As Sri Lanka's first prime minister D.S. Senanatake declared in 1939, "Sinhalese are one blood and one nation. We are a chosen people. Buddha said that his religion would last for 5500 years. That means that we, as the custodians of the Religion, shall last as long." Through the centuries, these ideas continue to underlie the actions and decisions of all stakeholders in the Sri Lankan polity. The foreign powers from India and Europe that occupied Sri Lanka from time to time recognized the need to rein in or appease the guardians of Buddhism in their dominion. Likewise, the fortunes of the Sangha rose or dipped with the waves of support or contempt accorded to Buddhism by the governing powers.