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The Action Phase of the 1915 Riots

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Charles S. Blackton
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Abstract

In 1915, riots broke out in the British colony of Ceylon, the climax of a controversy between Sinhalese Buddhists and a new clement among the commercial “Moors” (Muslims). A court ruling disappointing to the Buddhists, combined with economic complaints against Moors in this centenary of British conquest, led to a communal clash in Kandy during Wesak (Buddha's birthday) in May 1915. During the following two weeks, the riots spread to Colombo and along the west coast, greed increasingly matching creed as a prime motive.

The colonial government reacted slowly, allowing disorder to spread, and then changed to a policy of heavy repression of a presumed anti-British uprising at a time the Empire was fighting for survival.

Three months of martial law ensued, more deaths caused by police and military action than had occurred during the actual riots. Prominent citizens were arrested without cause. Shoot-on-sight orders were issued, and over 8000 were arrested and imprisoned. This colonial maladministration reflected the gap between officialdom and the colonial peoples. Little evidence of a general plot against government came to light. Since, however, headmen, monks and traders had planned anti-Moor action, especially in coastal areas, the question of conspiracy remains unsettled.

The 1915 Riots in Ceylon seriously undermined Ceylonese confidence in British justice, led to peaceful mass protests and a mission to London, and stimulated the maturation of nationalism, with independence as its objective.

Type
The 1915 Riots in Ceylon: A Symposium
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , February 1970 , pp. 235 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1970

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References

1 de Souza, Armand, Hundred Days in Ceylon under Martial Law in 1915, 2nd ed., (Colombo, 1919), p. viii.Google Scholar

2 Woolf, Leonard, Growing, An Autobiography of the Years, 1904–1911 (London, 1961), p. 92Google Scholar. As of Aug. 1, 1914, there were 350 European soldiers of all ranks in Ceylon. On Mar. 1, 1916, the figure was 189. See Original Correspondence C.O. 54/794 (21660), Acting Governor to Secretary of State, Apr. 6, 1916 (hereafter referred to as C.O. 54/ etc.).

3 Ludowyk, E.F.C., The Story of Ceylon (London, 1962), p. 214.Google Scholar

4 See Ceylon, Department of Census and Statistics, Census of Ceylon, 1946, Part II, Statistical Digest, (A. G. Ranasinha), table 28 (pp. 117–18) and table 29 (p. 135), (Ceylon Government Press: Colombo, 1951)Google Scholar. Unofficial figures for population showing comparable proportions are to be found in United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Science, Special Consular Reports, no. 72, 1915Google Scholar, British India with Notes on Ceylon, Afghanistan and Tibet (Government Printing Office: Washington, 1915).Google Scholar

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8 See Cd. 8167, Governor to Secretary of State, June 7, 1915, and C.O. 54/782 (32450).

9 C.O. 54/783 (37093). See also Kearney, Robert N., Communalism and Language in the Politics of Ceylon (Durham, 1967)Google Scholar, for valuable discussion of the Buddhist revival and early nationalism.

10 Vijayavardhana, D. C., The Revolt in the Temple (Colombo, 1953), pp. 117–19Google Scholar. Article 5 of the Kandyan Convention states: “The Religion of Boodhoo professed by the Chief and inhabitants of these Provinces is declared inviolable, and its Rites, Ministers and Places of Worship are to be maintained and protected.” See Mendis, G. C., ed., The Colebrook-Cameron Papers, Documents on British Colonial Policy in Ceylon, 1796–1883, II (Oxford, 1956), p. 228.Google Scholar

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12 See C.O. 54/781 (29055), Governor to Secretary of State, May 31, 1915, enclosure, newsprint extract citing decision of Judge Pieris.

