[1] Buddhism rejects casteism as a fundamental principle of its worldview, and this has an effect on reducing the severity of the caste system on the island.
The history of the caste system in Sri Lanka is unclear since there is very little historical evidence and much research carried out into the subject has been criticized as being biased.
Ancient Sri Lankan texts, such as the Pujavaliya, Sadharmaratnavaliya, Yogaratnakaraya and inscriptions, show that a fourfold caste category namely Raja, Bamunu, Velanda and Govi existed among the Sinhalese.
Most Govigama were however ordinary farmers and tenants as absolute land ownership was exclusive to the king until the British colonial period.
[18] The most important feature of the Kandyan system was Rajakariya ("the king's work"), which linked each caste to an occupation and demanded service to the court and religious institutions.
[19] There were differences between the caste structures of the highlands and those of the low country, although some service groups were common to both in ancient Sri Lanka.
The Mukkuvars, traditional pearl divers, dominate greater parts of Eastern Sri Lanka where they were the major landowners also involved in agriculture.
[30][31] The artisans, known locally as Kammalar or Vishwakarma consists of the Kannar (brass-workers), Kollar (blacksmiths), Tattar (goldsmiths), Tatchar (carpenters), Kartatchar (sculptor).
[32][33] the Ambattar (barbers), Kadaiyar (lime burners), Koviar (farmers), Kusavar (potters), Maraiyar (conch blowers), Nattuvar (musician), Nalavar (toddy-tappers), Pallar (farm workers), Paraiyar (drummers), Turumbar (scavengers) and Vannar (dhobies) constituting the domestic servants termed as Kudimakkal.
[35][36] Other Sri Lankan Tamil castes of importance were the Cirpatar (cultivators), Iyer (priests), Kaikolar (weavers), Madapalli (former royal cooks), Shanar (toddy-tappers) and Maravar (Poligar-Warriors).
However, social mobility was present since the colonial rulers didn't impose hereditary occupations as was the case in the Kandy Kingdom.
By the late 19th century the upper-class natives of Ceylon (called Ceylonese by the British) formed a second-class group in their own land, serving their colonial masters.
At first, these were limited to special posts reserved for natives such as Rate Mahattaya in the central highlands and the Mudaliyars in the coastal areas, letter as the new generation of these native chieftains grew up educated in the Christian missionary schools, public schools modelled after their English counterparts and at British Universities they were taken into the Ceylon Civil Service, others took up places in the Legislative and later the State councils.
The lower middle class was made up of persons who were educated but held less prestigious, but respected jobs such as lower-level public servants, policemen, and teachers.
Following the failure of the socialist economic drive of the 1970s the new government of J R Jayewardene opened up the country's economy to free market reforms.
Today;[42] The upper class in Sri Lanka is statistically very small and consists of industrialists, businessmen, senior executives and serving government ministers.
They typically send their children (depending on family income, traditions, and residence) to national, private or international schools to be educated in English or in their local languages.
[2] The lower middle class in Sri Lanka consists of people in blue-collar jobs living in less prosperous suburbs.
[43] Political power and wealth have largely replaced caste as the main factor in Sri Lankan social stratification, especially in the Sinhalese and Indian Tamil communities.
[44] Ponnambalam Ramanathan, under British Ceylon, opposed extending voting rights to the people and urged reservation of franchise only to men of the Vellalar caste.