Colonial Period

These newcomers were the Portuguese, who were seeking to break the Arab monopoly of the spice trade. In 1501 or 1505 they appeared off Kalamba (the port), to the south of the Kelani estuary near Kotte, and in 1518 they captured the town and built their first fort in Sri Lanka.

The Portuguese Conquest (1518-1658)
With their helmets and armour, their muskets and cannon, the Portuguese made a powerful impression on the Sinhalese king, who at once granted them what he was in no position to refuse the right to establish a trading post and to build a fort for the protection of the goods and merchants in the factory. The first fort erected in 1501 or 1505 did not last long, and in 1518 a beginning was made with the building of the little citadel which was to remain for more than a century and a half. Lanka was then divided into a number of rival princedoms, with the legitimate ruler, in possession of the sacred Tooth, at Kotte, a Tamil king ruling from Jaffna and various local chieftains controlling their own districts.

In 1534 the king who had admitted the Portuguese into his kingdom was swept away in a palace revolution, and one of his sons, Maya Dunne, who hated the invaders, fled up-country and founded a new capital 15 leagues inland, the legendary Sitawake. His brother Buwanaike Bahu VII (1534-1542) stayed at Kotte and tried to defend his throne by finesse in negotiation with the viceroy sent from Goa to gain control of his wealth and convert him to Christianity. In 1541 Buwanaike Bahu sent an embassy to Lisbon to do homage on his behalf as a vassal of Don Joao III (1521-1557) and to ask that the Portuguese king should crown his grandson and heir Dharmapala in effigy. In spite of this submission the king was killed at Kelani by a Portuguese soldier acting on the orders of the viceroy. The young Dharmapala (1542-1597) became king, with his father Vidiye Bandara, son-in-law of the late king, acting as regent. The Regent sought to resist the exactions and oppressions of the viceroy, who was finally recalled: whereupon Vidiye Bandara expelled the Portuguese troops, merchants and missionaries. The Portuguese reacted strongly, and Vidiye Bandara was taken as prisoner; but, having succeeded in escaping, he became leader of a guerrilla force which harried the small Portuguese military posts.

The years 1544-1545 were decisive for the future of Sri Lanka. Instead of uniting against the invaders, who had had Dharmapala baptized, Vidiye Bandara and Maya Dunne fought one another. Maya Dunne was victorious and became the defender of Lanka and of theDharma (the Law). He and his son Rajah Sinha were to lead the resistance to the Portuguese for forty years. During this period the governor of Maha Nuwara, the Great City, later to be known as Kandy, proclaimed himself as the king of the Mountain Kandarajah, and entered into relations with the Portuguese with the object of eliminating Maya Dunne. Thus in the middle of the 16th century there were four kings in Sri Lanka: a Tamil prince at Jaffna, who was not removed by the Portuguese until 1587; a new ruler at Kandy who depended on Portuguese support; an irreconcilable opponent of the Portuguese at Sitawake; and a young king at Kotte, baptized by the Portuguese and wholly under their control, who could not be regarded as a real ruler and had named the king of Portugal as heir to all his possessions.

While continuing to flatter Dharmapala, the Portuguese turned their attention towards the king of Kandy, who held the centre of the island, sending him a small number of soldiers as well as workmen and missionaries. This Portuguese influence was maintained for almost 35 years, and the zeal of the Franciscan monks was rewarded by the baptism, with rather unseemly haste, of some members of the royal family.

Rajah Sinha I, acted as a leader of his father’s army and became king in 1581. He was carrying on a victorious struggle against the Portuguese, whom he was able to confine to the coastal areas. He captured Kandy and for ten years was sole master of the centre of the island. Then, curiously, he renounced Buddhism though this had been the motive force behind the Sinhalese resistance and declared himself a Brahmanist, persecuting the Buddhist monks, destroying their temples and sacred books, and seeking to assimilate the animist divinities to the Hindu gods who were worshipped by the Brahmans. After ten years Kandy rose in revolt in support of Buddhism and drove out Rajah Sinha, who died by an assassin’s hand in 1593 at Sitawake.

In the previous year the heir to the king of Kandy, who had been convert to Catholicism, had died, very opportunely; whereupon a general named Wimala seized the throne. He too had been hastily baptized, but on becoming king he returned to Buddhism and proclaimed himself as Sun of the Buddhist Law, Wimala Dharrna Suriya I (1592-1604). He purged Kandy of all Portuguese and Christian influences and resumed the fight against the conquerors. Thus during his reign there were only two authorities in Sri Lanka: the main coastal areas remained in Portuguese hands, while the interior and the eastern coastal region were controlled by the king of Kandy.

With this stronghold of Sinhalese independence still holding out, the colonial war continued. The Portuguese were able on occasion to reach Kandy and occupy it, but each time this happened the population abandoned the town and took to the hills and forests; and the Portuguese, short of supplies and far from their bases, were compelled to withdraw, harried by invisible archers as they marched back along the forest tracks. Portuguese traders were confined to dealing in the spices of the coastal area. Soon the Dutch were to appear on the scene, and the Portuguese found themselves compelled to make a treaty with Senerat, king of Kandy, in 1617. Thereafter, apart from an occasional intervention on the east coast, they remained on the defensive until their defeat in 1658. The 16th century is thus an epitome of the whole history of Sri Lanka, illustrating the Sinhalese passion for independence and their attachment to Buddhism.

