Koloniaal landbouwbeleid in Sri Lanka in de 19e eeuw: het gezichtspunt van de government agent

Samenvatting

Since ancient times, cultivators in dry zone villages in Sri Lanka had practiced a combination of irrigated rice cultivation & shifting cultivation, leaving part of the land at their disposal (in the paddy fields) uncultivated. During colonial times, however, particularly in the latter nineteenth century, British government agents in charge of the old Sinhalese provinces, who played a strategic role between villagers & colonial powers, tried to eradicate shifting cultivation while at the same time attempting to restore & improve the irrigation system; they never realized the connection between the two aspects of the cultivation system. As a result of their policies, cultivators bought land, & in so doing, destroyed the traditional system of agricultural organization. 1 Table, 36 References. Modified HA