Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.Join Britannica's Publishing Partner Program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work!
Sinhala Maha Sabha
Sinhala Maha Sabha, political group in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) that was founded in 1937 by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. It was a communally oriented group and promoted the interests of the Sinhalese sector of the population and of Buddhism. In 1945 Bandaranaike threw the support of the Sabha behind the newly created United National Party (UNP) of D.S. Senanayake, which was to dominate politics for the first 10 years of Ceylonese independence.
Although forming a part of the UNP, the Sabha continued as a separate political organization, often publicly supporting linguistic or religious policies that were inconsistent with the policies of the UNP. Differing with Senanayake both on political policy and on leadership succession within the UNP, Bandaranaike left the UNP in 1951. Simultaneously, he dissolved the Sabha, establishing in its place the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which in 1956 defeated the UNP and thrust Bandaranaike into the prime ministership.
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, statesman and prime minister of Ceylon (1956–59), whose election marked a significant change in the political history of modern Ceylon. Educated at the University of Oxford, he was called…
D. S. Senanayake
D. S. Senanayake, first prime minister of Ceylon (1947–52) when the country became independent of Great Britain. Brought up as a devout Buddhist, Senanayake remained in that faith but was educated at the Anglican St. Thomas College in…