65-460: The Ceylon Civil Service , popularly known by its acronym CCS , was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of the executive administration of the country to various degrees until Ceylon gained self-rule in 1948. Until it was abolished on 1 May 1963 it functioned as
130-804: A new constitution was agreed on, based on the behind-the-curtain lobbying of the Soulbury Commission. At the elections of 1947, the UNP won a minority of the seats in Parliament but cobbled together a coalition with the Sinhala Maha Sabha of Solomon Bandaranaike and the Tamil Congress of G.G. Ponnambalam. The successful inclusions of the Tamil-communalist leader Ponnambalam, and his Sinhala counterpart Bandaranaike were
195-520: A partly elected assembly, and not until 1920 that elected members outnumbered official appointees. Universal suffrage was introduced in 1931, over the protests of the Sinhalese, Tamil and Burgher elite who objected to the common people being allowed to vote. Sivasundaram argues, reinforcing the analysis first made by famed local historian, G.C. Mendis in his book, Ceylon Under the British , that
260-549: A remarkable political balancing act by Senanayake. However, the vacuum in Tamil Nationalist politics created by Ponnamblam's transition to a moderate opened the field for the Tamil Arasu Kachchi, a Tamil sovereignist party (rendered into English as the "Federal" party) led by S. J. V. Chelvanaykam, the lawyer son of a Christian minister. The multiracial population of Ceylon was numerous enough to support
325-550: A special relationship with Britain. Meanwhile, the Marxists, identifying the war as a sideshow between rival empires and desiring a proletarian revolution , chose a path of agitation disproportionate to their negligible combat strength and diametrically opposed to the "constitutionalist" approach of Senanayake and other Ethnic Sinhalese leaders. A small garrison on the Cocos Islands , crewed by Ceylonese, attempted to expel
390-423: A staple of the British market, bringing great wealth to a small class of European tea planters. To work the estates, the planters imported large numbers of Tamil workers as indentured labourers from south India, who soon made up 10% of the island's population. These workers lived in harsh conditions and were accommodated in line rooms , not very different from cattle sheds. The British colonial government favoured
455-526: A total population of 2.8 million, consisting of 1.8 million Sinhalese; 687,000 Ceylon and Indian Tamils; 185,000 Moors; as well as 4,800 Europeans; 17,900 Burghers and Eurasians; 8,900 Malays; 2,200 Veddhas; and 7,500 other. The Censuses of 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 had shown Ceylon Tamils and Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka grouped together. By 1911 Indian Tamils were shown as a separate category. The population statistics reveal that by 1911, Indian Tamils constituted 12.9%, whereas Sri Lankan Tamils formed 12.8% of
520-484: A very large number of applicants were selected into the Cadet grade by open competitive examination from graduates with first class honours degrees, between the ages of 22 and 24 with the rare exception made for those with war time service following the world wars. The selected were classed as cadets and trained on public administration. Designated as Unpassed Cadets they would receive job experience with rotation, serving in
585-729: A workable solution that would allow for inter-communal differences. This was replaced by the Soulbury Commission proposals that led to the Dominion of Ceylon of 1948–1972, after which the Free, Sovereign and the Independent Republic of Sri Lanka was established. The Ceylon Defence Force (CDF) was the military of British Ceylon. Established in 1881 as the Ceylon Volunteers, as the military reserve in
650-719: Is a court of first instance headed by a magistrate who is vested with original criminal jurisdiction. Originally known as police magistrate's courts, current magistrate's courts are established under the Judicature Act, No. 2 of 1978 to each judicial division in Sri Lanka. The Minister in charge of the subject of Justice in consultation with the Chief Justice and the President of the Court of Appeal would define
715-584: Is an important legal document because it specifies the conditions which the British promised for the Kandyan territory. It took the ruling families of Kandy less than two years to realise that the authority of the British government was a fundamentally different one to that of the (deposed) Nayakkar dynasty. Soon the Kandyans rebelled against the British and waged a guerrilla war. Discontent with British activities soon boiled over into open rebellion, commencing in
