Lieutenant Colonel Sabdharatnajyoti "Thambirajah" Saravanamuttu, MBE (1898 – 17 July 1957; also known as S. Sara) was a

Ceylon Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province an ...

lawyer, politician, military officer, cricketer and sports administrator.

Early life and family

Saravanamuttu was born in 1898 in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. He was the son of Vetharniam Saravanamuttu, a physician from Colombo. His mother's family were from

Vaddukoddai Vaddukoddai (, ) (also spelt Vatukotai, Vaddukkoddai) is small but important town in the minority Sri Lankan Tamil dominated Jaffna peninsula of Sri Lanka. This place famous to Cultural Dances & Hindu rituals. It became prominent with the foundin ...

in northern Ceylon. His paternal grandfather Vetharniam is reputed to be the founder of

Chunnakam Chunnakam (; ) is a town, located north of Jaffna. It is one of the important commercial centres in Jaffna. The original name of the town was Mayilani. In northern Sri Lanka, Chunnakam is only second to Jaffna in terms of population density and ...

, a small town in northern Ceylon. Saravanamuttu had five eminent brothers: Ratnasothy, Nanasothy, Tharmasothy, Paikiasothy and Manicasothy. He was educated at

S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia (abbreviated as STC), is a fee-levying Anglican selective entry boys' private school in Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by James Chapman, the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, in 1851, it was founded as ...

where he was captain of the cricket team (1916–18) and scored the fastest century in Ceylon. He was also head prefect and boxing champion at S. Thomas. He then joined

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The colle ...

to study engineering. He played cricket at Cambridge between 1921 and 1923 but failed to win a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

for

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, established in 1820, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. The club was recognised as holding first-class cricket, first-class status until 2020. The university played ...

Career

Saravanamuttu was a member of

Colombo Municipal Council The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, and elected 119 municipal councilors. The council was f ...

from May 1937 to December 1946. Saravanamuttu served in the

Ceylon Defense Force The Ceylon Defence Force (CDF) was established in 1910 by the Ceylonese legislation ''Ceylon Defence Force Ordinance'', which reformed the Ceylon Volunteer Force (CVF) that existed previously as the military reserve in the British Crown colony ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was in command of one of the two

Ceylon Light Infantry Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian peninsula by ...

battalions deployed along the eastern coast of Ceylon to protect against Japanese invasion. After the war he qualified as a lawyer and practised law. Saravanamuttu was captain of the

Ceylon national cricket team The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, (; ) nicknamed The Lions, represents Sri Lanka in men's international cricket. It is a full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T20 Internation ...

twice and of

Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club Tamil Union Cricket & Athletic Club is a first-class cricket team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They play their home games at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium. History The club can trace its roots back to the final years of the 19th century in which t ...

in 1934 and from 1936 to 1941. He played in the European-Ceylonese Test series and for Ceylon against Australia, New Zealand and

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

. He was president of the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon. Saravanamuttu was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1953 Coronation Honours The 1953 Coronation Honours were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours on the occasion of her coronation on 2 June 1953. The honours were published in '' The London Gazette'' on 1 June 1953.New Zealand list: The rec ...

. He died on 17 July 1957 in Colombo aged 59.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saravanamuttu, Sabdharatnajyoti 1898 births 1957 deaths All-Ceylon cricketers Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Ceylonese Members of the Order of the British Empire Ceylonese military personnel of World War II Colombo municipal councillors Cricketers from Colombo Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers Sri Lankan Tamil military personnel Tamil politicians Cambridge University cricketers Sri Lankan cricketers Cambridgeshire cricketers Expatriate cricketers in England Ceylon Light Infantry officers Ceylonese lieutenant colonels