CEYLON
549
CEYLON
merits this law has been either repealed ormodified. In
addition to the general laws applicable to the whole
island, there are certain special laws or customs pecu-
liar to certain communities in matters relating to in-
heritance, marriage, and other personal questions.
Thus, the Moors are governed in such matters by their
own customs, which conform more or less to the gen-
eral Mohammedan law as found in the Koran and the
commentaries thereon. The Tamil inhabitants of the
Jaffna peninsula, or what is now the Northern Prov-
ince, have their customary code of laws known as the
"Thesawalamai" (customs of the country), and simi-
larly the Kandyan Sinhalese observe their ancient
customs, which they were allowed to retain by the
Kandyan Convention made between the British and
the chiefs on the annexation of the Kandyan prov-
inces. These various systems of laws are adminis-
tered by a series of courts, viz: (1) the Supreme Court
of Judicature, consisting of a chief justice and three
puisne judges with unlimited original criminal juris-
diction and an appellate jurisdiction with an ultimate
appeal to His Majesty the King in civil cases above
5000 rupees in value; (2) District courts, with unlim-
ited original civil jurisdiction and limited criminal
jurisdiction; (3) Courts of Request, with limited civil
jurisdiction; 4 Police courts, which are courts both
of trial and of preliminary investigation for committal
to the Supreme Courl or District courts; 5) Gansa-
bhawas, or village tribunals, which have jurisdiction
over natives in regard to small civil claims and trivial
offences, especially breaches of communal rules, and
in which the proceedings are conducted in the native
language of the inhabitants.
M xrhiagk. — In the eye of the law all marriages are civil contracts and may be contracted freely between persons who are not within prohibited degn kindred or within the prohibited ages. The law now applicable generally in the island is the Ordinance No. 2 of 1895, under which a marriage may be entered into! efore the registrar of marriages after certain for- malities as to previous notice of marriage and the issue of a certificate thereof, while marriage by special license is also provided fur. But the ordinance so far recognizes the Christian views of marriage that ac- cording to it the parties holding the above-mentioned registrar'- certificate as t" notice may present theni-
Berves t<> a Christian minister and have the cerei \
performed in a place of Christian worship. In this case the minister is required to register the marriage
in a book and to transmit a duplicate of the entry to the registrar of marriages, and the ordinance further provides that no minister shall be compelled to sol- emnize a marriage between persons either of whom shall not be a member of the church denomination or body to which such minister belongs nor otherwise
than according to the rules, customs, rites, and cere- monies of such church denomination or body. An Ite divorce can be obtained only by decree of court :ifter full inquiry and upon the ground either of adultery or malicious desertion or incurable im- potency at the time of marriage. The ordinance above mentioned does not apply to the Moors, who,
as already indicated, are governed by the Mohammedan
law both as to marriage and divorce, nor to the Kan- dyan Sinhalese, with regard to whom there is a special
ordinance No. 3, of 1873) which, while abolishing
their ancient custom of "associated marriages" or
polyandry and in other respects L'i\ itig effect to Brit- ish public p< ilii ' P ir the contract of marriage and its dissolution in a manner more oi
in conformity with ancient Kandyan sentiment, such
ive marriage by mutual consent
without the intervention of a court of justice. The main difference, however, between marriages gener- ally and Kand - is that, while in ■■ to the former, registration is the best though not the only proof of marriage, thus admitting of proof
aliunde of an actual marriage or the presumption of a
valid marriage from cohabitation and repute, registra-
tion is essential in the case of the latter. The system
of caste prevails in Ceylon though not in such a vigor-
ous form as in India, and while the contact with
Western civilization has weakened social barriers in
many respects, intermarriage between various castes
does not take place to any appreciable extent among
the pure native population.
EorcATioN. — The educational system of Ceylon is as simple as it is efficient, and is controlled by the Department of Public Instruction. It comprises Eng- lish, vernacular, and mixed schools, which are either Government or (with the exception of private unregis- tered schools) "Grant-in-Aid schools". The Govern- ment maintains an English high school called the Royal College, having the standard of an English grammar school. It maintains also a technical school mainly for the purpose of supplying the Government departments, and a training school for teachers. The Grant-in-Aid schools belong to the missionary and other religious bodies, and receive yearly grants ac- cording to certain scales on the result of examinations in secular subjects held by Government inspectors. The system of payment by results has helped to solve the religious difficulty so often experienced in many other countries. The chief institutions belonging to religious communities and having the same status as the Royal College are St. Thomas's ( lollege i Anglican), Wesley College (Wesleyan), St. Joseph's College (Cath- olic), and Ananda College (Buddhist). < 'eylon forms a centre for the Cambridge University local examina- tions, which are largely used as educational tests. The Government also maintains a medical college whose diploma is a qualification for practising medicine. Law studies for the admission of advocates and proctors (solicitors) arc under the control of a Council of Legal Education consisting of the judges of the Supreme Court and a number of members of the Bar. There is no special organization for the systematic prosecution of the study of Oriental languages and literature, but on' at least of the temple schools conducted by the Buddhist priesthood, in which Sanscrit and Pali are taught, receives a subsidy from the Government. According to the statistics published for 1905 the number of the Government schools and the scholars was 554 and 70,715; and of the Grant-in-Aid schools, 1582 and 150.01(1.
RELIGION.— The chief religions in Ceylon are Bud- dhism. Hinduism. Mohammedanism, and ( Ihristianity. Buddhism is professed by the greal bulk of the Sinha- lese population. Being fi r~ i propounded by Gautama Buddha in Magadha in Northern India in the sixth century n. r., it was introduced into Ceylon in the reign of the Sinhalese King Devanampiyatissa about 300 B. c, when the great Buddhist King Asoka of India sent his son Mahinda to Ceylon to preach (lie faith. The Sinhalese king became a zealous convert and under hi- patronage the new religion spread rapidly among hi- subjects. Ceylon thus became a stronghold of Buddhism, and it was here that the Buddhist scriptures were first reducer! to writing in 88 b. c. The magnificent ruins of dagobas and viharas in the ancient cities attest the piety of the ancient kings and people of C, \ Ion. Buddhism suffered much during tin Tamil wars, with the further consequence
that by reason of the contact thus brought about with
India popular Buddhism received an admixture of
Hinduism which is still traceable in the devalas in which Kali and other Hindu god ped by
the Buddhists. After the advent ot Europi 11 ami the consequent introduction of Ui civilization. Buddhism | st much of it- prestige just as it had previously lost much of its purity and activity. But within the last twenty-five years there has been a great Buddhist revival, mainly due to the efforts of the Thcosophical Society founded by Col.
