Colonial History of Sri Lanka

THROWBACK TO THE PORTUGUESE PERIOD IN SRI LANKA

By the late fifteenth century, Portugal, which had already established its dominance as a maritime power in the Atlantic, was exploring new waters. In 1497 Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and discovered an ocean route connecting Europe with India, thus inaugurating a new era of maritime supremacy for Portugal. The Portuguese were consumed by two objectives in their empirebuilding efforts: to convert followers of nonchristian religions to Roman Catholicism and to capture the major share of the spice trade for the European market. To carry out their goals, the Portuguese did not seek territorial conquest, which would have been difficult given their small numbers. Instead, they tried to dominate strategic points through which trade passed.

By virtue of their supremacy on the seas, their knowledge of firearms, and by what has been called their “desperate soldiering” on land, the Portuguese gained an influence in South Asia that was far out of proportion to their numerical strength.

At that time, the island was divided into four regional kingdoms. Namely they were; Kotte, the most important, Sitawaka, Kandy in the mountains and Jaffna in North.

In 1518, the Viceroy Lopo Soares de Albergaria landed in Colombo with a large fleet. Then the Portuguese began to build a small fort named ‘Nossa Senhora das Virtude’. It was triangular in shape, surmounted by a central tower. Sri Lankans soon besieged the fort and around 1524 the Portuguese dismantled it.

The Mappillas (Malabar Muslims) who up to 1539 waged a dynastic conflict in the Kingdoms of Sitawaka and Kotte opposing the Portuguese presence in Sri Lanka (named Ceylon at that time). But they were defeated. Also, during these years, missionaries began the work of converting people to Christianity. Churches were erected in the fishing villages of the south western coast.

In October 1550, Viceroy de Noronha arrived with 500 Portuguese soldiers who occupied Kotte and sacked Sitawaka. But he lost a good opportunity of establishing the supremacy of Portugal over the entire island.

In November 1554, Duarte de Eca built a new fortress in Colombo and in 1560 Viceroy Dom Constantino conquered the town of Nallur, the capital city of the Kingdom of Jaffna and soon afterwards they proceeded to the island of Mannar where a fort was built.

In July 1565, the Portuguese decided to transfer the court and the capital to Colombo. Thus Kotte was abandoned.

The Portuguese at Colombo were surrounded because the Sinhalese had three strong garrisons around Colombo, at Wattala, Nagalagama and Mapane. And in 1574, the Portuguese took offensive. They plundered Negombo, Kalutara and Beruwala, and ravaged the districts of Weligama and Chilaw.

After the annexation of Jaffna, only the central highland Kingdom of Kandy–the last remnant of Buddhist Sinhalese power– remained independent of control. The kingdom acquired a new significance as custodian of Sinhalese nationalism. The Portuguese attempted the same strategy they had used successfully at Kotte and Jaffna and set up a puppet on the throne. They were able to put a queen on the Kandyan throne and even to have her baptized. But despite considerable Portuguese help, she was not able to retain power. The Portuguese spent the next half century trying in vain to expand their control over the Kingdom of Kandy.

In one expedition in 1630, the Kandyans ambushed and massacred the whole Portuguese force, including the captain-general. The Kandyans fomented rebellion and consistently frustrated Portuguese attempts to expand into the interior.

The areas the Portuguese claimed to control in Sri Lanka were part of what they majestically called the Estado da India and were governed in name by the viceroy in Goa, who represented the king. But in actuality, from headquarters in Colombo, the captain-general, a subordinate of the viceroy, directly ruled Sri Lanka with all the affectations of royalty once reserved for the Sinhalese kings.

In 1640, Dutch established their power in Sri Lanka winning it over Portuguese. In the early 17th century, Sri Lanka was partly ruled by the Portuguese and Sri Lankan kingdoms that were constantly battling each other.

Not all of the Portuguese influence was beneficial, but the positive aspects have contributed to an extraordinarily diverse society in which traditional aspects have thankfully survived.

1. ROMAN CATHOLICISM.

Roman Catholicism is the main form of Christianity in Sri Lanka, having been the first to be introduced by Portuguese missionaries. However, the over-zealous nature of the conversion is the least tasteful aspect of the Portuguese cultural imprint. But they were more successful in retaining their converts than the Dutch missionaries who tried to spread Protestantism after the Portuguese were expelled.

Unfortunately only ruins of Portuguese churches remain. Indeed insignificant architecture is extant: even the many forts the Portuguese built were reconstructed by the Dutch, the stronghold master-builders of the period.

2. SURNAMES

Many Sinhalese adopted Portuguese surnames-although most were modified to a degree-but this practice did not necessarily denote conversion to Roman Catholicism.