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#1732765476992780-784: Is vested in the Magistrate's Court to impose higher penalties by special provision. Appeals from convictions, sentences or orders of Magistrate's Courts within a Province lie to the High Court of the Province. In judicial divisions which does not have primary courts , magistrate's courts exercise the jurisdiction of the Primary Courts. All magistrates are appointed by the Judicial Service Commission , which has power of dismissal and disciplinary control of
845-597: The Dutch captain Joris van Spilbergen landed, the king of Kandy appealed to him for help. In 1669, the British sea captain Robert Knox landed by chance on Ceylon and was captured by the king of Kandy . He escaped 19 years later and wrote an account of his stay. This helped to bring the island to the attention of the British. The island attracted the attention of the newly formed Dutch Republic when they were invited by
910-625: The Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Ceylon and its Dependencies from 1931 to 1948, was the British Crown colony of present-day Sri Lanka between 1796 and 4 February 1948. Initially, the area it covered did not include the Kingdom of Kandy , which was a protectorate, but from 1817 to 1948 the British possessions included
975-497: The Portuguese : Lourenço de Almeida arrived in 1505, finding the island divided into seven warring kingdoms and unable to fend off intruders. The Portuguese founded a fort at the port city of Colombo in 1517 and gradually extended their control over the coastal areas. In 1592 the Sinhalese moved their capital to the inland city of Kandy , a location more secure against attack from invaders. Intermittent warfare continued through
1040-712: The Second Boer War and both World Wars . It is the predecessor to the Ceylon Army . Trincomalee Harbour was an important strategic base for the British Royal Navy until 1948, primarily to control the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean . 7°N 80°E / 7°N 80°E / 7; 80 Magistrate%27s Courts of Sri Lanka The magistrate's courts in Sri Lanka
1105-496: The caste system , and claimed that the protection of Tamil rights requires the Tamils (45% of the population in 1931) having an equal number of seats in parliament to that of the Sinhalese (about 72% of the population). This "50-50" or "balanced representation" policy became the hallmark of Tamil politics of the time. Ponnambalam also accused the British of having established colonization in "traditional Tamil areas", and having favoured
1170-517: The 16th century. Many Lowland Ceylonese were forced to convert to Christianity while the coastal Moors were religiously persecuted and forced to retreat to the Central highlands while some of them desired to leave the country. The Buddhist majority disliked Portuguese occupation and its influences and welcomed any power who might rescue them and defeat the Portuguese. In 1602, therefore, when
1235-669: The Board where the Chief Secretary, Treasury Secretary and the Legal Secretary. The Chief Secretary , as did his predecessor the Colonial Secretary had complete control over the public services. By this time, Ceylonese were admitted to the service which had previously been limited to Europeans. The Soulbury Constitution in 1947, brought about self-rule with full power being vested in the legislator and making
1300-791: The British Crown colony of Ceylon, by 1910 it grew into the Ceylon Defence Force, a regular force responsible for the defence of Ceylon. The CDF was under the command of the General Officer Commanding, Ceylon , of the British Army in Ceylon if mobilised. However, mobilisation could be carried out only under orders from the Governor . The Ceylon Defence Force has seen action in a number of wars such as
1365-531: The British Empire in the war, with Lord Louis Mountbatten using Colombo as his headquarters for the Eastern Theater. Oliver Goonatilleka successfully exploited the markets for the country's rubber and other agricultural products to replenish the treasury. Nonetheless, Sinhalese continued to agitate for independence and Sinhalese sovereignty, using the opportunities offered by the war to establish
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#17327654769921430-416: The British used geographical knowledge to defeat the Kandyan holdouts in the mountainous and jungle areas in the centre of Ceylon. They used local informants and British surveyors to map the island, and then built a network of roads to open the central region. This made possible export production of plantation agriculture, as well as tighter military control. With its trading ports of Trincomalee and Colombo,
