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An island (266 1/2 miles long and 140 1/2 miles broad), to the south-east ofIndia and separated from it only by a chain of reefs and sand-banks called Adam's Bridge. The maritime districts, which are flat and low, are distinguished from the central parts, which are mountainous, by great difference in temperature. The mean temperature has been calculated at 76.3 degrees, the lowest being 28.2 degrees at Newera Eliya, and the highest 103.8 degrees at Anuradhapura, the ancient sacred capital of the island. The climate of Ceylon influenced by two monsoons: the southwest prevailing from May to September, and the northeast from November to February. Pidurutalagala (8296 ft.) is the highest mountain, and Adam's Peak (7353 ft.) is the best known, as containing the legendary footprints ofBuddha worshipped byBuddhists andMohammedans alike, and as yearly resort of a multitude ofpilgrims. The country is well watered by rivers of which the Kelani-ganga enters the sea atColombo, the capital of the island, and the Mahaviliganga atTrincomalee. Ceylon is rich in vegetation and scenery, and as the traveller proceeds fromColombo to Kandy (the seat of the ancient kings) and thence to Newara Eliya, it presents a panorama of beauty. The country abounds in tropical fruits, such as pineapples, plantains, oranges, and mangoes and in such trees as ebony, satin, calamander, and ironwood. The plantations produce, principally, cocoanuts and cinnamon, tea, cinchona, cocoa, and, more recently, rubber. The most noted upcountry product formerly was coffee. This has given place to tea, Ceylon now being one of the chief tea-growing countries in the world. The island has from very ancient times been famous for its gems, of which the chief are sapphires, rubies, and cat's-eyes; the Gulf of Manaar on the northwest coast is the scene of the famous pearl fishery. Phumbago or graphite is the only mineral product of any importance. The animal kingdom is well represented in Ceylon, which has from olden times been renowned for its elephants.
Ceylon's history goes back to a remote past. Galle in the south of the island is by some believed to be the seaport of ancient Tarshish from which King Solomon drew his "ivory, apes, and peacocks". Under the name of Taprobane it was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Hence Milton's reference to Ceylon as "India's utmost isle, Taprobane". To the people ofIndia, however, it was "Lanka', the resplendent, a name still in use. It is celebrated in the great epic, the "Ramayana" in which is related the story of theabduction of the Indian princess Sita by Ravena, King of Ceylon, and of thewar which followed in consequence. We pass from legend to actual history at about the year 543 B.C. when Wijeya, a prince of NorthernIndia, invaded Ceylon and conquered the natives known asYakkos and, having married the native princess Kuveni, settled in the country with his 700 followers. Wijeya was son of King Sihabahu, "the slayer of the lion" (siha orsinha), hence the name "Sinhalese", given to the people of Ceylon. The Sinhalese (Cingalese) being thus the descendants of the Wijeyan settlers belong to the Aryan stock, and their language and customs bear out this origin. The wild men of Ceylon, known as the Veddas, "hunters", who inhabit a small area in the remote interior of the island and live principally by the bow and arrow, are the representatives of the aboriginal inhabitants whom Wijeya subdued. The Wijeyan dynasty was not allowed undisputed sway in Ceylon, for from the third century B.C. Tamil princes from SouthernIndia made incursions into Ceylon, while at times the tide of invasion was rolled back intoIndia by the much-harassed Sinhalese. The Sinhalese kings most famous for success in their conflict with the Tamils, as well as for the internal development of the country during their reigns, were Dutugemunu (200 B.C.), Gajabahu (100 B.C.), and Prakramabahu (A.D. 1150). The ancient capital of the Sinhalese kings was Anuradhapura, whose splendour is even now attested by its vast ruins. In the eighth century it was transferred Polonnaruwa, which was soon abandoned to the conquering Tamils. The seat of government was thence shifted to various places, until in the fifteenth century it was finally fixed atKandy, now the second city of the island and famous for theBuddhist temple known as the "Dalada Maligawa", the repository of the tooth-relic ofBuddha. During this period of trouble the trade of the country fell principally into the hands of theArabs. Many of these formidable warriors settled in the maritime parts of the island their tradinginstincts are inherited by their descendants, generally known as "Moors"; with accretions from their co-religionists of the neighbouring continent they form theMohammedan community of Ceylon.