Such names (and their Portuguese form) include Corea (Correia), Croos (Cruz), De Abrew (Abreu), De Alwis (Alves), De Mel (Melo), De Saram (Serra), De Silva (Da Silva), De Soysa or De Zoysa, Dias, De Fonseka or Fonseka (Fonseca), Fernando (Fernandes), Gomes or Gomis, Mendis (Mendes), Perera (Pereira), Peiris or Pieris (Peres), Rodrigo (Rodrigues), Salgado, and Vaas (Vaz). The last example has become well-known in international cricket due to Chaminda Vaas, formerly Sri Lanka’s most successful new-ball bowler.

3. PORTUGUESE CREOLE

The interaction of the Portuguese and the islanders led to the evolution of a new language, Portuguese Creole. This flourished as a link language between the 16th and mid-19th centuries and continues to be spoken today (there is no written form) by an extremely small percentage of the population: in 1992 it was estimated to be 30,000.

Speakers of Portuguese Creole are generally members of the Burgher community (descendents of the Portuguese and Dutch) who reside in Batticaloa and Trincomalee. In addition it is spoken by the Kaffir community (Bantu slaves brought to the Island by the Portuguese and later by the Dutch and British), in Puttalam. Portuguese Creole consists of words from Portuguese, Sinhala, Tamil, and even Dutch and English. It is considered to be the most important creole dialect in Asia because of its vitality and the influence of its vocabulary on the

Sinhala language.

4. SINHALA WORDS OF PORTUGUESE ORIGIN

This vocabulary influence was remarkable: there was a rapid absorption of perhaps a thousand Portuguese words into Sinhala. These “loan words” as they were termed by lexicographers rarely appear in the same form as the original; the vast majority have undergone naturalisation.

Examples include: almariya (wardrobe), annasi (pineapple), baldiya (bucket), bankuwa (bench), bonikka (doll), bottama (button), gova (cabbage), kabuk (laterite, a building material), kalisama (trousers), kamisaya (shirt), kussiya (kitchen), lensuwa (handkerchief), masaya (month), mesaya (table), narang (orange), nona (lady), paan (bread), pinturaya (picture), rodaya (wheel), rosa (pink), saban (soap), salada (salad), sapattuwa (shoe), simenti (cement), sumanaya (week), toppiya (hat), tuwaya (towel), viduruwa (glass).

5. MUSIC AND DANCE

Apart from Buddhism, the second biggest influence on Sri Lankan music is Portuguese, for the colonials brought with them western instruments such as the ukulele and the guitar, and introduced musical forms such as the ballad. More significant, though, was the importation of the rhythmic instrumental dance music called baila, which was popular with the Portuguese traders and their Kaffir slaves. Characterised by its upbeat 6/8 time, baila has today become a fashionable genre of Sri Lankan music. It includes comical lyrics and accommodates modern instruments-electric guitar, keyboards and drums-and is often played during parties and weddings.

6. CUISINE

Those who assume that Sri Lanka’s hot curries were the creation of the Islanders would be surprised to learn that the Portuguese introduced chillies to the local cuisine. Until then, pepper had been the means by which curries were given a ‘heaty’ (Sri Lankan English) taste. Not so surprising, considering the local lack of knowledge regarding bread revealed in the comment that the Portuguese ate “hunks of white stone”, is that they were responsible for the establishment of bread-making. They also introduced the tomato. The Islanders took to Portuguese cakes, such as the bolo fiado or bolo folhado, a layer cake filled with cadju (cashews), and sweets such as boruwa and fuguete.

7. CLOTHING

Illustrations in Portuguese and Dutch descriptions of the Island in the 16th and 17th centuries reveal that the Sinhalese soldier’s dress was of Portuguese influence. There is an engraving from Description of Malabar and Ceylon (1672) by the Dutchman Philip Baldaeus that depicts the reception of his fellowcountryman, explorer Joris van Spilbergen, by King Vimaladharmasuriya I. The king’s guards are shown wearing a Portuguese-type helmet, white jacket and kilt.

THE DUTCH PERIOD IN SRI LANKA

The Dutch were invited by the Sri Lankans to help fight the Portuguese. They signed the Kandyan Treaty of 1638 with Rajasinghe II and soon embarked on a war against their common enemy. As such the Dutch were appointed as a protector of the country. However the attempts by Kandy to enlist Dutch help in expelling the Portuguese seemed to have only resulted in the substitution of one European power for another. By 1658, 153 years after the first Portuguese contact, the Dutch took control over the coastal areas of the Island. During their 140 year rule the Dutch, like Portuguese, were involved in repeated unsuccessful attempts to bring Kandy under their control. The Dutch were much more interested in trade and profits than the Portuguese, who spent a lot of efforts spreading their religion and extending their physical control. Meanwhile, however, Rajasinghe II approached the French and offered them the Trincomalee fort as a check against Dutch power. The Dutch captured Trinco from the French and controlled all the maritime provinces of the island. Rajasinghe and the Dutch were both playing a double game trying to outwit each other, and the treaty of 1638 was never implemented. The Dutch ruled all the Tamil provinces and brought Tanjore Tamil slaves to work in the cinnamon gardens in the Western Province and tobacco farms in Jaffna. The capital of Dutch Coromandel was in Pulicat and they brought needed manpower from the Indian colonies.

