Caste system in Sri Lanka

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The caste systems in Sri Lanka are social stratification systems found among the ethnic groups of the island since ancient times. The models are similar to those found in Continental India, but are less extensive and important for various reasons. Modern times Sri Lanka is often considered to be a casteless society in south asia.

The caste systems of Sri Lanka were historically not tied to the religious establishment but rather a tool to service the ruling elite - a model more reminiscent of feudalism in Europe. At least three major, parallel caste systems exist in Sri Lankan society: Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamil and Indian Tamils.[1]

A universal welfare system that focused on providing education for everyone regardless of background has provided people from lower caste groups similar opportunities to enter jobs previously only frequented by those in upper-caste groups, with younger generations mostly rejecting any pressure to conform to caste-related jobs. The Civil War has also broken down caste barriers as they were seen as an obstacle toward ethnolinguistic unity.[1]

Overview

The caste system or feudal of the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamils display some similar traits, where both systems having comparable castes with similar occupations and status.[2]

The interior

Ambattar and Vannar.[10][11][12]

Political power and wealth have largely replaced caste as the main factor in Sri Lankan social stratification, especially in the Sinhalese and Indian Tamil communities.[13] Ponnambalam Ramanathan, under British Ceylon, opposed extending voting rights to the people and urged reservation of franchise only to men of the Vellalar caste.[14]

Sinhalese castes

See also: Category:Sinhalese castes

In traditional Sinhalese society Buddhist monks are placed at the top. Irrespective of the birth caste of a monk, even the king had to show respect to them.

The documented history of the island begins with the arrival of Prince Vijaya from India. Although the origin of Sri Lankan communities is unclear,[15] genetic studies on Sinhalese have shown that most of the Sinhala community are genetically related to North Indians, with traces from South India too.[16][17][18][19][20][21] About half of the Sinhalese population are Govigama.[22]

Ancient Sri Lankan texts, such as the Pujavaliya, Sadharmaratnavaliya, Yogaratnakaraya and inscriptions, show that a feudal system namely existed among the Sinhalese. Evidence of this hierarchy can be seen during the 18th-century British-Kandyan period,[23] indicating its continuation even after the Sri Lankan monarchy.[24][25] Colonialism and foreign intervention in the dynastic conflicts of the island throughout history have also influenced the caste system, some suggesting even a re-arrangement of the occupational castes.[26][27]

Kandyan castes

In the Central Highlands, many traditions of the Kingdom of Kandy were preserved from its 1818 collapse beyond independence in 1948 and the Land Reform Act of the 1970s. Although large agricultural landlords belonged to the Govigama caste, many now may not own land. Most Govigama were however ordinary farmers and tenants as absolute land ownership was exclusive to the king until the British colonial period.[28] The most important feature of the Kandyan system was Rajakariya ("the king's work"), which linked each caste to occupation and demanded service to the court and religious institutions.[29]

The "Duraya" was a loose categorization of lower Kandyan castes, comprising the castes of Vahumpura, Puda, Panna, Velli, Berava, possibly Henaya, and more. The group was interpreted by the British for their own administrative purposes and was used loosely.[4]

Southern castes

There are still differences between the caste structures of the highlands and those of the low country, although some service groups were common to both in ancient Sri Lanka. The southwestern coast has three other castes (the

Abayagiri inscription referring to a Karava Devika may be the first reference to a specialized occupation.[30][31]

Sri Lankan Tamil castes

See also: Category:Sri Lankan Tamil castes

The caste system has stronger religious ties than its Sinhalese counterpart, although both systems have comparable castes.[32] There are in the Sri Lankan Tamil caste system, distinctions between Northern and Eastern societies and also the agricultural, coastal and artisanal societies.

