Description

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Rata Sabhāwa, an unwritten rural judicial tradition formulated by oral history, culture, feudal, and caste customs, was the collective lex terrae, law of the land, practiced in Nuwarakalaviya region and adjacent districts of Sri Lanka until the mid-1930s, when the colonial government policies tolled its demise. This book examines the history of this Sabhā system, and variants in the neighboring Kandyan country, and how it functioned as the primary source to promote social order and conflict resolution in communities. In examining the preventative and punitive methods that existed in this system - some bizarre, some outright discriminatory, often caring, humane, and understanding - this volume reveals that the Nuwarakalaviya region functioned as a princely state ruled by Chiefs facilitated with greater independence and semi-sovereign authority, without any patronage from the King and colonial powers in other parts of the country.