Radala
Radala refers to a small minority group in
Radalas often refer to themselves as the
History
Kandyan Kingdom
The offspring of Kandyan Kings from
The traditional Kandyan Radala of the past had considered themselves to be an exclusive caste and not part of the Govigama caste. Bryce Ryan observed as recently as 1953 that Radalas repudiated Govi connections and that the status of the Govi caste still remains relatively low in villages where the Radala existed (Caste in Modern Ceylon, page 99). The demand by the Kandyan Radala elite for a separate federal state in independent Ceylon, the representations made to the Donoughmore Commission and the formation of the Kandyan National Assembly (KNA) as recently as in 1924 demonstrates the reluctance of the Kandyan elite to be governed by arriviste low country Govigama families of dubious ancestry, which was to be the inevitable outcome of the British departure.
The Radalas as a community had significant power over the throne of Kandy. This was the case as the last Nayakar King of Kandy, Sri Wickrema Rajasinha lost his throne soon after losing the military and administrative support of the Radalas for his cruelty towards his subjects, and for his licentious forced affairs with their wives and daughters.
The British Radalas
After capturing the Kandyan provinces in 1815, the British soon created an extensive class of 'New Radalas' in the Kandyan territory to assist them with its administration. As much as the British created class of
They were all from anglicised families and were considered pillars of the
Many of these 'New Radala' families had low-country origins and many intermarried with the anglicized low country
They generally held 'Rate Mahattaya' or local administrator positions and had studied under leading Anglican Priests at the
However, the descendants of the original Kandyan Radalas rarely marry the descendants of British-made Radalas or any other Govigamas for that matter. If any of them do, those people and all their descendants are classified as lower-caste outcastes by the descendants of the original Radala community.
20th century
The marriage in 1910 to Kandyan 'New Radala'
Nilame
Nilame word referred to the court officials. The names of the officials were given according to their position in each dynasty. Due to the development of language and changes in requirements, the positions were changed and their names were changed. In the Kandyan dynasty, there are several officials in the court or "Raja wasala". They were Adigar and Dissava.[citation needed]
Banda
A Banda or Bandâra was the child of royal concubines of Nayaks of Kandy and descendants of Pandarams Desikar who came down to Sri Lanka from Tamil Nadu for service of Hindu temples. They were also considered the second class of Radala.
Patti
Patti Radala is a traditional caste of Herdsmen from Sri Lanka's feudal past. They were a part of the feudal land tenure system and a sub-caste of the Radala caste. Gopallawa, Kiridena, Kiri Ella, Panabokke, Walgama and many other names related to caws are common in this third class of the Patti Radala community.[7]
See also
References
- ^ S2CID 145188851. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ "The Mudaliyar Class of Ceylon" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
- JSTOR 25581749. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ Rösel, Jakob (2018-11-16). "Elites and Aristocracy in Colonial and Postcolonial Sri Lanka". Cultural Elites and Elite Cultures in South Asia. 48 (1–2). Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ Fernando, A. Denis N. (1986). "ANCIENT MAPS OF SRI LANKA—as a Primary Source of Information for the Study of HUMAN SETTLEMENTS AND POLITICAL BOUNDARIES". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Sri Lanka Branch. 31: 82–114.
- ^ Vimaladharma, Kapila Pathirana (2000). "FAMILY GENEALOGIES IN THE STUDY OF PRE-COLONIAL KANDYAN SOCIETY AND POLITY". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka. 45: 93–128.
- ^ https://www.jstor.org/stable/43483605. "Patti". www.jstor.org.
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- Wright Arnold 1907 Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon
- Van Sandan J C The Chieftains of Ceylon