Locations in Sri Lanka with a Scottish name

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Elgin Falls Elgine.JPG
Elgin Falls

This is a list of placenames in Scotland which have subsequently been given to parts of Sri Lanka by Scottish planters. Almost without exception Scottish place names in Sri Lanka occur either in the Hill Country plantations or in Colombo.

Contents

As the Scottish coffee and tea planters, including Sri Lanka's first tea planter James Taylor, settled in the country, they named their plantations after their home towns in Scotland.Charles Hay Cameron and his sons named their estates after Lochiel and Erroll their ancestral peerages, as well as Moray, Forres, Glencairn and St Regulus. In Colombo, places were named after Sri Lanka's British governors including Thomas Maitland.

Hill Country

Low Country

Colombo

Notes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elgin, Moray</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Elgin is a historic town and formerly a royal burgh in Moray, Scotland. It is the administrative and commercial centre for Moray. The town originated to the south of the River Lossie on the higher ground above the floodplain where the town of Birnie is. There, the church of Birnie Kirk was built in 1140 and serves the community to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forres</span> Town in Scotland

Forres is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Inverness and 12 miles (19 km) west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There are many geographical and historical attractions nearby such as the River Findhorn, and there are also classical, historical artifacts and monuments within the town itself, such as Forres Tolbooth and Nelson's Tower. Brodie Castle, the home of the Brodie Clan, lies to the west of the town, close to the A96.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuwara Eliya</span> City in Central Province, Sri Lanka

Nuwara Eliya is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain " or "city of light". The city is the administrative capital of Nuwara Eliya District, with a picturesque landscape and temperate climate. It is at an altitude of 1,868 m (6,128 ft) and is considered to be the most important location for tea production in Sri Lanka. The city is overlooked by Pidurutalagala, the tallest mountain in Sri Lanka. Nuwara Eliya is known for its temperate, cool climate – the coolest area in Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. S. Senanayake</span> 1st Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

Don Stephen Senanayake was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of Ceylon having emerged as the leader of the Sri Lankan independence movement that led to the establishment of self-rule in Ceylon. He is considered as the "Father of the Nation".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hatton, Sri Lanka</span> Town in Central Province, Sri Lanka

Hatton is a major town in the Nuwara Eliya District of Central Province, Sri Lanka governed by the Hatton-Dickoya Urban Council. Hatton is a major centre of the Sri Lankan tea industry.

General Ranjan Wijeratne was a Sri Lankan planter and politician. He served in the Premadasa cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs and then Minister of Plantation Industries, while holding the office of State Minister for Defence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Badulla</span> City in Sri Lanka

Badulla is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka</span> Tamil people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka

Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka are Tamil people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka. They are also known as Malayaga Tamilar, Hill Country Tamils, Up-Country Tamils or simply Indian Tamils. They predominantly descend from workers sent from Southern India to Sri Lanka in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in coffee, tea and rubber plantations. Some also migrated on their own as merchants and as other service providers. These Tamil speakers mostly live in the central highlands, also known as the Malayakam or Hill Country, yet others are also found in major urban areas and in the Northern Province. Although they are all termed as Tamils today, some have Telugu and Malayalee origins as well as diverse South Indian caste origins. They are instrumental in the plantation sector economy of Sri Lanka. In general, socio-economically their standard of living is below that of the national average and they are described as one of the poorest and most neglected groups in Sri Lanka. In 1964 a large percentage were repatriated to India, but left a considerable number as stateless people. By the 1990s most of these had been given Sri Lankan citizenship. Most are Hindus with a minority of Christians and Muslims amongst them. There are also a small minority followers of Buddhism among them. Politically they are supportive of trade union-based political parties that have supported most of the ruling coalitions since the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lankan independence movement</span> 20th-century movement for the independence of Sri Lanka (British Ceylon) from the British Empire

The Sri Lankan independence movement was a peaceful political movement which was aimed at achieving independence and self-rule for the country of Sri Lanka, then British Ceylon, from the British Empire. The switch of powers was generally known as peaceful transfer of power from the British administration to Ceylon representatives, a phrase that implies considerable continuity with a colonial era that lasted 400 years. It was initiated around the turn of the 20th century and led mostly by the educated middle class. It succeeded when, on 4 February 1948, Ceylon was granted independence as the Dominion of Ceylon. Dominion status within the British Commonwealth was retained for the next 24 years until 22 May 1972 when it became a republic and was renamed the Republic of Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Kotelawala</span> 3rd Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon from 1953 to 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosy Senanayake</span> Sri Lankan politician

