NEW ELITES 10.1 Elite Status and Social Stratification1 the Social Stratification of the Indigenous Ceylonese Society in The

CHAPTER TEN

10.1 Elite Status and Social Stratiﬁ cation1

The social stratifi cation of the indigenous Ceylonese society in the nineteenth century has hitherto been analysed mostly along the lines of elite concepts. Patrick Peebles and Michael Roberts describe an elite as “a social formation which commands most of what others in a particular society want and maintains an infl uential position that enables it to provide leadership.”2 This is an extremely broad defi - nition of the term elite and has the advantage of being applicable to every single group at the social apex. Nevertheless, it has proved useful in the description of the most infl uential social groups of nineteenth-century Ceylon. Roberts identifi es two dimensions of elite status—the ritual dimension and the power-economic dimension.3 Like Roberts, we will leave the ritual (or religious) dimension of elite status aside4 and concentrate mainly on the power-economic dimension. Roberts names certain attributes of elite status—attributes of power (wealth, political power, offi ce holding) and attributes of status (life- style, high social esteem, access to intellectual and cultural activities).

1 In this chapter, the term ‘elite’ refers exclusively to the indigenous (i.e. Ceylonese) elites. So-called Western elites are not explicitly covered. 2 Michael Roberts, “Elite Formation and Elites, 1832–1931,” in University of Ceylon History of Ceylon. From the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century to 1948, ed. Kingsley M. De Silva (Peradeniya: University of Peradeniya, 1973), 263. 3 Michael Roberts, “Elite Formation and Elites, 1832–1931,” in Sri Lanka: Col- lective Identities Revisited, ed. Michael Roberts and Marga Institute (Colombo: Marga Institute, 1997), 193–94. 4 In individual cases the religious dimension of elite status may have enhanced the inﬂ uence of the so-called ‘secular’ elites. Mudaliyars were sometimes occupied with the administration of temples. And many leading individuals of the karava caste supported the Buddhist revivalist movement. This study, however, is primarily concerned with highlighting the connection between the economic and administra- tive transformation of Ceylon and the rise of new elites. In that respect, the ritual or religious dimension played a rather insigniﬁ cant role.

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According to him, it is not necessary to have all these attributes to gain elite status.5 The indigenous elites of nineteenth-century Ceylon were no homogenous group. They differed signifi cantly in their spheres of infl uence, in the wealth they controlled, in their social status, in their occupations and—sometimes most importantly—in their origins and self-perception. In other words, every single elite group showed a distinct combination of Roberts’ elite attributes. For the purpose of this work, I adapted and simplifi ed Roberts’ model by combin- ing attributes and dimensions. Leaving the ritual dimension aside, it seems practicable to subdivide the power-economic dimension in three further spheres: the economic dimension, the political dimension and the status dimension. Although most infl uential groups derive their elite status from more than one of these dimensions, usually one particular dimension remained more important than the others and formed the powerbase of the elite. The revised elite model—although very similar to Roberts’ attributes-model—puts more emphasis on such differences in occupation, origin and self-perception. Accommodating all indigenous elite groups of nineteenth-century Ceylon in a single power-economic dimension would simply neglect the different social backgrounds and aspirations of the elite groups. I also follow Roberts in his classifi cation of elite groups in national (macro or central elites) and local elites (sub-elites, subordinate or intermediate elites).6 Regardless of its particular dimensions, every elite group had certain spatial spheres of infl uence. Some only wielded very limited local power (like minor headmen or kanganies), others enjoyed an island-wide infl uence (like the highest mudaliyars or the apex of the karava elite). In the political dimension, the classifi cation into national and local elites depends on the territorial reach of a social group’s political power. Here, only a few well-established mudaliyar families achieved national elite status. The bulk of the headmen only wielded local infl uence. Similarly, only a few families of the rising economic groups—whose economic transactions and infl uence soon spanned the better part of Ceylon—attained national elite status. Most of the new entrepreneurs acted merely on a regional level.

5 Roberts, “Elite Formation and Elites (Collective Identities),” 194. 6 Ibid., 193–94.

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