Salagama (Halagama, Haali or Chaliya) is originally a Brahmin caste, considered to be the highest caste in India, who reside in Sri Lanka. They later became cinnamon peelers' and are found mostly in Southern coastal areas, especially in the villages around Hikkaduwa and Balapitiya in Galle district and Negombo up to Chilaw. Although this community was traditionally associated with the cultivation of cinnamon, the very small groups in the Kandyan areas were more involved with weaving. The caste shares similarities with the Saliya, the weavers' caste, in Kerala and Karnataka in India. Saliyar is also the name of a weaving caste of Tamil nadu. Binomial name Cinnamomum verum J.Presl Cassia (Indonesian cinnamon) is also commonly called (and sometimes sold as) cinnamon. ... Hikkaduwa is a place on the south coast of Sri Lanka. ... The Temple of the Tooth in Kandy Kandy (මහ නුවර in Sinhala கண்டி in Tamil) is a city in the centre of Sri Lanka. ... Saliya (or Chaliyan or sali or sale) is a Malayali weavers caste found mostly in Northern Kerala and Southern coastal Karnataka. ... The Indian caste system is the traditional system of social division in the Indian Subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by a number of endogamous groups often termed as jātis. ... Kerala ( ; Malayalam: േകരളം; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... Karnātakā   (Kannada: ಕನಾ೯ಟಕ) (IPA: ) is one of the four southern states of India. ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ...

Origin

From Kerala

The Salagama have a myth of origin ascribing to them 'higher' caste roots. According to this myth Saliyas were of Brahmin origin and were brought across the sea from Malabar (i.e. Kerala) by ship. However, since they would 'lose caste' if they touched the water, they had to be carried ashore by members of the Govigama caste. A Brahmin (anglicised from the Sanskrit word IAST ; Devanagari ), also known as Vipra, Dvija, Dvijottama (best of the Dvijas), (god on Earth) is the highest caste in Indian caste system within Hindu society. ... Bekal Fort Beach, Kerala Malabar (Malayalam: മലബാര്‍ ) is a region of southern India, lying between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, and comprising the northern half of the state of Kerala. ... Kerala ( ; Malayalam: േകരളം; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ...

According to this tradition, a certain Sinhalese King offered handsome rewards to any person bringing skilled weavers to Sri Lanka. A Muslim of Beruwela made the voyage to Saliapatanam in India and returned with eight weavers of the Salagama caste. One variation of the tale states that the eight were drugged and bound and only realised that were being transported to a foreign country when they were at sea; According to a different variation, the eight were tricked aboard the ship in order to gamble, the ship sailing without their knowledge whilst play was in progress. Two of the victims are said to have jumped overboard and never been heard of again. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

The myth of Brahmin origin may have originated in Kerala, where the Saliya have a myth of similar origin . It is significant that in the Kandyan areas the Salagamas were identified as weavers (Wiyana Haali), which is the same as the Saliya in Kerala and Karnataka. Saliya (or Chaliyan or sali or sale) is a Malayali weavers caste found mostly in Northern Kerala and Southern coastal Karnataka. ... The Temple of the Tooth in Kandy Kandy (මහ නුවර in Sinhala கண்டி in Tamil) is a city in the centre of Sri Lanka. ... Saliya (or Chaliyan or sali or sale) is a Malayali weavers caste found mostly in Northern Kerala and Southern coastal Karnataka. ... Kerala ( ; Malayalam: േകരളം; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... Karnātakā   (Kannada: ಕನಾ೯ಟಕ) (IPA: ) is one of the four southern states of India. ...