Bernadine Rose Senanayake, JP, UM, better known as Rosy Senanayake, is a Sri Lankan politician, beauty pageant titleholder and activist currently serving as Presidential Advisor on Local Government affairs. She was the Mayor of Colombo from 2018 to 2023, and former Prime Minister's Spokesperson and the Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office for Ranil Wickramasinghe. She has been an activist on several issues and an active figure in the opposition gaining much limelight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Ceylon</span> British Crown colony (1796–1948); now Sri Lanka

British Ceylon, officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Ceylon and its Dependencies from 1931 to 1948, was the British Crown colony of present-day Sri Lanka between 1796 and 4 February 1948. Initially, the area it covered did not include the Kingdom of Kandy, which was a protectorate, but from 1817 to 1948 the British possessions included the whole island of Ceylon, now the nation of Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Taylor (tea planter)</span> Scottish tea planter (1835–1892)

James Taylor was a Scottish tea planter who introduced tea to British Ceylon. He arrived to British Ceylon in 1852 and settled down in Loolecondera estate in Delthota. Here he worked with Scottish merchant Thomas Lipton to develop the tea industry in British Ceylon. He continued to live in British Ceylon until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominion of Ceylon</span> Country in South Asia from 1948 to 1972

Ceylon was an independent country in the Commonwealth of Nations from 1948 to 1972, that shared a monarch with other dominions of the Commonwealth. In 1948, the British Colony of Ceylon was granted independence as Ceylon. In 1972, the country became a republic within the Commonwealth, and its name was changed to Sri Lanka.

Fredrick Richard Senanayake was a Ceylonesen lawyer and independence activist. A leading member of the Sri Lankan independence movement, he was an elected member of the Colombo Municipal Council. F.R Senanayake, who would go on to lead Sri Lanka's independence movement, becoming a Barrister of independent Sri Lanka in 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elgin Falls</span> Waterfall in Ambewela, Sri Lanka

Elgin Falls is a waterfall in Sri Lanka, located in the Elgin tea estate which is 18 km (11 mi) from Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka. The waterfall is 25 m (82 ft) in height. Elgin Falls is named after Elgin, a major town of Moray in Scotland. the falls is at about 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level. There are several ways to access the waterfall. When traveling by railway between Nanu Oya and Ambewela the falls can be seen picturesquely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devon Falls</span> Waterfall in Talawakele, Sri Lanka

Devon Falls, known as the 'Veil of the Valley', is a waterfall in Sri Lanka, situated 6 km (3.7 mi) west of Talawakele, Nuwara Eliya District on the A7 highway. The falls is named after a pioneer English coffee planter called Devon, whose plantation was situated nearby. The waterfall is 97 m (318 ft) high and is the 19th highest in the country. The falls are formed by a tributary of Kothmale Oya, which is a tributary of Mahaweli River. The elevation of Devon Falls is 1,140 m (3,740 ft) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinnamon Gardens</span> Suburb in Western Province, Sri Lanka

Cinnamon Gardens is an affluent neighbourhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka located 3 kilometers south-east from Colombo's centre. Cinnamon Gardens is named from the former cinnamon plantation in this area. In the year 1789, there were 289 acres (1.17 km2) of cinnamon trees in the gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. W. Amarasuriya</span> Ceylonese plantation owner, politician, educationist and philanthropist

Henry Woodward Amarasuriya was a Ceylonese plantation owner, politician, educationist and philanthropist. He was the Cabinet Minister for Trade and Commerce in the cabinet of D. S. Senanayake. A former member of the Ceylon state council, H. W. Amarasuriya was a founding member and the first general secretary of the United National Party. He also held the position of Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees in the first parliament of Ceylon. A member of the first Education Executive Committee of the state council and a former general manager of the Buddhist schools, he did a great service to improve the education in Ceylon.

Adriaan Constant Tutein-Nolthenius was a Dutch-born Ceylonese tea planter, amateur naturalist, author and appointed member of parliament.

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