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 and
Legislative Council of Ceylon.
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 m ...
in south western
Ceylon in a
Tamil 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.
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 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 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 at
Lincoln's Inn 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 ...
to join the civil service.
He sat the Civil Service Examinations in 1875 and became the first Ceylonese to enter the
Ceylon Civil Service 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 Di ...
,
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 ...
, 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, Kalutara,
Batticaloa 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 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 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
Legislative Council of Ceylon and a member of the
Executive Council of Ceylon 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 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.
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. 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