13 Hereafter referred to as G.A. A.G.A. refers to an Assistant Government Agent.

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15 CO. 54/792 (50319), Justice de Sampayo to Sir Alfred Lascelles, Oct. 15, 1915. The Supreme Court decision is reported in New Law Reports Containing Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of Ceylon and His Majesty the King in His Privy Council on Appeal from the Supreme Court of Ceylon, with a Digest, edited by Balasingham, K., XVIII (Colombo, 1916), 193–213Google Scholar. The Privy Council appeal was subsequently withdrawn after an agreement between the parties to the dispute in 1916. The counsel for the plaintiff-appellant (the Basnayake Nilame of Walahagoda Dewale) asked for a declaration that Buddhists were entitled to their religious processions, subject to the government's paramount right to place limits in the interest of public peace. The Crown spokesman, however, saw no need for any declaration since what was proposed was normally the practice. Their lordships concurred. See ibid., XX (Colombo, 1919), 376–377.

16 C.O. 54/783 (37093).

17 C.O. 54/781 (29055), Governor to Secretary of State, May 31, 1915.

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19 The Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth) is the principal Buddhist shrine in Ceylon and the repository of a sacred object known as Buddha's Tooth.

20 In CO. 54/782 (33883), in Governor to Secretary of State, July 1, 1915, an extract from the diary ot R. N. Lyne, F.L.S., director of agriculture.

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23 Cd. 8167, pp. 1–2. See also C.O. 54/782 (29056), enclosure, Stubbs, R. E. to Collins, A. E., 06 2, 1915Google Scholar, describes the organizers of the Kandy riots as Low-Country Sinhalese and introduces the theory that the riots resulted from a conspiracy.

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25 Cd. 8167, pp. 1–2.

26 Diary of R. N. Lyne, see note 20.

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29 See the chapter on Moore in Hulugalle, H. A. J., British Governors of Ceylon (Colombo, 1963). p. 213Google Scholar. For a confirming view by Sir Hugh Clifford, later a governor of Ceylon, see “Ceylon” in Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 5, 14th edition, 1929, pp. 182–183Google Scholar. Clifford charges Chalmers and Stubbs with “abdicating” to the Military with resuits which left “a bitter legacy of grievance and hatred.”

30 Diary of R. N. Lyne, see note 20.

31 Cd. 8167, (a letter from Dowbiggin, to Stubbs, R. E. written long after the events, in 10 28, 1915), p. 51.Google Scholar

32 Ibid., p. 52. The Sinhalese asserted that Waltary gampahe's group was protecting the Gampola temple. Dowbiggin stressed the point that Walgampahe was miles from Gampola which was “twelve miles from Kandy on another road.” There was another road-which Dowbiggin neglected to mention-by which the Walgampahe group could have travelled direct from Gampola to Kadugannawa.

33 The following paragraphs are based on diaries and reports of officials in the field written during the riot days and reports of commissioners during the period of martial law, contained in C.O. 54/782 and 54/783.

34 C.O. 54/782 (53843), Governor to Secretary of State, July 16, 1915, enclosure, extract from the Diary of J. G. Fraser, G.A. for the Western Province, May 31.

35 Ramanathan, Ponnambalam, Riots and Martial Law in Ceylon, 1915 (London, 1916), pp. 261–263Google Scholar. Leonard Woolf speaks of the term, “Hamadoru” as an honorific used to British officials. See Growing, op. cit.

36 C.O. 54/782 (29056), Stubbs, R. E. to Collins, A. E., 06 2, 1915Google Scholar. On June 1, the governor had conferred with 4 Sinhalese and 4 Moor leaders in Kandy.

37 C.O. 54/782 (28507), Governor to Secretary of State, telegram of June 3. Martial law was proclaimed in Western, Central, Southern, Northwestern, and Sabaragamuwa Provinces.

38 C.O. 54/782 (29924), Stubbs, R. E. to Collins, A. E., 06 8, 1915.Google Scholar

39 See New Statesman, 10 2, 1915Google Scholar. The article, “Martial Law in Ceylon” was written by Leonard Woolf.

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41 Ibid.

42 C.O. 54/782 (35110), Rahiman, W. M. Abdul to Governor Chalmers, 07 1, 1915Google Scholar, a report on the riot areas by the unofficial Muslim member of the Ceylon Legislative Council.

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45 Cd. 8167, pp. 4–7.

46 C.O. 54/782 (26172), Governor to Secretary of State, telegram of June 5, 1915; and C.O. 54/782 (26639), minutes, and Chalmers' telegram to Secretary of State, June 9, 1915.

