There are 2 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. That anti-Portuguese feeling in Lanka
From: "RVS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
2. Fading history: Kerala link to Sri Lanka
From: "RVS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 15:30:48 -0000
From: "RVS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: That anti-Portuguese feeling in Lanka
The most important contribution that the Portuguese did to the
Sinhala Buddhist nation was the elimination of an important social
distance indicator between coastal Tamils and Sinhalese in converting
both to Catholic faith.
This is an important contribution in strengthening the Sinhala nation
that the revisionists Sinhalese historians will not acknowledge in
their anti Portuguese hysteria.
During the Buddhist revivalist period instigated by Anagarika
Dharnapala who was born into a Catholic Salagama family (originally
Tamil Saliyar), many of these so-called coastal Catholics (both
Tamil and Sinhalese) converted to Buddhism and even created their
own Buddhist organizations because the traditional Kandyan based
Upper caste oriented (Govi) prelates refused entry of these newly
converted Buddhists of dubious caste origins into their
organizations.
If there is to be a looser due to Portuguese colonization in Sri
Lanka, then it is the Tamil minority more than the Sinhalese
majority. Tamils lost their independent Jaffna kingdom and lost
considerably a large percentage of its ethnic brethren to Catholicism
who have become Sinhalese Buddhist and Sinhalese Catholics all the
way from Puttalam to Matara. It is only in the Northeastern
provinces that Catholics have maintained their Tamil identity.
These new Buddhists overwhelmingly supported and still support the
suppression of Tamil language as well as civil rights since the
populist prime minister Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Banadaranaike came
to power in 1956. He himself came from an uppity so called "lower"
Karave family (originally Tamil Karaiyar) of Catholic background.
He converted to Buddhism as a way to gain power only to be shot dead
by a Buddhist monk.
Sri Lanka has not being able to overcome its colonial history, not
because of the effects of colonialism because of the lack of vision
of its post colonial political leaders to educate and lead the
masses. It applies to both Tamil and Sinhalese politicians. This anti
Portuguese is a misplaced effort at finding the route cause of
today's problems.
Raveen Satkurunathan
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That anti-Portuguese feeling in Lanka
COLOMBO DIARY | PK Balachandran
December 19, 2005
Sri Lanka is now seeing an effervescent anti-Portuguese movement,
with articles being written in the papers, and seminars being held
under the auspices of prestigious institutions, on the perceived ill-
effects of Portuguese rule, which spanned over 150 years from 1505 to
1658.
The accent in the articles and seminar papers is on the proselytising
activities of the Portuguese and the ruthless manner in which they
went about converting Sinhala Buddhists and Hindu Tamils to
Catholicism.
The Portuguese destroyed Buddhist and Hindu places of worship all
along the Western coastline from Jaffna in the North to Humbantota in
the South.
They looted these places and put their priests to death.
It is generally recognised now that if Portuguese rule had continued
and spread to the interior of the island, Sri Lanka would have
completely lost its Buddhist heritage and become a completely
Westernised and Catholic country.
But even with the limited territorial reach (they were strong only in
the Western maritime provinces) the impact had been deep, perhaps
even indelible.
Deep socio-cultural impact
True, the century-and-half of Portuguese religio-cultural onslaught
did not result in mass conversion from Buddhism or Hindusim to
Catholicism.
Christians are only 7 per cent of the Sri Lankan population today.
But Portuguese rule had changed Sinhala society and culture quite
remarkably, with the result, today, the Sinhalas are the most
westernised of the South Asian peoples.
It was during Portuguese rule that Western/Iberian names and other
cultural markers began to be adopted in Sri Lanka on a wide scale.
To this day, most Sinhala Buddhists have Portuguese surnames like
Fernando, Perera, Mendis, Fonseka, Rodrigo etc. Many of the first or
middle names are Western if not Iberian. The rituals and ceremonies
during marriages and funerals show a marked Western influence, not
seen in the rest of South Asia.
The bridal trousseau is distinctly Western. Even Buddhist and Muslim
marriages have a Western touch to them. The men will have to be in a
suit. Coffins are used in funerals and embalming is common.
