Does the Sinhalese (and Sri Lankan) people belong to Caucasian group? Yes, the Sinhalese people, the major ethnic group in Sri Lanka have been classified as Caucasoids by most of the anthropologists. It is believed that the contemporary Sinhalese population of Sri Lanka has mostly descended from early Indo-Aryan speaking Buddhist migrants or settlers from North Eastern parts of India, particularly West Bengal. Even though Sinhalese are originally from Bengal or North East India, modern day Sinhalese also have some South Indian or Tamil ancestry as well as Native Sri Lankan (Aboriginal) ancestry in addition to their predominant Bengali ancestry. The ancestors of modern Sinhalese are believed to have migrated to the island of Sri Lanka from modern day West Bengal during the 6th or 3rd century BC. Migration Routes of the Ancestors of Sinhalese Genetic admixture of Sinhalese by Dr. Saha Papiha Linguistically, Sinhalese are closer to Northern Indians like Bengalis than they are to Southern