Mudaliyar Simon Casie Chetty MLC CCS
சைமன் காசிச் செட்டி
Unofficial Member ( Tamil), Legislative Council of Ceylon
In office 1838–1845
Preceded by	A. Coomaraswamy
Succeeded by	V. Edirmannasingham
Personal details
Born	(1807-03-21)21 March 1807 Kalpity, Ceylon
Died	5 November 1860(1860-11-05) (aged 53) Kalpity, Ceylon
Occupation	Civil servant

Simon Casie Chetty ( Tamil: சைமன் காசிச் செட்டி, romanized: Caimaṉ Kācic Ceṭṭi; 21 March 1807 – 5 November 1860) was a Ceylonese civil servant, author and member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.

Early life and family

Casie Chetty was born on 21 March 1807 in Kalpity in north-western Ceylon. ^{[1] [2] [3]} He was the son of Gabriel Casie Chetty, Mudaliyar of Kalpity, and Marie de Rosairo. ^[3] He belonged to Ceylon's small Chetty community, descendants of Tamils from Tirunelveli district in India who migrated to Ceylon during Portuguese rule and converted to Catholicism. ^{[2] [3]} Gabriel's father Adrian converted to Protestantism during Dutch rule and was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. ^[3]

Simon Casie Chetty was baptised as an Anglican in Colombo. ^[3] He was educated at a Tamil school in Kalpity and in Colombo. ^[3] As well as Tamil, he was proficient in English, Sinhalese, Sanskrit, Hebrew and Arabic. ^[3] He also had knowledge of Portuguese, Dutch, Latin and Greek. ^[3]

Casie Chetty married his cousin in 1839. ^[3] They had two sons (John and Aloysius) and a daughter.

Career

Casie Chetty was appointed interpreter to the magistrates court in Kalpity in 1824, aged 17. ^{[1] [3]} He was appointed interpreter to the Office of Assistant Collector of Puttalam in 1826 and in 1828 he became collector of Chilaw. ^[3] Following the death of his father in 1837 he was appointed Mudaliyar and a proctor. ^[3] He later became Maniagar (British appointed administrative chief) for Puttalam. ^{[2] [3]}

Following the death of A. Coomaraswamy Casie Chetty was appointed to the Legislative Council of Ceylon in 1838 as the unofficial member representing Tamils. ^{[1] [2] [3]} He resigned after seven years and joined the Ceylon Civil Service, becoming the first Ceylonese civil servant. ^{[1] [3] [4]} He was appointed police magistrate in Kalpity in 1847 and district judge for Chilaw, a position he held until his death. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Casie Chetty was responsible for the construction of St. Peter's Church in Kalpity in 1839 and paid half the costs himself. ^[3] He also ran a Tamil school in Kalpity catering for 50 boys. ^[3] He became a member of the Ceylonese branch of the Royal Asiatic Society when it was established in 1845. ^[3] He wrote several books and manuscripts, most notably Ceylon Gazetteer (1834), The Tamil Plutarch (1859) and The Castes, Customs, Manners and Literature of the Tamils (1934). ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Casie Chetty died on 5 November 1860 in Kalpity. ^[3] Prior to his death he had converted to Catholicism. ^[3] The Sri Lankan government issued a 75 cent stamp in 1989 honouring Casie Chetty. ^{[1] [3] [5]}

References