Michael Roberts Papers, mainly on Sri Lanka ……MSS 0031 …. AT = University of Adelaide Library………………………………………………. https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/mss/roberts/transcripts%20list
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Category Archives: colonisation schemes
Talking about Oral History Work on Ceylon in the 1960s
Adilah Ismail in the Sunday Times, 7 June 2015, where the title is “Colourful history of a historian” … with highlighting imposed by the Editor Thuppahi viz, Roberts himself
Looking back on his ‘going-down memory lane interviews’ with retired Britishers and Sri Lankans who served mainly in the Ceylon Civil Service, Michael Roberts who was in Sri Lanka recently, talks to Adilah Ismail about the beginnings of a passion.
In Colombo last week: Michael Roberts. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
It’s the late 1960s: On most Fridays, Michael Roberts would make his way towards Colombo from Peradeniya, [1] recording equipment balanced at his feet and his bag filled with assorted clothes strapped to the back of his trusty scooter. Navigating the sharp curves and turns on his two wheeler, once in Colombo, he would spend his weekend sprinting from one interview to another.
Filed under British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, Colombo and Its Spaces, colonisation schemes, communal relations, constitutional amendments, cultural transmission, devolution, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, Kandyan kingdom, land policies, language policies, Left politics, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, parliamentary elections, patriotism, plantations, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Travails of a Rookie District Officer in Polonnaruwa, 1957-58
Sugath Kulatunga
Fresh from the University of Peradeniya, after a stint of teaching at St. Anthony’s College Kandy, I was selected as an Administrative Officer in the Department of Agriculture in November 1957 with 18 others in a new cadre of administrative officers established in the Department. This cadre was the brainchild of the then Minister of Agriculture Philip Gunawardhane and was operationalized by the then Deputy Director Administration Sam Silva, who Philip called a ‘” human dynamo”. (Sam was also the prime mover in the establishment of the CWE and the Petroleum Corporation).
Sugath
Philip Gunawardena
CP De Silva
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Filed under accountability, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, colonisation schemes, commoditification, communal relations, democratic measures, economic processes, education, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, land policies, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, transport and communications, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, wild life
CJR Le Mesurier: A British Civil Servant who challenged the Imperial Order
Michael Powell: article published in 2007 and entitled “Fragile Identities: The Colonial Consequences of CJR Le Mesurier in Ceylon”
ABSTRACT of Article: In the many layered life of CJR Le Mesurier in Ceylon are themes that repeat and recur throughout the British colonial world, touching on marriage and morals, religion and race, archival retention and colonial employment.
Cecil Le Mesurier in Western Australia c 1920s …. Courtesy of Rod Cantley
In particular, his strenuous litigious attack on assumptions of Crown title challenged the philosophic and legal framework of colonial land policy, revealing its ideological foundation, and illuminating the pattern and impulse of land policy throughout Empire.
The increasing effrontery of his actions induces an equally escalating reaction from colonial authority that pares away the preferred patina of civilizing mission to reveal a far more base intent – a colonial impulse more discernible and the actions of authority more disclosing – contributing to a much richer comparative understanding of the dynamics of colonial land dealings.
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The Mahaweli Project: The Mother of All Development Schemes in Sri Lanka
Ajit Kanagasundaram
40 years have now elapsed since the launch of the accelerated Mahaweli project, so it is an opportune time to review what was done and the benefits and shortfalls of the project to the nation. This project was the culmination of a 50 yearlong process that started with the rehabilitate ancient irrigation works and settlement of the dry zone lands that was initiated by our first Prime Minister, DS Senanayake, when he was the Agriculture Minister in the State Council during the British Raj. After independence, this moved on to more ambitious projects building large multi-purpose schemes like Gal Oya and Uda Walawe culminating in the accelerated Mahaweli project.
Filed under ancient civilisations, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, colonisation schemes, communal relations, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, land policies, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, modernity & modernization, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, power politics, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society
Vaddas, Rodiyo and Ahikuntakayo: Some Bibliographcal Items
LC Arulpragasam 2019 “The Veddas in the east of Ceylon in the 1950s,” 13 Oct 2019,https://thuppahis.com/2019/10/13/the-veddas-in-the-east-of-ceylon-in-the-1950s/
Michael Roberts 2017 “The First Settlers and Their Claim to Ownership of Terrain. A Comparative excursion,” 18 January 2017, https://thuppahis.com/2017/01/18/the-first-settlers-and-their-claim-to-ownership-of-terrainstate-a-comparative-excursion/
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Gal Oya and Its Boat Safari … with Swimmg Elephants
Filed under ancient civilisations, colonisation schemes, cultural transmission, elephant tales, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, photography, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, tourism, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes
Remembering DS Senanayake on Sri Lanka’s Independence Day
Senanayake Foundation, Item in Daily Mirror, 4 Feb 2022
The first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) D.S. Senanayake entered the National Legislature in 1924. He was relatively unknown in the country and was pushed into prominence by his elder brother F.R. Senanayake, who was a very popular and active figure in the social and political arena. Many were surprised and taken aback to see D.S. entering the political field, as they were expecting his brother F.R. to fit the role. Perhaps the only person who had faith in D.S’s capability at that time was none other but F.R. Senanayake himself.
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Gerald Peiris: His Work on Agriculture in Sri Lanka’s Economy
An Editorial Note from Michael Roberts, 27 January 2022
Recent items on the Senanayake family and on DS Senanayake (Sri Lanka’s first Prime Minister) in Thuppahi touched on his work in promoting peasant agriculture . One of Sri Lanka’s foremost researchers in this field is my friend and colleague from undergraduate days in Ramanathan Hall and Peradeniya University in the late 1950s, namely, Gerald H Peiris. As it would be of wider benefit, I asked him to present Thuppahi with a list of his research work on agriculture and the island economy.
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DS Senanayake’s Endeavours in Peasant Agriculture
From KM. De Silva: DS. The Life of DS Senanayake, (1884-1952)
A NOTE from Thuppahi: printed in 2016 this book of 135 pages is clearly meant to provide a distilled assessment of DS Senanayake’s career. Our readings of this work by Kingsley De Silva must take note of this precising intent on the author’s part — though we must also be aware of Professor De Silva”s conservative UNP affiliations….. and be grateful to Iranga Silva of the ICES in Kandy for making the text of the whole book available to us in a convenient form.
DS Senanayake on a field trip … at Gal Oya
Filed under architects & architecture, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, colonisation schemes, communal relations, democratic measures, economic processes, energy resources, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, irrigation, island economy, land policies, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, transport and communications, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes
