Baila (also known as bayila; from the Portuguese verb bailar, meaning to dance) is a form of music, popular in Sri Lanka and among Goan Catholics. The genre originated centuries ago among the Portuguese Burghers and Sri Lankan Kaffirs. Baila songs are played during parties and weddings in Sri Lanka, Goa, and Mangalore accompanied by dancing. Baila music, as a form of folk art, has been popular for centuries in Sri Lanka. During the early 1960s, it entered into Sri Lanka's mainstream culture, primarily through the work of police officer turned singer Wally Bastiansz. He began adapting the 6/8 "kaffirhina" rhythms to accommodate Sinhala lyrics. By the 1970s musicians, including MS Fernando and Maxwell Mendis, had helped Baila grow into a well known and respected style of Sri Lankan popular music. It is primarily considered dance music. History After their arrival in 1505, the Portuguese began to convert the Sinhalese to Roman Catholicism, building their wealth and power through the spice and slave trade. As early as 1630, African Kaffirs were brought to Sri Lanka to work as slaves or soldiers. The Kaffirs were once described as a people 'steeped in opium and witless with drink'. The Kaffirs' carefree spirit inspired two music forms known as chicote and "kafrinha" infusing them with humour and satire. In 1894, Advocate Charles Matthew Fernando wrote that chicote as a "slow and stately" music, while "kafrinha" is "faster and more boisterous" and "with a peculiar jerky movement". The word "kafrinha" itself comes from "kaf" (Kaffirs) and "rinha" which means "local lady". The Kaffirs and Portuguese Burghers mixed freely, and chicote and "kafrinha" gradually came to be known as baila, from Portuguese verb 'bailar' meaning 'to dance'. Historically, Baila was a popular folk tradition along the coastal districts, where the Portuguese cultural influence was the strongest. These communities, mainly consisting of Portuguese traders, and the slaves that they had brought with them from the western coast of Africa, gradually combined with communities of native Sri Lankans. The musical style, now referred to as "Baila", emerged from this cultural interchange. The genre was quick to spread around the whole island of Sri Lanka and was even influenced by Cuban 'habanera' music, a form of dance music popular in the 1800s. With a history of over five hundred years, it is older than other relatively recent semi-classical traditions. The kafirs, particularly in Puttalam, view Baila and "Kaffirinha"