It was in the beginning of the sixteenth century that modernEurope first came in contact with Ceylon. In 1505 a Portuguese fleet, while operating in the Indian seas againstArab traders, touched accidentally atGalle on the southern coast; in 1517 thePortuguese re-appeared and with the consent of the Sinhalese king established a factory atColombo. ThePortuguese having begun as traders soon made themselves political masters of the entire sea-board, forts were established, andEuropean civilization was introduced. In 1658 thePortuguese were driven out by their rivals theDutch, who then added Ceylon to their East Indian possessions. The descendants of theDutch, being the product of intermarriage with thePortuguese and the natives, constitute the "Burgher" community of Ceylon. The English first cast their eyes upon Ceylon in 1782 during thewar withHolland, when a British force reduced and took possession ofTrincomalee, which was, however, soon retaken by the French and restored to theDutch. But in 1795 an appeal came to the British from the Sinhalese king was then maintaining all unequal contest againstDutch aggression, and in 1796 theDutch were overcome by the British forces and yielded Ceylon toEngland; the cession was formally confirmed by the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. The English had thus succeeded thePortuguese and theDutch in the possession of the maritime districts of the island, but the central provinces were still under the feeble rule of the Sinhalese king who reigned atKandy. The king was out of favour with his subjects on account of his cruelty and misgovernment, and at the request of the disaffected chiefs a British force was dispatched to Kandy in 1815. King Sri Wickrama Sinha was takenprisoner and the Kandyan provinces were added to the British Crown which has since held the sovereignty of the whole of Ceylon. What may be called the indigenous population of Ceylon comprises various races; to which must be added theEuropean residents either in the employ of the Government or engaged in commerce or industries, and the Indian immigrants, some of whom carry on a petty trade, but who in their larger number constitute the labour-supply of the island. The chief native races are: (1) the Sinhalese, consisting of the low-country Sinhalese and the up-country or Kandyan Sinhalese; (2) the Tamils, inhabiting chiefly the Northern and Eastern Provinces; 3) theMoors; (4) the Burghers. According to the decennial census of 1901 the total population of Ceylon was 3,565,954 distributed according to nationality as follows: Sinhalese, 2,330,807; Tamils, 951,740;Moors, 228,034; Burghers, 23,482;Europeans, 6,300; others, 25,591. The last includes the Veddas of Ceylon (3971) who are gradually disappearing.
Ceylon has the distinction of being the premier Crown Colony ofEngland. It is accordingly under the direct control of the Secretary of State for the Colonies whose authority, subject to the will of the Sovereign and the Imperial Parliament, is supreme. The local administration is vested in a Governor assisted by an executive council and a legislative council. The executive council is an advisory board and consists of the colonial secretary, the officer commanding the military forces, the attorney-general, the auditor-general, and the treasurer. The legislative council whose president is the governor comprises the members of the executive council and twelve other members, of whom four are official and eight unofficial. The unofficial members who are nominated by the governor, subject to the approval of the secretary of state, represent (1) the low-country Sinhalese; (2) the Kandyan Sinhalese; (3) the Tamils; (4) theMoors, (5) the Burghers; (6) theEuropean merchants; (7) theEuropean planters, and (8) the generalEuropean community. The unofficial members are supposed to be selected in accordance with the wishes of the respective communities, though this is not often the case, except in regard to the mercantile and planter members whose selection is practically left to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Ceylon Planter's Association respectively. The members of the legislative council may speak and vote on all questions brought forward; still not only are the official members in the majority but they are bound to vote for the Government in matters of policy, whatever their private opinions may be. For administrative purposes Ceylon is divided into provinces, of which there are now nine viz.: the Western, Central, Northern, Southern, Eastern, North-Western; North Central, Uva, and Sabaragamuwa, each of which is presided over by a superior officer called the Government agent. Other important departments are those of the director of public works, the surveyor-general, the principal collector of customs, the registrar-general of lands, the principal civil medical officer, and the director of public instruction. The civil service is recruited inEngland by means of a competitive examination which is open to all British subjects including Ceylonese; a limited number of Iocally-bornpersons appointed by the governor form a subordinate service, while the minor officers in theclerical service are partly selected by competitive examination and partly nominated without examination. Colombo,Kandy, and Galle have municipal councils the members of which are partly elected by the rate-payers and partly nominated by the governor, and local boards are established in many smaller towns. An important part of the machinery of government in the country districts is the system of native headmen of various grades, who perform both revenue and policeduties under the direction of the Government agents or their assistants.
