At least from 1540 onwards, and in the island of Goa before that year, all the Hindu idols had been annihilated or had disappeared, all the temples had been destroyed and their sites and building material was in most cases utilized to erect new Christian Churches and chapels. Various viceregal and Church council decrees banished the Hindu priests from the Portuguese territories; the public practices of Hindu rites including marriage rites, were banned; the state took upon itself the task of bringing up Hindu orphan children; the Hindus were denied certain employments, while the Christians were preferred; it was ensured that the Hindus would not harass those who became Christians, and on the contrary, the Hindus were obliged to assemble periodically in Churches to listen to preaching or to the refutation of their religion."
"A particularly grave abuse was practiced in Goa in the form of 'mass baptism' and what went before it. The practice was begun by the Jesuits and was alter initiated by the Franciscans also. The Jesuits staged an annual mass baptism on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25), and in order to secure as many neophytes as possible, a few days before the ceremony the Jesuits would go through the streets of the Hindu quarter in pairs, accompanied by their Negro slaves, whom they would urge to seize the Hindus. When the blacks caught up a fugitive, they would smear his lips with a piece of beef, making him an 'untouchable' among his people. Conversion to Christianity was then his only option."
The Goan inquisition is regarded by all contemporary portrayals as the most violent inquisition ever executed by the Portuguese Catholic Church. It lasted from 1560 to 1812. The inquisition was set as a tribunal, headed by a judge, sent to Goa from Portugal and was assisted by two judicial henchmen. The judge was answerable to no one except to Lisbon and handed down punishments as he saw fit. The Inquisition Laws filled 230 pages and the palace where the Inquisition was conducted was known as the Big House and the Inquisition proceedings were always conducted behind closed shutters and closed doors. The screams of agony of the culprits (men, women, and children) could be heard in the streets, in the stillness of the night, as they were brutally interrogated, flogged, and slowly dismembered in front of their relatives. Eyelids were sliced off and extremities were amputated carefully, a person could remain conscious even though the only thing that remained was his torso and a head.
Diago de Boarda, a priest and his advisor Vicar General, Miguel Vazz had made a 41 point plan for torturing Hindus. Under this plan Viceroy Antano de Noronha issued in 1566, an order applicable to the entire area under Portuguese rule :
"I hereby order that in any area owned by my master, the king, nobody should construct a Hindu temple and such temples already constructed should not be repaired without my permission. If this order is transgressed, such temples shall be, destroyed and the goods in them shall be used to meet expenses of holy deeds, as punishment of such transgression."
In 1567 the campaign of destroying temples in Bardez met with success. At the end of it 300 Hindu temples were destroyed. Enacting laws, prohibition was laid from December 4, 1567 on rituals of Hindu marriages, sacred thread wearing and cremation. All the persons above 15 years of age were compelled to listen to Christian preaching, failing which they were punished.
A religious fatva was issued on the basis of the findings of Goa Inquiry Commission. It stated,"...Hereby we declare the decision that the conventions mentioned in the preamble of the fatva as stated below are permanently declared as useless, and therefore prohibited".
Prohibitions Regarding Marriages
-The instruments for Hindu songs shall not be played.
-While giving dowry the relatives of the bride and groom must not be invited.
-At the time of marriage, betel leaf packages (pan) must not be distributed either publicly or in private to the persons present.
-Flowers, or fried puris, betel nuts and leaves must not be sent to the heads of the houses of the bride or groom.
-Gotraj ceremony of family God must not be performed.
-On the day prior to a wedding, rice must not be husked, spices must not be pounded, grains must not be ground and other recipes for marriage feast must not be cooked.
-Pandals and festoons must not be used.
-Pithi should not be applied.
-The bride must not be accorded ceremonial welcome. The bride and groom must not -be made to sit under pandal to convey blessings and best wishes to them.
Prohibitions Regarding Fasts, Post-death Rituals
-The poor must not be fed or ceremonial meals must not be served for the peace of the souls of the dead.
-There should be no fasting on ekadashi day.
-Fasting can be done according to the Christian principles.
-No rituals should be performed on the twelfth day after death, on moonless and full moon dates.
-No fasting should be done during lunar eclipse.
Conventions
-Hindu men should not wear dhoti either in public or in their houses. Women should not wear cholis .
-They should not plant Tulsi in their houses, compounds, gardens or any other place.
-Following the law of 1567, orphans were kidnapped for converting them to Christianity.
On September 22, 1570 an order was issued that :
-The Hindus embracing Christianity will be exempted from land taxes for a period of 15 years.
-Nobody shall bear Hindu names or surnames.
In 1583 Hindu temples at Esolna and Kankolim were destroyed through army action.
"The fathers of the Church forbade the Hindus under terrible penalties the use of their own sacred books, and prevented them from all exercise of their religion. They destroyed their temples, and so harassed and interfered with the people that they abandoned the city in large numbers, refusing to remain any longer in a place where they had no liberty, and were liable to imprisonment, torture and death if they worshipped after their own fashion the gods of their fathers." wrote Sasetti, who was in India from 1578 to 1588.
An order was issued in June 1684 eliminating Konkani language and making it compulsory to speak Portuguese language. The law provided for dealing toughly with anyone using the local language. Following that law all the symbols of non-Christian sects were destroyed and the books written in local languages were burnt.
The Archbishop living on the banks of the Ethora had said during one of his lecture series, "The post of Inquiry Commission in Goa is regarded as holy." The women who opposed the assistants of the commission were put behind the bars and were used by them to satisfy their animal instincts. Then they were burnt alive as opponents of the established tenets of the Catholic church.
The victims of such inhuman laws of the Inquiry Commission included a French traveller named Delone. He was an eye witness to the atrocities, cruelty and reign of terror unleashed by priests. He published a book in 1687 describing the lot of helpless victims. While he was in jail he had heard the cries of tortured people beaten with instruments having sharp teeth. All these details are noted in Delone's book.
So harsh and notorious was the inquisition in Goa, that word of its brutality and horrors reached Lisbon but nothing was done to stop this notoriety and escalating barbarity and it continued for two hundred more years. No body knows the exact number of Goans subjected to these diabolical tortures, but perhaps it runs into hundreds of thousands, may be even more. The abominations of inquisitions continued until a brief respite was given in 1774 but four years later, the inquisition was introduced again and it continued un-interruptedly until 1812. At that point in time, in the year of 1812, the British put pressure on the Portuguese to put an end to the terror of Inquisition and the presence of British troops in Goa enforced the British desire. Also the Portuguese power at this time was declining and they could not fight the British. The palace of the Grand Inquisitor, the Big House, was demolished and no trace of it remains today, which might remind someone of inquisitions and the
horrors inside this Big House that their great saint Francis Xavier had commenced.