From Tamil nadu

According to Jan Schreuder, an 18th century Dutch Governor of Ceylon, the Salagamas were weavers who were brought over from the Coromandel coast on the Tamil Nadu side as opposed to Kerala by Muslim merchants about 1250, but were forced to become cinnamon peelers by the King of Kotte in 1406. They were consequently considered to be on inferior social status. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... The following is a list of rulers of Ceylon since 505 BC. The main source for many of these monarchs are the chronicles of the island maintained by monks, known as the Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa, and the Chulavamsa. ... The Coromandel Coast is the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian peninsula. ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish: Müslüman, Persian and Urdu: مسلمان, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of Islam. ... // April 30 - King Louis IX of France released by his Egyptian captors after paying a ransom of one million dinars and turning over the city of Damietta. ... Binomial name Cinnamomum verum J.Presl Cassia (Indonesian cinnamon) is also commonly called (and sometimes sold as) cinnamon. ... District Kotte Division, Colombo District Mayor Swarnalatha Silva (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) Area    - City 17 km² Population (2001)  - City 115,826 ( 2001 census )  - Density 3,305/km²  - Metro 2,234,289 Time zone Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone (UTC+5:30) Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte, (ශ්‍රී ජයවර්ධනපුර කෝට්ටේ in Sinhala, ஸ்ரீ ஜயவர்த்தனபுரம் கோட்டே in Tamil), also known... Events Construction of Forbidden City begins in Beijing. ... Social status is the standing, the honour or prestige attached to ones position in society. ...

Colonial period

The Portuguese continues the tradition of using Salagamas as cinnamon peelers, who had to provide cinnamon as a tax, although they were paid daily wages in money or in kind. When the Dutch East India Company (VOC) took over the coastal areas, it re-organised cinnamon cultivation on modern capitalist lines, with plantations located within the boundaries of VOC rule, mainly in the Galle district. The Salagamas were converted from a feudal caste into a modern proletariat. Dutch colonial possessions, with the Dutch East India Company possessions marked in a paler green, surrounding the Indian Ocean plus Saint Helena in the mid-Atlantic. ... In economics, a capitalist is someone who owns capital, presumably within the economic system of capitalism. ... The Fort: View of the lighthouse Galle (ගාල්ල in Sinhala; காலி in Tamil) (pronounced as one syllable, rhyming with Gaul in English, in Sinhalese, IPA /gaːlːə/) is a town situated on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, 119 km from Colombo. ... Feudalism comes from the Late Latin word feudum, itself borrowed from a Germanic root *fehu, a commonly used term in the Middle Ages which means fief, or land held under certain obligations by feodati. ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. ...

The importance of cinnamon as a commodity gave those associated with its production importance in the eyes of the colonial power, and the caste gained social status under the Dutch. Some of the more influential members, such as chiefs, gained economic power and were able to buy land, thus gaining greater status. Commodity is a term with distinct meanings in both business and in Marxian political economy. ... Social status is the standing, the honour or prestige attached to ones position in society. ...

The census of 1824 identified the Salagamas as about 7.5 % of the coastal Sinhalese population. However, they were concentrated in the Galle district, where about half of them lived and where they made up almost 20% of the population. 1870 US Census for New York City A census is the process of obtaining information about every member of a population (not necessarily a human population). ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Buddhist revival

By the mid 18th century, upasampada (higher ordination, as distinct from samanera or novice ordination) had become extinct in Sri Lanka again. The Buddhist order had become extinct thrice during the preceding five hundred years and was re-established in the reigns of Vimala Dharma Suriya I (1591 - 1604) and Vimala Dharma Suriya II (1687 - 1707) as well. These re-establishments were short lived. On the initiative of Ven. Weliwita Saranankara (1698-1778) the Thai monk Upali Thera visited Kandy during the reign of king Kirti Sri Rajasinghe (1747 - 1782) and once again reestablished the Buddhist order in Sri Lanka in 1753. It was called the Siyam Nikaya after the "Kingdom of Siam". Upasampada, in Buddhism, is a rite whereby one becomes a monk. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into sangha. ... For the city in Texas, see Novice, Texas. ... The Siam Nikaya (also Siyam Nikaya) is a monastic order within Sri Lanka, located most predominantly around the city of Kandy. ...

However in 1764, merely a decade after the re-establishment of the Buddhist order in Sri Lanka by reverend Upali, a group within the newly created Siyam Nikaya conspired and succeeded in restricting the Nikaya's higher ordination only to the Govigama caste. This was a period when Buddhist Vinaya rules had been virtually abandoned and some members of the Buddhist Sangha in the Kandyan Kingdom privately held land, had wives and children, resided in the private homes and were called Ganinnanses. It was a period when the traditional nobility of the Kandyan Kingdom was decimated by continuous wars with the Dutch rulers of the Maritime Provinces. In the maritime provinces too a new order was replacing the old. Mandarampura Puvata, a text from the Kandyan perid, narrates the above radical changes to the monastic order and shows that it was not a unanimous decision by the body of the sangha. It says that thirty two ‘senior’ members of the Sangha who opposed this change were banished to Jaffna by the leaders of the reform. The Siam Nikaya (also Siyam Nikaya) is a monastic order within Sri Lanka, located most predominantly around the city of Kandy. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... The Vinaya (a word in Pali as well as in Sanskrit, with literal meaning discipline) is the textual framework for the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha. ... Jaffna District. ...

