Ceylonese civil servant
Simon Casie Chetty
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/87/Simon_Casie_Chetty.jpg) |
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In office
1838?1845
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Preceded by
| A. Coomaraswamy
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Succeeded by
| V. Edirmannasingham
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Born
| (
1807-03-21
)
21 March 1807
Kalpity
,
Ceylon
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Died
| 5 November 1860
(1860-11-05)
(aged 53)
Kalpity, Ceylon
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Occupation
| Civil servant
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Simon Casie Chetty
(
Tamil
:
????? ?????? ??????
,
romanized:
Caima? K?cic Ce??i
; 21 March 1807 – 5 November 1860) was a
Ceylonese
civil servant, author and member of the
Legislative Council of Ceylon
.
Early life and family
[
edit
]
Casie Chetty was born on 21 March 1807 in
Kalpity
in north-western
Ceylon
.
[1]
[2]
[3]
He was the son of Gabriel Casie Chetty,
Mudaliyar
of Kalpity, and Marie de Rosairo.
[3]
He belonged to Ceylon's small
Chetty
community, descendants of
Tamils
from
Tirunelveli district
in India who migrated to Ceylon during
Portuguese rule
and converted to
Catholicism
.
[2]
[3]
Gabriel's father Adrian converted to
Protestantism
during
Dutch rule
and was a member of the
Dutch Reformed Church
.
[3]
Simon Casie Chetty was
baptised
as an
Anglican
in
Colombo
.
[3]
He was educated at a
Tamil
school in Kalpity and in Colombo.
[3]
As well as Tamil, he was proficient in
English
,
Sinhalese
,
Sanskrit
,
Hebrew
and
Arabic
.
[3]
He also had knowledge of
Portuguese
,
Dutch
,
Latin
and
Greek
.
[3]
Casie Chetty married his cousin in 1839.
[3]
They had two sons (John and Aloysius) and a daughter.
Career
[
edit
]
Casie Chetty was appointed interpreter to the magistrates court in Kalpity in 1824, aged 17.
[1]
[3]
He was appointed interpreter to the Office of Assistant Collector of
Puttalam
in 1826 and in 1828 he became collector of
Chilaw
.
[3]
Following the death of his father in 1837 he was appointed Mudaliyar and a
proctor
.
[3]
He later became Maniagar (British appointed administrative chief) for Puttalam.
[2]
[3]
Following the death of
A. Coomaraswamy
Casie Chetty was appointed to the
Legislative Council of Ceylon
in 1838 as the unofficial member representing Tamils.
[1]
[2]
[3]
He resigned after seven years and joined the
Ceylon Civil Service
, becoming the first Ceylonese civil servant.
[1]
[3]
[4]
He was appointed police magistrate in Kalpity in 1847 and district judge for Chilaw, a position he held until his death.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Casie Chetty was responsible for the construction of St. Peter's Church in Kalpity in 1839 and paid half the costs himself.
[3]
He also ran a Tamil school in Kalpity catering for 50 boys.
[3]
He became a member of the Ceylonese branch of the
Royal Asiatic Society
when it was established in 1845.
[3]
He wrote several books and manuscripts, most notably
Ceylon Gazetteer
(1834),
The Tamil Plutarch
(1859) and
The Castes, Customs, Manners and Literature of the Tamils
(1934).
[1]
[2]
[3]
Casie Chetty died on 5 November 1860 in Kalpity.
[3]
Prior to his death he had converted to Catholicism.
[3]
The Sri Lankan government issued a 75 cent stamp in 1989 honouring Casie Chetty.
[1]
[3]
[5]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Arumugam, S.
(1997).
Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon
(PDF)
. London, U.K. pp. 30?31.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Muttucumaraswamy, V. (1992).
Some Eminent Tamils
(PDF)
. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Department of Hindu Religious and Cultural Affairs, Sri Lanka. pp. 1?5.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
Manickavasagar, Kasipillai (25 March 2007).
"Among the Chetties rose a great Tamil scholar"
.
The Sunday Times
. Colombo, Sri Lanka
. Retrieved
11 June
2017
.
- ^
Tissera, Shirley Pulle (4 August 2007).
"The Colombo Chetties -- II"
.
The Island
. Colombo, Sri Lanka
. Retrieved
11 June
2017
.
- ^
Sivakumaran, K. S. (30 May 2007).
"Who are these Colombo Chetties?"
.
The Island
. Colombo, Sri Lanka
. Retrieved
11 June
2017
.
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