1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots

The 1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots (also known as the anti-Muslim riots of 1915 or the 1915 Buddhist Mohammedan riots or the 1915 Ceylonese riots) was a widespread and prolonged ethnic riot in the island of Ceylon between Sinhalese Buddhists and the Ceylon Moors. The riots were eventually suppressed by the British colonial authorities.

The riots started in Kandy in the night of 28 May 1915 and spread to neighbouring villages on 30 May and to Colombo on 31 May and other towns thereafter. It was suppressed by 9 June with final incidents occurring on 11 May in Chilaw. Taking place at the time when the First World War was raging in Europe, the British authorities feared that the riots were possibly a rebellion against colonial rule; in response, martial law was first declared in the Western and Sabaragamuwa Provinces on 2 June, extended to other provinces in the following days, and terminated on 30 August. During the suppression of the rebellion, colonial forces supplemented by European auxiliaries carried out numerous summary executions and other repressive measures in an attempt to put an end to the riots.

Background

By the turn of the 20th century, Ceylon was a British colony. The last native kingdom, the Kingdom of Kandy had been ceded to the British Crown in 1815 under the Kandyan Convention. The island saw little conflict as in the past century only two anti-British uprisings (the Uva Rebellion and the Matale Rebellion) took place. The native population of the island at this time was predominately Buddhist mostly from the ethnic group Sinhalese.