Colombo Town Guard officer Henry Pedris is executed in British Ceylon for allegedly inciting persecution of Muslims.

Colombo Town Guard

Volunteer regiment of the Ceylon Defense Force

Colombo Town Guard was a regiment attached to the Ceylon Defence Force which was the predecessor to the Sri Lanka Army prior to 1949 when the Ceylon Army was formed. It was a volunteer (reserve) regiment was based in Colombo.

Henry Pedris

Militia leader in colonial Ceylon; executed by the British in 1915 and made a martyr

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…

British Ceylon

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…

Persecution of Muslims

The persecution of Muslims has been recorded throughout the history of Islam, beginning with its founding by Muhammad in the 7th century.