In the year 1603, on the 2nd of June, the Dutch Admiral Joris Van Spilbergen arrived in Ceylon with three ships from the Dutch port of Veere after a 12-month voyage. Visiting Kandy, the seat of King Vimaladharmasuriya I, Spilbergen and the King developed cordial relations. The King’s admiration for his new-found friend was so deep that he began to learn the Dutch language saying ‘Kandy is now Flanders’. They discussed future relations, focusing on possible Dutch military assistance to expel the Portuguese from the coastal areas as well as the trade in cinnamon and pepper. As a token of his friendship, the Dutch Admiral left in the King’s service two versatile and skilled musicians: Erasmus Matsberger and Hans Rempel.

Shortly after the successful visit of Van Spilbergen, a second Dutch fleet under the command of Sebalt de Weert arrived on the island. De Weert was a very skilful commander who discovered the Falkland Islands during the attempt by Dutch Admirals Cordes and Mahu to find an alternative route to the East Indies through Cape Horn in 1598. After an initial agreement with the King of Kandy, he returned in 1603 to Batticaloa with a fleet of six ships to take part in a joint effort to oust the Portuguese from the island. During his stay he took four passing Portuguese ships but released the Portuguese crews who had surrendered to the Dutch on the promise of quarter. The King was very angered by this action and after a perceived insult to his wife, he ordered his men to kill De Weert and 50 of his unarmed compatriots. After this unhappy event, the Dutch concentrated on organizing their trade with the East Indian spice islands. It took more than three decades before the Dutch again undertook action to expel the Portuguese who had arrived some 150 years earlier and were firmly established on the island.

After many wars with the Portuguese, King Rajasingha II became convinced that lasting peace with the Portuguese was not possible and he invited the Dutch to force them off the island. At that time the Dutch were still at war with Portugal, which was in a personal union with Spain. The Dutch Council of the Indies in Batavia (Dutch East India) complied with this request and in 1637 sent four ships to the island under Captain Jan Thijssen Payart who signed a treaty with the King. On 4th January 1638 a decisive sea engagement took place off the coast of Goa between Portuguese and Dutch naval forces. The Portuguese fleet was decimated following this battle and the victorious Dutch Admiral Adam Westerwolt (15801639) decided to attack the Portuguese fort in Batticaloa, Ceylon with a fleet of five ships and 800 men. In coalition with strong Sinhalese forces he conquered the fort on the 18th of May, 1638.

Five days later, following this victorious conquest, Westerwolt in the name of the States General,prince Frederik Hendrik and the Dutch East India Company agreed to a new Treaty with King Rajasingha in his Palace in Batticaloa. The Treaty was a landmark and set the tone for future relations between the Kandyan Kings and the Dutch. Under the Treaty the Dutch were to have a monopoly over all trades except of elephants. The forts captured from the Portuguese would be garrisoned by the Dutch or demolished, as the King thought fit. The crucial clause ‘as the King thought fit’ was however only included in the Sinhala and not in the Dutch text of the Treaty. This later gave rise to much disagreement between the two parties. The same goes for the clause stating that the King would pay any expenses incurred by the Dutch in the war effort against the Portuguese.

Slowly but surely the Dutch land and naval forces continued to oust the Portuguese from parts of Ceylon. In February 1640 the Portuguese fort of Negombo, a short distance North of Colombo was captured by Philip Lucasz. Following his sudden death, the command was devolved to the capable Willem Jacobsz Coster who earlier fought under Admiral Westerwolt at the east coast. Against overwhelming odds he besieged the strong fort at Galle. After storming the city on 13 March 1640, he became master of it within a few hours. For the next 18 years Galle would remain the centre of Dutch power in Ceylon.

THE BRITISH PERIOD AND INDEPENDENCE AT LAST

In the period 1788 – 1795 there was no cordiality between the Dutch and the British. The British had planned after their conquest of India to take over a dozen Dutch possessions in the region, with Ceylon as the biggest prize. Their chance came when in the winter of 1794/95 Holland was overrun by the French army and Prince William V, the Dutch Stadtholder (nominal Head of State) had fled with his family to England. The States General was replaced by the so-called Batavian Republic under control of the French. This situation was used by the British to cripple the Dutch trade and to gain possession of its colonies. The leadership in Colombo was uncertain what to do. If they vested in the new Batavian Republic they were a potential target of a British attack. If they remained loyal to the exiled Stadtholder the attitude of the British would be more difficult to assess.

