| Society-SINHALESE The Sinhalese are the dominant ethnic group of Sri Lanka (Ceylon). As of 1974, the 9.7 million Sinhalese constituted 72 percent of the population. The next largest group, the Hindu Tamil, accounted for 21 percent (Golenpaul 1974: 262). The Sinhalese occupy most of the island, except for the northern quarter and the eastern coast, which are predominantly Tamil (Yalman 1971: 12-13; Nyrop et al. 1971: 93). In the large towns, the populations mix, but in the smaller communities, separation is maintained. Sinhalese is the official language of Sri Lanka, a factor which became a cause of political strife following independence in 1948. It is part of the Indic Sub-branch of the Indo-Iranian Branch of Indo-European. The Sinhalese divide themselves into two groups, the "Up Country people" or Kandyan and the "Low Country people." The Kandyan inhabit the highlands of the south-central region and constitute 38 percent of the Sinhalese and 25.8 percent of the national population (as of 1971). The Kandyan are the more conservative of the two groups and are descendants of the Kandyan Kingdom, which held out against foreign domination for over 300 years until they came under British rule in 1815. Culturally, religiously, and economically, they are closer to traditional Sinhalese ways (Nyrop et al. 1971: 80). The Low Country people, who primarily occupy the southern and western coastal regions, account for 62 percent of the Sinhalese and 42.8 percent of the national population (Yalman 1971: 14; Nyrop et al. 1971: 79). The Low Country people were subject to foreign rule since 1505, starting with the arrival of the Portuguese, and followed by the Dutch in 1656 and the British in 1796, until Sri Lanka's independence in 1948. They served as middlemen for the trade with the interior, in which the Europeans were so interested, and they have adopted much of European culture. Until recently, the Kandyan's attitude of aristocratic superiority toward the Low Country Sinhalese precluded marriage between them. But with the increase in wealth and sophistication of the latter, due to European and other outside contact, these barriers have broken down. The ecology of Sri Lanka is dominated by the semi-annual monsoons dividing the island into two ecological regions: the Wet Zone in the southwest third of the island, and the Dry Zone in the rest. The Dry Zone has only one season of torrential rain per year, and almost all of its 50-75 inches of precipitation falls within a three-month period from November to January (Leach 1968: 15; Yalman 1971: 19). The rains are followed by long droughts. The Kandyan region, except for a small southwestern portion, falls entirely within the Dry Zone. The Kandyan region is more thinly populated, more economically backward, and at a simpler level culturally and socially than the Wet Zone. Subsistence farming is the major occupation. Most of the people live in small villages whose size and location are determined by the availability of water. Most Sinhalese practice irrigated rice cultivation for subsistence. Shifting cultivation (chena), mainly in the Dry Zone, is also practiced, but is opposed by the government, since it destroys what they see as valuable forest resources. Millet is the principal chena crop, but cash crops such as gingelly and mustard are also grown in this fashion and supply the main source of cash to villagers. The major form of employment is as farm labor to high-caste cultivators, and payment is most often in kind. The national economy is mainly dependent on three cash crops, which comprise 95 percent of the agricultural exports. They are tea (56 percent), rubber (23 percent), and coconuts (16 percent), all grown in the Wet Zone. Other minor crops include cacao, cinnamon, citronella, cardamom, and areca nuts. Settlement in the Dry Zone is dependent on water supply. Yalman lists four types of Dry Zone villages. The first and most permanent is the "tank village," which contains a large, artificial reservoir that irrigates the rice fields and is a dependable source of water. The second type is located near mountain streams, which run for a large part of the year. The third type is dependent entirely on rainfall, and the fourth depends on chena cultivation and some hunting to survive. The size and wealth of these villages are in direct proportion to the permanence of the water supply. Villages consist of walled compounds containing dwellings, vegetable gardens, and fruit trees. There is usually only one dwelling per compound and one nuclear family (ge), per dwelling, but sometimes two or three dwellings will be found in a single compound, and occasionally two or more nuclear families are found under