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Of the I4aritihe Castes

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Of the I4aritihe Castes SOCIAL MOBILITY OF THE I4ARITIHE CASTES IN SRI LANKA by SOMAI,üANTHA HEI^]AKALUHALAMULLAGE A Thesis Submitted to the FacultY of Graduate Studies of the UniversitY of Manitoba In Part'ial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of SociologY Unì vers'i ty of Mani toba I 1983 SOCIAL MOBILITY OF THE MARITIME CASTES IN SRI LANKA BY SOMAI,JAN THA HEI^IAKALUHALAMI]LLAGE A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of the U¡liversity of Manitoba in partial fulfill¡nent of the requirenrents of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS o 1983 Permission has been grartted to the LIBRARY OF THE UNIVER- SITY OF MANITOBA to lend or sell copies of this thesis. to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA to microfilnr this thesis and to lend or sell copies of the film, ånd UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS to publish an abstract of this thesis. The author reserves other publication rights, a¡rd neitlter the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otlter- wise reproduced without the author's writte¡r perntissiott. \\ l.liVl; ll.!¡/' ¿lnlìÀ TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE I ACKNOt^lLEDGEMENTS 2 ABSTRACT CHAPTERS 1. Introducti on 4 The Problem 4 Social Mobility and the Caste System: Concepts and Theories 7 Method and Sources of the Data 13 2. Sri Lanka: Social and Demographic Profile T7 Caste Stratification in Sri Lanka: A Historical Account. 19 Caste Stratification In Contemporary Sri Lanka 22 Trad j t'i onal OccuPation 25 Traditional Caste Names z5 Communal Distance 26 Buddhism and Caste in Sri Lanka 31 Toward South India 27 3 The Traditional Social Organization of Sri Lanka and Its Ideologicaì Basis 34 4 The Advent of EuroPean Powers: Economic and Social Advances of the Maritime Castes ( 1505-1948) 46 Commerce and Opportunities for Economic Advancement .... 46 Social and Pol'itjcal Consequences of European Rule .... 53 'in Entrepreneurship of the Maritime Castes the Capitaìist Economy (The British Period)" 61 Educational Achievements and the Emergence of a 74 New Elite . 5 Buddhistization and Nationalist Politics in Sri Lanka 85 6. Concìusions 99 List of Tables Pages 1. Ethnic Composition of the Total Population of Sri Lanka 19 2. Caste Composition of Sinhalese Popuìation 24 3. The Proportional Representation of Sjnhalese Caste in the Plantatjon EconomY 65 4. The Proportional Representation of Sjnhalese castes In the Distil'lerY IndustrY .... 68 5. The Proportjonal Representation of sinhalese castes In the GraPhic Mining Industry... 70 6. The Proportional Representation of sinhalese castes In the Various London External Examinations 7B 7. The Proportional Representation of sinhalese castes In the State Counci I 96 8. The Proportionaì Representation of sinhalese castes In the First Parl iament ... 96 I ACKNOl^JL EDGEMENT In this study my first and foremost debt is owed to my thesis comm'ittee (external Professors: G.N. Ramu (advìsor), D.L. Rennje and E.C' Moulton exam'iner, Department of H'istory). My speciaì thanks go to Professors Ramu the and Renn.ie for their patìent gu'idance and suggestjons from beginning to end of my thesjs work. Their readìness to go through the earl'ier draft and their earnest des'ire to respond quick'ly are deep'ly appreciated' Certainìy, the whole Department of Socìoìogy, including the secretarial staff, contributed to th'is study in one way or another and I am deepìy gratefu'I. Any shortcomings of thjs thesis are my own' 2 ABSTRACT In contrast to the traditional approach to caste as a closed and stable system of stratification, the present study analyses the social mobility of Maritime Castes in Sri Lanka during the period of l.lestern turopean rule. The mechani sms of social mobi I i ty are conceptual ized as l^lesternization and Buddhistization. This conceptual model illustrates how the rank of an entire caste group was able to change within the apparent inflexibìe framework of the caste system. It deals with the group mobility of the caste system onìy by implication through the process of ideologicaì change in the outlook, and customs of the caste groups in question. In Westernization the reference group has been the l.lestern rulers and admin- istrators, while in Buddhistization the reference group has been that of the upper caste Goyi gama ari stocrats . In other words , the process of l.lesternization demonstrates Western culture and ìife sty'les, while Buddhistization emphasizes the traditional Sinhalese Buddhist culture of the island. The thesis contains both qualitatjve and quantitative data in analysing the past and present socio-economic condi tions of Sinhalese castes. The historical background of Sinhalese castes, and the Portuguese and Dutch period of Sri Lanka are discussed main'ly on the basis of qualitative data gathered from early Sinhalese Chronicles and anthropological monographs. Particuìarìy, in Chapter Three, the discussion on traditional S'inhalese soc'ial organization provides 'insights