Hēna, also Radā, is a minority Sinhalese caste. "Rajas" means dirt in Sinhala and Pali or Sanskrit and "Rajaka" means the removers of dirt. Earlier these people collected clothes by traveling home to home, however in the present context those practices have been obsolete in Sri Lanka. Presently, people of this caste have ranked up in competitive professions. Of most are Scientists, Professors, Lawyers, Actors, and Politicians in Sri Lanka and Overseas (including foreign born citizens with Sri Lankan heritage).

British period

The creation of the above Mudaliyar class by the British in the 19th century, its restriction only to the

Govigama Govigama (also known as Goyigama, Govikula, Govi Vansa or Goyi Vansa) is a Sinhalese caste found in Sri Lanka. They form approximately half of the Sinhalese population and are traditionally involved in agriculture. The term Govigama became popula ...

caste, production of spurious caste hierarchy lists by this class and changes to the

land tenure In Common law#History, common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land "owned" by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement betw ...

system, resulted in this caste too being classified as a low caste during this period. Although contrary to history, some modern

historians even go to the extent to now suggest that this caste was traditionally bound to serve the Govi caste. The influential Mudaliyar class attempted to keep this caste and all other Sri Lankan castes out of colonial appointments. The oppression by the Mudaliars and connected headmen extended to demanding subservience, service and even restrictions on the type of personal names that could be used by this community. These had been barbaric community standards prevailed, despite the so-called ‘humane’ social reformations by the Buddhist influence. Despite the above odds, several members of this caste became pioneer

Ship chandler A ship chandler is a retail dealer who specializes in providing supplies or equipment for ships. Synopsis For traditional sailing ships, items that could be found in a chandlery include sail-cloth, rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch, linseed oil ...

s, commercial

Laundry Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this u ...

operators and successful Merchants during the British period and were recognised as members of the local elite.

Modern period

Currently, most Sri Lankans of this community are in all the leading professions within the country and overseas (i.e., USA, Canada, UK) involved with Science (i.e., Chemistry, Agriculture, Engineering, Medicine), Commerce, Arts and several other disciplines. They are known to make positive contributions and progress as great professionals. Presently, they also gain an increased say in modern Sri Lankan politics, mainly through the alternative political party

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; , PLF) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formerly a revolutionary movement and was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 JVP ins ...

as the leadership selection processes within the two main political parties are not democratic. Despite philosophical values in Buddhism, caste discrimination by the Buddhist monastic establishment hinders the authentic identity of successful individuals. For instance, the majority of this people live with amended surnames in fear of social disparity besides their professional status.

In literature

*Senkottan-Novel written by Mahinda Kumara Masimbula *"Lenchina mage nangiye" song

Notable people

Ranasinghe Premadasa Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa''; ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was a Sri Lankan politician and statesman who served as the third President of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 unt ...

- Sri Lankan 3rd President (1989-1993) and prime minister (1978-1989) * Chakali ailamma - Chakali Ailamma (1919–1985) was an Indian revolutionary leader during the

Telangana Rebellion The Telangana Rebellion of 1946–1951 was a communist-led insurrection of peasants against the princely state of Hyderabad in the region of Telangana that escalated out of agitations in 1944–1946. Hyderabad was a feudal monarchy where mo ...

. Her act of defiance against Zamindar Ramachandra Reddy, known as Visnoor Deshmukh, to cultivate her land became an inspiration for many during the rebellion against the feudal lords of the

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

region. * Madivala Machideva - Madivala Machideva, also known as Veera Ganachari Madivala Machideva, was an Indian warrior of the 12th-century.

References

{{reflist, 2 * Ryan Bryce 1953 Caste in Modern Ceylon, Rutgers University Press * Ceylon Gazetteer 1855

External links