D. S. Senanayake

D. S. Senanayake was a Sri Lankan statesman who led the country to independence and served as its first prime minister from 1947 until his death in 1952.

Ceylon National Congress: A political organization founded in 1919 to campaign for constitutional reform and self-government in Ceylon. Senanayake entered national politics through this early movement for constitutional change.
Soulbury Commission: A British commission that proposed the constitutional framework under which Ceylon became independent. Its recommendations supplied the constitutional basis for Senanayake's government.
F. R. Senanayake: A Ceylonese political activist and elder brother of D. S. Senanayake, active in early nationalist politics. His brother's activism and death helped draw Senanayake into public life.
Gal Oya Development Project: A postwar irrigation and agricultural settlement scheme centered on the Gal Oya river basin in eastern Ceylon. Senanayake promoted the project as part of expanding irrigation and settling agricultural land.
Donoughmore Commission: A British commission whose recommendations introduced universal adult suffrage and a new constitution in Ceylon in 1931. Its reforms created the State Council in which Senanayake built his political career.
Ceylon Independence Act 1947: A British statute that authorized Ceylon's independence, which took effect on 4 February 1948. This law formalized the transfer of sovereignty achieved during Senanayake's premiership.
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike: A Sri Lankan politician who served as prime minister from 1956 until his assassination in 1959. Bandaranaike left Senanayake's party and later built a rival political movement.
Indian Tamil people in Sri Lanka: A Sri Lankan community descended largely from people brought from India to work on plantation estates during British rule. Citizenship restrictions enacted under Senanayake's government disenfranchised many members of this community.
State Council of Ceylon: Ceylon's legislature from 1931 to 1947, combining elected representatives with executive committees. As a member and later minister, Senanayake gained experience governing before independence.
Dominion of Ceylon: The self-governing Dominion established when Ceylon became independent in 1948, retaining the British monarch as head of state. Senanayake became prime minister of this new dominion rather than a republic.

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