Dr. Trasta Breganka Kunha, a Catholic citizen of Goa writes, "Inspite of all the mutilations and concealment of history, it remains an undoubted fact that religious conversion of Goans is due to methods of force adopted by the Portuguese to establish their rule. As a result of this violence the character of our people was destroyed. The propagation of Christian sect in Goa came about not by religious preaching but through the methods of violence and pressure. If any evidence is needed for this fact, we can obtain it through law books, orders and reports of the local rulers of that time and also from the most dependable documents of the Christian sect
(http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1111142225)
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
That anti-Portuguese feeling in Lanka by PK Balachandran
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.
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.
Buddhism that was - and thereafter
Our chronicles, which are amongst the earliest and the most reliable in the world, records that the first immigrants from India reached our shores on the very day of the Buddha's Final Release, his 'Parinibbhana'.
As the Master was breathing His last, in the Salgrove of the Mallas in Kusinara, He saw with His divine eye their arrival and enjoined upon the 'devas' who were around Him to give them their special protection.
Historically speaking, it was not till two centuries later that Buddhism was firmly established in Sri Lanka, when the Arahant Mahinda, son of great Emperor, Asoka, came over from India and converted to the new faith, the reigning monarch, Devanampiyatissatissa, beloved of the gods.
The hill at Mihintale - later so called after Mahinda himself - eight miles from Sri Lanka's ancient capital, Anuradhapura (now famed throughout the Buddhist world as a sacred city), was the site of this historic meeting between saint and king.
And here, on every full-moon day of the month of 'Poson' (June), millions of pilgrims wend their way to relive in their imagination the drama of the introduction of Buddhism into this lovely land.
Mahinda's mission was the most successful of the many missions sent by Asoka for other propagation of Buddhism. The conversion of the King was soon followed by that of other people who welcomed the teaching with the utmnost enthusiasm.
The circumstances that prevailed were most favourable for its immediate acceptance and rapid spread. Buddhism thus became the state religion of Sri Lanka and the way of the life of its people, bringing with it untold blessings of peace and happiness.
Asoka himself took great personal interest in the propagation of the religion in Sri Lanka and soon, after Mahinda's arrival, followed the visit of his daughter, Sanghamittha, who had become a Bhikkhuni, carrying a branch of the sacred tree under which the Buddha had reached the supreme enlightenment.
The arrival of the Bodhi-tree in the island kindled the people's imagination as no single event has done before or since, Just as securely as the roots of that tree wended their pliant way into the soil of Lanka, so did other teachings of the Buddha enter the innermost lives of the people influencing them into the pursuit of noble virtues.
The branch of the Bodhi-tree was one of the many objects of worship associated with Buddhism in the island. Soon after the acceptance of the teaching by the King, Mahinda obtained for him from India relics of the Buddha.
They were enshrined in massive structures, the 'Dagabas', as they were called, and successive rulers vied with one another in their construction whenever they were able to secure more relics from the mainland of India.
The first 'dabaga' to be built in Sri Lanka was the 'Thuparama', small in size and with a roof, on stone-pillars, to protect it. It was the work of Devanampiyatissa himself. But the most famous of Sri Lanka's 'Dagaba' is the 'Ruvanweli' called in Pali 'Suvannamali' constructed by Dutthagamini, hero of the Pali chronicle, the Mahavamsa, who, more than any other monarch in Sri Lanka's history, has kindled popular imagination.
For, it was he who saved Buddhism from the marauders of South India when they invaded Sri Lanka and the nation was thereby threatened with extinction.
Numerous legends are current about this warrior-king. After his death, he was born in 'Tusita-heaven' from where he acts as the guardian of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
Buddhist ritual in Lanka was greatly enriched by the arrival here of the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha in 312 A.C. It was brought here on the instructions of her father by the Kalinga princess Hemamali.
The relic eventually became the greatest national treasure of Sri Lanka and its possession was regarded as the essential qualification for kingship, in every capital of the kingdom.
A special shrine was built for it, as part of the king's palace, and king after king lavished upon it every token of deep regard. Its present resting-place is Kandy, the capital of the last Sri Lankan king and the Dalada Maligava or Temple of the Tooth Relic which is annually visited by millions of pilgrims from every part of the world.
A very colourful ritual is witnessed, especially on the special occasions when the relic is shown to devotees. In the 10th century the even tenor of Budhist development was greatly disturbed by the incursion into Sri Lanka of the mighty empire of the Chola in South India.
For 50 years, Lanka was ruled by the Cholas who did everything in their power to destroy Buddhism in this country.
The arrival of the Portuguese in Sri Lanka in 1505 A.D. proved a turning point in the island's history. "There is no page in the story of European colonisation", writes Sir Emmerson Tennant, one time Lieutenant - Governor in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) "more gloomy and repulsive than that which recounts the proceedings of the Portuguese in Ceylon .... They appeared in the Indian seas in the threefold character of merchants, missionaries and pirates.
Their ostensible motto was, 'amity, commerce and religion', but their expeditions consisted of soldiers as well as adventurers, and included friars and a chaplain-major; and their instructions were, 'to be in by parching but, that failing, to proceed to the decision of the sword."
The Portuguese occupied other maritime provinces of Sri Lanka and remained there for 150 years, oppressing and harassing the people, with unbelievable cruelty. The Portuguese historian, Manuel de Faria Souza writes.
"When he (Jeronymo de Azavedo) was acting in Ceylon as lord of war, he used to oblige women to throw their own children into stone-troughs and pound them in them as they would do for spices in brass mortars, without any mitigation of the cries uttered by those innocent ones under the blows that fell and without any pity for other hearts of mothers who saw themselves made the cruel executioners of their own sons.
A son as they had reduced (the children) to paste, he had other women beheaded as if they had not obeyed him.
The Portuguese were eventually driven away by the Dutch.
Their main concern was trade, especially in cinnamon which they found was 'the very best in the world and abundant'. Unlike the Portuguese, they did not persecute the Buddhists, all their venom was directed against the Roman Catholics.
Ironically enough, the Roman Catholic Portuguese had to seek the protection of the Sinhala Buddhist Kings who yet held sway in the central parts of the island and this protection was given in ample measure.
Lands were given for the establishment of Roman Catholic seminaries and Roman Catholic priests were allowed the freedom to preach their religion even in the heart of the Buddhist king's capital. Such was the tolerance that characterized the Buddhists of Sri Lanka.
British period
In 1796 A.D., the British took over the Dutch possession in Sri Lanka. So far, Sinhala-Buddhist kings had continued to rule in the centre of the island, while the three European races successively occupied the maritime regions.
In 1815 A.D., however, because of a variety of causes the whole of Sri Lanka passed into the hands of the British, the Kandyan provinces (so-called because their capital was in Kandy being given to them by a treaty (called the Kandyan Convention), according to which the British undertook" to protect and maintain the religion of the Buddha" and to preserve the inviolate the rites and ceremonies connected with it.
The British proved themselves to be better rulers than either the Portuguese or the Dutch, probably because they came from Europe which was more enlightened than that of their predecessors.
Generally speaking, British administrators in Sri Lanka tried to observe the terms of the Kandyan Convention, at least in the letter. But the pressure of Christian missionary bodies in England often proved too srong to resist and the consequent damage to Buddhism was almost irreparable.
