Simon Casie Chetty ( ta, சைமன் காசிச் செட்டி, translit=Caimaṉ Kācic Ceṭṭi; 21 March 1807 – 5 November 1860) was a Ceylonese civil servant, author and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.

Early life and family

Casie Chetty was born on 21 March 1807 in Kalpity in north-western Ceylon. He was the son of Gabriel Casie Chetty,

Mudaliyar Thuluva Vellalar (Thondamandala Tuluva Vellalar), also known as Agamudaya Mudaliars and Arcot Mudaliars, is a caste found in northern Tamil Nadu, southern Andhra Pradesh and southern Karnataka, India. They were originally significant lando ...

of Kalpity, and Marie de Rosairo. He belonged to Ceylon's small Chetty community, descendants of

Tamils The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...

from Tirunelveli district in India who migrated to Ceylon during Portuguese rule and converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Gabriel's father Adrian converted to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

during Dutch rule and was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. Simon Casie Chetty was

baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

as an Anglican in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

. He was educated at a Tamil school in Kalpity and in Colombo. As well as Tamil, he was proficient in English, Sinhalese,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

. He also had knowledge of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

. Casie Chetty married his cousin in 1839. They had two sons (John and Aloysius) and a daughter.

Career

Casie Chetty was appointed interpreter to the magistrates court in Kalpity in 1824, aged 17. He was appointed interpreter to the Office of Assistant Collector of

Puttalam Puttalam ( si, පුත්තලම, translit=Puttalama; ta, புத்தளம், translit=Puttaḷam) is the largest town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Puttalam is the administrative capital of the Puttalam Di ...

in 1826 and in 1828 he became collector of

Chilaw Chilaw ( si, හලාවත, translit=Halāvata, ta, சிலாபம், translit=Cilāpam) is a large town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is governed by an urban council. The town is located 80 kilometres away f ...

. Following the death of his father in 1837 he was appointed Mudaliyar and a proctor. He later became Maniagar (British appointed administrative chief) for Puttalam. Following the death of

A. Coomaraswamy Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy ( ta, ஆறுமுகம்பிள்ளை குமாரசுவாமி; 1783 – 7 November 1836) was a Ceylon Tamil member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon. Early life and family Coomaraswamy was ...

Casie Chetty was appointed to the Legislative Council of Ceylon in 1838 as the unofficial member representing Tamils. He resigned after seven years and joined the Ceylon Civil Service, becoming the first Ceylonese civil servant. He was appointed police magistrate in Kalpity in 1847 and district judge for Chilaw, a position he held until his death. Casie Chetty was responsible for the construction of St. Peter's Church in Kalpity in 1839 and paid half the costs himself. He also ran a Tamil school in Kalpity catering for 50 boys. He became a member of the Ceylonese branch of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

when it was established in 1845. 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). Casie Chetty died on 5 November 1860 in Kalpity. Prior to his death he had converted to Catholicism. The Sri Lankan government issued a 75 cent stamp in 1989 honouring Casie Chetty.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casie Chetty, Simon 1807 births 1860 deaths Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon Mudaliyars of Ceylon People from Puttalam District People of British Ceylon Sri Lankan Anglicans Sri Lankan Chetty civil servants Sri Lankan Chetty judges Sri Lankan Chetty lawyers Sri Lankan Chetty politicians Sri Lankan Chetty writers Sri Lankan Roman Catholics Ceylonese proctors