Dutch Intervention and Colonization (1602-1796)
In 1579 two events took place and have a profound influence on the destinies of Sri Lanka: King Philip II of Spain became king of Portugal and its overseas possessions; and the United Provinces, led by Holland, rose against their Spanish masters and fought for their national independence and religious liberties. The Dutch thus became the enemies of their old rivals on the seas, the Portuguese, who were now Spanish subjects: and the struggle between the two increasingly took on the aspect of a war of religion, a bitter confrontation between Catholics and Calvinists, both equally fanatical.

In 1602 some Dutch ships put in at Trincomalee, and Wimala Dharma Suriya entered into an alliance with them aimed at driving out their common enemy, the Portuguese. The king was in a difficult situation, and was soon to find his new friends increasingly troublesome. In 1604 Wimala was succeeded by his general Senerat (1604-1636), who married the late king’s widow. Relations with the Dutch were not uniformly cordial, and he sought other allies against the Portuguese, offering the whole of northern Sri Lanka to a Danish embassy in 1620. The Danes were shrewd enough to decline the offer, which would have set them at odds with both the Portuguese and the Dutch.

In 1636 Senerat was succeeded by his son Rajah Sinha II, the great hero of Sinhalese independence, who fought both his country’s oppressors in turn. In 1638 a treaty was formed giving assistance to the Kingdom of Kandy against its war with the Portuguese in exchange for Dutch monopoly of major trade goods and payment for Dutch war-related expenses. In 1939, despite the Portuguese resistance the Dutch and the Kandyans were able to take over the eastern ports of Trincomalee and Batticaloa and reinstated to the Sinhalese. In spite of a brief period of alliance with the Dutch (1638) Rajah Sinha soon came into conflict with them. Having eliminated the last Portuguese garrisons, the Dutch soon found themselves in the same situation as their predecessors: with their coastal forts they had control of the maritime provinces but had no more success than the Portuguese in their expeditions into the interior, held by the king of Kandy.

Rajah Sinha II (1636-1687), harried as he was by the Europeans, conceived hatred of all foreigners, in 1672 a French envoy sent by Louis XIV, M. de la Nerolle, behaved disrespectfully to the king and was thrown into prison. Later he was freed but was forbidden to leave the country: whereupon he married a Sinhalese woman and founded a family which is still represented in Lanka. (It is a family of some literary distinction: The Bibliography of Ceylon (1970) cites three authors of the name of de la Nerolle one active at the beginning of this century, the second publishing works between 1927 and 1939 and the third at present living in Colombo).

The Dutch now established themselves firmly in the maritime provinces, building new fortresses, enlarging the coastal towns, digging canals and securing a monopoly of Sri Lanka’s trade. Their pastors learned Sinhalese and set about converting the country to the Protestant faith, while the Catholics were subjected to petty persecution and the Catholic Portuguese priest origin had to live a clandestine life or take refuge in the Kingdom of Kandy.

In the 18th century there was a movement of rebellion against the invaders, and a period of cultural and religious revival began during the reign of Wimala Dharma Suriya II, who succeeded his father Rajah Sinha II in 1687. He negotiated with the Dutch in an attempt to improve the position of his country, and was allowed to send an embassy to the king of Siam, which remained faithful to Hinayana doctrine, asking for a party of monks to be sent to revive Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

King Vijaya Rajasinha (1739-1747) maintained his predecessor's policies, A further embassy was sent to Siam, but did not return until after the king’s death. His successor, the great Kirti Sri Rajasinghe, a fervent Buddhist, received the Siamese monks at Trincomalee, and new monasteries were established, following the ritual and the rules of Siamese Buddhism. In addition to promoting this religious revival, however, Kirti Sri (1747-1780) dreamed of expelling the Dutch. A period of open war lasted from 1760 to 1767; but after achieving some successes in the south, where Kandyan forces held the coastal area for seven years, Kirti Sri was compelled to make peace.

In the reign of Rajadi Rajasinghe(1782-1796) Sri Lanka had to face further invaders, when during the War of American Independence Trincomalee was successively occupied by the British and the French (1782-1783). By the end of the century the Dutch seemed firmly established in Sri Lanka. They had settled down in the country, often intermarrying with the Sinhalese, and their descendants of mixed blood readily adapted themselves to living in Sri Lanka. The last governor, Falck, had Sinhalese blood in his veins, like many of the Dutch burghers (the Dutch living in Sri Lanka). But this apparent stability was soon to be shattered. After the establishment of the Batavian Republic by the French in 1795 Britain resolved to seize the Dutch colonies. The Dutch administrators and military, divided between Jacobin and monarchist loyalties, put up no serious resistance to the British forces which landed out the island, arid the last Dutch fort fell in 1796.

