ABSTRACT
The benefits of these developments have, however, been somewhat offset by the fact that the population of this community has almost trebled over the past century. Demographic change in Rangama and Devideniya has only been the result of internal expansion of families in the community but of a considerable degree of in and out migration. Although the accessibility of bazaars has meant that villagers no longer depend on itinerant Muslim traders for the purchase of consumer goods, itinerant Muslim middlemen remain a feature of community life because they provide the most important market outlet for spices. A gradual out-migration of Muslims from this area has resulted in a decrease in the Muslim population in the Rangama/Devideniya community. The numerical preponderance within the Rangama/Devideniya community of these three castes reflects the general caste distribution in the Kegalle district as well as in the Sabaragamuva province as a whole, the Batgam and Vahumpura together are almost as numerous as the Goigama.