1495-523: The British would allow him to retain power. The Kandyan treaty which was signed in 1815 was called the Kandyan Convention and stated the terms under which the Kandyans would live as a British protectorate. The Buddhist religion was to be given protection by the Crown , and Christianity would not be imposed on the population, as had happened during Portuguese and Dutch rule. The Kandyan Convention
1560-636: The British. It has been claimed that the LSSP had some hand in the action, though this is far from clear. Three of the participants were the only British Subject Peoples to be shot for "mutiny" during World War II. Sri Lankans in Singapore and Malaysia formed the 'Lanka Regiment' of the Indian National Army . The constitutionalists, led by D. S. Senanayake, (the first prime minister) succeeded in winning independence. The Soulbury constitution
1625-581: The Buddhists by the Buddhist temporalities act. The Soulbury Commission rejected these submissions by Ponnambalam, and even noted their unacceptable communal character. Sinhalese writers pointed out the large immigration of Tamils to the southern urban centres, especially after the opening of the Jaffna-Colombo railway. Meanwhile, Senanayake, Baron Jayatilleke, Oliver Gunatilleke and others lobbied
1690-810: The Ceylon Civil Service answerable to Parliament. The civil service was made up of several grades, appointments to these grades will be made by the Public Service Commission ; The formally the Chief Secretary of the Government of Ceylon was the head of the CCS, since 1948 this functioned was carried out by the Secretary to the Treasury. Senior appointments such as department heads and government agents were made from members of
1755-665: The Ceylon Civil Service as officials. Most of these were CCS officers including Colonial Secretary and Colonial Treasure. Government Agents were appointed from senior CCS officers to administrate each province. The Donoughmore Constitution in 1931, replaced the Legislative Council and the Executive Council with the State Council of Ceylon and its Board of Ministers. Three of the Secretaries of
1820-542: The Class I. The senior most officers of the CCS were appointed as Permanent Secretaries , however they would leave the CCS for the duration of the appointment. Admission to the service was made from the grades of Cadet and Class III . In the early days, the CCS was staffed by Europeans, members of the British Civil Service and only later were Ceylonese admitted. Only six (or in some years only one) out of
1885-649: The Class II, junior officers had to undertake a second efficiency bar exam and interview. Officers of the General Clerical Service with about twenty years of service were selected to be appointed to the Class III. They would serve as Personal Assistants or Office Assistants, retiring from public service in the grade of Class III, CCS. This ensured that the top administrative positions during the colonial-era and top non-elected government positions in
1950-522: The European colonists; the Portuguese and the Dutch offspring of the past 440 odd years of colonial history was large enough to run a stable government. Unlike the previous rulers, the British embarked on a plantation programme which initially brought coffee plantations to the island. These were later wiped out by coffee rust . Coffee plants were replaced by tea and rubber plantations. This made Ceylon one of
2015-526: The Senanayake government to secure the independence of Sri Lanka. The shrewd cooperation with the British as well as diverting the needs of the war market to Ceylonese markets as a supply point, managed by Oliver Goonatilleke, also led to a very favourable fiscal situation for the newly independent government. During World War II, Sri Lanka was a front-line British base against the Japanese. Opposition to
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2080-561: The Sinhalese King to fight the Portuguese. It was in 1639 that the Dutch attacked in earnest but ended with an agreement (which was disrespected by both parties), and not until 1656 that Colombo fell. By 1660 the Dutch controlled the whole island except the kingdom of Kandy. The Dutch (who were Protestants) persecuted the Catholics (the left-over Portuguese settlers) but left the Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims alone. However, they taxed
2145-496: The Soulbury Commission without confronting them officially. The unofficial submissions contained what was to later become the draft constitution of 1944. The close collaboration of the D. S. Senanayake government with the war-time British administration led to the support of Lord Louis Mountbatten . His dispatches and a telegram to the Colonial office supporting Independence for Ceylon have been cited by historians as having helped