No education was allowed except in schools where the most important part of the curriculum was the compulsory study of the Bible. The disabilities suffered by the Buddhists were such that many of the more ambitious among them became Christians for wordly gain.
There were others who were ashamed to own themselves Buddhists in public. In the course of time, there came into being a strongly favoured minority of Sri Lankans, educated in English, bearing foreign names and proud of the fact, practically all of them Christians, who controlled the administration of the country.
The prestige of Buddhism suffered greatly. In addition, many hundreds of thousand of acres of land, belonging to Buddhist institutions, which had been gifted by kings and the rich men of old, were systematically expropriated and the religious establishment thus completely impoverished.
Some of this land was given to the missionaries for their churches and schools, often set up cheek by jowl with the institutions to which the land had earlier belonged. Public funds were freely given for the construction of churches and Christian padres paid government salaries from public revenue.
As the Master was breathing His last, in the Salgrove of the Mallas in Kusinara, He saw with His divine eye their arrival and enjoined upon the 'devas' who were around Him to give them their special protection.
Historically speaking, it was not till two centuries later that Buddhism was firmly established in Sri Lanka, when the Arahant Mahinda, son of great Emperor, Asoka, came over from India and converted to the new faith, the reigning monarch, Devanampiyatissatissa, beloved of the gods.
The hill at Mihintale - later so called after Mahinda himself - eight miles from Sri Lanka's ancient capital, Anuradhapura (now famed throughout the Buddhist world as a sacred city), was the site of this historic meeting between saint and king.
And here, on every full-moon day of the month of 'Poson' (June), millions of pilgrims wend their way to relive in their imagination the drama of the introduction of Buddhism into this lovely land.
Mahinda's mission was the most successful of the many missions sent by Asoka for other propagation of Buddhism. The conversion of the King was soon followed by that of other people who welcomed the teaching with the utmnost enthusiasm.
The circumstances that prevailed were most favourable for its immediate acceptance and rapid spread. Buddhism thus became the state religion of Sri Lanka and the way of the life of its people, bringing with it untold blessings of peace and happiness.
Asoka himself took great personal interest in the propagation of the religion in Sri Lanka and soon, after Mahinda's arrival, followed the visit of his daughter, Sanghamittha, who had become a Bhikkhuni, carrying a branch of the sacred tree under which the Buddha had reached the supreme enlightenment.
The arrival of the Bodhi-tree in the island kindled the people's imagination as no single event has done before or since, Just as securely as the roots of that tree wended their pliant way into the soil of Lanka, so did other teachings of the Buddha enter the innermost lives of the people influencing them into the pursuit of noble virtues.
The branch of the Bodhi-tree was one of the many objects of worship associated with Buddhism in the island. Soon after the acceptance of the teaching by the King, Mahinda obtained for him from India relics of the Buddha.
They were enshrined in massive structures, the 'Dagabas', as they were called, and successive rulers vied with one another in their construction whenever they were able to secure more relics from the mainland of India.
The first 'dabaga' to be built in Sri Lanka was the 'Thuparama', small in size and with a roof, on stone-pillars, to protect it. It was the work of Devanampiyatissa himself. But the most famous of Sri Lanka's 'Dagaba' is the 'Ruvanweli' called in Pali 'Suvannamali' constructed by Dutthagamini, hero of the Pali chronicle, the Mahavamsa, who, more than any other monarch in Sri Lanka's history, has kindled popular imagination.
For, it was he who saved Buddhism from the marauders of South India when they invaded Sri Lanka and the nation was thereby threatened with extinction.
Numerous legends are current about this warrior-king. After his death, he was born in 'Tusita-heaven' from where he acts as the guardian of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
Buddhist ritual in Lanka was greatly enriched by the arrival here of the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha in 312 A.C. It was brought here on the instructions of her father by the Kalinga princess Hemamali.
The relic eventually became the greatest national treasure of Sri Lanka and its possession was regarded as the essential qualification for kingship, in every capital of the kingdom.
A special shrine was built for it, as part of the king's palace, and king after king lavished upon it every token of deep regard. Its present resting-place is Kandy, the capital of the last Sri Lankan king and the Dalada Maligava or Temple of the Tooth Relic which is annually visited by millions of pilgrims from every part of the world.
A very colourful ritual is witnessed, especially on the special occasions when the relic is shown to devotees. In the 10th century the even tenor of Budhist development was greatly disturbed by the incursion into Sri Lanka of the mighty empire of the Chola in South India.
For 50 years, Lanka was ruled by the Cholas who did everything in their power to destroy Buddhism in this country.
The arrival of the Portuguese in Sri Lanka in 1505 A.D. proved a turning point in the island's history. "There is no page in the story of European colonisation", writes Sir Emmerson Tennant, one time Lieutenant - Governor in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) "more gloomy and repulsive than that which recounts the proceedings of the Portuguese in Ceylon .... They appeared in the Indian seas in the threefold character of merchants, missionaries and pirates.
Their ostensible motto was, 'amity, commerce and religion', but their expeditions consisted of soldiers as well as adventurers, and included friars and a chaplain-major; and their instructions were, 'to be in by parching but, that failing, to proceed to the decision of the sword."
The Portuguese occupied other maritime provinces of Sri Lanka and remained there for 150 years, oppressing and harassing the people, with unbelievable cruelty. The Portuguese historian, Manuel de Faria Souza writes.
"When he (Jeronymo de Azavedo) was acting in Ceylon as lord of war, he used to oblige women to throw their own children into stone-troughs and pound them in them as they would do for spices in brass mortars, without any mitigation of the cries uttered by those innocent ones under the blows that fell and without any pity for other hearts of mothers who saw themselves made the cruel executioners of their own sons.
A son as they had reduced (the children) to paste, he had other women beheaded as if they had not obeyed him.
The Portuguese were eventually driven away by the Dutch.
Their main concern was trade, especially in cinnamon which they found was 'the very best in the world and abundant'. Unlike the Portuguese, they did not persecute the Buddhists, all their venom was directed against the Roman Catholics.
Ironically enough, the Roman Catholic Portuguese had to seek the protection of the Sinhala Buddhist Kings who yet held sway in the central parts of the island and this protection was given in ample measure.
Lands were given for the establishment of Roman Catholic seminaries and Roman Catholic priests were allowed the freedom to preach their religion even in the heart of the Buddhist king's capital. Such was the tolerance that characterized the Buddhists of Sri Lanka.
British period
In 1796 A.D., the British took over the Dutch possession in Sri Lanka. So far, Sinhala-Buddhist kings had continued to rule in the centre of the island, while the three European races successively occupied the maritime regions.
In 1815 A.D., however, because of a variety of causes the whole of Sri Lanka passed into the hands of the British, the Kandyan provinces (so-called because their capital was in Kandy being given to them by a treaty (called the Kandyan Convention), according to which the British undertook" to protect and maintain the religion of the Buddha" and to preserve the inviolate the rites and ceremonies connected with it.
