Ethnicity and Early Political Representation in Colonial Ceylon

Abstract

For several years, the choices dictating the representation of local communities in Ceylon went unspoken, before becoming explicitly ethnicized. The Ceylon Legislative Council, established in 1833, would by the end of the decade have a ‘Sinhalese’, ‘Tamil’ and ‘Burgher’ representative, in addition to several European members. Yet such ethnic categorisations were not foregone conclusions at the time the Council was set up. In fact, it was a divergence from political developments in India, where religion was foregrounded by the British. In this paper I explore the debates surrounding the appointment of ‘natives’ to the Legislative Council, which took place across Colombo and London. Though this approach prioritises ‘political’ colonial agency, it also highlights the various tensions that existed at the local level within and across ethnic communities, including caste, religious and linguistic divisions. Thus, it also demonstrates the extent to which the colonisers responded to and accommodated indigenous agency. The paper also focuses on exclusions and marginalisations, especially those groups that were not granted separate representation, and offers insights on how they fought back in terms of renegotiating their identities with both the colonial state and with other communities. Indeed, the paper ends with an exploration of other colonial institutions such as the census and commissions, through which new identities coalesced and were asserted.