The agricultural society has mainly the castes of the Sri Lankan Panar, Sri Lankan Pallar/Vellalar, Nalavar and Koviyar, where the Vellalar and the Koviyar castes are the dominating ones, particularly in Northern Sri Lanka. They constitute approximately half of the Sri Lankan Tamil population and are the major land owning and agricultural caste.[33][34]

The Northern and Western coastal societies are dominated by the

Mukkuvars, traditional pearl divers in western Sri Lanka, dominate greater parts of Eastern Sri Lanka where they are the major landowners also involved in agriculture.[37][38] The Mukkuvars are largely Muslims or Roman Catholic in the Puttalam region of the western part of the island, and predominantly Hindus in the eastern part of the island. [39]

The artisans, known locally as

Koviar (farmers), Kusavar (potters), Maraiyar (conch blowers), Nattuvar (musician), Nalavar (toddy-tappers), Pallar (farmers), Paraiyar (drummers and weavers), Turumbar (dhobies) and Vannar (dhobies) the domestic servants termed as Kudimakkal.[42] The Kudimakkal gave ritual importance in marriage, funeral and other temple ceremonies.[43][44]

A few slave castes exist as well. One caste called the Demalagattaru were an ancient caste of Tamil captives during times of war between Sinhalese and Tamil.[45]

Other Sri Lankan Tamil castes of importance are the Cantar (oil-presser), Iyer (priests), Madapalli (former royal cooks), Seerpadar (cultivators), Seniyar (cotton-weavers), Siviyar (royal palanquin bearers)[46][47] and Maravar (Robbery).[48][49][50] The Sri Lankan Chetties, traditional merchants, along with the Bharatha people, traditional sea-traders, are both colonial South Indian migrant castes and listed as their own ethnicities in Sri Lankan census.[51] The Coast Veddas, found mainly in Eastern Sri Lanka are considered a Tamil caste among the Sri Lankan Tamils.[52]

The

village deities of the Sri Lankan Tamils are also shaped by the caste structure. The Sri Lankan Moors don't practice the caste system, however, follow a matriclan system which is an extension of Tamil tradition.[53]

Indian Tamil castes

The Tolkāppiyam Porulatikaram indicating the four-fold division is the earliest Tamil literature to mention caste.[54] Sangam literature however mentions only five kudis associated with the five tinais.[54][55] Colonialism also had influenced the caste system.[56][57]

Indian Tamils or Tamils of Indian origin (

Indian caste system form which is called jāti. Their caste structure resembles that of a Tamil Nadu
village.

Those who are considered to be of higher castes occupy the first row of line rooms, and that sect includes Pallar, Mudaliyar (kaikolars), Mutharaiyar (Watch mans) etc. They perform respectable jobs such as factory work and grinding of tea as minor labour work, on the other hand, they are also involved in business activities. Even though they belong to the labour category under the British rule and post-independence of the country, they were influential among conductors, tea makers, manganese (or supervisors), and other officials. The workers considered low caste live in the dwellings that are away from the centre and these dwellings are called distant or lower lines. This group consists of Maravan,Kallan (Field Warriors) & Agamudayar (Fort Guards), Vellalar (Cultivators) ,

Sakkiliar, washers and barbers. The yard sweepers and changes of clothes are in the lowest rank.[58]