The average Sri Lankan woman prefers the Western dress to traditional
wear like the Kandyan sari and the sarong and blouse ensemble.
The food and the music too show a strong Western influence. Bread and
bakery products are part of the daily diet and the popular musical
form Baila is a clear Portuguese derivative.
The Dutch and the British, who followed the Portuguese, built on the
firm foundation laid earlier, and in their own way, contributed to
the Westernisation of Sri Lanka.
Resurgence of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism
Though both exploited Sri Lanka in the typical imperialist way,
neither the Dutch nor the British excite hostility among the Sinhalas
today. Only the Portuguese do.
The main reason for this is a resurgence of Sinhala Buddhist
awareness since 1956.
In 2002, there was a further spurt in Sinhala Buddhist nationalist
consciousness.
In Sri Lanka today, Sinhala Buddhist nationalism is equated with Sri
Lankan nationalism because the country is perceived as a Sinhala
Buddhist country, primarily.
This adds a further and major dimension to the anti-Portuguese and
anti-Christian movement.
The first part of the 2000s saw the rise of Gangodawila Soma Thero,
an eloquent Buddhist monk-preacher who wanted Sri Lankan Buddhists to
shed alien influences in their beliefs and practices and return to
the pristine form of the faith.
Soma Thero's emergence coincided with three other developments:
(1) The rise in the activities of non-formal, small, Western or South
Korean-backed evangelical groups, who were targeting the poor and the
youth with their unconventional methods of reaching out.
They exploited the laws of the country which allowed these groups to
register as companies and indulge in non-profit economic activity.
There were charges that these groups were using allurements and
inducements to gain converts.
The Chandrika Kumaratunga government, at one stage, even drafted a
bill to ban "unethical" conversions.
Though the culprits were only the new-fangled evangelical groups,
with no links with the established churches, whether Catholic or
Protestant, popular anger was directed against the latter too.
(2) The rise of the United National Party (UNP) government, under the
Prime Ministership of the pro-West and pro-minority Ranil
Wickremesinghe in 2001 December.
Wickremesinghe not only signed a truce deal with the Tamil rebel
LTTE, in great secrecy, but also brought in the Western nations into
the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict as guarantors of his peace process.
Many Sinhala-Buddhist nationalists see the LTTE as a Catholic clergy-
backed, Western-inspired movement to destroy the Buddhist character
of Sri Lanka.
They even believe that LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran is a
Christian.
Wickremesinghe's advocacy of the Western model of development and
Western cultural attributes (including the use of chewing gum) and
the promotion of the Portuguese-inspired Baila music added to the
peoples' anxiety about being swamped by globalisation.
(3) Wickremesinghe's plan to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the
arrival of the Portuguese in Sri Lanka.
His idea was to make Sri Lanka part of a new US-blessed economic
grouping which included Portugal.
Both the proposed celebrations and the intended tie up with Portugal,
were opposed by the Sinhala-Buddhist nationalists, who were reminded
of Portuguese efforts to annihilate their religion and culture.
Unlike Dutch and British, Portuguese came to proselytise
According to most Sri Lankan Buddhist historians, the Portuguese came
not only for trade and territorial acquisition, but for proselytising.
Historian Dr Lorna Dewaraja says that the Papal Bulls of 1452, 1455
and 1456, gave the clear go ahead to Portugal to acquire territory
and convert heathens. The Pope had conferred on Portugal a monopoly
on all this.
Since the Muslims of the region were competitors in maritime trade
who also fiercely resisted conversion, the Portuguese waged war
against them and kept trying to drive them out of the maritime
provinces of Sri Lanka.
But they had easier time with the Sinhalas and the Tamils. Force and
intrigue were used convert them.
They took sides in the fights between the rulers and princes of Sri
Lanka, and in return for military help, they secured rights.
These rights were used for converting people both by force and
through inducements.
According to Porf Pandula Endagama, formerly of Peradeniya
University, and Prof Malani Endagama of Sri Jayawadanapura
University, the Portuguese converted the higher classes of Sinhala
society in the hope that the lower orders would follow suit
automatically as a way of pushing themselves up the social ladder.