The British proved themselves to be better rulers than either the Portuguese or the Dutch, probably because they came from Europe which was more enlightened than that of their predecessors.
Generally speaking, British administrators in Sri Lanka tried to observe the terms of the Kandyan Convention, at least in the letter. But the pressure of Christian missionary bodies in England often proved too srong to resist and the consequent damage to Buddhism was almost irreparable.
No education was allowed except in schools where the most important part of the curriculum was the compulsory study of the Bible. The disabilities suffered by the Buddhists were such that many of the more ambitious among them became Christians for wordly gain.
There were others who were ashamed to own themselves Buddhists in public. In the course of time, there came into being a strongly favoured minority of Sri Lankans, educated in English, bearing foreign names and proud of the fact, practically all of them Christians, who controlled the administration of the country.
The prestige of Buddhism suffered greatly. In addition, many hundreds of thousand of acres of land, belonging to Buddhist institutions, which had been gifted by kings and the rich men of old, were systematically expropriated and the religious establishment thus completely impoverished.
Some of this land was given to the missionaries for their churches and schools, often set up cheek by jowl with the institutions to which the land had earlier belonged. Public funds were freely given for the construction of churches and Christian padres paid government salaries from public revenue.
Are atrocities of Portuguese to be celebrated? by Padma Sri Samaranayake
We normally write articles to commemorate and appreciate great events. In this instance we are compelled, as a great nation to condemn Portuguese invasion of Sri Lanka. They were infested with a disease called Leprosy. Local name to leprosy is "Parangi" and the name "Parangi" is used to identify the Portuguese.
Those plunderers of Portugal invaded our paradise like country in the year 1505 and some where in November. 18th of November 2005 complete 500 years after their invasion. This foreign invasion did tremendous harm, damage and irreparable loss to our nation. At the invasion they pretended to our king that they had come for trade. However they cheated the king and settled down on the land with the permission of the then Singhalese king. Gradually and cunningly they extended the area of settlement and finally they started conquering the coastal belt.
Once Portuguese established their control over the coastal areas they started to loot the wealth of the natives and the wealth of the Buddhist temples and Hindu Devalas. These barbaric men arrived in Sri Lanka with guns, swards and spikes in their hands. Gradually they brought down even heavy artillery. This type of weaponry was not at all necessary for genuine trade. They had pre-arranged plans to meet with. When they established satisfactorily they didn't want to bother about the Singhalese king. The Portuguese worriers were so cruel that most of the natives fled away to the interior. After having had looted they were in the habit of burning down the buildings either temples or Devalas or even royal Palaces. Statues of Buddha and idols of other gods were demolished and they took away the gold, jewels and ivory. They raped our women and the jewelry worn by them were snatched tearing their ears. Buddha statues and the Hindu statues were melted down to make payments to their people.
They had the bible in their hands to convert the Buddhist and the Hindus to Catholics. They forced the natives to accept the God's Message and to become Catholics. They did this under the threat of the gun and the spear. Their mission was so inhuman and cruel, if the natives failed to accept they had to face tragic deaths. Such people were inquisioned under the supervision of catholic priests. Those who refuse to accept God's Message were given mental agony by pounding the infants in to mash in presence of the mothers. Finally those mothers too were killed by cuttings their limbs and other organs.
The Portuguese bastard invaded Sri Lanka during the dark ages of the world. Sri Lanka was not the only country, which had to face this calamitous fate. The countries like Philippines had to suffer the same fate.
Those genocides were done under the direction and permission of the Pope Alexander VI in 1494. Just 11 years before the Portuguese invasion. In view of the direction of the Pope the Portuguese and Spaniards had the freedom to kill and rape innocent people and to plunder them at mass-scale. When they arrived in Sri Lanka we had a great civilization, which was over 2000 years old. Agriculturally, economically and culturally our civilization was unsurpassable. Our civilization was a hydro-civilization and not a war civilization. If not for the invasion of our country by those Portuguese barbarians our country would have taken a different turn. Those invaders alongwith the subsequent invaders retarded the development of Sri Lanka. They destroyed not only our temples and the natives but the leadership of the nation too was destroyed.
The Portuguese killed two of our kings in kelaniya. In 1551 they killed Buwanekabahu the VII. He was living in a five-storied palace. Dharmapala the grand son of king Buwanekabahu was christened as Don Juan Darmapala. Even today we can distinguishably see Don Juan Darmapalas and Dona Catherinas who are resembling those figures of the past.
The Portuguese captain Diogo De Melo carried out the demolition operation of king Buwanekabahu's five storied Royal palace and the seven storied palace called Kithsimewanpaya built by Dambadeniya king. The people who opposed to this operation were thrown in to the Kelani River and drowned them as food for crocodiles. The three-storied Daladamaligawa of Kotte was pull down to the ground. When they demolish palaces and temples the material were used to build catholic churches.
The Vishnu temple at Devinuwara, which was worshipped and prayed, by Buddhist and Hindu devotees was plundered and destroyed too. Further Thotagamuwe Pirivena, Weedagama Privena in Raigam Korala, Sunethradevi Pirivena of Kotte were burnt and destroyed. The student bikkhus who failed to escape had to die inside. The valuable books of the temple were destroyed too. The lands, which held temples or Pirivenas, were confiscated and taken as church lands. Gokanna Viharaya at Trinkomalee was toppled down to the sea. Rathnapura Samandewalaya was destroyed too. Today an evangelist priest lives there.
Colombo fort was constructed with the stones of Kelaniya temple. The Church called St.Bartholomew Church was built on the foundation of the five story royal palace of Kelaniya. Weedagama temple and Pirivena had 400 acres of land prior to the barbaric act of Portuguese. Now Weedagama temple has been constructed on a small land of about 2 acres. The great Poet monk Weedagama Maithree Thero who wrote Lowedasangarawa and Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula were living in that temple. Portuguese turned a portion of temple land to a graveyard and some portion to a church.
After doing all the destruction, plundering and mass genocide in Sri Lanka since 1505 until Dutch invaded Sri Lanka, by the Portuguese the wealth was carried to Goa and Vatican City. Present day Portuguese nationals of Goa may be feeling ashamed of what their forefathers did to a Civilized Great Nation when they visit the museums in Lisbon. Not only them even the Sri Lankan Christians of all sects may feel same when they go through the history after 1505 CE.
The writer has quoted above information of the history in terms of the recorded history and with the intention of making the reader aware of the related facts.
The Buddhist Times of October 2003 reported that UNP Presidential candidate Mr.Ranil Wicramasinha had announced in New York that there would be joint celebrations in Lisbon & Colombo in 2005 to commemorate the Portuguese connection. By 18th November 2005 five hundred years have been passed after the invasion of Sri Lanka by Portuguese. If Sri Lanka arranges a celebration to this effect, it is a celebration of our own destruction. If anyone thinks of such a celebration, he should get himself checked for his mental health. We must make 18th November 2005 to condemn the barbaric acts the Portuguese committed in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka government should ask for compensation from the responsible parties. The stolen valuable property and the items of archeological value should be returned to Sri Lanka alongwith the dead body of Ven. Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula carried away to Goa during the Portuguese period. The Portuguese may abstain from worshiping a dead body of a Buddhist monk.
