SINHALA MAHA SABHA

political group in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) that was founded in 1937 by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. It was a communally oriented group and promoted the interests of the Sinhalese sector of the population and of Buddhism. In 1945 Bandaranaike threw the support of the Sabha behind the newly created United National Party (UNP) of D.S. Senanayake, which was to dominate politics for the first 10 years of Ceylonese independence. Although forming a part of the UNP, the Sabha continued as a separate political organization, often publicly supporting linguistic or religious policies that were inconsistent with the policies of the UNP. Differing with Senanayake both on political policy and on leadership succession within the UNP, Bandaranaike left the UNP in 1951. Simultaneously, he dissolved the Sabha, establishing in its place the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which in 1956 defeated the UNP and thrust Bandaranaike into the prime ministership.