See also

Notes

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Silva, Kalinga Tudor; Sivapragasam, P.P.; Thanges, Paramsothy (2009). "Caste Discrimination and Social Justice in Sri Lanka: An Overview" (PDF). Indian Institute of Dalit Studies. III. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  2. ISBN 978-1-59033-573-4
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-4422-5585-2
    .
  4. ^
    ISSN 2279-3321
    .
  5. ^ Swan, Bernard (1987). Sri Lankan Mosaic: Environment, Man, Continuity, and Change. Marga Institute, Sri Lanka Centre for Development Studies. p. 177.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-1-84331-231-4
    .
  7. JSTOR 3518280
    .
  8. ^ Ceylon Journal of Child Health. Ceylon Paediatric Association. 1977. p. 9.
  9. ISBN 978-955-613-126-0
    .
  10. ISBN 978-955-96318-3-5
    .
  11. ISBN 978-955-8790-00-7
    .
  12. ^ Nyrop, Richard F. (1971). Area Handbook for Ceylon. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 103–108.
  13. ^ Caste in Jaffna And India, Review Article on Neville Jayaweera's Jaffna Exorcising the Past and Holding the Vision Dr Devanesan Nesiah (Sunday Leader 10.10.2014)
  14. ISBN 9788170030713
    .
  15. PMID 8543296
    .
  16. ISBN 978-0691029054.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  17. PMID 8543296
    .
  18. ^ Mitochondrial DNA history of Sri Lankan ethnic people: their relations within the island and with the Indian subcontinental populations, L Ranaweera, et al.; Journal of Human Genetics (2014)
  19. ^ Pre-Vijayan Agriculture in Sri Lanka, by Prof. T. W. Wikramanayake
  20. ^ A SHORT HISTORY OF LANKA by Humphry William Codrington, CHAPTER I; THE BEGINNINGS 'The princess and her retinue/dowry (service castes)'
  21. ^ Buddhism Betrayed?: Religion, Politics, and Violence in Sri Lanka By Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, p. 152-3
  22. ^ "Traditional Sri Lanka". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  23. ^ Kadayimpoth - Boundary Books
  24. ^ Mahavansha
  25. ^ Sinhala Sanna ha Thudapath, Ananada this Kumara, Godage Publication,Second Edition,2006,pp 142,pp 137
  26. ^ Kandy Fights the Portuguese, C.Gaston Perera, Vijithayapa Publications, 2007
  27. ^ An Historical Relation Of The Island Ceylon In The East Indies, Robert Knox, 1681, pp. 46 & 73
  28. ^ Land: Feudalism to Modernity.
  29. ^ An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon in the East Indies by Robert Knox. 2004-12-13.
  30. ^ de Silva, Raaj. "The ancient 'Kaurava Pavilion' at Anuradhapura". De Fonseka Web. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  31. ^ "Paranavithana S. 1970 Inscriptions of Ceylon Vol I Early Brahmi Inscriptions". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  32. JSTOR 3518280
    .
  33. ISBN 9781442255852
    .
  34. ISBN 9780230597822
    .
  35. ISBN 9780190461782
    .
  36. ISBN 978-0-8426-0780-3
    .
  37. ISBN 9780521241458
    .
  38. ^ (Jaffna), University Teachers for Human Rights (1991). The Debasement of the law and of humanity and the drift towards total war. UTHR (Jaffna), University of Jaffna, Thirunelvely. p. 31.
  39. ISBN 978-955-97262-2-7
    .
  40. ^ McGilvray, Dennis B. (1974). Tamils and Moors: caste and matriclan structure in eastern Sri Lanka. University of Chicago. p. 160.
  41. ISBN 9783110807752
    .
  42. ISBN 9783110807752
    .
  43. ISBN 9789559631835
    .
  44. ^ Raghavan, M. D. (1961). The Karāva of Ceylon: Society and Culture. K.V.G. De Sīlva. pp. 87–88.
  45. ISSN 0043-0439
    .
  46. ^ Phillius, Baldaeus (1960). A True and Exact Description of the Great Island of Ceylon. Ceylon Branch of the royal Asiatic Society. p. 371.
  47. ISBN 9788120613621.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  48. JSTOR 644706
    .
  49. ^ Chitty, Simon Casie (1834). The Ceylon Gazetteer: Containing an Accurate Account of the Districts, Provinces, Cities, Towns ... &c. of the Island of Ceylon. Cotta Church Mission Press. p. 55.
  50. ^ Modern Ceylon Studies. Vol. 4. University of Ceylon. 1975. p. 28.
  51. ^ "Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka" (PDF). Department of Census and Statistics. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  52. ISBN 9780706952988
    .
  53. S2CID 27739665
    .
  54. ^
    ISBN 9788131719589
    .
  55. ^ Kolappan, B (2015). "Early Tamil society was free of caste". The Hindu.
  56. ^ Fernando, Laksiri (2013). "Philip Baldaeus Didn't See A Big Ethnic Difference In Ceylon". Colombo Telegraph.
  57. ISBN 978-9380607214
    .
  58. ^ Radhakrishnan, V. "Indian origin in Sri Lanka: Their plight and struggle for survival". Proceedings of First International Conference & Gathering of Elders. International Center for Cultural Studies, USA. Archived from the original on 2008-03-20. Retrieved 2008-01-23.

Bibliography

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caste_system_in_Sri_Lanka&oldid=1218069709"