2210-471: The State Council, N.M. Perera and Philip Gunawardena , were aided in this struggle by Colvin R. de Silva , Leslie Goonewardene , Vivienne Goonewardene , Edmund Samarakkody and K. Natesa Iyer . They also demanded the replacement of English as the official language by Sinhala and Tamil. The Marxist groups were a tiny minority and yet their movement was viewed with grave suspicion by the British administration. The concerted (but ineffective) attempts to rouse
2275-690: The coastal provinces and the former Kingdom of Kandy were merged and administration formed into one. Thus a central civil service, known as the Ceylon Civil Service was formed in 1833 to handle the administration of the island under the directive of the Governor. As per the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission, the Executive Council of Ceylon and the Legislative Council of Ceylon were formed. Each had members of
2340-541: The colony was one of the very few sources of cinnamon in the world. The spice was extremely valuable, and the British East India Company began to cultivate it in 1767, but Ceylon remained the main producer until the end of the 18th century The laying of the railway was carried out during the Governorship of Sir Henry Ward . Other major works of the British include road-building projects and
2405-564: The constitutionalists led to the arrival of the Donoughmore Commission reforms (1931) and the Soulbury Commission recommendations, which essentially upheld the 1944 draft constitution of the Board of ministers headed by D. S. Senanayake . The Marxist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), which grew out of the Youth Leagues in 1935, made the demand for outright independence a cornerstone of their policy. Its deputies in
2470-688: The declaration of the republic in 1972 as the Sri Lankan Administrative Service which is now the main administrative service of the Government. The origins of the service dates back to 1798, when the Secretary of State for the Colonies appointed several officers to assist the British Governor of Ceylon in the administration of the coastal areas. After Ceylon became a crown colony in 1802, an advisory council
2535-405: The districts, in public corporations, ministries and being part of ministerial delegations travelling abroad. After completion of two years of service, they would face an efficiency bar exam and interview and be entitled to draw pay as Passed Cadet and will be entitled to appointed to the grade of Class II . The Public Service Commission on recommendation of the head of the CCS will appointed to
2600-431: The duchy of Uva in 1817, so-called the Uva Rebellion , also known as the Third Kandyan War. The main cause of the rebellion was the British authorities' failure to protect and uphold the customary Buddhist traditions, which were viewed by the islanders as an integral part of their lives. The rebellion, which soon developed into a guerrilla war of the kind the Kandyans had fought against European powers for centuries,
2665-471: The establishment of coffee and tea plantations, hospitals, and maternity homes. The Ceylon National Congress (CNC) was founded to agitate for greater autonomy. The party soon split along ethnic and caste lines. Prof. K. M. de Silva, the famous Peradeniya historian has pointed out that the refusal of the Ceylon Tamils to accept minority status to be one of the main causes which broke up the CNC. The CNC did not seek independence or "Swaraj". What may be called
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2730-547: The grade of Class II , Cadets entitled for promotion and officers from Class III which was a rarity. Cadets who failed to pass the efficiency bar exam in three years had their appointment from the CCS terminated. Officers of Class II would take up posts such as assistant secretary, assistant commissioner or assistant government agent. Their training included a certain degree of practical legal training and examination as most Cadets and Class II officers used to function as Police Magistrates or Magistrates . To maintain seniority in
2795-450: The hands of G. G. Ponnambalam who had rejected the "Ceylonese identity". Ponnamblam had declared himself a "proud Dravidian", and attempted to establish an independent identity for the Tamils. Ponnamblam was a politician who attacked the Sinhalese, and their historical chronicle known as the Mahavamsa . One such inflamed attack in Navalapitiya led to the first Sinhala-Tamil riot in 1939. Ponnambalam opposed universal franchise , supported
2860-513: The independence movement broke into two streams, viz., the "constitutionalists", who sought independence by gradual modification of the status of Ceylon, and the more radical groups associated with the Colombo Youth League, Labour movement of Goonasinghe, and the Jaffna Youth Congress. These organizations were the first to raise the cry of Swaraj, or outright independence, following the Indian example, when Jawaharlal Nehru , Sarojini Naidu and other Indian leaders visited Ceylon in 1926. The efforts of