Apart from that, the time has come to elect a new President on 17th November 2005 who can lead our nation while protecting the cultural values and the Unitary State condition of our motherland. Therefore, it is our duty to reject the people with foreign affiliated thinking and specifically Portuguese's puppets at the forthcoming presidential election.
Those plunderers of Portugal invaded our paradise like country in the year 1505 and some where in November. 18th of November 2005 complete 500 years after their invasion. This foreign invasion did tremendous harm, damage and irreparable loss to our nation. At the invasion they pretended to our king that they had come for trade. However they cheated the king and settled down on the land with the permission of the then Singhalese king. Gradually and cunningly they extended the area of settlement and finally they started conquering the coastal belt.
Once Portuguese established their control over the coastal areas they started to loot the wealth of the natives and the wealth of the Buddhist temples and Hindu Devalas. These barbaric men arrived in Sri Lanka with guns, swards and spikes in their hands. Gradually they brought down even heavy artillery. This type of weaponry was not at all necessary for genuine trade. They had pre-arranged plans to meet with. When they established satisfactorily they didn't want to bother about the Singhalese king. The Portuguese worriers were so cruel that most of the natives fled away to the interior. After having had looted they were in the habit of burning down the buildings either temples or Devalas or even royal Palaces. Statues of Buddha and idols of other gods were demolished and they took away the gold, jewels and ivory. They raped our women and the jewelry worn by them were snatched tearing their ears. Buddha statues and the Hindu statues were melted down to make payments to their people.
They had the bible in their hands to convert the Buddhist and the Hindus to Catholics. They forced the natives to accept the God's Message and to become Catholics. They did this under the threat of the gun and the spear. Their mission was so inhuman and cruel, if the natives failed to accept they had to face tragic deaths. Such people were inquisioned under the supervision of catholic priests. Those who refuse to accept God's Message were given mental agony by pounding the infants in to mash in presence of the mothers. Finally those mothers too were killed by cuttings their limbs and other organs.
The Portuguese bastard invaded Sri Lanka during the dark ages of the world. Sri Lanka was not the only country, which had to face this calamitous fate. The countries like Philippines had to suffer the same fate.
Those genocides were done under the direction and permission of the Pope Alexander VI in 1494. Just 11 years before the Portuguese invasion. In view of the direction of the Pope the Portuguese and Spaniards had the freedom to kill and rape innocent people and to plunder them at mass-scale. When they arrived in Sri Lanka we had a great civilization, which was over 2000 years old. Agriculturally, economically and culturally our civilization was unsurpassable. Our civilization was a hydro-civilization and not a war civilization. If not for the invasion of our country by those Portuguese barbarians our country would have taken a different turn. Those invaders alongwith the subsequent invaders retarded the development of Sri Lanka. They destroyed not only our temples and the natives but the leadership of the nation too was destroyed.
The Portuguese killed two of our kings in kelaniya. In 1551 they killed Buwanekabahu the VII. He was living in a five-storied palace. Dharmapala the grand son of king Buwanekabahu was christened as Don Juan Darmapala. Even today we can distinguishably see Don Juan Darmapalas and Dona Catherinas who are resembling those figures of the past.
The Portuguese captain Diogo De Melo carried out the demolition operation of king Buwanekabahu's five storied Royal palace and the seven storied palace called Kithsimewanpaya built by Dambadeniya king. The people who opposed to this operation were thrown in to the Kelani River and drowned them as food for crocodiles. The three-storied Daladamaligawa of Kotte was pull down to the ground. When they demolish palaces and temples the material were used to build catholic churches.
The Vishnu temple at Devinuwara, which was worshipped and prayed, by Buddhist and Hindu devotees was plundered and destroyed too. Further Thotagamuwe Pirivena, Weedagama Privena in Raigam Korala, Sunethradevi Pirivena of Kotte were burnt and destroyed. The student bikkhus who failed to escape had to die inside. The valuable books of the temple were destroyed too. The lands, which held temples or Pirivenas, were confiscated and taken as church lands. Gokanna Viharaya at Trinkomalee was toppled down to the sea. Rathnapura Samandewalaya was destroyed too. Today an evangelist priest lives there.
Colombo fort was constructed with the stones of Kelaniya temple. The Church called St.Bartholomew Church was built on the foundation of the five story royal palace of Kelaniya. Weedagama temple and Pirivena had 400 acres of land prior to the barbaric act of Portuguese. Now Weedagama temple has been constructed on a small land of about 2 acres. The great Poet monk Weedagama Maithree Thero who wrote Lowedasangarawa and Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula were living in that temple. Portuguese turned a portion of temple land to a graveyard and some portion to a church.
After doing all the destruction, plundering and mass genocide in Sri Lanka since 1505 until Dutch invaded Sri Lanka, by the Portuguese the wealth was carried to Goa and Vatican City. Present day Portuguese nationals of Goa may be feeling ashamed of what their forefathers did to a Civilized Great Nation when they visit the museums in Lisbon. Not only them even the Sri Lankan Christians of all sects may feel same when they go through the history after 1505 CE.
The writer has quoted above information of the history in terms of the recorded history and with the intention of making the reader aware of the related facts.
The Buddhist Times of October 2003 reported that UNP Presidential candidate Mr.Ranil Wicramasinha had announced in New York that there would be joint celebrations in Lisbon & Colombo in 2005 to commemorate the Portuguese connection. By 18th November 2005 five hundred years have been passed after the invasion of Sri Lanka by Portuguese. If Sri Lanka arranges a celebration to this effect, it is a celebration of our own destruction. If anyone thinks of such a celebration, he should get himself checked for his mental health. We must make 18th November 2005 to condemn the barbaric acts the Portuguese committed in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka government should ask for compensation from the responsible parties. The stolen valuable property and the items of archeological value should be returned to Sri Lanka alongwith the dead body of Ven. Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula carried away to Goa during the Portuguese period. The Portuguese may abstain from worshiping a dead body of a Buddhist monk.
Apart from that, the time has come to elect a new President on 17th November 2005 who can lead our nation while protecting the cultural values and the Unitary State condition of our motherland. Therefore, it is our duty to reject the people with foreign affiliated thinking and specifically Portuguese's puppets at the forthcoming presidential election.
Are atrocities of Portuguese to be celebrated? by Padma Sri Samaranayake
We normally write articles to commemorate and appreciate great events. In this instance we are compelled, as a great nation to condemn Portuguese invasion of Sri Lanka. They were infested with a disease called Leprosy. Local name to leprosy is "Parangi" and the name "Parangi" is used to identify the Portuguese.
