>Cossde: /* References */

2021-06-21T10:11:37Z

References

New page

{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|name = Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam
|native_name = பொன்னம்பலம் அருணாசலம்
|native_name_lang = ta
|honorific-suffix = [[Member of the Legislative Council|MLC]] [[Ceylon Civil Service|CCS]]
|image = Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam.jpg
|imagesize =
|office1 = Member of the [[Executive Council of Ceylon]]
|term_start1 = 1912
|term_end1 = 1913
|predecessor1 =
|successor1 =
|office2 = Member of the [[Legislative Council of Ceylon]]
|term_start2 = 1912
|term_end2 = 1913
|predecessor2 =
|successor2 =
|office3 = President of the [[Ceylon National Congress]]
|term_start3 = 1919
|term_end3 = 1920
|predecessor3 =
|successor3 =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1853|09|14}}
|birth_place = [[Colombo]], [[British Ceylon|Ceylon]]
|birth_name = P. Arunachalam
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1924|01|09|1853|09|14}}
|death_place = [[Madurai]], [[British Raj|India]]
|citizenship =
|nationality =
|party =
|otherparty =
|spouse =
|partner =
|relations =
|children =
|residence =
|alma_mater = [[Christ's College, Cambridge]]
|occupation = Civil servant
|profession =
|website =
|footnotes =
|blank1 = Ethnicity
|data1 = [[Ceylon Tamil]]
}}
'''Ponnambalam Arunachalam''' ({{lang-ta|பொன்னம்பலம் அருணாசலம்|translit=Poṉṉampalam Aruṇācalam}}; 14 September 1853 – 9 January 1924) was a [[Ceylon Tamil]] civil servant and a member of the [[Executive Council of Ceylon]] and [[Legislative Council of Ceylon]].

==Early life and family==
{{See also|Ponnambalam-Coomaraswamy family}}
Arunachalam was born on 14 September 1853 in [[Colombo]] in south western [[British Ceylon|Ceylon]].<ref name="Arumugam">{{cite book|last=Arumugam|first=S.|title=Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon|url=http://noolaham.net/project/19/1810/1810.pdf|year=1997|pages=17–18|author-link=S. Arumugam}}</ref>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=1}}<ref name="Jayewardene">{{cite book|last=Jayewardene|first=Don Adrian St. Valentine|editor1-last=Wright|editor1-first=Arnold|title=Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon|publisher=[[Asian Educational Services]]|page=97|url=http://noolaham.net/project/46/4594/4594.pdf|chapter=Constitution and Law|author-link=John Adrian St. Valentine Jayewardene}}</ref> He was the son of [[Gate Mudaliyar]] [[A. Ponnambalam]], a leading government functionary, and Sellachi Ammai.<ref name="Arumugam"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=1}} He was the brother of [[P. Coomaraswamy]] and [[P. Ramanathan]].{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=1}}<ref name="TI140209">{{cite news|last1=Gooneratne|first1=Brendon|title=Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam (1853–1924): The Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam Memorial Oration, delivered on 19 January, 2009|url=http://www.island.lk/2009/02/14/satmag1.html|work=[[The Island (Sri Lanka)|The Island]]|date=14 February 2009}}</ref> Arunachalam was educated at [[Royal Academy, Colombo]] where he won many prizes including the Turnour Prize.<ref name="Arumugam"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=1}}<ref name="DM080113">{{cite news|last1=Vivekananthan|first1=C. V.|title=Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam: A fighter in the forefront|url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/24847/sir-ponnambalam-arunachalam-a-fighter-in-the-forefront|work=[[The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)|Daily Mirror]]|date=8 January 2013}}</ref> After school he joined [[Christ's College, Cambridge]] in 1871 on a scholarship, graduating in 1874 with [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] degree in law and history.<ref name="Arumugam"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=2}}<ref name="ACAD">{{cite web|title=A Cambridge Alumni Database|url=http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search-2016.pl?sur=&suro=w&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&z=all&tex=ARNN871P&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50|publisher=[[University of Cambridge]]}}</ref> He received a [[Master of Arts|MA]] degree from Cambridge in 1880.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="Jayewardene"/><ref name="ACAD"/>

Arunachalam married Svarnambal, daughter of Namasivayam, in 1883.<ref name="Arumugam"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=23}}{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=24}} They had three sons (Padmanabha, [[A. Mahadeva|Mahadeva]] and Ramanathan) and five daughters (Maheswari, Manonmani, Sivanandam, Pathmavathy and Sunthari).<ref name="Arumugam"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=23}}{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=24}}

==Career==
Arunachalam was [[called to the bar]] at [[Lincoln's Inn]] in 1875.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="Jayewardene"/><ref name="ACAD"/> He wanted to start a career in law but was persuaded by his maternal uncle [[Muthu Coomaraswamy]] to join the civil service.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="TI140209"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=2}} He sat the Civil Service Examinations in 1875 and became the first Ceylonese to enter the [[Ceylon Civil Service]] via open competition.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="DM080113"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=2}}<ref name="ACAD"/> His initial posting was at the [[Government Agent (Sri Lanka)|Government Agent]]'s office in Colombo.<ref name="Jayewardene"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=3}} Thereafter he held numerous posts within the civil service: police court in [[Kandy]]; police magistrate and commissioner of requests at [[Kalpitiya]], [[Puttalam]], [[Matara, Sri Lanka|Matara]], [[Avissawella]], Pasyala, [[Matale]], [[Kalutara]] and Colombo; and district judge in [[Chilaw]], [[Kegalle]], Kalutara, [[Batticaloa]] and [[Kurunegala]].<ref name="Jayewardene"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=3}}{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=3}}

