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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TMMC.O. 882/10

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH---NOT TO

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(2) From Mr. B. G. de Glanville, Ceylon Civil Service, dated 22nd August, 1915.

1915.

(8) From Mr. C. V. Brayne, Ceylon Civil Service, dated 3rd September,

(4) From Mr. T. G. Willett, Ceylon Civil Service.

(5) From Mr. H. M.-M. Moore, Ceylon Civil Service, dated 2nd Septem- ber, 1915.

(6) From Mr. N. Izat, Ceylon Civil Service.

2. To these local reports I add an extract from the Ceylon Independent of to-day, which quotes a succinct and sensible opinion respecting a Sinhalese sugges- tion (not widely supported outside the lawyer class) for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the riots. The Sinhalese, who are a highly sensitive race, are astonish- ingly parochial in outlook, and smarting at the present time under the obloquy which they find their race has brought on itself by harrying the Moslems. For the wrongs of the latter they have never had any sympathy to spare, even in retrospect, and have even less now when they are being confronted with the bill for compensa- tion. I have not observed any conception by Sinhalese of the Imperial interests which, in India and elsewhere they might have jeopardised by their anti-Moham- medan crusade in Ceylon.

I have, &c.,

ROBERT CHALMERS,

Governor, &c.,

Enclosure 1 in No. 57.

REPORT ON THE RIOTS IN THE RATNApura DistrICT.

1. Preliminary-There are seven Korales in the Ratnapura District. The anti-Moorish disturbances were confined to five Korales, namely, the Kuruwiti and Nawadun Korales and to very small areas in the Meda, Atakalan, and Kukul Korales. There were no disturbances of any kind in the Kadawata and Kolonna Korales. This report deals particularly with the riots in the Kuruwiti and Kukul Korales, but, in discussing the origin and scope of the riots generally, the events in the other Korales have been taken into consideration. The investigation of the riots in the Nawadun, Atakalan, and Meda Korales was assigned to Mr. B. G. de Glan- ville, one of the Special Commissioners appointed to this Province.

2. The Riots. In the Ratnapura District rioting first commenced at Kiriella in the afternoon of 2nd June. Kiriella is a small village on the Nambepana road, about twelve miles from Ratnapura and eleven miles from Ingirisa, in the Kalutara District: The two shops looted at Kiriella were the best-stocked boutiques outside Ratnapura Town. The same evening rioting took place at Dumbara, on the borders of Kalutara District (where the estate cadday was looted), at Galatura, and three other isolated caddays, all in Kukul Korale, on the other side of the Kalu Ganga, but within easy reach of Nambepana road. On the night of the same day (2nd June) riots broke out in two villages, Minana and Walawita, on the Ratnapura-Avissawella road, which are a considerable distance from the Nambepana, but within a few miles from Avissawella. On the following day (3rd June) the boutiques in Mora- galla, Kendangomuwa, and Talawitiya, all fairly large villages on the Avissawella road, were looted, and about the same time the boutiques and houses on the Nambe pana road between Kiriella and Ratnapura were attacked.

3. In the course of the day an unsuccessful attempt was made to enter the towns of Kuruwita and Ratnapura, and it is believed that the ringleaders or instigators, realizing that these two towns were strongly guarded, made their way into Nawadun Korale. For it was in the afternoon of 3rd June that the boutiques on the road leading from Ratnapura to Rakwana and Balangoda were attacked by the Sinhalese mobs. On the night of the same day (3rd June) a serious riot, resulting in several casualties, occurred at Kahawatta, where a large crowd was caught in the act of dynamiting the mosque and was fired upon. After the 3rd June rioting took place only at a few isolated places, mostly off the main road. The last case of looting was on 6th June, at Kadawata, an inaccessible village in the Eratne wasama, half-way up the Peak route. Leaving aside the looting that took place in the isolated interior villages, the period during which the actual disturbances took place was about thirty-three hours, that is, from about 4.0 p.m. on 2nd June to midnight of 3rd June.

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4. A sketch map is annexed showing the communications in the district, the villages where riots took place, etc., and the defined character of the various riot

areas.

5. The Suppression of the Riots. In a report dealing mainly with the origin and scope of the riots a statement of the measures adopted to quell and suppress the riots may not be considered essential; but, as several large towns and bazaars were saved from the looters, I think it will not be out of place to refer briefly to these

measures.

6.

When the possibility of trouble was realized instant steps were taken to mobilize the Volunteers and enrol special constables. The main force was quartered in Ratnapura to protect the town and to serve as a base for sending reinforcements to outlying villages. European guards were also placed at Pelmadulla, Rakwana, Balangoda, and Kuruwita, under the command of the local Justice of the Peace. These local bases proved of the most valuable assistance. The absence of rioting and looting at Balangoda, Rakwana, and Kuruwita was due almost entirely to the presence of armed Europeans. In addition to the European Volunteers the Ceylon Light Infantry detachment and a number of native special constables were called out, and rendered much assistance in the town.

7. I desire here to express my appreciation, not only of the loyal and valuable assistance given by the European planters, who turned out to a man and were absent from their estates from ten to fourteen days, but also of the capable and timely action of my Office Assistant, Mr. A. N. Strong, and of the Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr. A. I. Sheringham, on whom devolved, during my absence in Kegalle District from 1st to 3rd June, all the work of mobilization and of making necessary arrangements for dealing with the riots. It was entirely due to their energy and excellent arrangements that Ratnapura Town escaped the looting with which it was undoubtedly threatened. Without this loyal and unstinted assistance from the planters I can say without hesitation that the damage in this district would have been considerably greater than it was, and that the large towns of Ratnapura, Balan- goda, and Rakwana would not have escaped the fate of the other villages.

8. Origin of the Riots.-The fact that only the property of Moors (including Sinhalese converts to Islamism) was looted forces one to the belief that the riots were the result of racial animosities, and one would expect to find indications of this state of ill-feeling months before the outbreak of the disturbances. In the Ratnapura District, however, Moors and Sinhalese have lived together in peace for generations, and, with the exception of the incidents to which I shall refer later, no extraordinary differences have arisen between the two people. Commercial rivalry no doubt exists, but in no greater degree than between the Sinhalese and Jaffna Tamil. At any rate, so far as I have been able to ascertain, it has never led to any outburst of feeling. Even in the gemming industry, in which the Moorman invariably plays a leading part, though the Sinhalese realize that the Moormen always get the best of the bargain, they have for generations recognized that they have no other means of disposing of their gems except by the agency of the Moormen. 9. In view of the subsequent events it will be interesting to recall certain local incidents which I think help to throw some light on the origin of the recent disturbances :-

(a) In March, 1914, a riot--not a serious one-took place at Balangoda, between the Moors and Sinhalese, regarding the question of beating tom-tom in front of a mosque. This riot occurred shortly after the judgment in the Gampola perahera case, and was conclusively proved to have been organized by the Moors, who up to that day had never raised any objection to the beating of tom-tom in peraheras passing by the mosque. This trouble was purely local and temporary, and, though the Moors were prosecuted, did not affect the relations of Moors and Sinhalese else- where in the district.

(b) About the end of March this year, at Ratnapura, during the height of the Peak pilgrimage, the Moors complained to the police that & street preacher, whilst addressing a crowd of Sinhalese (pilgrims and others), was using scurrilous and offensive words regarding their race The preacher, who was a low-country Sinhalese, was found in possession of some pamphlets (printed at the Maha Bodhi Press) which described in verse the present position of the Sinhalese and Moors. The pamphlets were seized and the preacher was sent away.

• Not sent to Colonial Office.