ABSTRACT
This chapter examines what we know of the Sinhala imaginary during the Kandyan Kingdom (sixteenth century to 1815) and under the Portuguese, with particular focus on the territory of Sri Lanka and the inclusion or exclusion of minorities. Using the research of scholars such as Stanley Tambiah, Michael Roberts and Stephen Berkwitz, I identify both inclusivist subordination and exclusivism in Sinhala attitudes to the Other, whether Tamil or European, defining inclusivist subordination as a willingness to include, respect and tolerate the Other at a subordinate level, within a Buddhist cosmological framework.