Privileges were extended to the converts, and this also proved to be
an incentive for conversion.
In 1543, King Bhuvanekabahu of Kotte appointed his grandson
Dharmapala as his heir and placed him under the protection of the
King of Portugal.
Sure enough, Dharmapala embraced Catholicism taking the name Don
Juan. In 1597, with the death of Don Juan, the Portuguese became the
de facto and de jure rulers of Kotte.
Systematic destruction of temples
According to MU de Silva, from 1574 onwards, the Catholic zealots
kept destroying Buddhist and Hindu temples all along the Western
coast.
The monks and priests over there either fled or got killed or went
underground.
A group of militant monks called Ganinnanse discarded the traditional
yellow robe and began to wear a white robe instead to hide themselves.
Dr Susantha Goonetilleke, who is spearheading the anti-Portuguese
movement, says that the 1,000 pillared temples in Devundara in the
deep south and Trincomalee in the East; the Saman Devale (temple) in
Ratnapura; and the Kelaniya temple, all very much revered, were
ransacked and burnt.
According to Prof Endagama, the Portuguese deliberately built
churches over the ruins of Buddhist or Hindu temples.
The present Kochikade church in Colombo and the Madu church in
Mannar, both very popular now among Catholics, were Pattini Devales
or temples for Kannagi, the famous heroine of Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
Buddhist schools (pirivenas), which were also mini universities, were
ransacked and burnt, and their monk-scholars killed.
Among the schools thus destroyed were the Sunethra Devi Pirivena in
Kotte, Vidagama Pirivena in Raigama, and the Tottagamuwe Pirivena in
Hikkaduwa.
The level of scholarship was so high in these places that the
mathematicians there could count up to 10 to the power of 54, while
the Greeks knew to count only up to 10,000, points out Dr
Goonetilleke.
Their knowledge of medicine was higher as compared to the then level
in Europe.
Prior to the advent of the Portuguese, there was much Sinhala-Tamil
and Buddhist-Tamil amity in Sri Lanka.
MU de Silva says that Hindu temples dotted the maritime provinces,
though these were Buddhist-majority areas. In the Thottagamuwa
school, no distinction was made between Sinhala and Tamil, Pali and
Sanskrit.
There was a famous Tamil scholar on its rolls. The famous Buddhist
monk Buddhaghosha was a Tamil.
The people of Kotte had not liked Dharmapala's conversion to
Christianity and had transferred their allegiance to the King of
Kandy.
But the Portuguese were to extend their power to the Kandy area soon.
Here again they tried to convert people to Christianity, but with
less success than in the maritime provinces.
Tamil-Sinhala divide created by Portuguese
According to Prof Endagama, it was the Portuguese who first created a
division between the Sinhalas and the Tamils.
One reason for this, according to Prof Dewaraja, was the fact that
the Portuguese found it easier to convert the Tamils.
"They made the Tamils of Jaffna compete with the Sinhalas and the
percentage of Tamils who converted to Christianity was more," adds
Prof Endagama.
He blames the Portuguese for destroying the traditional economy and
social structure of the Sinhalas.
By introducing trade, they downgraded agriculture. Before the
Portuguese, Sri Lanka sent its engineers to India to construct canals
and storage tanks.
The ancient Kashmiri chronicle "Rajatarangini" mentions Sri Lankan
experts. But all this expertise died out.
The Portuguese introduced arrack or liquor production for profit.
Money began to be made on the ruin and misery of others, especially
the poor.
They over exploited cinnamon for trade. The concept self-sufficiency,
which was the basis of traditional Sinhala village society, was
thrown overboard to give place to a regime based on export and import.
Sri Lanka today is heavily dependent on imports even in respect of
daily necessities like food.
The family system, based on respect for the elders, and the
traditional framework of mutual familial obligations, began to break
down because the Catholic converts were told that the only entity to
be worshiped was God, Prof Endagama says.
