Ragama

Ragama is a town/suburb of Colombo, situated in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is represented by the Ja-Ela Pradeshiya Sabha. In July 1874 a rail line, known as the Breakwater line, was opened associating the Harbor Works Quarry at Ragama to the Colombo Harbor jetty, with the end goal to empower stone to be transported to the harbor to build the breakwat. Stone from a second quarry at Ragama was then used to settle the Coastal line where it kept running on the edge of the shoreline.

On 8 January 1901 the British War Office built up a wartime captive camp in Ragama to house Boer detainees caught in the Second Boer War. The detainees at Ragama were principally nonconformists, outside volunteers and irreconcilables who declined to sign a pledge of loyalty to the British Crown, and were exchanged from the principle camp at Diyatalawa.

Ragama filled in as the fundamental perception camp for coolies entering the nation. The coolies landed at Colombo and were sent via prepare to Ragama, where they were confined for forty eight hours previously being transported to different tea manors around the country. In 1904 76,963 coolies from Southern India got through the camp and in 1905 this expanded to 132,690.