TheDutch, during the existence of their rule, had applied to Ceylon their admirable system oflaws known as the Roman-Dutch Law, and after the annexation of the country byEngland it was declared by proclamationdated 23 September, 1799, that the administration should thenceforth "be exercised according to thelaws and institutions that had subsisted under the ancient government of theUnited Provinces" ofHolland, subject to such deviations and alterations as might thereafter be enacted. Accordingly the Roman-Dutch Law became and has continued to be what may be called thecommon law of Ceylon but by various subsequent ordinances and other legislative enactments thislaw has been either repealed or modified. In addition to the generallaws applicable to the whole island, there are certain speciallaws or customs peculiar to certain communities in matters relating to inheritance, marriage and other personal questions. Thus theMoors are governed in such matters by their own customs, which conform more or less to the generalMohammedan law as found inKoran and the commentaries thereon. The Tamil inhabitants of the Jaffna peninsula, or what is now the Northern Province, have their customary code oflaws known as the "Thesawalamai" (customs of the country), and similarly the Kandyan Sinhalese observe their ancient customs, which they were allowed to retain by the Kandyan Convention made between the British and the chiefs on the annexation of the Kenyan provinces. These various systems oflaws are administered by a series of courts, viz: (1) the Supreme Court of Judicature, consisting of a chiefjustice and three puisne judges with unlimited criminaljurisdiction and an appellatejurisdiction with an ultimate appeal to His Majesty the King in civil cases above 5000 rupees in value; (2) District courts, with unlimited originalcivil jurisdiction and limited criminaljurisdiction; (3) Courts of Request, with limitedcivil jurisdiction, (4) Police courts, which are courts both of trial and of preliminary investigation for committal to the Supreme Court or District courts; (5) Gansabhawas, or village tribunals, which havejurisdiction over natives in regard to small civil claims and trivial offences, especially breaches of communal rules and in which the proceedings are conducted in the native language of the inhabitants.
