PORTUGUESE AND CEYLON (1597-1658) – English Translation - Chapter 1
Chapter 1 - Objective
On the one hand, this incident is
significant in confirming that the news of the Portuguese captain general's
agreement made at Malwana with the Sinhalese is accurate. An agreement reached
in Malwana is not mentioned in any Sinhala or Portuguese real-time records. For
the first time after 80 years after the agreement, some written material about
it is mentioned in two publications. In the two volumes authored by Fernando De
Queiroz and Jao Ribeiro, there are several contradictions that deviate from the
main story. By properly examining such data, historians' opinions regarding the
Malwana Convention may be inferred. It is far more rational to believe that no
such convention occurred, and that the folklore or narrative was born with the
ceremony held in Colombo on May 29th 1597, as years passed.
It was an undeniable truth that
with the death of King Dharmapala, the age of Portuguese power evolution came
to an end. The Portuguese arrived in the first decade of the 16th century, and
it was apparent that they gradually stepped into government activities during
the next few decades. With the death of King Dharmapala, they were able to
complete the goal they started in 1505 by gaining control of the kingdom of
Kotte. In this sense, the journey Portuguese started in 1505 actually reached Kotte
in 1597.
1597 marked the end of a journey
as well as the start of a new era. After this, Ceylon will have to confront
Portuguese influences directly that faced casually and indirectly earlier. After
1597, the Portuguese reaped tremendous benefits from missionary missions. After
1597, there is a distinct shift in how people use land. Clear contrasting
changes can be noticed in selling things at that time, according to the desires
of a government with the goal of developing sales. After seizing control of the
south coast, they turned their attention to two kingdoms in the Uplands (Kandy)
and the North (Jaffna), resulting in a series of conflicts after 1597. The
proponents of a Portuguese era in Sri Lankan history choose 1597 as the
beginning year of that era, rather than 1505.
Although the Portuguese era in Sri
Lankan history began in 1597, it should be noted that the Portuguese gained
governmental authority in Sri Lanka 3,4 years later. In 1593, King Seethawaka
Rajasinghe died. It's hardly an exaggeration to say that following his death,
the south was owned. The impotence that occurred in the south has been
altered by the Portuguese. In Dharmapala's name, they employed their army to
gain control of the southern region. As a result, they obtained political
authority in Sri Lanka's south area for at least 2,3 years before 1597. According
to this, it cannot be said that they seized control following Dharmapala's
death.
After capturing authority in the
south, the Portuguese were confronted with two major issues within next half
century. The first issue they faced was establishing their political power in
Sri Lanka. They had to battle the Jaffna kingdom and struggle with the Kandy
kingdom for a long time to achieve this. When they arrived in the East, it was
the second obstacle they had to deal with in order to fulfill their objectives.
As a result, they had to devise new trade and revenue policies. The objective
of this book is to discuss the consequences of the Portuguese battle to gain
control of local states and achieve their goals.
පෘතුගීසි සහ ලංකාව (1597-1658)
Author – Tikiri Abeysinghe
English Translation – Seed
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