KAMALIKA PIERIS

The ‘Races’ of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) were invented by the British when they ruled our country. Until the British came, there were no races or ethnic divisions in Sri Lanka, as we know them today. The ‘ethnic groups’ we are saddled with today, are bogus ones created by the British rulers. The British invented three bogus races,   ‘Sinhala’, ‘Ceylon Tamil’ and ‘Ceylon Moor’. The word ‘Sinhala’ which denoted the whole population was now reduced to the status of a ‘race’.  

Before British rule, the island was known as Sinhaladeepa’, the citizens were known as ‘Sinhala’ and the unique language developed in the island was also named ‘Sinhala’. The word ‘Sinhala’ denotes a nationality, not a race. The Sinhala sovereign state was an assimilative one that absorbed immigrants who came to the island.

The Sinhala language has no separate word for ‘race’. Historian RALH Gunawardana said he found it difficult to find a satisfactory equivalent for the word ‘race’ n Sinhala.  The Sinhala term “jati/jatiya” was adopted for ‘nation,’ ‘caste’ and ‘race’ depending on the context.  

‘Race ‘is a concept invented in Europe and heavily used by the west in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Colonial rulers introduced the idea to the colonies. In Sri Lanka the British   introduced the notion of race into its    Census of 1871. This was the first complete population census   of Ceylon. Race appeared for the first time in this census.  Race was included in every Census thereafter including the last one in 2012.

The Sinhala, Tamil and Moor races were officially recognized for the first time in 1871.  The proportions in the Census of 1871 were Sinhalese 69.40%, Tamils 22.21% and Moor 6.79%.  By 1881, the   races listed were Low country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese, Ceylon Tamils, Indian Tamils, Ceylon Moor, Indian Moor, Malay, Veddah and Burgher. These became the census categories from 1881 onwards. (Denham Census of Ceylon of 1911 p 195)

The idea of race became further entrenched when In 1886 R Virchow and the brothers CF and PB Sarasin identified three physical types in Sri Lanka, Sinhala, Tamil, and Veddah.

These race categories were imposed on the population. In the 1871 Census, the Census official left the form   with the head of the house to fill in, with a list of races to choose from.

These three bogus races, Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim (Moor) violate the main principle of classification, which is to classify by one single criterion. You classify according to one attribute at a time such as age, weight, or height.  You do not say A weighs 6 kilos, B is 6 feet tall and C is 6 years old. That is known as cross classification.

Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim,( Moor) groups are based on cross classification., Tamils are classified according to language,  Moors according to religion,  Sinhalese according to origin. This is a ridiculous, absurd classification. It should be discarded.

the criteria  used for these races have been questioned. In 1945, Jennings had pointed out that the Sinhalese and Tamils were  language groups and not races. Muslims are not a race  either, observed analysts. They are a religious group, If we recognize them as a political category, then we must recognize Buddhists, Hindus and  Christian also  as political categories.

I do not know how legal these categories are. I do not think they have ever been tested in a court of law. But when a birth is registered, ‘Race’ is included. The present day Birth Certificate, has a cage for ‘Race’ and  it is compulsory to fill it in. There is an official list to select from. The Registrar General’s Department  can make alterations in name and marital status, but they cannot make changes in race. 

 In 1975 or so, Registrar  General’s office was given a list of  approved races”  as well as a list of  the  terms which cannot be  included for ‘race’ such as ‘brahmin’.   In 1990 there was a discussion in Parliament, to delete the category of Race” and replace it with the nationality , Sri Lankan”  but this did not become law.

The ‘Ceylon Tamil’ and ‘Ceylon Moor’ are descendants of Tamil immigrants from India .The ‘Ceylon Tamil’  consisted of the Tamil speaking, low caste, landless, agricultural labor arriving in Dutch and British  times from Tamilnadu. The ‘Ceylon Moor’ or Muslims were  also from India.  Low caste Indians had  converted to Islam during  the period of Muslim rule in India. the Ceylon Moor probably came from Tamilnadu, since they speak Tamil today.

Isolated Muslim grave stones were  found in Sri Lanka  in the pre-colonial period. This is greeted with enthusiasm as evidence of Muslim influence. That is not so. A  Muslim settlement would be accompanied by a Muslim burial ground with lots of burials in it. Isolated burial stones indicate that  that there were no  permanent, sizeable Muslim settlements in the island at that time. These Muslims were probably a migrant group engaged in the carrying trade, with residential bases on the coast,  such as Beruwela and Galle.

When the Portuguese expelled the Muslim traders from the south, they went to King Senerat (1604-35) in Udarata kingdom and told him that they had nowhere to go, which means they were not a settled population in the island even then. Senerat sent them to settle in the Eastern province. This is the first known permanent settlement of Muslims. 

The British  also  gave a new set of provinces to the island.  In 1833 They  t created five large provinces in north, east, west, south and centre. these became the present day Northern, Eastern, Western, Southern and Central provinces. Northwestern province was created from these in 1845, North central in 1873, Uva in 1886 and Sabaragamuwa in 1889.

The British then allocated their invented ‘races’ into the invented ‘provinces’. Every province and district was enumerated in            terms of ‘race’. Majority communities were declared for each an administration division.  In 1911, the Sinhalese were  allocated the Central province, the Tamil were given the north and east and the Moors got the Puttalam district. (Denham p 195)

In 1950, the UNESCO statement, “The Race Question“, signed by some of the internationally renowned scholars of the time (including Ashley Montagu, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Gunnar Myrdal, Julian Huxley, etc.), suggested that: it would be better when speaking of human races to drop the term ‘race’ altogether and speak of ‘ethnic groups’.”

An ‘ethnicgroup’ was defined as a group that shared a distinct culture, religion or language, which differed from the other groups living close by.  Critics point out  that the ethnic groups that appear in the national census of former colonies are the same old categories invented by their European rulers earlier.   ( continued)