Ceylon as an island before the 1940’s had only known of conquerors and the conquered. Whether that be under Sinhalese, Portuguese, Dutch, or British rule, the island of Ceylon had become accustomed to autocracy and foreign control. This led one of the last British governors of the island, Sir Charles Jeffries, to assert that, “the idea of democracy and independence were strange to [the Ceylonese] way of life” (Jeffries, 1962, 30). It is this explanation of the Ceylonese populace that makes the subsequent independence and creation of an effective democracy in the space of just 33 years so incredible in Ceylon. This rather rapid transfer from hundreds of years of colonial rule to independent democracy and transition into a period of national development came from deliberate processes that now shape the modern history of the nation. The country of Ceylon’s transition to a period of national development is characterized primarily by the three main stages of domestic political development culminating in the independence of Ceylon in 1948, the increase of communal ethnic divides in the country between majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil and Moorish peoples, but also the expanded export market and increased utilization of unionized co-operative consumer societies.
The perceived mistreatment and disconnection of British colonial rule in response to a series of riots in Ceylon combined with the creation of a educated, liberal elite class of Ceylonese natives ultimately culminated in the first notable stage of domestic political development that created the Ceylon National Congress in 1919. Starting in the 1870s, British bureaucracy on the island began a rapid development of Ceylonese tea and rubber plantations as well as education programs that sought to collectively break down previous feudal relationships present on the island and vest full hegemonic control under British authority (Jeffries, 1962, 28-29). This drastic change in the economy of the previously subsistent Ceylonese to a more capitalist form created a small, but influential Ceylonese middle class which was educated in the Western ideals of a liberal democracy and actively began to orchestrate plans for Ceylonese independence. These plans were legitimized among the general Ceylonese populace after the widely unpopular and despotic British response to a series of small riots. In 1915, small riots among the poor classes of Sinhalese and Moorish people in the southern regions of Ceylon triggered a sharp British response which led to the indiscriminate killing of Ceylonese ethnicities without regards to a basis in reality (Kearney, 1970, 2). Ceylonese politician S.W. R. D. Bandaranaike characterized the British response as, “thoroughly misunderstood” and “resulting in the summary execution of hundreds of innocent persons” (Bandaranaike, 1928, p. 167). The effect of the British murdering hundreds of innocent civilians shocked the country’s populace and fostered an open doubt about the legitimacy of British rule. Seizing upon the unpopularity of British rule, the newly birthed class of educated Ceylonese began to formulate plans for independence. The Ceylon Reform League was then founded in 1917 with the express goal of enhancing Ceylonese sovereignty. The Ceylon Reform League rapidly gained popularity among Ceylonese people, particularly the Sinhalese majority, and established the Ceylon National Congress in 1919 in order to take large strides in the direction of autonomous national rule (Jeffries, 1962, p. 54).
The second stage of domestic political development—initiated by the Ceylon Reform League, and later, the creation of the Ceylon National Congress as a product of it in 1919—forced the British to respond to legitimate Ceylonese demands for popular sovereignty through a series of constitutional commissions. The first of these constitutional commissions was the Donoughmore Commission in 1927. The British, desiring to quell the nationalistic spirit and advancement of Ceylon’s educated elite, sought to create a system in which the Ceylonese elite felt included but that British government still maintained control (Jeffries, 1962, 61). This commission created the Donoughmore Constitution and vested the newly established Ceylon National Congress with legislative powers, and specifically, the power to produce appropriations for the budget. Additionally, the Donoughmore Constitution provided for the enfranchisement of all Ceylonese people who were over the age of 21, which accustomed all Ceylonese people to the processes of democratic rule (Venugopal, 2015, p. 673). However, as a massive caveat, the British Governor of Ceylon was allowed full veto powers of all legislation and all civil service appointments were still left in the control of British authority (Jeffries, 1962, p. 62). Effectively, however, the Donoughmore Constitution only gave the now unabashedly political Ceylonese elite an opportunity to establish themselves as effective legislators and create their own legitimate national base of support distinctly separate from that of the British. (Venugopal, 2015, p. 673). The Donoughmore Constitution established a shaky peace between Ceylonese elites and the British government that lasted until its dissolution in 1945 due to civil unrest within the country. The Donoughmore Constitution was important in the political development of Ceylon in that it provided a fairly low stakes avenue for native Ceylonese elites to establish themselves as professional politicians and create a legitimate platform to prove their ability to the people.
The second stage of political development of the country continued and ultimately found its closure with the Soulbury Commission from 1944-1945. Responding primarily to the Molooya Incident, in which an Indian Tamil laborer was shot by British people with no justification, the British Government reluctantly sent a second commission of advisors to Ceylon in order reestablish British order on the island (Jeffries, 1962, p. 96). Initially, the commission promised Ceylon full dominion status under British rule, essentially vesting full domestic control of the nation to Ceylonese natives (Ibid., p. 97). However, this dominion status quickly became contentious when India began demanding full independence as well and the British felt the need to maintain a holding in South Asia to protect their interests (Ibid., p. 98). This confusion extended the amount of time in which the government had to deliberate on the issue and incidentally led the British to change leadership in 1945 from Conservative to Labor party, changing with it people that were meant to forge the Soulbury Constitution and altering the course of Ceylonese history. Because of the lack of expertise from the relatively green Labor party representatives who were unaccustomed to these sorts of negotiations, Sinhalese politician D. S. Senanayake was able to negotiate a constitution which both allowed for the dominion status of Ceylon—delegating full domestic control to the Ceylon National Congress—and stipulated the terms of the constitution so that they greatly favored the Sinhalese majority in representation (Ibid., p. 101). It is this incident specifically that shaped the future of Ceylon’s communal ethnic relations and the future of development in the country. By allowing a Sinhalese majority in the creation of the new Westminster style parliament in Ceylon, it set the precedent for communal ethnic tensions for decades to come.