Portuguese contribution
However, the Portuguese contribution to the language and cuisine of
present-day Sri Lanka is immense.
Many of the common Sinhala words have a Portuguese origin. Most of
the Western goods and artefacts now in use in Sri Lanka came to the
island through the Portuguese and go by their Portuguese names.
And many of the Sri Lankan sweetmeats are of Portuguese origin.
But still, only their bad deeds have remained in memory, and all
these relate to the cruel ways in which they converted Sri Lankans to
Catholicism.
(PK Balachandran is Special Correspondent of Hindustan Times in Sri
Lanka
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 02 Jan 2006 20:28:41 -0000
From: "RVS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Fading history: Kerala link to Sri Lanka
Fading history
The Malayali link to Sinhala culture has a rich past even if it does
not have much of a present.
by | Enoka Lankatilleke
If one ventures out to sea from Colombo, it is still not uncommon to
catch a glimpse of a Kerala schooner making its way south. They are
still loaded down with the same goods that they have ferried for
centuries jute products, for instance, to be traded in Colombo's
Pettah market for Sri Lankan spices. While trade between the two
regions remains, today it is eclipsed by the huge volumes that move
between Colombo and Bombay. Kerala and Sri Lanka rarely meet in the
modern world anymore, except perhaps in development writings, which
marvel at the high social indicators that continue to be shared by
both the state and island country.
At the narrowest point of the Palk Strait, Sri Lanka is separated
from Tamil Nadu by a mere 35 km of surf. It is the ethnic link
between Tamil Nadu, the Indian state, and the rebellion-minded Tamil-
speaking northeast of Sri Lanka that strikes the observer whenever
reference is made to the two countries' littoral regions. Kerala is
rarely mentioned, even though it is just `around the bend' towards
the west from the tip of the Indian peninsula.
The cultural connection between Sri Lanka and `god's own country'
Kerala was once vibrant, but now is rather thin. There used to be
extensive commerce through the ports of Cochin, Calicut and
Kozhikode, which also enabled regular flows of migrants to the
island. While their proximity and similar geography has led to long,
intertwined common histories, this traditional relationship has now
been largely overshadowed by the economic and political realities of
Sri Lanka's engagement with Tamil Nadu and India's larger commercial
centres.
Kerala has a wide stretch of lowland, extending from the Malabar
Coast to the Western Ghats, which has long seen coconut cultivation.
In meeting the Subcontinent's coconut demand, Kerala developed the
manpower available for employment in copra, desiccated coconut and
coir manufacturing, as well as toddy-based industries. Sri Lanka has
a wide seaside belt running the island's perimeter, and utilised
toddy-tapping knowledge originating on the mainland. In the early
20th century, Keralites began immigrating to Sri Lanka in order both
to teach and engage in the practice.
The two similarly located regions have historically nurtured numerous
parallel industries, including paddy and fisheries, as well as
rubber, tea, pepper, cashews, coffee, cardamom, arecanut palm and
citronella. Almost all fruits grown in Sri Lanka are also grown in
Kerala. According to historical records, international traders that
traditionally dominated shipping would frequent both Sri Lanka and
Kerala in order to buy ivory, spices, gemstones and other goods for
European markets. These frequent visitors heavily contributed to the
promotion of cultural ties between the island and the mainland.
Over the strait
Ancient Indian texts such as Kautilya's Arthasastra, the writings of
the 4th century grammarian Katyayana, and Ashokan rock inscriptions
all refer to three states in the Indian Peninsula's southern tip
Pandya, Chola and Chera. The former two kingdoms were located in
present-day Tamil Nadu; the latter was in Kerala. While historical
records in Sri Lanka abound with references to the islanders'
relations with the Cholas and Pandyans, reference to ties with the
Cheras is limited. A few Sinhala chronicles, such as the Mahavamsa,
Culavamsa, Pujavaliya and Kohila Sandesaya do include evidence that
the connection with Kerala significantly impacted political life on
the island.