47 See Secret Order of General Malcolm, “Riots, Instigators of, and Collection of Payment for Damage done; Appointment of Special Commissioners.” (06 8, 1915)Google Scholar, C.O. 54/783.

48 Royal Colonial Institute, The Empire at War, India, The Mediterranean, Eastern Colonies, V, indudes a chapter by the series' editor, Sir Charles Lucas, which is informative about Ceylon's war role, but offers little on the 1915 riots.

49 Cd. 8167, Governor to Secretary of State, June 15, 1915, p. 7.

50 Secret Order by the Officer Commanding the Troops, cited in note 47.

51 Ibid., enclosure: Secret Order by the Officer Commanding the Troops, “Riot, Collection of Payment for Damage done,” 06 12, 1915.Google Scholar

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53 Quoted in Vijayavardhana, , op. cit., pp. 122–23.Google Scholar

54 CO. 54/782 (28430), Governor to Secretary of State, telegram of June 19, 1915; see also draft reply from Colonial Office and attached minutes.

55 See Cd. 8167, p. 13, pp. 19–21.

56 CO. 54/782 (29924), extract from letter from Stubbs, R. E. to Collins, A. E., dated 06 8, 1915.Google Scholar

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58 See CO. 54/782 (25587), pass.

59 See CO. 54/791 (52213), a minute of Nov. 17, 1915 from Sir G. Fiddes.

60 See CO. 54/792 (50319), enclosure, letter from Sir Alfred Lascelles to A. E. Collins of Colonial Office, Oct. 28, 1915.

61 CO. 54/791 (2459); Kearney, op. cit. See his analysis of Dharmapala's career and his part in national movements, pp. 41–46.

62 C.O. 54/793 (9317), R. E. Stubbs (Officer administering the Government of Ceylon) to Secretary of State, telegram of Feb. 25, 1916. Sir John Anderson, the permanent undersecretary, minuted the view that Ramanathan's first book was “a very undesirable publication for circulation in Ceylon.” He suggested that stopping the flow of books from England would cause less excitement than trying to block it in Ceylon.

63 Cd. 8167, p. 24.

64 C.O. 54/782, Governor to Secretary of State, July 8, 1915, includes the statements omitted from the dispatch as printed in Cd. 8167, p. 23.

65 Cd. 8167, pp. 25–31.

66 C.O. 54/783 (42199), Governor to Secretary of State, Aug. 19, 1915, enclosure: Secret Order, “All British Volunteers, Town Guards, and Special Constables, in Case of Sudden Rising.”

67 Cd. 8167, pp. 28–38; see text of Ceylon Indemnity Order in Council, pp. 28–29.

68 Cd. 8167, Governor to Secretary of State, Aug. 11, 1915. pp. 31–35.

69 Ibid., pp. 36–37.

70 Vijayavardhana, , op. cit., pp. 124–125.Google Scholar

71 Cd. 8167, pp. 39–48.

72 See New Statesman, 03 11, 1916, pp. 6–7Google Scholar. The article (unsigned) was written by Leonard Woolf at the request of Squire, J. C., Letters to Leonard Woolf by E. W. Perera and D. B. Jayatilaka, 1915, p. 9Google Scholar. (Originals are in the Ceylon Archives. Mr. Woolf kindly loaned the author typescript copies.) See also Hansard, , Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 5th series, LXXV, 08 3, 1916, 530.Google Scholar

73 See Hulugalle, , op. cit., p. 164.Google Scholar

74 Ibid. See also Vijayavardhana, , op. cit., pp. 126–127Google Scholar; and C.O. 54/795 (32762), (32571), and 33561).

75 Cd. 8167, p. 35. Chalmers states that there existed no evidence of German intrigue in connection with the disturbances.

76 London Quarterly Review, 06 1916, pp. 120–125.Google Scholar

77 Dowbiggin was so described by Leonard Woolf in a letter, Aug. 10, 1968, to the author. Woolf had served with Dowbiggin in Jaffna and liked him.

78 Ludowyk, , The Story of Ceylon, op. cit., pp. 213–214.Google Scholar