one roof. The household, defined as a commensal unit, is also called a ge and is usually composed of a single nuclear family. It has its own separate granaries and cooking facilities. Villages also contain religious shrines, water sources, and agricultural fields. Villages are ideally composed of only one subcaste (variga), although as many as five castes (rare) may be found. Large, low-caste groups are frequently found in their own named hamlets, physically separated from the main village. Social relations between villages are structured by a complex set of caste and subcaste relations and obligations. These overlap and interweave with kin relations. Named castes are distinguished by the traditional services they perform, but these duties are generally ritual, and members of all castes are primarily agriculturalists. Caste obligations tended to bring people of different villages into contact. With the breakdown of the caste structure, resulting from the British abolition of the feudal hierarchy in the early nineteenth century, these relations have tended to atrophy, and villages have become more isolated. But caste consciousness is still very much alive in rural areas, and residence is strictly controlled by caste membership. In urban areas, where wider social and economic opportunities are present, the traditional caste hierarchy is not as clear. Preferred marriage is endogamous within the variga or subcaste group and within the same generation, while marriage is prohibited between parallel cousins. Marriages tend to be between co-villagers or with nearby villages. Since all village members generally belong to one variga, and since an attempt is usually made to marry someone of equal or nearly equal status, over time a majority of marriages turn out to be between classificatory cross-cousins, even though there is no stated cross-cousin preference. Residence is generally virilocal (binna) for men of wealth expecting a large inheritance, and uxorilocal (deega) for poorer men or those with a caste taint, who prefer to get away from their natal village. The political structure of the Kandyan Sinhalese is a reflection of the British colonial system, which was itself influenced by the indigenous feudal hierarchy that it followed. According to Leach, the view of villagers that their contemporary political structure is continuous with the feudal past has some basis, since their relationships with the government representativepresent-day Divisional Revenue Officer, British colonial Ratemahatmaya, or feudal overlordhave scarcely changed. In some cases, the offices have remained within the same family. The village is ruled by an administrative officer called the Vel Vidane, who serves as the executive head and the irrigation headman. In theory, he is the elected representative and spokesman of the villagers. Even with little formal authority, this can still be a very influential post. Above the Vel Vidane is the Village Cultivation Officer (V.C.O.). He is an employee of the Irrigation Department and is responsible for over 50 villages. In agricultural matters, the Vel Vidane takes orders from him. The V.C.O. reports to the tulana or headman, who is in charge of upward of a dozen villages. The latter's duties are mainly clerical, but the most trivial administrative decisions require his approval. The tulana is responsible to the Divisional Revenue Officer (D.R.O.), who must approve most of his decisions. Finally, above the D.R.O. is the Government Agent, whose contact with the villagers is slight. It is the D.R.O. who represents the government to most village people. Leach reports that the recently introduced (1954) village committees, organized to take care of local problems, play little part in people's lives (1968: 28-30). Most Sinhalese are Theravada (Hinayana) Buddhists, although numerous Low Country Sinhalese have become Christians (Nyrop et al. 1971: 189). Popular Sinhalese Buddhism contains many elements of Hinduism and magical-animistic beliefs. Culture summary by Martin J. Malone Golenpaul, Ann, ed. 1975 Information Please Almanac. New York, Dan Golenpaul Associates, 1974. Leach, Edmund Ronald. Pul Eliya, a village in Ceylon: a study of land tenure and kinship. Cambridge, University Press, 1961 (reprinted 1968). 15, 344. illus., geneal. charts, maps, tables. Nyrop, Richard F. Area handbook for Ceylon. By Richard F. Nyrop et al. Washington, D.C., U. S. Government Printing Office, 1971. Yalman, Nur. Under the bo tree; studies in caste, kinship, and marriage in the interior of Ceylon. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1971. 13, 405 p. illus., maps, tables. 7869 | |
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