The Govigama exclusivity of the Sangha thus secured in 1764 was almost immediately challenged by other castes who without the patronage of the King of Kandy or of the British, held their own upasampada ceremony at Totagamuwa Vihara in 1772. Another was held at Tangalle in 1798. Neither of these ceremonies were approved by the Siam Nikaya which claimed that these were not in accordance with the Vinaya rules. Upasampada, in Buddhism, is a rite whereby one becomes a monk. ... Year 1772 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Siam Nikaya is a monastic order within Sri Lanka, located most predominantly around the city of Kandy. ... The Vinaya (a word in Pali as well as in Sanskrit, with literal meaning discipline) is the textual framework for the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha. ...

As a consequence of this ‘exclusvely Govigama’ policy adopted in 1764 by the Siyam Nikaya, the Buddhists in the Maritime provinces were denied access to a valid ordination lineage. Hoping to rectify this situation, wealthy laymen from the maritime provinces financed an expedition to Burma to found a new monastic lineage. In 1799, Ambagahapitiye Gnanavimala Thera a monk from the Salagama caste, from Balapitiya on the south western coast of Sri lanka, departed for Burma with a group of novices to seek a new sucession of Higher ordination. The first bhikkhu was ordained in Burma in 1800 by the sangharaja of Burma in Amarapura, his party having been welcomed to Burma by King Bodawpaya. 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social stratification, enforced by law or common practice, based on classifications such as occupation, race, ethnicity, etc. ... A Buddhist Monk in Sri Lanka In Pāli, a bhikkhu (male) or bhikkhuni (female) is a fully ordained Buddhist monk. ... Sangharaja (Pāli: sangha religious community + raja ruler, king, or prince) is the title given in many Theravada Buddhist countries to a senior monk who is the tituar head of the Sangha throughout the country. ... Amarapura (City of Immortality) is a city in the Mandalay division of Myanmar, situated 11 km to the south of Mandalay. ... Bodawpaya (literally Royal Grandfather, 11 March 1745 - 5 June 1819) was the sixth king of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (1782-1819). ...

The initial mission returned to Sri Lanka in 1803. Soon after their return to the island they established a udakhupkhepa sima (a flotilla of boats moved together to form a platform on the water) on the Maduganga river, Balapitiya and, under the most senior Burmese monk who accompanied them, held an upasampada ceremony on Vesak Full Moon Day. The new fraternity came to be known as the Amarapura Nikaya and was soon granted recognition by the colonial British government. 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Maduganga river is a shallow water body in south-west Sri Lanka, which enters the sea at Balapitiya. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... The Amarapura Nikaya is a Sri Lankan monastic fraternity (a lineage of ordained monks) founded in 1800. ...

The Amarapura Nikaya was of pivotal importance in the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the 19th Century. The Salagamas, who became overwhelmingly Buddhist, were in the vanguard of this movement. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Modern radicalism

The traditional Salagama areas around Balapitiya, Hikkaduwa and Ratgama were centres of the pan-Sinhalese populist movement of Anagarika Dharmapala. The key issues around which this movement emerged were anti-casteism and anti-colonialism. Populism is a political ideology or rhetorical style that holds that the common person is oppressed by the elite in society, which exists only to serve its own interests, and therefore, the instruments of the State need to be grasped from this self-serving elite and instead used for the... Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 - 1933) was born David Hewavitarne in Colombo, Sri Lanka. ... hey, frank the tank rocks ur mom. ...