regarding the socio-economic conditions of Sinhalese castes prior to the European ruìe. 3 In Chapters Four and Five a few statistical tables are provided to ind.icate the proportionaì representation of Sinhalese castes in various social and economic ventures such as pìantation estates, mining and disti ì'lery industries, [.lestern education, and the national and local-level poìitics of Sri Lanka. By comparing the proportionaì representations of the respective caste groups in the above-noted ventures, we demonstrate the upward mobiìity of Maritime Castes during that period. Both qualitative and quantitative data enable us to make a comparison between the past and present conditions of Sinhaìese castes. Finaì ìy, in chapter six, we conclude that the caste system is not absoluteìy closed and that indeed mobility is possibìe through many chan- nels. The caste structure itseìf, in terms of ranking, is subject to changes due to various external and internaì forces operating in the social system. 4 Chapter i I NTRODUCTION The Problem The traditionaì approach to caste stratification assumed that there lvas I ittle, if ôny, individual social mobil ity because there were no incongruities or discrepancies between an individual's position in the caste hierarchy and his position in other forms of stratification such as class--that is, absoìute status equilibrium and consistency was assumed. However, contrary to this "Vedic" view of caste as a closed and stable system, various sociologicaì and anthropoìogicaì studies in India and Sri Lanka suggest that the caste system is not absolute'ly closed and that indeed mobility is possible through many channels. There is substantÍal evidence to suggest that, even in the past, the caste system itself, in terms of ranking, was subject to structuraì mobility due to various external and internal forces operating in the social system (Stein, 1968; Srinivas, 1962; Ames, 1963). Aìthough institutionalized sociaì mobiìity across the various castes was not possibìe, lower caste groups had some opportunities to improve their social and economic standíng over a period of time (Srinivas, 1e66 ) . The tradition-modernity dichotomy in the studies of social mobility has often led to contradictory perspectives. Such a dichotomy has given rise to a conclusion that mobi'lity was absent in the caste society which was perceived as a totally closed system of social stratification. First this view is based upon classical I iterature and its ideology which over-emphasises the element of contjnuity. Secondìy, for l,lestern scholars, 5 the most striking feature of the caste system has been the contrast it offered to thei r own system of stratification-cì ass. Moreover, the historical I iterature on social mobi'l ity in the past not being well developed, sociologists have been handjcapped in making obiectjve generaìizations. Further, there has, probabìy, been the ideologica'l bias, a sense of moral superiority feìt by the Western intel'ligentsia over the colonial society where they were preoccupied with a "great tradition" during the ear'ly decades of this century. This certainly seems to have been true of Max l,Jeber, who purposeìy chose India as a case to compare with the West, who wanted to contrast its relative social immobility and its immobi'lizing rel igious values and ideoìogies relative to the l,lest (l.leber, 1958). However, sociaì mobiìity in the caste system has become more evident in recent times. It has resulted from various external and internal factors that have loosened the principìes which traditional caste stratification represented. The congruence of rituaì status, economic and poìitical povrer as in the traditional caste system is withering away under the impact of sociaì legislation, education, democratization and industrialization. These processes have created many alternatives for supplementing one's social status and have broken the exclusiveness of traditional principìes of status determination. Many studies anaìysing this process have shown the divergent functioning of caste, on one hand, and economic and poìiticaì power on the other hand in the social system. Mobility thus causes status incongruence or inconsistency in the society (Yalman,1960; Beteille,1965; Barber, 1e68 ) . Viewed in this light, the present study seeks to examine the nature of sociaì mobiìity among the Maritime Castes of Sri Lanka. The analysis is mainly confined to the period of Western European rule in the isìand 6 (1505-1948). Almost four centuries of colonial rule (tfre Portuguese, the Dutch and the British) in Sri Lanka was mainìy concentrated in the Maritime provinces of the island. Therefore, the social and economic consequences of the European rule in the indigenous society are more evident in the Maritime districts than in other parts of the country. The upward mobiìity of Maritime Castes (Karava, Salagama and Durava) began in the early Sixteenth Century and continued throughout the colonial period in Sri Lanka. The standard literature on the caste system has been mainly focused upon the Hindu caste system in India.
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