2925-426: The independence struggle there. The movement in Ceylon was minuscule, limited to the English educated intelligentsia and trade unions, mainly in the urban centres. These groups were led by Robert Gunawardena, Philip's brother. In stark contrast to this "heroic" but ineffective approach to the war, the Senanayake government took advantage of the war to further its rapport with the commanding elite. Ceylon became crucial to
2990-446: The magistrates. Additional magistrates would be appointed to a magistrate's court. Magistrates would be seconded to municipal magistrate courts. The Chief Magistrates Court in Colombo is the senior of the magistrate's courts in the judicial division of Colombo. In remote areas where there are only one magistrate and/or additional magistrate, unofficial magistrates (known as acting magistrates ) would be appointed to site on behalf of
3055-488: The native Kingdom of Kandy a protectorate, an offer initially refused by the King of Kandy. Although the previous Dutch administration had not been powerful enough to threaten the reign of the Kandyan Kings, the British were much more powerful. The Kandyan refusal to accept a protectorate led eventually (1803) to the 1st Kandyan War , but was repulsed. In 1815 Kandy was captured in the Second Kandyan War , ending Ceylonese independence. The rule of King Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe
3120-401: The people far more heavily than the Portuguese had done. A mixed Dutch-Sri Lankan people known as Burgher people are the legacy of Dutch rule. In the late 18th century the Dutch, weakened by their wars against Great Britain , were conquered by Napoleonic France , and their leaders became refugees in London. No longer able to govern their part of the island effectively, the Dutch transferred
3185-404: The permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that assisted the Government of Ceylon. Many of the duties of the CCS were taken over by the much larger Ceylon Administrative Service (CAS) which was created absorbing all executive management groups such as the CCS officers and the Divisional Revenue Officers' Service, was to be established with five grades. It was renamed following
3250-533: The population of 4,106,400; in 1921, 13.4% and 11.5%; in 1931, 15.2% and 11.3%, and in 1946, 11.7% and 11.0% respectively. The censuses show that during a large period of time in the history of Ceylon, Indian Tamils outnumbered Ceylon Tamils until between 1971 and 1981 when more than 50 per cent of the Indian Tamil population were repatriated as Indian citizens back to India. However, many Indian Tamils were also granted Sri Lankan citizenship whereupon declared themselves as Sri Lankan Tamils. Between 1796 and 1948, Ceylon
3315-429: The post-independence era were held by the best available candidates who were well trained and experienced. This was very important since the appointments were permanent. The officers of the CCS therefore commanded a high level of respect and considered themselves elite, a situation which has continued into the early 21st century. When the CCS was abolished its officers were taken in to the Ceylon Administrative Service ,
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#17327654769923380-415: The public against the British Raj in revolt would have led to certain bloodshed and a delay in independence. British state papers released in the 1950s show that the Marxist movement had a very negative impact on the policy makers at the Colonial office. The Soulbury Commission was the most important result of the agitation for constitutional reform in the 1930s. The Tamil leadership had by then fallen into
3445-464: The richest countries in Asia. The British also brought Tamils from British India and made them indentured labourers in the Hill Country. This was in addition to the several hundred thousand Tamils already living in the Maritime provinces and another 30,000 Tamil Muslims . The linguistically bipolar island needed a link language and English became universal in Ceylon. Censuses in Ceylon began in 1871 and continued every ten years. The 1881 census shows
3510-422: The rule of it to the British, although this was against the wishes of the Dutch residing there. The capture of the island immediately yielded £300,000 of money in goods, as well as the acquisition of the cinnamon plantations, making this a valuable venture. In 1803, as soon as Great Britain gained the European-controlled parts of Ceylon from the Dutch, they wanted to expand their new sphere of influence by making
