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Sri Lanka Rise of the Sri Lankan Middle Class
By the nineteenth century, a new society was emerging--a
product of East and West. It was a society with strict rules
separating the rulers from the ruled, and most social association
between the British and Sri Lankans was taboo. The British
community was largely a microcosm of English society with all its
class divisions. At the top of the social pyramid were the
British officials of the Ceylon Civil Service. Elaborate social
conventions regulated the conduct of the service's members and
served to distinguish them as an exclusive caste. This situation,
however, changed slowly in the latter part of the nineteenth
century and quite rapidly in the next century.
In Sri Lanka as in India, the British created an educated
class to provide administrative and professional services in the
colony.
By the late nineteenth century, most members of this emerging
class were associated directly or indirectly with the government.
Increased Sri Lankan participation in government affairs demanded
the creation of a legal profession; the need for state health
services required a corps of medical professionals; and the
spread of education provided an impetus to develop the teaching
profession. In addition, the expansion of commercial plantations
created a legion of new trades and occupations: landowners,
planters, transport agents, contractors, and businessmen. Certain
Sinhalese caste groups, such as the fishermen (Karava) and
cinnamon peelers (Salagama), benefited from the emerging new
economic order, to the detriment of the traditional ruling
cultivators (Goyigama).
The development of a capitalist economy forced the
traditional elite--the chiefs and headmen among the low-country
Sinhalese and the Kandyan aristocracy--to compete with new groups
for the favors of the British. These upwardly mobile, primarily
urban, professionals formed a new class that transcended
divisions of race and caste. This class, particularly its
uppermost strata, was steeped in Western culture and ideology.
This anglicized elite generally had conservative political
leanings, was loyal to the government, and resembled the British
so much in outlook and social customs that its members were
sometimes called brown sahibs. At the apex of this new class was
a handful of Sri Lankans who had been able to join the exclusive
ranks of the civil service in the nineteenth century. The first
Sri Lankan entered by competitive examination in 1840. At that
time, entrance examinations were held only in London and required
an English education, so only a few members of the native middle
class could aspire to such an elitist career. Consequently, in
spite of the liberal policies that Colebrooke and Cameron
recommended, the British held virtually all high posts in the
colonial administration.
Data as of October 1988
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