Sri Lanka under British Control (1796-1948)
Britain took twenty years to gain control of the whole island, handicapped by the rugged nature of the country, by the lack of roads, by fever, by popular resistance, and also by the continuing struggle with Napoleon. The end of the Napoleonic wars enabled the British forces on the island to be reinforced, and bitter fighting continued, with little quarter on either side. The last king of Sri Lanka, Vikram Rajah Sinha, made him hated for his cruelties arid was betrayed by the Kandyans: attempting to flee, he was captured by British forces, deposed on 2 March 1815 and in the following year deported to India, where he lived in exile at Vellore (Tamil Nadu) until 1832. Meanwhile a bloody rising had broken out in 1817; it lasted for ten months and was followed by severe repressive measures. During this period a young British lieutenant gained possession of the sacred Tooth, and many Sinhalese saw in this loss a sign from heaven and acquiesced in their fate. The island now became a Crown Colony.

The early days of British occupation were devoted to the building of roads and the establishment of military posts all over the island. In 1833 a Legislative Council was established, with fifteen members, six of whom could be Sri Lankan appointed by the government. The middle of the century saw the development of a frill colonial system, with the expropriation of land preparatory to the establishment of large plantations and the use of forced labour to provide a supply of cheap manpower. The people of Sri Lank did not cooperate in these large enterprises, and from 1850 onwards Indian labour was brought in, living apart from the local people in newly established villages.

In 1848 there was another rising the last which lasted two months. In 1850 the Governor returned the sacred Tooth to the monks of Kandy: the gesture was favourably received, but at the same time there were signs of a Sinhalese cultural renaissance and a revival of Buddhism. The infrastructure established by the colonial government, the development of large plantations and the growing of speculative crops meant that Sri Lanka became a typical colonial contributor to the world economy, as a supplier of tropical products. In 1869 tea-growing was introduced, and gradually superseded by coffee, which was originally Sri Lanka’s most remunerative crop. In 1876 rubber-growing was introduced from Amazonia, and in 1880 the coffee plantations were devastated by a fungus hemleia vastratrix; and thereafter the economy of Sri Lanka was centred on tea and rubber.

From 1864 onwards various nationalist organisations were established in an attempt to secure some improvement in the situation of Sri Lanka. The Ceylon League and the Ceylon National Association campaigned for a new constitution. Throughout the second half of the 19th century, many Western missionary or philanthropic societies were active in attempts to improve the lot of the impoverished mass of the people; and these activities in turn produced a reaction in the form of the revival of Buddhism. An American who lived in Sri Lanka from 1880 to 1906, Col. Henry Steele Olcott, played a part in this revival and is still remembered in Sri Lanka. This quiet American, an enthusiastic student of Oriental philosophy, was also involved in the nationalist movement which was then developing in Sri Lanka; in much the same way as the Scotsman, A. 0. Hume who was concerned in the establishment of the Congress Party in India (1885).

The pace of reform was slow. In 1889 two further Sri Lankan members were added to the Legislative Council and in 1910 another three were added. Meanwhile the nationalist movements had been attracting increasing support among the educated classes. Riots broke out in 1915, and the British authorities began to feel that it was time to contemplate the transfer of power to the people of Sri Lanka and the establishment of a new Dominion.

In 1919 Ceylon National Congress was founded, bringing together most of the nationalist groups. In 1920 the size of the Legislative Council was increased to 37, including 23 educated Sri Lankans (i.e. with a British educational qualification) elected by 204,000 voters who satisfied a property qualification. In 1931 normal parliamentary government came to Sri Lanka, with the setting up of a State Council and Cabinet with responsibility for all domestic affairs. The State Council was elected by universal suffrage, women as well as men having the vote. Constitutionally, this represented a major step forward.

From 1942 to 1945 the headquarters of the Allied South-East Asia Command for the war against Japan were in Sri Lanka, and in 1942 Colombo was attacked by Japanese bombers. On 26 May 1943 the British government gave Sri Lanka a promise of independence at the end of the war. A commission charged with the task of examining a new constitutional draft that the ministers of the Sri Lanka had proposed was created in July 1944 under the supervision of Lord Soulbury. The constitution was amended to integrate a proviso giving Sri Lanka dominion status. The Soulbury Constitution of Independent Ceylon was patterned under British constitutional principles, which combined a parliamentary system with a bicameral legislature. In which the members of the first House of Representative will be elected by popular vote, the upper house will be elected partly by members of the house and the governor general. The governor general will be appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister, the most powerful person in the government of Sri Lanka. Negotiation was made between the British and the leader of the State Council. The Ceylon Independence Act of 1947 ended the negotiation and formalized the transfer of power. On 4 February 1948 the Constitution of Independent Sri Lanka went into effect. Sri Lanka became an independent country within the British Commonwealth. British economic interests were safeguarded by the new Sri Lankan government, but henceforth the destinies of the island were to be decided by political discussion within Sri Lanka.