| Group: | Rodiya |
| Image Upright: | 1.35 |
| Total: | Unknown |
| Langs: | Rodiya language |
| Related: | Vedda and Kinnaraya |
Rodi or Rodiya (lit., filth) are an untouchable social group or caste amongst the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka.[1] Their status was very similar to all the Untouchable castes of India with segregated communities, ritualised begging, economically weakest section of the society.[2]
Accounts from the colonial period depict the social position and life experiences of the Rodiyas.[3]
The various stories on the origin of the Rodi caste are contradictory and therefore far from certain. According to Mahavams Chronicle, Rodiyas were the 24,000 South Indian Dalits brought as prisoners of war from South India by King Gajabahu (114-136 A.D.) of Ceylon. To prevent escape they were re-settled in the rural hill country Kotmale area of the Central Highlands of Ceylon. This Rodiya (origin: Indian word Rowdy meaning unruly and destructive behaviour) community were considered as untouchables due to their grotesque religious practices stemming from their South Indian tribal religious beliefs which involves Cannibalism and Black magic Practices that were inhuman, unclean, heretical (Heresy) practices which were loathed in disgust by the Native Sinhalese Buddhists of Ceylon. Rodis have their own mythical stories about their origin (Princess Ratnavalli story) have been passed down orally by their generations. They were considered so untouchable that the Sinhalese royal law prescribed the punishment to banish worst offenders and convicts to the Rodiya community which was considered a worst punishment than the capital punishment, i.e. the daughter of King Parakramabahu named Ratnavalli (also known as Navaratna Valli) secretly conniving with a Rodiya caste butcher (who was supplying venison to the royal court) shared a taste for human flesh (cannibalism). This was later found out by the king and enraged by her serious offense, the King banished her to the Rodiya community, offering her as the bride to that same butcher. Some of these stories are found in published documents as well.[4] Rodis were considered to be purely a low caste group. According to Kandyan law, the worst punishment for high caste nobles was the exiling them to the Rodi caste.[5] Robert Knox (sailor) and Hugh Nevill are two of the prominent writers who have mentioned the Rodi Caste in their writings. Although these folklore tales do not provide many facts about the origins of the Rodi, they trace a connection between the daughter of King Parakramabahu and a butcher. Even today they practice deceit, witchcraft, voodoo, blackmagic, human sacrifice and cannibalism.[6] These however are folklore stories told to British workers in the 1600s. Claims of cannibalism are often used to attack minorities even when there is no evidence. And non-Hindu and non-Buddhist religious practices would be unacceptable to observant Hindus and Buddhists, without them having to be lying witches.
The British Government in London recalled from the service the British Colonial Governor Sir Thomas Maitland (British Army officer) perhaps because of a rumored relationship with a Ceylonese untouchable Rodiya Caste (though normally said to be Sinhalese) dancing girl named Lovina Alfonso. Rodiya people were heavily involved in Sri Lankan independence from British colonization.