In the meantime, Governor Falck had died in 1785 after a short illness. He was succeeded by Willem Jacob van der Graaff (1785 – 1793) who turned out to be an aggressive expansionist and attempted to extend Dutch control well beyond the established limits. In 1792 Van der Graaff was ready for war with the Kandyan Kingdom. But the VOC Council of the Indies in Batavia realized the dangers of such action and ordered the Governor to abandon his venture. In protest, Van der Graaff resigned and was succeeded by the wavering Jan Gerard van Angelbeek, who would become the last Dutch Governor of Ceylon.

Under strong pressure from the British Foreign Minister, Lord Grenville, Prince William V issued in February 1795 orders to Van Angelbeek to put his forces, forts and warships under British ‘protection’. He should consider the British troops ‘… belonging to a power that is in friendship and alliance with their High Mightiness (the Governors of the VOC), and who come to prevent the Colony from being invaded by the French’. After the war, the British Government promised to restore the Colony to the Dutch. Van Angelbeek first accepted Prince William’s letter and agreed with the British presence on the Island.

Later however, after aggressive military pressure from the British, Van Angelbeek and his Political Council took the fateful decision that as the Batavian Republic was considered the sovereign of the colonies and their troops should be ordered to resist the British occupation. But the Dutch Governor did not realize that British intrigues had already irreparably undermined his military capabilities. The defense of Dutch Ceylon was undertaken mainly by European mercenaries, in particular, the De Meuron Regiment: 1,000 men strong and for twothirds consisting of Swiss soldiers. In an extraordinary act on 30 March 1795, the British secret agent Hugh Cleghorn signed a contract with the proprietor of the Regiment, Count Charles-daniel de Meuron to transfer his regiment into British service for the sum of ₤6,000. This sealed the fate of the Dutch in Ceylon. After a token resistance, Van Angelbeek gave up. Many Dutch officers and soldiers felt betrayed by their own Governor and at the end of the siege of Colombo turned their heavy guns on the Governor’s palace. In vain; on 14 February 1796, the Dutch forces surrendered with minimal bloodshed. Pierre-frederic de Meuron, brother of Count Charles-daniel, changed his blue Dutch uniform for a red British one and became Military Governor of Ceylon in September 1797 until he was relieved by Frederic North, the first British Governor. The British in 1815 also won the control of the kingdom of Kandy, becoming the first European power to rule the whole Island.

The Maritime Provinces of Ceylon became British never to be returned to the Dutch. In January 1816 the last Kandyan King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, the youngest Nayakkara prince to have ascended the throne of the Sinhala Kingdom was banished from Ceylon. He was relocated in the little Indian coastal town of Vellore as a state prisoner of the British, together with his family and relatives. He died in 1832 at the age of 52. His son, the rightful heir to the throne, never left the shores of India and died as an unknown in 1842.

Soon the country was dotted with coffee, cinnamon and coconut plantations and a network of roads and railways were built to handle this new economic activity. English became the new official language and is still widely spoken. Coffee was the main crop and the backbone of the colonial economy, but the occurrence of a leaf blight virtually wiped it out in the 1870s and the plantations quickly switched over to tea and rubber. However the British were unable to persuade the Sinhalese to work cheaply and willingly on the plantations, so they brought down a large number of South Indian laborers from South India. Today Sri Lanka is the world’s second largest tea exporter.

ROLLER COASTER RIDE COMES TO A HALT

Between WW I and WW II political stirrings started to push Sri Lanka towards eventual independence from Britain; but in a considerably more peaceful and lowkey manner than in India. At the end of WW II it was evident that independence would come very soon. The contribution by the Sri Lankan Independence movement was another key factor that led Sri Lanka to obtain independence. The Sri Lankan Independence movement was a peaceful political movement which was aimed at achieving independence and self-rule for the country from the British Empire. It was initiated around the turn of the 20th century and was led mostly by the educated middle class. It succeeded when, on 4 February 1948, Ceylon was granted independence as the Dominion of Ceylon bringing the 443 year old roller coaster ride to a halt. The first Prime Minister of independent Ceylon was one of the leaders of the independence movement, D. S. Senanayake. He was the head of the United National Party (UNP, the former Ceylon National Congress supported by the Tamil Congress). The Dominion status within the British Commonwealth was retained for the next 24 years until 22 May 1972 when it became a republic and was renamed as the Republic of Sri Lanka.