Those plunderers of Portugal invaded our paradise like country in the year 1505 and some where in November. 18th of November 2005 complete 500 years after their invasion. This foreign invasion did tremendous harm, damage and irreparable loss to our nation. At the invasion they pretended to our king that they had come for trade. However they cheated the king and settled down on the land with the permission of the then Singhalese king. Gradually and cunningly they extended the area of settlement and finally they started conquering the coastal belt.
Once Portuguese established their control over the coastal areas they started to loot the wealth of the natives and the wealth of the Buddhist temples and Hindu Devalas. These barbaric men arrived in Sri Lanka with guns, swards and spikes in their hands. Gradually they brought down even heavy artillery. This type of weaponry was not at all necessary for genuine trade. They had pre-arranged plans to meet with. When they established satisfactorily they didn't want to bother about the Singhalese king. The Portuguese worriers were so cruel that most of the natives fled away to the interior. After having had looted they were in the habit of burning down the buildings either temples or Devalas or even royal Palaces. Statues of Buddha and idols of other gods were demolished and they took away the gold, jewels and ivory. They raped our women and the jewelry worn by them were snatched tearing their ears. Buddha statues and the Hindu statues were melted down to make payments to their people.
They had the bible in their hands to convert the Buddhist and the Hindus to Catholics. They forced the natives to accept the God's Message and to become Catholics. They did this under the threat of the gun and the spear. Their mission was so inhuman and cruel, if the natives failed to accept they had to face tragic deaths. Such people were inquisioned under the supervision of catholic priests. Those who refuse to accept God's Message were given mental agony by pounding the infants in to mash in presence of the mothers. Finally those mothers too were killed by cuttings their limbs and other organs.
The Portuguese bastard invaded Sri Lanka during the dark ages of the world. Sri Lanka was not the only country, which had to face this calamitous fate. The countries like Philippines had to suffer the same fate.
Those genocides were done under the direction and permission of the Pope Alexander VI in 1494. Just 11 years before the Portuguese invasion. In view of the direction of the Pope the Portuguese and Spaniards had the freedom to kill and rape innocent people and to plunder them at mass-scale. When they arrived in Sri Lanka we had a great civilization, which was over 2000 years old. Agriculturally, economically and culturally our civilization was unsurpassable. Our civilization was a hydro-civilization and not a war civilization. If not for the invasion of our country by those Portuguese barbarians our country would have taken a different turn. Those invaders alongwith the subsequent invaders retarded the development of Sri Lanka. They destroyed not only our temples and the natives but the leadership of the nation too was destroyed.
The Portuguese killed two of our kings in kelaniya. In 1551 they killed Buwanekabahu the VII. He was living in a five-storied palace. Dharmapala the grand son of king Buwanekabahu was christened as Don Juan Darmapala. Even today we can distinguishably see Don Juan Darmapalas and Dona Catherinas who are resembling those figures of the past.
The Portuguese captain Diogo De Melo carried out the demolition operation of king Buwanekabahu's five storied Royal palace and the seven storied palace called Kithsimewanpaya built by Dambadeniya king. The people who opposed to this operation were thrown in to the Kelani River and drowned them as food for crocodiles. The three-storied Daladamaligawa of Kotte was pull down to the ground. When they demolish palaces and temples the material were used to build catholic churches.
The Vishnu temple at Devinuwara, which was worshipped and prayed, by Buddhist and Hindu devotees was plundered and destroyed too. Further Thotagamuwe Pirivena, Weedagama Privena in Raigam Korala, Sunethradevi Pirivena of Kotte were burnt and destroyed. The student bikkhus who failed to escape had to die inside. The valuable books of the temple were destroyed too. The lands, which held temples or Pirivenas, were confiscated and taken as church lands. Gokanna Viharaya at Trinkomalee was toppled down to the sea. Rathnapura Samandewalaya was destroyed too. Today an evangelist priest lives there.
Colombo fort was constructed with the stones of Kelaniya temple. The Church called St.Bartholomew Church was built on the foundation of the five story royal palace of Kelaniya. Weedagama temple and Pirivena had 400 acres of land prior to the barbaric act of Portuguese. Now Weedagama temple has been constructed on a small land of about 2 acres. The great Poet monk Weedagama Maithree Thero who wrote Lowedasangarawa and Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula were living in that temple. Portuguese turned a portion of temple land to a graveyard and some portion to a church.
After doing all the destruction, plundering and mass genocide in Sri Lanka since 1505 until Dutch invaded Sri Lanka, by the Portuguese the wealth was carried to Goa and Vatican City. Present day Portuguese nationals of Goa may be feeling ashamed of what their forefathers did to a Civilized Great Nation when they visit the museums in Lisbon. Not only them even the Sri Lankan Christians of all sects may feel same when they go through the history after 1505 CE.
The writer has quoted above information of the history in terms of the recorded history and with the intention of making the reader aware of the related facts.
The Buddhist Times of October 2003 reported that UNP Presidential candidate Mr.Ranil Wicramasinha had announced in New York that there would be joint celebrations in Lisbon & Colombo in 2005 to commemorate the Portuguese connection. By 18th November 2005 five hundred years have been passed after the invasion of Sri Lanka by Portuguese. If Sri Lanka arranges a celebration to this effect, it is a celebration of our own destruction. If anyone thinks of such a celebration, he should get himself checked for his mental health. We must make 18th November 2005 to condemn the barbaric acts the Portuguese committed in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka government should ask for compensation from the responsible parties. The stolen valuable property and the items of archeological value should be returned to Sri Lanka alongwith the dead body of Ven. Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula carried away to Goa during the Portuguese period. The Portuguese may abstain from worshiping a dead body of a Buddhist monk.
Apart from that, the time has come to elect a new President on 17th November 2005 who can lead our nation while protecting the cultural values and the Unitary State condition of our motherland. Therefore, it is our duty to reject the people with foreign affiliated thinking and specifically Portuguese's puppets at the forthcoming presidential election.
Those plunderers of Portugal invaded our paradise like country in the year 1505 and some where in November. 18th of November 2005 complete 500 years after their invasion. This foreign invasion did tremendous harm, damage and irreparable loss to our nation. At the invasion they pretended to our king that they had come for trade. However they cheated the king and settled down on the land with the permission of the then Singhalese king. Gradually and cunningly they extended the area of settlement and finally they started conquering the coastal belt.
Once Portuguese established their control over the coastal areas they started to loot the wealth of the natives and the wealth of the Buddhist temples and Hindu Devalas. These barbaric men arrived in Sri Lanka with guns, swards and spikes in their hands. Gradually they brought down even heavy artillery. This type of weaponry was not at all necessary for genuine trade. They had pre-arranged plans to meet with. When they established satisfactorily they didn't want to bother about the Singhalese king. The Portuguese worriers were so cruel that most of the natives fled away to the interior. After having had looted they were in the habit of burning down the buildings either temples or Devalas or even royal Palaces. Statues of Buddha and idols of other gods were demolished and they took away the gold, jewels and ivory. They raped our women and the jewelry worn by them were snatched tearing their ears. Buddha statues and the Hindu statues were melted down to make payments to their people.