In the eye of thelaw all marriages are civil contracts and may be contracted freely betweenpersons who are not within prohibited degrees of kindred or within the prohibited ages. The law now applicable generally in the island is the Ordinance No. 2 of 1895, under which a marriage may be entered into before the registrar of marriages after certain formalities as to previous notice of marriage and the issue of a certificate thereof, while marriage by special license is also provided for. But the ordinance so far recognizes theChristian views of marriage that according to it the parties holding the above-mentioned registrar's certificate as to notice may present themselves to aChristian minister and have theceremony performed in a place ofChristian worship. ln this case the minister is required to register the marriage in a book and to transmit a duplicate of the entry to the registrar ofmarriages, and the ordinance further provides that no minister shall be compelled to solemnize a marriage betweenpersons either of whom shall not be a member of the church denomination or body to which such minister belongs nor otherwise than according to the rules, customs, rites, and ceremonies of such church domination or body. An absolutedivorce can be obtained only bydecree of court after full inquiry and upon the ground either ofadultery or malicious desertion or incurable impotency at the time of marriage. The ordinance above mentioned does not apply to theMoors, who, as already indicated, are governed by theMohammedan law both as to marriage anddivorce, nor to the Kandyan Sinhalese, with regard to whom there is a special ordinance (No. 3, of 1873) which while abolishing their ancient custom of "associated marriages" or polyandry and in other respects giving effect to British public policy, makes provision for the contract of marriage and its dissolution in a manner more or less in conformity with ancient Kandyan sentiment, such as the liberty to dissolve marriage by mutual consent without the intervention of a court ofjustice. The main difference, however, between marriages generally and Kandyan marriages is that, while in regard to the former, registration is the best though not the onlyproof of marriage, thus admitting ofproofaliunde of an actual marriage or the presumption of a valid marriage from cohabitation and repute, registration is essential in the case of the latter. The system of caste prevails in Ceylon though not in such a vigorous form as inIndia, and while the contact with Western civilization has weakened social barriers in many respects, intermarriage between various castes does not take place to any applicable extent among the pure native population.
Theeducational system of Ceylon is as simple as it is efficient, and is controlled by the Department of Public Instruction. It comprises English, vernacular, and mixedschools, which are either Government or (with the exception of private unregisteredschools) "Grant-in-Aidschools". The Government maintains an English high school called the Royal College, having the standard of an English grammarschool. It maintains also a technicalschool mainly for the purpose of supplying the Government departments, and a trainingschool for teachers. The Grant-in-Aidschools belong to the missionary and other religious bodies, and receive yearly grants according to certain scales on the result of examinations in secular subjects held by Government inspectors. The system of payment by results has helped to solve the religious difficulty so often experienced in many other countries. The chief institutions belonging toreligious communities and having the same status as the Royal College are St. Thomas's College (Anglican), Wesley College (Wesleyan), St. Joseph's College (Catholic), and Ananda College (Buddhist). Ceylon forms a centre for theCambridge University local examinations, which are largely used aseducational tests. The Government also maintains a medical college whose diploma is a qualification for practising medicine. Law studies for the admission of advocates and proctors (solicitors) are under the control of a Council of Legal Education consisting of the judges of the Supreme Court and in number of members of the Bar. There is no special organization for the systematic prosecution of the study of Oriental languages and literature, but one at least of the templeschools conducted by theBuddhistpriesthood, in which Sanscrit and Pali are taught, receives a subsidy from the Government. According to the statistics published for 1905 the number of the Government andschools and the scholars was 554 and 70,715; and of the Grant-in-Aidschools, 1582 and 156,040.
The chiefreligions in Ceylon areBuddhism,Hinduism,Mohammedanism, andChristianity.Buddhism is professed by the great bulk of the Sinhalese population. Being first propounded by GautamaBuddha in Magadha in NorthernIndia in the sixth century B.C., it was introduced into Ceylon in the reign of the Sinhalese king became azealous convert and under his patronage the new religion spread rapidly among his subjects. Ceylon thus became a stronghold ofBuddhism, and it was here that theBuddhist scriptures were first reduced to writing in 88 B.C. The magnificent ruins ofdagobas andviharas in the ancient kings and people of Ceylon.Buddhism suffered much during the Tamilwars, with the further consequence that by reason of the contact thus brought about withIndia popularBuddhism received an admixture ofHinduism which is still traceable in thedevalas in which Kali and otherHindu gods are worshipped by theBuddhists. After the advent ofEuropeans to Ceylon and the consequent introduction of Western civilization,Buddhism lost much of its prestige just as it had previously lost much of its purity and activity. But within the last twenty-five years there has been a greatBuddhist revival, mainly due to the efforts of the Theosophical Society founded by Col. Olcott and Madame Blavatsky. Schools have sprung up,pride in the ancient religion has revived, and under the leadership ofeducatedBuddhists the masses have learned to resistChristian influences and have even shown a spirit of aggression. The large majority of the Tamil population areHindus, especially in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, and the form ofHinduism most in favour is Sivaism or the worship of Siva. Besides theMoors already mentioned a community of Malays, said to be descendants of the natives of Java imported into Ceylon during theDutch period and recruited by later immigrants from the Straits Settlements, professMohammedanism.
