Dominion of Ceylon
Ceylon[1] | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1948–1972 | |||||||||
Anthem: Elizabeth II | |||||||||
Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke | |||||||||
• 1962–1972 | William Gopallawa | ||||||||
Sir John Kotelawala | |||||||||
• 1956–1959 | S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike | ||||||||
• March 1960–July 1960 | Dudley Senanayake | ||||||||
• July 1960–1972 | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | ||||||||
Legislature | JVP Insurrection | 1971 | |||||||
• Republic | 22 May 1972 | ||||||||
Area | |||||||||
1956[2] | 65,610 km2 (25,330 sq mi) | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• 1956[2] | 8,104,000 | ||||||||
Currency | Ceylon Rupee | ||||||||
| |||||||||
"Sri Lanka". Retrieved 30 March 2010. "Ceylon Independent, 1948–1956". World History at KMLA. Retrieved 30 March 2010. |
Historical states of Sri Lanka | |
---|---|
1232–1620 | |
1521–1594 |
Ceylon[1][3] was an independent country in the Commonwealth of Nations from 1948 to 1972, that shared a monarch with other dominions of the Commonwealth. In 1948, the British Colony of Ceylon was granted independence as Ceylon. In 1972, the country became a republic within the Commonwealth, and its name was changed to Sri Lanka.
History
Independence and growth
Following the
D. S. Senanayake died in 1952 after a stroke and he was succeeded by his son
In 1956 the UNP was defeated at elections by the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a coalition of Leftist parties which included the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party of Philip Gunawardena.
Bandaranaike was a politician who had fostered the Sinhalese nationalist lobby since the 1930s, and led a populist campaign promising to uplift the Sinhalese race. Keeping to his main campaign promise, he replaced English with
In 1957 British bases were removed and Ceylon officially became a "non-aligned" country. The Paddy Lands Act, the brainchild of Philip Gunawardena, was passed, giving those working the land greater rights vis-à-vis absentee landlords.[9]
Bandaranaike was assassinated on September 25, 1959 by the Buddhist monk Talduwe Somarama Thero. Bandaranaike's death led to a caretaker government headed by Wijeyananda Dahanayake.
The political alliances formed by Bandaranaike dissolving led to the March 1960 election won by the Dudley Senanayake headed United National Party. But without a stable government, another election was called in July 1960.
Bandaranaike's widow, Sirimavo, succeeded her husband as leader of the SLFP and was elected as the world's first female prime minister.
Reform
Elections in July saw
In 1962, under the SLFP government, many Western business assets were nationalised. This caused disputes with the United States and the United Kingdom over compensation for seized assets. Such policies led to a temporary decline in SLFP power, and the UNP gained seats in Congress. However, by 1970, the SLFP were once again the dominant power.[10]
In 1964 Bandaranaike formed a coalition government with the LSSP, a
The rebellion was put down with the help of
Government and politics
The constitution of Ceylon created a
Initially, the prominent party was the
In 1948, when Ceylon achieved independence from the United Kingdom, the governor was replaced with a governor-general. The governor-general was responsible not to London, but to the monarch of Ceylon, the local government, and the local parliament. The role was generally ceremonial; however, it did come with the 'reserve powers' of the Crown which allowed the governor-general for example to dismiss the prime minister (with power such as this, the governor-general had to act as a responsible non-political 'referee' of the government, using the national constitution as the 'rulebook'). The monarch had the following styles and titles:
- 1948–1952: His Majesty George the Sixth, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith.
- 1952–1953: Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen, Defender of the Faith.
- 1953–1972: Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Ceylon and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.
In her coronation oath, Queen Elizabeth II promised "to govern the Peoples of ... Ceylon ... according to their respective laws and customs".[14] The Standard of Ceylon at the Coronation was borne by Sir Edwin A. P. Wijeyeratne.[15]
List of heads of state
From 1948 to 1972 the head of state of Ceylon was the same person as the monarch of the United Kingdom. The governor-general of Ceylon exercised the duties of the head of state.
