Bandaranaike, << bahn drah NEE kee, >> S.W.R.D. (1899-1959), was a leading politician in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He served as the island country’s prime minister from 1956 to 1959. Bandaranaike used his political power to advance the interests of the Sinhalese, the country’s largest ethnic group. His efforts angered the minority Tamil ethnic group.
Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike was born on Jan. 8, 1899, in Horagolla, near Colombo, the capital of Ceylon. At that time, the British ruled the island. In 1925, Bandaranaike received a law degree from Oxford University in the United Kingdom and returned to Ceylon to practice law. In 1927, he was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council. That same year, he became secretary of the Ceylon National Congress, a nationalist group that called for greater self-government for the island.
Bandaranaike converted from Christianity to Buddhism in 1931. That same year, he was elected to Ceylon’s new State Council. In 1936, he established Sinhala Maha Sabha (Great Council of the Sinhalese). This organization promoted Sinhalese and Buddhist culture over those of the English-speaking Christian British and the Tamil-speaking Hindu Tamils.
In 1947, Ceylon held elections for a new Parliament created in anticipation of the island’s becoming independent the following year. Bandaranaike was elected to the new House of Representatives as a member of the United National Party (UNP). This party was a collection of groups that included the Ceylon National Congress and the Sinhala Maha Sabha. Bandaranaike became a minister in the new government.
In 1951, Bandaranaike resigned from his government post and from the UNP, disbanded Sinhala Maha Sabha, and founded the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). In 1956, the SLFP and its political partners won a majority of seats in the House, and Bandaranaike became prime minister. The Bandaranaike government’s efforts to advance Sinhalese and Buddhist causes were met with hostility from the Tamils. After the government passed a law that made Sinhala—the language of the Sinhalese—the country’s only official language, clashes broke out between Tamils and Sinhalese. Compromises eventually were made to provide for the use of the Tamil language in many areas.
On Sept. 25, 1959, Bandaranaike was shot by a Sinhalese extremist. He died the following day. His widow, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, became Ceylon’s prime minister in 1960. She was the world’s first female prime minister.
See also Bandaranaike, Sirimavo; Sri Lanka (History).