The first form ofChristianity in Ceylon was of courseCatholicism. The conversion ofheathens was part of the public policy of the Portuguese, and accordingly we find that in 1518 a number ofFranciscanfriars arrived in Ceylon and under the protection of thePortuguese Government, preached the Faith, and converted many thousands. We read of manychurches built and manymonasteries established within thePortuguese territories, and of the conversion of many even of noble and royal blood among the Sinhalese. Among the more notable converts was Prince Dharmapala, grandson of a Sinhalese king, who wasbaptized andcrowned king inLisbon in 1541 under the name of Don Juan and a reigned aChristian monarch in Ceylon from 1542 to 1597. About this time also took place the visit to Ceylon ofSt. Francis Xavier, the Apostle of the East, by whom large numbers were converted to the Faith, especially among the Tamils of the North.Catholicism progressed until it encountered the antagonism of theDutch who were all of theDutch Reformed Church and who made that form ofChristianity the established religion of the State. TheCatholic religion was proscribed during theDutch rule,penal laws were enacted, and theCatholics suffered severepersecution. Nevertheless the light of the Faith was not wholly extinguished and the practice of religion was continued especially through the exertions of missionaries from thePortuguese settlement ofGoa, who amidstpersecution and hardship ministered to theCatholic people and even converted manyheathens. A new era, however, dawned with the conquest of the island by theBritish Government which put in practice the principles of religious liberty, though theChurch of England became in turn the established form ofChristianity. The greater part of the "DutchChristians" among the natives were either absorbed by theAnglican Church or relapsed intoBuddhism, and at the present dayDutchPresbyterianism is represented only by a few hundredDutch descendants who are served by thePresbyterianministers fromScotland. TheChurch of England in Ceylon is governed by abishop who is suffragan to thebishop ofCalcutta. Theclergy consist of members of theChurch Missionary Society and of the sister Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. TheAnglican Church continued to be maintained by the Government till the year 1881 when by act of the local legislature it was disestablished and provision was made for the constitution of a synod, consisting ofclergy andlaity under the presidency of thebishop, for the regulation of its affairs, for the election of trustees to hold and administer itsproperty and funds. OtherProtestant bodies are: WesleyanMethodist mission, begun in 1814, it holds many important stations and does much foreducation: Baptist Missionary Society, first missionary landed in Ceylon in 1812; American Mission (Congregationalists), under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, whose work is confined to the Tamils of the Northern Province. The decennial census of 1901 gave the followingreligious statistics:Buddhists, 2,141,404;Hindus, 826,826;Christians, 349,239;Mohammedans, 246,188; others, 2,367. TheChristians were:Catholics, 287,119;Anglicans, 32,514; Presbyterians, 3337; WesleyanMethodists, 14,991; Baptists, 3309,Congregationalists, 2446. AuthenticCatholic statistics gave a total of 293, 929Catholics in 1904 and this number has since probably reached 300,000.