Monarchs
Monarchs of Ceylon, 1948–1972 | |||||||
Portrait | Name | Birth | Reign | Death | Consort | Relationship with Predecessor(s) | Royal House |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
George VI | 14 December 1895 | 4 February 1948 – 6 February 1952 |
6 February 1952 | Queen Elizabeth | None (position created) | Windsor | |
Elizabeth II | 21 April 1926 | 6 February 1952 – 22 May 1972 |
8 September 2022 | Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh | Daughter of George VI |
Governors-General
Portrait | Name
(birth–death) |
Took office | Left office | Appointer |
---|---|---|---|---|
Governors-General of Ceylon, 1948–1972 | ||||
KStJ (1887–1964) |
4 February 1948 | 6 July 1949 | George VI | |
PC (1887–1971) |
6 July 1949 | 1953 | ||
Elizabeth II | ||||
Acting Justice Arthur Wijewardena (1887–1964) |
1953 | 1953 | ||
Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury PC (1887–1971) |
1953 | 1954 | ||
Acting
Justice C. Nagalingam |
1954 | 1954 | ||
Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury PC (1887–1971) |
1954 | 17 July 1954 | ||
KBE (1892–1978) |
17 July 1954 | 2 March 1962 | ||
William Gopallawa MBE (1897–1981) |
2 March 1962 | 22 May 1972 |
Problems
The government of Ceylon had several issues, the main being that the government represented only a small part of the population, mainly wealthy, English-educated elite groups. The
Economy
The economy of Ceylon was mainly agriculture-based, with key exports consisting of tea, rubber, and coconuts. These did well in the foreign markets, accounting for 90% of the export share by value.[12] In 1965, Ceylon became the world's leading exporter of tea, with 200,000 tonnes of tea being shipped internationally annually.[17] The exports sold well initially, but falling tea and rubber prices decreased the earnings, with a rapidly increasing population cutting further into those profits. In the early 1970s, the Ceylon government nationalised many privately held assets as part of the newly elected government's socialist policies.[18]
The Land Reform Law of 1972 imposed a maximum of twenty hectares of land that can be owned privately, and sought to reallocate excess land for the benefit of the landless workers. Because land owned by public companies under that was less than ten hectares in size was exempted from the law, a considerable amount of land that would otherwise have been available for redistribution was not subject to the legislation. Between 1972 and 1974, the Land Reform Commission set up by the new laws took over nearly 228,000 hectares, one-third of which was forest and most of the rest planted with tea, rubber, or coconut. Few rice paddies were affected because nearly 95 percent of them were below the ceiling limit. Very little of the land acquired by the government was transferred to individuals. Most was turned over to various government agencies or to cooperative organisations, such as the Up-Country Co-operative Estates Development Board. The Land Reform Law of 1972 applied only to holdings of individuals. It left untouched the plantations owned by joint-stock companies, many of them British. In 1975 the Land Reform (Amendment) Law brought these estates under state control. Over 169,000 hectares comprising 395 estates were taken over under this legislation. Most of this land was planted with tea and rubber. As a result, about two-thirds of land cultivated with tea was placed in the state sector. The respective proportions for rubber and coconut were 32 and 10 percent. The government paid some compensation to the owners of land taken over under both the 1972 and 1975 laws. In early 1988, the state-owned plantations were managed by one of two types of entities, the Janatha Estates Development Board, or the Sri Lanka State Plantation Corporation.[19] Additionally, a revamped system of education created a glut of skilled workers that could not find employment.
Currency
The official currency of Ceylon was the Ceylon Rupee. The Rupee evolved from the
Military
Army
At the end of
Due to a lack of any major external threats, the growth of the army was slow, and the primary duties of the army quickly moved towards internal security by the mid-1950s. The first internal security operation of the Ceylon Army, code-named
In 1962 several volunteer officers
After gaining independence, strategists believed that the navy should be built up and reorganized. The previous navy consisted of the
In 1972 "Ceylon" became the "
During the 1970s the navy began rebuilding its strength with the acquisition of
Air Force
Early administration and training was carried out by
In 1959 de Havilland Vampire jet aircraft were acquired. However, the RCyAF did not put them into operational use and soon replaced them with five Hunting Jet Provosts obtained from the British, which were formed into the Jet Squadron.
The Royal Ceylon Air Force first went into combat in 1971 when the
Because of a shortage of funds for military expenditure in the wake of the 1971 uprising, the No. 4 Helicopter Squadron began operating commercial transport services for foreign tourists under the name of
See also
References
- ^ a b The Sri Lanka Independence Act 1947 uses the name "Ceylon" for the new dominion; nowhere does that Act use the term "Dominion of Ceylon", which although sometimes used was not the official name.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-134-97738-3.
- ^ International treaties Archived 21 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine also referred to the state as "Ceylon", not the "Dominion of Ceylon"; "Ceylon" was also the name used by the UN for the state.
- JSTOR 2752358.
- ^ Jane Russell, Communal Politics under the Donoughmore constitution. Tsiisara Prakasakyo, Dehivala, 1982
- ^ "Welcome to UTHR, Sri Lanka". Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
- ^ "Sri Lanka – United National Party "Majority" Rule, 1948–56". Countrystudies.us. Archived from the original on 12 October 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Commonwealth visits since 1952". Official website of the British monarchy. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
- ^ Kelegama, Saman (2004). Economic policy in Sri Lanka: Issues and Debates. SAGE. pp. 207, 208.
- ^ a b "Dominion of Ceylon definition of Dominion of Ceylon in the Free Online Encyclopedia". Encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Ceylon Independent, 1948–1956". World History at KMLA. Archived from the original on 11 September 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Sri Lanka : Independent Ceylon (1948–71) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. 4 February 1948. Archived from the original on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ a b "WHKMLA : History of Ceylon, 1956–1972". Zum.de. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "The Form and Order of Service that is to be performed and the Ceremonies that are to be observed in the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, on Tuesday, the second day of June, 1953". Oremus.org. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ^ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40020/supplement/6240 The London Gazette, no. 40020 of 20 November 1953, pp. 6240 ff.
- ^ "Ceylon's Democracy Faces New Test in Wake of Strife; Ceylon's Democracy Confronts New Challenge in Wake of Strife". The New York Times. 13 July 1958. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Features". Priu.gov.lk. Archived from the original on 19 January 2004. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Sri Lanka – Land Tenure". Country-data.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Ceylon (Coins)". Archived from the original on 24 September 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ^ "No Ceylon Devaluation". The New York Times. 8 June 1966. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
- ^ "Establishment, Sri Lanka Army". Sri Lanka Army. Archived from the original on 26 March 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2006.
- ^ "Sergei de Silva-Ranasinghe looks back at the early days of the Sri Lanka Army". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
- ^ Sergei de Silva-Ranasinghe (2001). "An evolving army and its role through time". Plus. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
- ^ The Night of April 5th Archived 9 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Air Attack Archived 8 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Helitours Archived 18 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine