Ponnambalam Arunachalam ( ta, பொன்னம்பலம் அருணாசலம், translit=Poṉṉampalam Aruṇācalam; 14 September 1853 – 9 January 1924) was a

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka * A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority ** Sri L ...

civil servant and a member of the

Executive Council of Ceylon The Executive Council of Ceylon was the Executive Council created in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) by the British colonial administration on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission along with the Legislative Council of Ceylon in March ...

and

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first f ...

Early life and family

Arunachalam was born on 14 September 1853 in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

in south western

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

family. He was the son of

Gate Mudaliyar Mudali (or Mudaliyar) was a colonial title and office in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) which was part of the native headman system. The Portuguese colonials created the Mudaliyar class in the 17th century by enlisting natives of different castes from ...

A. Ponnambalam, a leading government functionary, and Sellachi Ammai. He was the brother of

P. Coomaraswamy Ponnambalam Coomaraswamy (7 December 1849 – 7 June 1906) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon. Early life and family Coomaraswamy was born on 7 December 1849. He was the son of Gate Mudaliyar A. Ponnamb ...

and

P. Ramanathan Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, CMG, King's Counsel, KC ( ta, பொன்னம்பலம் இராமநாதன், translit=Poṉṉampalam Irāmanātaṉ; 16 April 1851 – 26 November 19 ...

. Arunachalam was educated at

Royal Academy, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janu ...

where he won many prizes including the Turnour Prize. After school he joined

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

in 1871 on a scholarship, graduating in 1874 with BA degree in law and history. He received a MA degree from Cambridge in 1880. Arunachalam married Svarnambal, daughter of Namasivayam, in 1883. They had three sons (Padmanabha,

Mahadeva Mahadeva may refer to: Religion *Mahadeva, a title of the Hindu god Shiva ** Parashiva, a form of Shiva ** Parameshwara (god), a form of Shiva *Para Brahman, a Hindu deity *Adi-Buddha, in Buddhism, the "First Buddha" or the "Primordial Buddha" *M ...

and Ramanathan) and five daughters (Maheswari, Manonmani, Sivanandam, Pathmavathy and Sunthari). Sir Sangarapillai Pararajasingam was his son-in-law.

Career

Arunachalam was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1875. He wanted to start a career in law but was persuaded by his maternal uncle

Muthu Coomaraswamy Sir Muthu Coomaraswamy ( ta, முத்து குமாரசுவாமி; 23 January 1834 – 4 May 1879) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, writer and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon. Early life and family Coomaraswamy was born o ...

to join the civil service. He sat the Civil Service Examinations in 1875 and became the first Ceylonese to enter the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of the ...

via open competition. His initial posting was at the Government Agent's office in Colombo. Thereafter he held numerous posts within the civil service: police court in

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

; police magistrate and commissioner of requests at

Kalpitiya Kalpitiya (, ) is a coastal town located in western region of, Puttalam District. The Kalpitiya peninsula consists of a total fourteen islands. It is developing as a tourist destination. Etymology Scholars identify the Sinhalese name "Kalapi ...

Puttalam Puttalam ( si, පුත්තලම, translit=Puttalama; ta, புத்தளம், translit=Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam ...

, Matara,

Avissawella Avissawella, ( si, අවිස්සාවේල්ල, ta, அவிசாவளை) is a township in Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council, situated on the A4 route from Colombo to Ratnapura, Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka, ap ...

, Pasyala,

Matale Matale ( Sinhala: මාතලේ, ta, மாத்தளை, translit=Māttaḷai) is the administrative capital city of the Matale District. It is the most urbanised and populated centre in the district. Matale is also the second largest muni ...

Kalutara Kalutara ( si, කළුතර, ta, களுத்துறை) or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately south o ...

and Colombo; and district judge in

Chilaw Chilaw ( si, හලාවත, translit=Halāvata, ta, சிலாபம், translit=Cilāpam) is a large town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is governed by an urban council. The town is located 80 kilometres away f ...

Kegalle Kegalle ( si, කෑගල්ල; ta, கேகாலை) is a large town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is located on the Colombo–Kandy road, approximately from Colombo and from Kandy. It is the main town in the Kegalle District ...

, Kalutara,

Batticaloa Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...

and

Kurunegala Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...

. Early on his career, Arunachalam's quality of work was noticed by Chief Justice

John Budd Phear Sir John Budd Phear (9 February 1825 - 1905) was a judge and author who was the 13th Chief Justice of Ceylon. He was appointed on 18 October 1877 succeeding William Hackett and was Chief Justice until 1879. He was succeeded by Richard Cayley. W ...

who recommended him to the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and Secretary of State. In 1887 Governor

Arthur Hamilton-Gordon Arthur Charles Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore (26 November 1829 – 30 January 1912) was a British Liberal Party politician and colonial administrator. He had extensive contact with Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. Career Gordon was ...

appointed Arunachalam acting Registrar-General and Fiscal of the Western Province, by passing 30 officers senior to Arunachalam. Fraud, corruption and inefficiency was endemic in the department and so Arunachalam successfully re-organised the department. He was appointed acting Commissioner of Requests in 1891 and Registrar-General in 1898. Arunachalam was entrusted with managing the 1901 census by being appointed Superintendent of Census in 1900. He started codifying Ceylon's law but only managed to produce the first volume of ''A Digest of the Civil Law of Ceylon''. Arunachalam was an official member of the

and a member of the

between 1912 and 1913. He retired from the civil service in 1913. He was knighted in February 1914. Arunachalam's became interested in politics during his university days. He agitated for political reform whilst still working in the civil service. In retirement Arunachalam became involved in politics, founding the Ceylon National Association and the Ceylon Reform League, of which he was chairman, in 1917. He was one of the founders of the

Ceylon National Congress The Ceylon National Congress ( Sinhala: ලංකා ජාතික කොන්ග්‍රසය ''Lanka Jathika Kongrasaya'') (CNC) was a Nationalist political party which was formed in Ceylon on 11 December 1919. It was founded after national ...

(CNC) in 1919 and served as its first president from 1919 to 1920. Arunachalam left the CNC in 1921 following disputes about communal representation in the Legislative Council, which Arunachalam opposed, and the connivance of

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

politicians which resulted in no Tamils being elected from

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

at the 1921 legislative council election. He founded the Ceylon Tamil League in 1923. In 1917 he became the first Ceylonese to be elected president of the

Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (RASSL) is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is one of the oldest learned societies in Sri Lanka with a history of over 160 years. It was established on 7 February 1845, paralleling the Royal Asiatic Society ...

. He founded the Senthamil Paripalana Sabai and was president of the Ceylon Saiva Paripalana Sabai. He and his wife founded the Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple at

Mutwal Modara ( si, මෝදර, translit=Mōdara; ta, முகத்துவாரம், translit=Mukattuvāram), also known as Mutwal ''(anglicised version)'', is a municipal ward of Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka. The mouth of the river Kelani Gan ...

. Arunachalam co-founded the Ceylon Social Services League in 1915 and served as its president. He was also involved in the fledgling trade union movement in Ceylon and founded Ceylon's first trade union, the Ceylon Workers' Welfare League, in 1919. He served as president of the Ceylon Workers' Federation from 1920 to 1921. Arunachalam led the campaign for a university in Ceylon and was known as the "father of the Ceylon University", having founded the Ceylon University Association in 1906. He died on 9 January 1924 in

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

whilst on Hindu pilgrimage in southern India.

Works

* ''A Revel in Bliss'' (1895). * ''A Few Hymns of Manikka Vachaka and Thayumanavar'' (1897). * ''Sketches of Ceylon History'' (1906, Ceylon National Review) * ''A Digest of the Civil Law of Ceylon'' * ''Studies and Translations from the Tamil'' * ''Studies and Translations – Philosophical and Religious'' (1937)

Footnotes

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arunachalam, Ponnambalam 1853 births 1924 deaths National Heroes of Sri Lanka Members of the Executive Council of Ceylon Official members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon Ceylonese Knights Bachelor Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Members of Lincoln's Inn Coomaraswamy family People of British Ceylon Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Tamil civil servants Sri Lankan Tamil judges Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers Sri Lankan Tamil politicians Sri Lankan Tamil writers