TheCatholicChurch, as the above figures show, is the largestChristian body in the island. As it was first in the field, so it has been the most fruitful in results. At thedate of the British occupation (1796) theCatholic population was only 50,000. At first Ceylon was under thejurisdiction of the PortugueseDiocese of Cochin with a localvicar-general. In 1834 it was erected into a separatevicariate Apostolic byPope Gregory XVI, and in 1845, as theCatholic were increasing in numbers, the island was divided into twovicariates Apostolic,Colombo and Jaffna, the former being entrusted to theBenedictine Congregation of theSilvestrines, and the latter to theOblates of Mary Immaculate. Again, in 1883, the central provinces of the island were separated fromColombo and constituted as thevicariate Apostolic ofKandy under the sameBenedictines, while Colombo was transferred to the Oblates. The year 1886 witnessed a notable development of theChurch in Ceylon, the Right Rev. C. Bonjean, O.M.I., being then theVicar Apostolic ofColombo, the Right Rev. C. Pagnani, O.S.B., theVicar Apostolic ofKandy, and the Right Rev. A. Melizan, O.M.I., theVicar Apostolic ofJaffna. In that year theHoly See by agreement with the Crown ofPortugal abolished the royal patronage which had been exercised in the East Indies from the time of thePortuguese domination, as a consequence, and in accordance with the needs of the time, theCatholichierarchy was established inIndia and Ceylon. Monsignor (afterwardscardinal) Agliardi was sent asdelegate Apostolic to put in force the new arrangements and on the 6th of January, 1887, thehierarchy was formally established in Ceylon, Bishop Bonjean being appointedArchbishop ofColombo, Dr. Pagnani,Bishop ofKandy and Dr. Melizan,Bishop ofJaffna. Further changes took place in 1893, when two newdioceses,Galle and Trincomalee, were formed from the Archdiocese ofJesuits of theBelgian province were placed in the former andJesuits of the French province in the latter with Fathers Van Reith, S.J. and Lavigne, S.J. as the firstbishops. These fivebishops have assisting them nearly 200priests, bothEuropean and native and the communities of Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the Sisters of the Holy Family, theFranciscannuns, Missionaries of Mary, theLittle Sisters of the Poor, and theSisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary, in charge of variousschools and institutions. Although Monsignor Agliardi was sent especially to establish thehierarchy, the Apostolic Delegation to the East Indies was intended to be permanent; accordingly when he departed in 1887 he was succeeded by Monsignor Aiuti, who in turn was succeeded in 1892 by Monsignor Ladislaus M. Zaleski, who took up his residence atKandy. At the same time theHoly See took steps to place theeducation and the supply of nativepriests in the East on a solid and more secure basis, and accordingly in 1893 a generalseminary was established byLeo XIII, which is conducted by professors of theSociety of Jesus atKandy, Ceylon, the students being of various nationalities and races, recruited from all parts of the East. TheCatholicbishops are on excellent terms with theBritish Government and are held in high esteem by the people of the island generally. Their legal status, however, was not quite assured in respect of succession toecclesiastical property though no practical difficulty was experienced; but the Supreme Court of Ceylon, having recently held that theCatholicbishops had no legal corporate capacity and could not therefore claim, merely by virtue of their office, title toproperty held by their predecessors, the legislature, in consequence of representations made to the Government on the subject, passed the Ordinance No. 19 of 1906, whereby theCatholicarchbishop andbishops, and their respective successors, appointed according to thelaws and usages of theCatholicChurch, are constituted corporations sole with perpetual succession, and with full power to acquire and hold all species ofproperty, and to sue or be sued in respect of suchproperty in all courts ofjustice. While theecclesiastical system of theChurch is thus complete, theCatholiclaity are not backward in respect to organization and public action, for in addition to various religious and social institutions they have formed an association representative of allCatholics under the name of "The Catholic Union of Ceylon", having for its object the protection and advancement ofCatholic interests. The general statistics for 1905 are:churches andchapels, 592;schools, 570, with 45,549 pupils;seminaries, 5, with 174 students (in the central or "Leonianum" Seminary atKandy there are 88);orphan asylums, 16, with 975orphans; 133Europeansecular priests, 43 nativepriests, and 288 religious (Oblates,Jesuits,Benedictines); and 430 sisters in the variouseducational andcharitable institutions.
APA citation.Sampayo, T.E.(1908).Ceylon. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03547c.htm
MLA citation.Sampayo, Thomas Edward de."Ceylon."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 3.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1908.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03547c.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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