These are but some of his publications over a career spanning the 1950s to 2020s — with eyesight deterioration blighting his last platform of life. No more table tennis, but much to remember. So, here. let me doff my cap to thee, Gerry Machang, …. Mike
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Chandre Dharmawardena … an original article …with highlighting imposed by The Editor. TPS
It is interesting to look at the agenda of the workshop held at GANNORUWA in August 1974 [see references below] and ask what questions (and topics) should have been raised at that time, in hindsight, in the context of a number of issues where the Mahaweli project went very badly wrong.
Although there are many issues to consider where the Mahaweli project made mistakes, I will here write on just one issue that led to the deaths of thousands of farmers, beginning from late 1990s, initially mostly in the Mahaweli C project area (I think).
The map is adapted from Balasooriya et al 2020.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, colonisation schemes, demography, economic processes, governance, HEP, historical interpretation, irrigation, island economy, land policies, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, patriotism, politIcal discourse, population, sri lankan society, transport and communications, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Michael Roberts
The three-day conference on 16-19 August 1974 devoted to the topic of AGRICULTURE IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF SRI LANKA held at the excellent conference facility at the Department of Agriculture at Gannoruwa – within easy distance from the Peradeniya University campus – was an instance of the capacities and vitality of the Ceylon Studies Seminar at the Peradeniya University. The CSS had been launched in 1968 and its story has been documented elsewhere with an emphasis on the roles of Prof Gananath Obeyesekere, myself, Vijaya Samaraweera, SWR de Samarasinghe, CR de Silva, typists Mrs Hettiaratchchi & Kumaraswamy and cyclostyle-operator Sathiah (see …………………………………. https://thuppahis.com/2018/10/02/nationalist-studies-and-the-ceylon-studies-seminar-at-peradeniya-1968-1970s/).
Piyasiri
CR …. and Sathiah
Filed under accountability, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, colonisation schemes, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, irrigation, island economy, landscape wondrous, Left politics, life stories, modernity & modernization, nature's wonders, politIcal discourse, sri lankan society, teaching profession, transport and communications, unusual people, world events & processes
Michael Roberts
The library at Adelaide Univeristy is known as the BARR-SMITH LIBRARY. The staff in the “Special Collections” within the library over the years have been especially helpful over a long period and were hands-on central in organising the Roberts Oral History Project from the 1980s and subsequently (see https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/mss/roberts/).
But it is by pure chance that I came across a document penned in my hand detailing the stock of manuscripts and photocopied material that I had placed within the Special Collections –maybe because our home is adjacent to a National Park and within a high fire-risk arena.
Let me assure all ye readers that I have been stunned by some of the items that I have collected –some of them original Mss items; with the others being copies. but the main point is that some of these copies reproduce very rare items. Moreover, I find that the range and type of items placed within the realm of the Barr-Smith are quite astonishing. It remains to be seen whether readers and investigators of the past accept that evaluation. I should add that I will be among the personnel delving into some of the data within this stock; but I do not have long to live…..and this stock is there for posterity.
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Presenting an academic article published in Contributions to Indian Sociology , n.s, Vol 21, 1-25 … also reproduced subsequently in Sri Lanka in 1989 as No, 10 within the SSC Pamphlet Series marshalled by the late Ana Chittambalam, Willa Wickremasinghe , Hari hulugalle and Michael Roberts
Elizabeth Nissan: “The work of Sri Lankan anthropologists: A bibliographic survey”
Introduction: Although many of the studies included in this essay are concerned with Sri Lanka, this is not a bibliographic essay on the anthropology of that country. It is, instead, a survey of the work of Sri Lankan anthropologists, wherever they may have carried out their research.
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Michael Roberts
Recent Email Exchanges with Jane Russell of UK, who has one foot in England and two feet in island Sri Lanka, and a revived focus on George E De Silva (1870-1950) reminded me of the George E. Mss Memoirs in typescript which Jane had given me long ago. This led me to a long list which amounts to a treasure trove for those addressing a variety of topics in the history of Sri Lanka. I present the details before. Those wishing to pursue specifics must write to the Head of the Special Collections at the Barr Smith Library Adelaide University, not to me: samantha.farnsworth@adelaide.edu.au
It is my conjecture that the same corpus of material (or parts thereof) will also be part of the Roberts Collection at the National Library Services Board along Torrington Rd (beside the National Archives) in Colombo. They could initially seek specifics from Mr Welimuni Sunil who heads the institution: viz …
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M. Asoka T. De Silva, in The Ceylankan, Journal 103 Vol 26/3, August 2023
Introduction: The first ancient historical record of any type of irrigation work is accredited to an inscription left by King Eannadu of Shirpurla in Southern Baby- lonia, in the ancient Kingdom of Mesopotamia, who had ruled in 4000 BC, and who mentions his construction work of several canals, one of them being known as Lummadimshar, at the side of which he made a reservoir, the first ever on record.
Uditha Devapriya, in Newswire, 19 October 2022, where the title reads “Factum Special Perspective: Culture as diplomacy in Sri Lanka” …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi and the title rendered as a long aa
The Malwatu Oya is the oldest and most important of the rivers in Sri Lanka. Its history is woven into the history of the country and its culture. Malwatu Oya Soya, in that respect, is a documentary not merely about the river, but the lives of the people and the society that it touched. Directed by one of Sri Lanka’s leading historians and intellectual voices, Malwatu Oya Soya made the rounds at several film festivals, in Pondicherry, Rome, and the Hague, winning awards and accolades at them all. It will have its first international screening on the 28th of this month at the India International Centre, in New Delhi.
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thuppahi