Early on his career, Arunachalam's quality of work was noticed by [[Chief Justice of Ceylon|Chief Justice]] [[John Budd Phear]] who recommended him to the [[Governors of British Ceylon|Governor]] and [[Colonial Secretary of Ceylon|Secretary of State]].<ref name="TI140209"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=3}}{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=3}} In 1887 Governor [[Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore|Arthur Hamilton-Gordon]] appointed Arunachalam acting Registrar-General and Fiscal of the Western Province, by passing 30 officers senior to Arunachalam.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="Jayewardene"/><ref name="TI140209"/><ref name="ACAD"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=3}} Fraud, corruption and inefficiency was endemic in the department and so Arunachalam successfully re-organised the department.<ref name="TI140209"/>{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=3}} He was appointed acting Commissioner of Requests in 1891 and Registrar-General in 1898.<ref name="Jayewardene"/><ref name="ACAD"/>

Arunachalam was entrusted with managing the 1901 census by being appointed Superintendent of Census in 1900.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="Jayewardene"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=5}} He started [[Codification (law)|codifying]] Ceylon's law but only managed to produce the first volume of ''A Digest of the Civil Law of Ceylon''.{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=6}}{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=6}} Arunachalam was an official member of the [[Legislative Council of Ceylon]] and a member of the [[Executive Council of Ceylon]] between 1912 and 1913.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="ACAD"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=6}}<ref>{{cite journal|title=The London Gazette|journal=[[The London Gazette]]|date=5 March 1912 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28587/page/1659|issue=28587|page=1659}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The London Gazette |journal=[[The London Gazette]]|date=26 March 1912 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28593/page/2209|issue=28593|page=2209}}</ref>{{Efn|Other sources say Arunachalam was a member of the [[Legislative Council of Ceylon]] from 1906 to 1913.<ref name="ACAD"/>{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=11}}}} He retired from the civil service in 1913.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="ACAD"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=7}}

Arunachalam's became interested in politics during his university days.{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=7}} He agitated for political reform whilst still working in the civil service.{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=10}} In retirement Arunachalam became involved in politics, founding the Ceylon National Association and the Ceylon Reform League, of which he was chairman, in 1917.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="TI140209"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=7}} He was one of the founders of the [[Ceylon National Congress]] (CNC) in 1919 and served as its first president from 1919 to 1920.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="TI140209"/><ref name="ACAD"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=7}} Arunachalam left the CNC in 1921 following disputes about communal representation in the Legislative Council, which Arunachalam opposed, and the connivance of [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] politicians which resulted in no Tamils being elected from [[Western Province, Sri Lanka|Western Province]] at the [[1921 Ceylonese Legislative Council election|1921 legislative council election]].<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="TI140209"/><ref name="DM080113"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Wijesinha|first1=Sam|title=DP: A man who was one with the people|url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/990926/plus7.html|work=[[The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)|The Sunday Times]]|date=26 September 1999}}</ref> He founded the Ceylon Tamil League in 1923.{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=16}}{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=25}}

Arunachalam was knighted in 1914.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="ACAD"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=7}}<ref>{{cite journal|title=The London Gazette|journal=[[The London Gazette]]|date=24 February 1914|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28806/page/1546|issue=28806|page=1546}}</ref> In 1917 he became the first Ceylonese to be elected president of the [[Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society]].<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="TI140209"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=13}} He founded the Senthamil Paripalana Sabai and was president of the Ceylon Saiva Paripalana Sabai.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="TI140209"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=17}} He and his wife founded the Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple at [[Mutwal]].{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=17}} Arunachalam co-founded the Ceylon Social Services League in 1915 and served as its president.{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=10}}{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=16}} 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.{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=17}} He served as president of the Ceylon Workers' Federation from 1920 to 1921.<ref name="ACAD"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=11}}{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=18}} 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.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="TI140209"/><ref name="DM080113"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=11}} He died on 9 January 1924 in [[Madurai]] whilst on Hindu pilgrimage in southern India.<ref name="Arumugam"/><ref name="TI140209"/>{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=23}}

==Works==
* ''A Revel in Bliss'' (1895).{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
* ''A Few Hymns of Manikka Vachaka and Thayumanavar'' (1897).{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
* ''Sketches of Ceylon History'' (1906, Ceylon National Review){{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=13}}{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=21}}
* ''A Digest of the Civil Law of Ceylon''{{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=6}}{{sfn|Rutnam|1988|p=6}}
* ''Studies and Translations from the Tamil'' {{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
* ''Studies and Translations – Philosophical and Religious'' (1937){{sfn|Muttucumaraswamy|1973|p=15}}

==Footnotes==
{{Notelist}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last1=Muttucumaraswamy|first1=V.|title=Founders of Modern Ceylon|date=1973|publisher=Uma Siva Pathippakam|url=http://noolaham.net/project/42/4180/4180.pdf}}
* {{cite book|last1=Rutnam|first1=James T.|title=Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam 1853–1924|date=1988|url=http://noolaham.net/project/138/13740/13740.pdf|edition=2nd}}
{{Refend}}

{{Authority control}}

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

Ponnambalam Arunachalam - Revision history

>Cossde: /* References */