They had the bible in their hands to convert the Buddhist and the Hindus to Catholics. They forced the natives to accept the God's Message and to become Catholics. They did this under the threat of the gun and the spear. Their mission was so inhuman and cruel, if the natives failed to accept they had to face tragic deaths. Such people were inquisioned under the supervision of catholic priests. Those who refuse to accept God's Message were given mental agony by pounding the infants in to mash in presence of the mothers. Finally those mothers too were killed by cuttings their limbs and other organs.
The Portuguese bastard invaded Sri Lanka during the dark ages of the world. Sri Lanka was not the only country, which had to face this calamitous fate. The countries like Philippines had to suffer the same fate.
Those genocides were done under the direction and permission of the Pope Alexander VI in 1494. Just 11 years before the Portuguese invasion. In view of the direction of the Pope the Portuguese and Spaniards had the freedom to kill and rape innocent people and to plunder them at mass-scale. When they arrived in Sri Lanka we had a great civilization, which was over 2000 years old. Agriculturally, economically and culturally our civilization was unsurpassable. Our civilization was a hydro-civilization and not a war civilization. If not for the invasion of our country by those Portuguese barbarians our country would have taken a different turn. Those invaders alongwith the subsequent invaders retarded the development of Sri Lanka. They destroyed not only our temples and the natives but the leadership of the nation too was destroyed.
The Portuguese killed two of our kings in kelaniya. In 1551 they killed Buwanekabahu the VII. He was living in a five-storied palace. Dharmapala the grand son of king Buwanekabahu was christened as Don Juan Darmapala. Even today we can distinguishably see Don Juan Darmapalas and Dona Catherinas who are resembling those figures of the past.
The Portuguese captain Diogo De Melo carried out the demolition operation of king Buwanekabahu's five storied Royal palace and the seven storied palace called Kithsimewanpaya built by Dambadeniya king. The people who opposed to this operation were thrown in to the Kelani River and drowned them as food for crocodiles. The three-storied Daladamaligawa of Kotte was pull down to the ground. When they demolish palaces and temples the material were used to build catholic churches.
The Vishnu temple at Devinuwara, which was worshipped and prayed, by Buddhist and Hindu devotees was plundered and destroyed too. Further Thotagamuwe Pirivena, Weedagama Privena in Raigam Korala, Sunethradevi Pirivena of Kotte were burnt and destroyed. The student bikkhus who failed to escape had to die inside. The valuable books of the temple were destroyed too. The lands, which held temples or Pirivenas, were confiscated and taken as church lands. Gokanna Viharaya at Trinkomalee was toppled down to the sea. Rathnapura Samandewalaya was destroyed too. Today an evangelist priest lives there.
Colombo fort was constructed with the stones of Kelaniya temple. The Church called St.Bartholomew Church was built on the foundation of the five story royal palace of Kelaniya. Weedagama temple and Pirivena had 400 acres of land prior to the barbaric act of Portuguese. Now Weedagama temple has been constructed on a small land of about 2 acres. The great Poet monk Weedagama Maithree Thero who wrote Lowedasangarawa and Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula were living in that temple. Portuguese turned a portion of temple land to a graveyard and some portion to a church.
After doing all the destruction, plundering and mass genocide in Sri Lanka since 1505 until Dutch invaded Sri Lanka, by the Portuguese the wealth was carried to Goa and Vatican City. Present day Portuguese nationals of Goa may be feeling ashamed of what their forefathers did to a Civilized Great Nation when they visit the museums in Lisbon. Not only them even the Sri Lankan Christians of all sects may feel same when they go through the history after 1505 CE.
The writer has quoted above information of the history in terms of the recorded history and with the intention of making the reader aware of the related facts.
The Buddhist Times of October 2003 reported that UNP Presidential candidate Mr.Ranil Wicramasinha had announced in New York that there would be joint celebrations in Lisbon & Colombo in 2005 to commemorate the Portuguese connection. By 18th November 2005 five hundred years have been passed after the invasion of Sri Lanka by Portuguese. If Sri Lanka arranges a celebration to this effect, it is a celebration of our own destruction. If anyone thinks of such a celebration, he should get himself checked for his mental health. We must make 18th November 2005 to condemn the barbaric acts the Portuguese committed in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka government should ask for compensation from the responsible parties. The stolen valuable property and the items of archeological value should be returned to Sri Lanka alongwith the dead body of Ven. Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula carried away to Goa during the Portuguese period. The Portuguese may abstain from worshiping a dead body of a Buddhist monk.
Apart from that, the time has come to elect a new President on 17th November 2005 who can lead our nation while protecting the cultural values and the Unitary State condition of our motherland. Therefore, it is our duty to reject the people with foreign affiliated thinking and specifically Portuguese's puppets at the forthcoming presidential election.
The Portuguese Encounter - A Reign of Terror - 1505 to 1658 By Mallika Wanigasundara
It was a scholarly odyssey into the past of Portuguese murder and terror,genocide, brutality, destructiveness, cultural rape, religious bigotry, arson, including the burning of books, and absolutist suppression for the annihilation of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam in Sri Lanka.This massive massacre of ‘unbelievers’ pagans, heretics and infidels and the destruction of non-Catholic places of worship was carried out by the Portuguese conquerors of Ceylon between 1505 and 1658 in the name of the service of God and the love of Christ.
2005 marks the 500th year after the arrival of the Portuguese in Sri Lanka.
Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims look on this date [1505] as the beginning of the darkest era of Sri Lankan history. The Portuguese record of violence,bloodshed, and use of force is catholic in magnitude and was spurred on by the reigning pontiffs of Rome, the Catholic church, the Inquisition, the kings of Portugal and state power.
Driven by ‘Papal Bulls’ the imperialistic arrogance of the kings of Portugal knew no bounds in their crimes against humanity.
For two years fifty professionals of many disciplines, eminent academicians, scientists and scholars, historians and researchers and around 150 others delved into past records to unearth Portuguese depradations.Meticulous keepers of records, Portuguese writers like Queyroz, Trinidade, Perniola, Barros, do Couto provided much information.Sandesaya poems, Sinhala literature such as the Rajavaliya were researched for other details.
It took researchers to some of the sites of destruction of places of worship resulting in a illuminating book of photographs.The team would need several tomes to adequately record their findings. On December 10 and 11 2005 a conference was held in Colombo to reveal the findings to the public. It was called The Portuguese Encounter and was sponsored by the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Asiatic Society and the Archaeological Society.Credit must be given to Dr Susantha Goonatilake ,scholar, researcher and writer and Dr Hema Goonatilake for the indefatigable effort put in by them to make this conference a success.
The core of the assault was to subjugate and reduce to slavery the so-called non-believers by appropriating their lands in perpetuity for the church.
Orders went out from Portugal and Goa that all idols, images, pictures and even trees be reduced to fragments and this was done with gusto. Even children who had lost one parent were forcibly taken and given to Catholic organizations.Humans were put to the sword, children bayoneted, women raped and hacked, and 100s of temples and monasteries, Hindu kovils and mosques were pounded to the ground. Churches were built on those lands.
