila.
- ^ "WWW Virtual Library Sri Lanka: Kaffirs in Sri Lanka - Descendants of enslaved Africans". www.lankalibrary.com.
- ^ Careem, Tuan M. Zameer .(2017). Persaudaraan (Brotherhood). Malay Life in Sri Lanka (2nd ed). Colombo: S Godage & Brothers. Print
- ^ a b Shah, Anish M.; et al. (15 July 2011). "Indian Siddis: African Descendants with Indian Admixture". American Journal of Human Genetics. 89 (1): 154–161. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2011.05.030. PMC 3135801. PMID 21741027.
- ^ "Sunday Observer Magazine | Sundayobserver.lk - Sri Lanka". Archived from the original on 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2015-02-18.