Alternatively, there were migrations and invasions between the two
regions. Throughout the first millennium, the Sinhala kings of the
island enlisted mercenaries from throughout south India, including
Kerala. Historical references also detail migrations of Keralites who
joined the Sinhala forces in order to protect the kingdom of
Rajarata. A century earlier, the same kingdom had been sacked by a
king from Kerala, Kalinga Magha.
Certain Keralan families played significant roles in Sri Lankan court
politics, where they served as ministers and wielded tremendous
power. The Alakeshwara family, for instance, belonged to a Kerala
dynasty that grew very close to the royalty of the 14th century
Gampola kingdom. Reference to a minister named Alagakkona first
appeared on a Kitsirimevan rock inscription from 1344, relating how
Minister Alagakkonara renovated the Kelaniya Viharaya temple and
constructed a new building there under the patronage of King
Kitsirimevan.
Language plays an important role in relations between migrant
communities and their hosts, with words and phrases passing from one
tongue to the other. Kerala's Malayali language first became distinct
from Tamil around 750 AD. Although the Sinhala language is rooted in
Sanskrit, it shows affinities with Tamil, Telugu and Malayali, as
well. Indeed, the presence of Malayali speakers in Sri Lanka has,
since the medieval period, led to an enrichment of Sinhala. There are
marked similarities in the two alphabets. In some instances, Malayali
characters were used to write Sinhala, as can be witnessed in
graffiti on the rock fortress of Sigiriya. More recently, a close
examination of the signatures of the Sinhala chieftains on the 1815
Kandyan Convention (between the British and the Kandyan chiefs) shows
a mixture of Sinhala and Malayali characters.
Religion and culture, too, echo this give-and-take. A Keralan
influence that has its origins in the time when the kings of Kandy
took on Nayakkar brides from across the water (complete with
retinues) is still present in Sri Lankan society today. The osariya
or Kandyan sari, for instance, is very similar to its Keralan
counterpart, but is today a symbol of authentic Sinhala-ness.
Religious practices such as the Pattini deity worship (as well as the
worship of Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama, Saman and Vibhishana) were also
introduced to Sri Lanka from Kerala. Sinhala classical poems such as
the "Perakumba Sinha" and "Kokila Sandesaya" also bear the Keralan
stamp.
A melding, a loss?
Over the course of the centuries, the people from Chera/Kerala who
migrated to Sri Lanka have become part of the Sinhala community,
adopting local names and Buddhist practices. Given the multiple
shared features of the two communities, many have felt it easier to
merge with the dominant local groups, rather than to try to maintain
separations. In areas such as Lunuwila, Wennappuwa and Marawila,
there are many descendants of Keralan migrants who today feel
culturally and socially closer to the Sinhala people than they do to
the Sri Lankan Tamils. However, descendants of Malayali migrants who
initially married Tamil women have today become part of the Tamil
community in towns along the west coast. Small groups of Cheras
living in Dematagoda, Naharenpita and Maradenkulama still do try to
maintain their ethnic identities.
Similar to what has happened in Sri Lanka with the native Veddha
(the `adivasi'), the fading of a distinct Keralan identity and
absorption into the Sinhala community are symptoms of the
strengthening of the larger Sinhala and Tamil communities. This
process is supported by official and unofficial structures involved
in state-building a project that, unfortunately, tends to erase
smaller and more fragile identities.
Interestingly, even as the Malayali identity fades in Sri Lanka,
there is increasing interest in Colombo about Kerala almost
exclusively because of tourism. Both Sri Lanka and Kerala have come
to depend extensively on visitors from the West. India's burgeoning
middle class is also an increasing source of tourists to the two
regions. The Sri Lankan tourism authorities have been talking about a
possible joint venture with the Kerala Tourism Development
Corporation, and there are also proposals for passenger ship services
between Thiruvananthapuram and Colombo. If these ties deepen, as per
official plans, Sri Lanka and Kerala could begin to "forge
partnerships in several areas besides tourism, including health,
education and fisheries".
All such plans are still only in the realm of possibility. The hope,
however, is that Sri Lanka and Kerala, while starting small, can
again develop healthy cultural and economic exchanges, as two
neighbours of the Southasian south.
www.himalmag.com
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