The Action Phase of the 1915 Riots

Abstract

In 1915, riots broke out in the British colony of Ceylon, the climax of a controversy between Sinhalese Buddhists and a new clement among the commercial “Moors” (Muslims). A court ruling disappointing to the Buddhists, combined with economic complaints against Moors in this centenary of British conquest, led to a communal clash in Kandy during Wesak (Buddha's birthday) in May 1915. During the following two weeks, the riots spread to Colombo and along the west coast, greed increasingly matching creed as a prime motive.The colonial government reacted slowly, allowing disorder to spread, and then changed to a policy of heavy repression of a presumed anti-British uprising at a time the Empire was fighting for survival.Three months of martial law ensued, more deaths caused by police and military action than had occurred during the actual riots. Prominent citizens were arrested without cause. Shoot-on-sight orders were issued, and over 8000 were arrested and imprisoned. This colonial maladministration reflected the gap between officialdom and the colonial peoples. Little evidence of a general plot against government came to light. Since, however, headmen, monks and traders had planned anti-Moor action, especially in coastal areas, the question of conspiracy remains unsettled.The 1915 Riots in Ceylon seriously undermined Ceylonese confidence in British justice, led to peaceful mass protests and a mission to London, and stimulated the maturation of nationalism, with independence as its objective.

Ceylon's Kristallnacht: A Reassessment of the Pogrom of 1915

“…164 P.I.C., 113, Burden. 165 Blackton (1970) the samagam, had coerced opponents and reluctant supporters, albeit by less harsh means. 168 So the tactics of 1915 can be seen as a progression from those of the past, the greater aggressiveness being due to the Moors' perceived provocations and the radicalisation of the leaders, activists and public.…”

“…E.g., 1-8; de,19-27. 181 For the Amritsar analogy, see e.g Blackton (1970),. 235, andKearney (1970), 219.…”

“… 165 Blackton (1970), 252; Kannangara (1984), 145; Ramanathan (1916), 53; P.T.M. Fernando (1970), 256.…”

Social Mobility, Popular Ideology, and Collective Violence in Modern Sri Lanka

“…The most important riots of the first half of the twentieth century, the disturbances of 1915, were carried out by Sinhalese against Moors. They were set off by a series of procession disputes over issues similar to the ones that had led to Buddhist-Catholic violence in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, and the rumors that ensured their continuation were religious in character (Ali 1981;Blackton 1970;Ceylon 1916;Kannangara 1984;Roberts 1981). Thousands of shops and houses were sacked or damaged, a number of mosques were destroyed, and about forty Moors died.…”