Proud and prejudiced - Ferdinandus

THE PORTUGUESE 9
seldom sailed to the settlements and defence became the responsibility of the descendants of
local women and Portuguese men. Colonial administration, manning of ships and protection of
settlements became the responsibility of these mixed-race peoples.
The Dutch took Malacca in 1641 and Ceylon in 1658. They also drove the Portuguese
from the West African coast and Brazil. The Empire was over.
The memorials to the Portuguese Empire are its churches and fortresses scattered
around a world they were the first to explore, in the strong and vibrant Catholicism they left
behind wherever they went, and in the human traces they left behind in the many Portuguese
names like Almeida, Gomez, Rodrigo, and Dias. To this day in Sri Lanka the most common
names are Fernando, Perera and Silva.
Ceylon between 1505 and 1656
The arrival of the Portuguese in 1505 is recorded in the Sinhalese historical narrative, the
Rajavaliya.
There is in our harbour a race of people fair of skin and comely withal. They don
jackets of iron and hats of iron. They rest not a minute in one place, they walk here and
there, they eat hunks of stone and drink blood, they give two or three pieces of gold or
silver for one fish or a lime...the report of their cannon is louder than thunder when it
bursts upon the rock. Their cannon balls fly and shatter fortresses of granite... (quoted
in Roberts, 1989, p.3).
The Portuguese departed to return twelve years later when Soares de Albergaria arrived at
Galle, in south-western Ceylon, with a number of ships. After a month they sailed north and
landed in what is 'now known as Colombo. Ten kilometres inland was Kotte, the capital of one
of the kingdoms of Ceylon. There was also a Sinhalese Buddhist kingdom in the highlands
centred in Nuvara, (Kandy), and a Hindu Tamil kingdom at Jaffna. The Portuguese built a fort
in Colombo to signify their intention to remain permanently.
They had arrived at a time when Sinhalese civilisation was fast disintegrating. The
period from 1200 AD to 1500 AD was one of decline with the single Sinhalese kingdom
collapsing and being replaced by petty rulers using hired mercenaries from South India to fight
their battles. There had been a gradual collapse of the ancient irrigation systems in the north
central dry zone. The people had retreated due to malaria and abandoned the ancient capitals of
Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. A series of kingdoms gradually shifted southwards, based on
capitals at Sigiriya, Yapahuwa, Kurunegala, Gampola, Nuvara, Sitawaka, Rayigama and Kotte.
The Portuguese did not want to become involved in land battles but they wanted
security over the cinnamon growing areas between Matara and Chilaw. These lands were in the
kingdom of Kotte.
In 1521, three sons revolted against their father, the king of Kotte. The Portuguese
supported the king and the superior fire-power of the Portuguese always won the battles. The
king of Kotte, to ensure a smooth succession to his grandson Dharmapala, sent an image of the
prince to Lisbon where the king of Portugal crowned it and guaranteed to protect the prince and
the kingdom. In return, the Portuguese were granted a tribute of cinnamon, allowed to rebuild
the fort of Colombo higher and stronger, and the education of the prince became the
responsibility of the Franciscan monks.