Duenuge Edward Henry Pedris was a Ceylonese militia officer and a prominent socialite. Pedris was executed for treason by the 17th Punjab Regiment of the British Indian Army under martial law during the 1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots. Convicted in a three day Field General Court Martial under the terms of the Army Act, by passing the local legal system, his execution was viewed as unjust by the local population and a warning to local leaders. It hastened the movement toward independence, providing motivation and a martyr for those who pioneered the movement.
Henry Pedris
Captain Henry Pedris Tomb at Kanatte Cemetery.
Image: D.D.Pedris (Father of Henry Pedris)
Image: Mallino Pedris (Mother of Henry Pedris)
1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots
The 1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots was a widespread and prolonged ethnic riot in the island of Ceylon between Sinhalese Buddhists and the Ceylon Moors. The riots were eventually suppressed by the British colonial authorities.
A group of British appointed Kandyan chiefs, with Hon. J. P. Lewis, Government Agent, Central Province in 1905.
A Perahera procession organized in Kandy during the imperial tour of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York in 1901.
Punjabi Muslims of a British Indian Army Punjab Regiment, 1910.
A street scene in Kandy.