The same areas were in the vanguard of the independence struggle and became hotbeds of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and of the Communist Party. These areas were at the forefront of the Hartal of 1953. The Sri Lanka Independence Struggle against British rule was often dormant but eventually succeeded in winning independence for Sri Lanka in 1948. ... The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (literally Ceylon Equal Society Party, in Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, in Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி) is a trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. ... CPSL May Day poster in Kandy CPSL Kandy provincial election candidate, CYF President Raja Uswetakeiyyawa Communist Youth Federation The Communist Party of Sri Lanka is a communist political party in Sri Lanka. ... Hartal 1953 was a demonstration of the tremendous power of the masses in action. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Sub-castes

Traditionally, the Salagama were divided into four sub-castes:

• Panividakara ('messengers') - headmen
• Hewapanne ('soldiers') - militia
• Kurundukara ('cinnamon workers') - Cinnamon peelers
• Uliyakkara ('servants') - Palanquin bearers and fan bearers

However, in modern times there is a simple two-fold division between the Hewapanne and the Kurundukara. The former are of higher status, including landowners in their ranks. Japanese Palanquin Indian Palanquin A palanquin aka palkhi is a covered sedan chair (or litter) carried on four poles. ...

Occupations

In the present day, the Salagama predominance in cinnamon cultivation has declined, the higher status of the caste leading to its members abandoning their traditional occupation. Many Salagamas in the Hikkaduwa area became coral miners until the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 swept away their villages. The coral-lime kilns gave employment to many more. Subclasses Alcyonaria Zoantharia See text for orders. ... For related articles, including charities accepting donations, see Category:2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lime is a general term for various naturally occurring minerals and materials derived from them in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides of calcium predominate. ...

The Railway made access to employment in Colombo and other urban centres very much easier, and the caste became a very important part of the working class. Its higher echelons became notable in the engineering profession, mainly due to the influence of Sir Cyril de Zoysa, who owned the South-eastern Omnibus Company (see Ceylon Transport Board) and the Associated Motorways Group, and other businessmen in the motor trade. The Ceylon Transport Board (CTB) was the nationalised enterprise which handled all public omnibus transport in Sri Lanka between 1958 and 1978. ...

See also

• Balarampuram a settlement of Shaliyar in Kerala.
• Saliya a Malayalee caste

The Balaramapuram sarees are exclusively made in the small town of Balarammapuram in the outskrits of Trivandrum, Kerala. ... Saliya (or Chaliyan or sali or sale) is a Malayali weavers caste found mostly in Northern Kerala and Southern coastal Karnataka. ...

Distinguished Salagamas

• Ambagahapitiye Gnanavimala Thera
• Samson Rajapakse
• Chaz de Silva
• Harrod Gunasekera
• Sir Tudor Rajapakise
• Sir Lalitha Rajapakse
• Sir Cyril de Zoysa
• Dr. E. M. Wijerama
• Sir Dr. Frank Gunasekera
• Dr. Oliver Medonza
• Dr. Stella De Silva
• Mr.M. Tom De S. Amarasekera
• Mr. Ananda Silva124.43.214.26 11:32, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
• Hon. C. P. De Silva
• Colvin R de Silva Prominent politician
• M.G. Mendis
• Percy Wickremasekera
• Manouri Muttetuwegama
• Stanley Zoysa
• Sydney Zoysa
• Lucien de Zoysa
• Richard de Zoysa
• Sidath Wettimuny
• Kingsley T. Wickremaratne - Governor of the Southern Province.
• Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Health.
• Dr. Miss Verona Wirasekara (First Sihala lady doctor (alopathy)
• Muhandiram Aadiris mendis Wickramasinghe (one of the wealthiest citizens of ceylon): Twentieth Century Impressions of Sri Lanka

Dr. Colvin R. de Silva (-1987) was a Trotskyist leader and lawyer in Sri Lanka. ... Richard de Zoysa, a well-known Sri Lankan journalist, author, human rights activist and actor, was abducted and killed by government forces in February 17 or 18 of 1990 // Biography Abduction At the time of his abduction and murder, he was in charge of the Colombo office of the International... Sidath Wettimuny (born 12 August 1956, Colombo) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer, who played Test cricket and One-day internationals as a opening batsman from 1982 to 1987. ...

References

• Bryce Ryan, Caste in Modern Ceylon, Rutgers University Press, 1953.
• Sri Lankan Caste System, Asia Recipe.Com
• Troy David Osborne, A taste of Paradise: Cinnamon, James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota
• THE 'MOORS' OF CEYLON