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The Chief Headmen System of Ceylon is the development of an organization, which had been adapted to suit the country. It is the lineal descendant of a perfected structure, which the British inherited from the Dutch when the latter capitulated their possessions in Ceylon in 1796.
The system of governing their possessions in Ceylon through Mudaliyars was adapted by the Hollanders them selves from a scheme of administration which had been in vogue during the time of the Portuguese.
Under the Dutch, the Chief Headmen of Ceylon were an even more important and valuable asset in the collection of revenue and in the prosecution of military enterprise than during the British regime. It is in this connection that the Hollanders found the Chief Headmen an indispensible body for the promotion of the trade in elephants, the cultivation of cinnamon and the harvesting of that product. This method of local administration was for this reason altered to suit the specific needs of the government by the oost verenigde Indische Compagnie and the Dutch Occupation of this country contain frequent references to the Mudaliyars of that era.
It was in this context that the author has quoted Lord Stanmore, (them Sir Arthur Gordon), Governor of Ceylon, in his address to the Legislative Council on October 29th, 1899.
“it is therefore my desire to preserve as long as possible, a system which enlists all natural influences in support of authority, instead of arraying them against it, and which shields the Government to a great degree from direct friction with those it governs….”
According to the author, the chieftains induced the author to undertake this work. Recognizing the importance of Chieftainship in Ceylon, the author undertook compilation of this work, which records the names and careers of chieftain of Ceylon, who held office under the British Government. During the course of this of this compilation, the author states that he has not permitted any person to influence the facts – and opinions, if any, in this publication. He rather refers to the obstruction from a small coterie of Chief Headmen, whose claims to aristocratic descent and distinguished antecedents, the author was not prepared to concede.
The book covers Mudaliyars, Rate Mahatmayas , Maniagares, Atikars, Vannias, Presidents of Village Tribunals, and Muhandiram. He even lists those chieftains in the above categories, who have retired from service. He has added a list of chieftains, whose names were recorded about a hundred years ago and some prominent chief Headmen of the past.
The book is illustrated by 44 photographs of important chief Headmen.
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