From Feudalism to Egalitarianism in Sri Lanka

1. From Feudalism to Egalitarianism in Sri Lanka Ranjan Ramasamy

3. Rainfall zones of Sri Lanka

4. 65,525 sq km Population ~20 million Sinhala, Tamil & English spoken Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam Executive President & Parliament Roman-Dutch & English law: Islamic, Kandyan, tessavalamai laws Tea, rubber and coconut exports Apparel and light manufacturing industries Middle East labour Hydropower fully resourced ~ 40% of electricity ~60% of energy from fuelwood. Statistics

5. LEGENDARY HISTORY • Earliest reference in legends - Skanda Purana or the rise and fall of a titan overthrown by Hindu god Skanda. A shrine to god Skanda persists in Kataragama in the South-East. • In the later Ramayana – the kidnapping of Queen Sita by Ravana and the destruction of Lanka by Rama. Place names such as Sita-ela, Sita-waka persist to this day in the central hills.

6. HISTORY • Taprobane to Greeks and Romans. Derived probably from the river Tamraparni on the opposite Indian coast. • Serendib to Arabs from Sihala + Dwipa [island]. • Early history recorded later in written chronicles such as the Mahavamsa and Chulavamsa written by Buddhist [Sinhalese] clergy. But also South Indian Tamil writings [lesser consideration given]. • Subsequent reliance on stone inscriptions and archaeological artefacts.

7. First record in Sinhalese chronicles is the arrival of Wijaya an exiled North Indian [Gujarati probably] nobleman and his retinue. Sinhala=lion race as Wijaya claimed descent from a lion. He married an aboriginal [Negroid/Melanesian race peopling much of South/SE Asia at that time  500 BC] princess, subjugated the inhabitants in much of the island and later discarded her for a princess from the Pandyan court in Tamil Nadu. Many of his followers also married similarly. They were Hindus and developed a North-Indian language that became Sinhalese. There probably were Tamil settlements in the North of the island that were separated from the developing Sinhala kingdom by extensive dry-zone jungle of the Vanni region. Cultivation of rice was begun with aid of imported Tamil farmers [Tamil word arisioryzarice] and played an important part in the developing culture.

8. Present day rice harvesting

9. Early Kingdoms The 5th king in Wijaya’s line [ 400 BC]established the capital of the Sinhala kingdom at Anuradhapura in the North-Central dry zone. The Sinhala king in 300 BC converted to Buddhism which was spread by Emperor Asoka of India. In 237 BC, the Wijaya dynasty was replaced by Tamil chieftains and the Chola kings. Notably King Elala ruled for 44 years in Anuradhapura with legendary justice. The ageing king was overthrown by Dutugemunu, a scion of the Wijayan line, who emerged from his power base in the remote South of the island. Subsequent history of the island until the arrival of the Portugese, is one of continuing conflict between South Indian Tamil kings and the Sinhalese kings in the North-Central dry zone. Some times Sinhala kings reigned supreme and exerted suzerainty over the whole of the island while in other times Tamil kings [e.g. the Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I, 985-1014 AD] controlled it.

11. During this period however great irrigation works were completed involving large lakes, smaller reservoirs and canals to facilitate rice cultivation. There were extensive contacts with China, SE Asia, the Arab world, and Europe. Huge cities, temples [Buddhist and Hindu] were built and there was every indication of an advanced and prosperous society.

14. While Hinduism re-established itself in India the island retained Buddhism and protection of Buddhism and the Sinhala race became a central tenet in Sinhala culture, because of continuous Tamil invasions. The collapse of the kingdoms based in the North Central dry zone, a reduction in the population, and the shifting of the capital of the Sinhala kingdom ever southwards may be partly attributed to the Tamil invasions but upsurge of malaria may have had a role. At about 1400 AD there were Sinhala kings ruling from Kandy and Kotte while there was a separate Tamil kingdom in Jaffna. Arya Chakravarti of Jaffna at about this period exerted suzerainty over the entire island for a time. Malay and Chinese invaders were fought.

18. Advent of European Powers Between 10th and 15th centuries Arabs traders were prominent and some of them settled in coastal areas. They were involved in exporting pearl, gems, spices, elephants etc. Their descendants and those of indentured Malay soldiers are the muslims of today. Portugese sailors first landed in 1505AD, and soon obtained trade concessions. They captured coastal areas, including the Tamil Kingdom of Jaffna in the North and proselytized people to Catholicism. Two of the most magnificent Hindu temples, at Dondra and Trincomalee were destroyed. However there was constant battle with the Sinhala Kings from Kandy. The Dutch were invited by King Rajasinha as allies to oust the Portugese, which was achieved but the concessions granted to the Dutch also led to them assuming control of the coastal areas. The Dutch began the successful plantation cultivation of cinnamon in these areas because they were banned by the Kandyna King from collecting wild cinnamon.

19. The descendants of Portugese and Dutch are termed Burghers and many migrated to Australia in the 1960s and 1970s. The British arrived to oust the Dutch during the European war and in 1796 all Dutch-held territories were ceded to the British. At this time the Kings of Kandy were Tamils originating from the Nayakar court, who has inherited the throne through marriage. By 1815 the British had fought the Kandyan King and exiled him to Tamil Nadu. British reign continued until 1948. It is probably true to say that the last Tamil and Sinhala Kings, ruled as absolute despots and were often cruel and whimsical. A network of local feudal aristocracy existed in the Kandyan kingdom and they also behaved with little understanding of citizens’ rights and concerns. This helped the Colonists capture power.