3575-432: The semi-European Burghers, certain high- caste Sinhalese and the Tamils who were mainly concentrated to the north of the country while ignoring the other ethnic groups on the island. Nevertheless, the British also introduced democratic elements to Sri Lanka for the first time in its history. The Burghers were given some degree of self-government as early as 1833. It was not until 1909 that constitutional development began with
3640-462: The successor to the Ceylon Civil Service. The following posts were normally held by CCS officers: British Ceylon [REDACTED] Sri Lanka portal British Ceylon ( Sinhala : බ්රිතාන්ය ලංකාව , romanized: Britānya Laṃkāva ; Tamil : பிரித்தானிய இலங்கை , romanized: Biritthāṉiya Ilaṅkai ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then
3705-438: The suppression of the Uva Rebellion , the Kandyan peasantry was stripped of their lands by the Crown Lands (Encroachments) Ordinance No. 12 of 1840 (sometimes called the Crown Lands Ordinance or the Waste Lands Ordinance), a modern enclosure movement and reduced to penury. The British found that the uplands of Sri Lanka were very suited to coffee , tea and rubber cultivation, and by the mid-19th century Ceylon tea had become
3770-409: The territorial limits of each judicial division. At present there are 72 judicial divisions in Sri Lanka. It has jurisdiction of; Every magistrate's court is vested with original criminal jurisdiction (other than in respect of offences upon indictment in the High Court), and is ordinarily empowered to impose sentences up to a fine of Rs. 1,500 and/or 2 years rigorous/simple imprisonment unless power
3835-446: The war in Sri Lanka was orchestrated by Marxist organizations. The leaders of the LSSP pro-independence agitation were arrested by the Colonial authorities. On 5 April 1942, the Japanese Navy bombed Colombo, which led to the flight of Indian merchants, dominant in the Colombo commercial sector. This flight removed a major political problem facing the Senanayake government. Marxist leaders also escaped, to India, where they participated in
3900-528: The whole island of Ceylon, now the nation of Sri Lanka . The British Ceylon period is the history of Sri Lanka between 1815 and 1948. It follows the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom into the hands of the British Empire. It ended over 2300 years of Sinhalese monarchy rule on the island. The British rule on the island lasted until 1948 when the country regained independence following the Sri Lankan independence movement . Periodization of Sri Lanka history: The first Europeans to visit Ceylon in modern times were
3965-411: Was a British Crown colony. Although the British monarch was the head of state, in practice his or her functions were exercised in the colony by the colonial Governor, who acted on instructions from the British government in London. On the approach to self-government and independence, the Donoughmore Commission recommended the Donoughmore Constitution of 1931–1947, one of a series of attempts to create
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#17327654769924030-449: Was centred on the Kandyan nobility and their unhappiness with developments under British rule since 1815. However it was the last uprising of this kind and in the Uva Province a scorched earth policy was pursued, and all males between 15 and 60 years were driven out, exiled and killed. More than 10,000 Sinhalese were killed by British in the rebellion. The British Crown annexed the Kingdom of Kandy to British Ceylon in 1817. Following
4095-439: Was essentially what Senanayake's board of ministers had drafted in 1944. The promise of Dominion status, and independence itself, had been given by the Colonial office. The Sinhalese leader Don Stephen Senanayake left the CNC on the issue of independence, disagreeing with the revised aim of 'the achieving of freedom', although his real reasons were more subtle. He subsequently formed the United National Party (UNP) in 1946, when
4160-463: Was formed to assist the Governor, made up of the Colonial Secretary , Chief Justice , Commander of Troops and two other members. Colonial Secretary and the other two members where civil servants. Once the Kingdom of Kandy was taken over by the British in 1815, a British Resident Sir John D'Oyly was appointed along with a Board of Commissioners who were civil servants. Following the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission recommendations administration of
4225-405: Was not favoured by his chieftains. The king, who was of South Indian ancestry, faced powerful chieftains and sought cruel measures to repress their popularity with the people. A successful coup was organised by the Sinhala chiefs in which they accepted the British Crown as their new sovereign. This ended the line of the kingdom of Kandy and King Rajasinghe was taken as a prisoner, ending his hope that
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