20. The British [and the Dutch] used the existing feudal network to promote their administration and also created a new breed of aristocrats that were servile to them. During the British reign, Tamil low-caste labour was brought from India to work the tea plantations being established. Their descendants are termed “Indian Tamils” as opposed to the native Jaffna Tamils.

21. Independence Tamils and Sinhalese educated elite joined forces [with some reservations being expressed by a few Tamils] to demand independence. The distinctions between Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims, were kept in cold-storage during the latter stages of European colonization. There was no power struggle between them as democracy, and consequently, political influence, was not an option open to the vast majority of the people. The United National Party [UNP] gained the mandate to govern in 1948. One of the first acts of this government was to disenfranchise the nearly 1 million Indian Tamils living in tea estates. There has always been considerable anger among Kandyan peasantry during the British rule at the taking over of surplus land by British tea planters. However the rights of these people who had brought much wealth to the country through their labour were not considered.

22. Sinhala Only In 1956 SWRD Bandaranaike, an Oxford educated lawyer born a Christian, fought the general election on the theme of giving more power to the Sinhala peasantry and Buddhism, and won a majority in Parliament. Sinhala was made the official language of government, and Buddhism exalted. This led to emigration of the Burghers and alienation of the Tamil-speaking minority. Although Bandaranaike later tried to make amends in the interests of the country the flames of racism had been fanned and there resulted a violent, partial ethnic cleansing of Tamils from outside the Northern and Eastern provinces. Indian Tamils were also attacked. Bandaranaike was assassinated by a Buddhist monk a few years later. He was replaced by his widow Srimavo as head of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party [SLFP] and of the Government. The SLFP years saw the economy collapsing under socialist policies, gross reduction in the use of English, an apartheid like segregation of Tamils and Sinhala children in schools and fairly blatant discrimination against Tamils in all spheres, notably in Higher Education and the Professions.

23. Origins of the LTTE The UNP government that gained office in the 1970s altered the British-parliamentary style constitution to produce an all powerful Executive President and a cabinet of Ministers under a Prime Minister. They embarked on economic liberalization, together with large hydropower/irrigation schemes but did not reverse the anti-Tamil trend among the Sinhalese. In 1983 there was a widespread anti-Tamil pogrom, with overt support by some Ministers, that was sparked by an ambush of soldiers by the fledgling Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [LTTE]. This resulted in a mass exodus of Tamils to the North and migration abroad. The LTTE gained many recruits and the civil war begun. The army was asked by President Jayewardena to brutally stifle the uprising but it could not do so. There was also a very violent revolt by the extreme left Sinhala Peoples Liberation Front [JVP in Sinhala] that had its base among rural and disenchanted Sinhala youth. The JVP was brutally crushed by 1991.

24. Forest Cover 1965 to 1992

25. Peace ? However this brutality and the high level of corruption in the then UNP govt led to the SLFP-led Peoples Alliance of Chandrika Bandaranaike coming into office in 1994. This govt pursued a so-called war-for-peace strategy which led to serious economic collapse and unabated corruption. In 1999 this daughter of SWRD Bandaranaike was re-elected President for 6 years, in a sympathy vote, immediately after being blinded in one eye by an LTTE suicide bomber. But in 2002, the UNP under Ranil Wickremasinghe won the Parliamentary election with a small majority in coalition with Tamil and Muslim parties. The govt declared a ceasefire with the LTTE and commenced direct negotiations with them to evolve a Federal structure. The Norwegians and other foreign governments were invited to partake and facilitate the peace process.

26. While the economy has partly revived and there is great expectation of peace, the President has been biding her time to overthrow the govt using the draconian powers vested with her in the 1977 UNP-devised constitution. The JVP, which has become a legal party, is in tow with the PA and maintains a strident anti-Tamil policy. The Muslims who are presently about 7% of the population [the Indian and Jaffna Tamils probably constitute about 18%, although accurate numbers are obviously not possible] are demanding a level of autonomy in areas of the East where they are a majority. Although Muslims are distributed widely, they speak Tamil in the East and some speak Sinhala in the Sinhalese areas.

28. Feudal factors • The constitution • Family hegamony in political parties e.g. the Bandaranaikes in the PA • Disregard for human dignity and rights • Government attitude to citizens still feudalistic/colonial • Corruption and usurpation of justice • Courts are not sufficiently responsive to citizens • Education responsibility, independent thinking

29. Egalitarian Factors • Mass media, IT, and travelmodern values • Free education • International [European] involvement • Resurgent use of English • Declining influence of conservative aspects of Buddhism • Proliferation of non-governmental organisations on human rights/freedoms

30. Perceptions of Global Trends • Trade liberalisation- Multinationals vis-à-vis Traditional Production • Low investmentS&T marginalisation • Vested interest of arms suppliers. • Indian socio-political impact • Islamic fundamentalismMuslims • Centralisation of global military power in the US and materialism replacing traditional Christian values.

31. EU as an European club with economic and military arms [ NATO?]