The investigating team has done an invaluable job for future generations to know and remember, and avoid the mistakes their ancestors made.The names of the presenters of papers and the places of worship are too many to record here, but a few can be mentioned.A huge mass of evidence and information was presented by scholars such as D G B de Silva, former ambassador, Gaston Perera writer, Prof. M U de Silva, Dr Susantha Goonatilake, Padma Edirisinghe, Prof Mendis
Rohanadeera, Senake Weeraratne K D G Wimalaratne, Dr Hema Goonatilake, Ashley de Vos, and two speakers from Goa Vigyananand Swami and Shrikant Y Raman and many others.
A few of the places of worship were:the Sacred Temple of the Tooth , Kotte,the Vehera Kande vihare, the Kotte Raja maha vihare, the Attanagalle vihare, the Nawagamuwe temple and vihare,monasteries of learning such as the Totagamuwe temple and pirivena, the Sunethradevi temple and pirivena, the Kelani vihare, the Devinuwara temple and devale, the Maha Saman devale, Ratnapura, the Munneswaram kovil, the Madampe Thanivelle devale, the Naga vihare Kotte,the Kali kovil, Kalutara, the Tondamannar kovil, the Mannar kovil, the Beruwala, Kalutara , Weligama and many other mosques. It is recorded that as many as 500 kovils were destroyed in Jaffna alone.
All the ports from Colombo to Chilaw were burnt and all places of worship from Colombo to Kosgoda were destroyed. Churches were built on these lands and temple lands expropriated for the Catholic church by the Fransiscan monks.No non-believer or pagan was entitled to own land .
Thousands of idols, images, pictures religious items were smashed to powder and temples and devales plundered of their gold, ornaments, jewellery, clothes before they were destroyed. In Goa the speakers said that what was left was only in museums and memoirs.
Forced conversions took place on the fear of death. Rites, rituals, processions were banned. There were no yellow robed bhikkus, only white-clad militant ‘ganninnanses’[observers of the ten precepts] who kept the lamp of the Dhamma burning in secret. There was no chanting of pirith, no Hindu prayers, no call to prayer from mosques or reciting of Holy Quran..But criminals who converted were given plenary remissions by Papal bulls and many who committed transgressions and crimes escaped by conversion.
Scholars and historians recalled the grim record of temple lands seized by the Catholic church even before the benighted King Dharmapala stupidly bequeathed the kingdom of Kotte, the palace, the temple of the Sacred Tooth and all temple lands to the king of Portugal and the Catholic church.
But the people kept on resisting. As many as seven rebellions created heavy disruption in Portuguese power and on one occasion they were driven to their fort in Colombo. Thousands were killed including thirty bhikkus who were shot in one go.With the annexation of the Kotte in 1594 the Muslims were ordered out of Portuguese territory, perhaps a first instance of ethnic cleansing.
By 1594 there was no royalty and no leaders. Leadership came from Lascoreen mudaliyars and minor headmen. These gruesome events were recalled dispassionately and without venom by several speakers.It was Gaston Perera who said that their aim was not to target or condemn anybody but to expose these events dispassionately and not sweep them under the carpet.
The question of an apology,restitution of our assets and whether Sri Lanka has a claim for compensation was discussed by speakers such as Senake Weeraratne and KDG Wimalaratne. These matters would be based on crimes against humanity, cultural piracy,destruction life and property, mass genocide, plunder of temples, forced conversions, channeling of revenue to the church,slavery, abuse of women.
Senake Weeraratne said: There is a Jewish proverb which says: A child that does not cry dies in the cradle. We are not appealing for voluntary charity,but for simple justice.Restitution must be made of unjust gains , and repentence must lead to such restitution.
It was necessary for present and future generations to learn from past mistakes. The Portuguese became advisers of kings such as Bhuveneka BahuV11 and he gave official sanction for missionary work and passed on the responsibility of making his grandson Dharmapala king of Kotte to Portugal.
Here then was the beginning of a religious conflict, where the population turned angrily against the Portuguese and continued their resistence.The populace living in a country where there was religious freedom, tolerance and co-existence was unable to stomach the religious oppression and the suppression of intellectual and spiritual learning.
Religious conflict was a new thing in the country where harmony had prevailed.
One interesting point noted was that Portugal was established in 1139. It is ironic that at this time Pollonnaruwa was at its peak. Portugal was a small coastal nation which developed like an anthill in a 100 years into an empire.It was Father Manuelde Morais who said in 1552 that Sinhala pagodas were richer than the richest churches in Lisbon.
(http://www.christianaggression.org/)
St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552) by Kate O'Brien
Francis Xavier was born on April 7th, 1506, in the Spanish kingdom of Navarre; and his native language, like that of Ignatius Loyola, whose devoted disciple he was to become, was Basque. He inherited the proud and passionate temperament of his race and could show himself both fiery and autocratic even to the end of his life. As a boy he was ambitious and fond of sport, but he had a largeness of heart and generosity of nature which made him capable, once he had been converted, of heroic love and endurance.
His first encounter with Ignatius took place at the University of Paris, where Francis went at the age of nineteen. Ignatius was much the elder man, and it took him some time to win Francis from his worldly ambitions. But eventually Francis capitulated and gave himself with his whole soul to the new life which the Exercises of Ignatius opened up to him. He became one of the first members of the Society of Jesus and made his vows with Ignatius and five others on August 15th, 1534, and was finally ordained priest on June 24th, 1537.
The first object of Ignatius and his companions had been to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but events turned out otherwise. Ignatius was asked by King John of Portugal to send priests to the new missions in India, and his choice fell eventually on Francis. Francis, it must be said, had no particular qualifications for this task. Though he took his degree at the University, he was possessed of no great learning, and the only books he took with him on all his missionary journeys were his breviary and a book of meditations. His ignorance of the religion of the people to whom he went to preach the gospel was complete. He regarded all 'moors' and 'pagans' as enemies of God and slaves of the devil, to be rescued at all costs from his power. His attitude never changed, and the devout Muslim, the learned Brahmin and the Buddhist monk made equally little impression on him.
In this respect his mind remained essentially medieval. He saw a vast new world opening before him and his one desire was to win it to Christ. He brought with him nothing but his consuming love for God and for the souls of his fellow men. It is noticeable that he never criticized the social, political or ecclesiastical institutions of his time. He accepted the slave trade and the Inquisition alike apparently without question and, although he complained bitterly of the abuse of power, he never questioned the right of the Portuguese power in India and was prepared at all times to make use of it in the interests of the gospel.
Yet though he might accept the external circumstances of life as he knew it, he preserved an absolute detachment of heart. He deliberately chose to live in the most complete poverty and refused to accept any of the material conveniences which were offered to him. His food was reduced to so small a quantity that it was a miracle that he kept alive. The only concession he would make in clothing for his long missionary journeys under a tropical sun was a pair of boots. He could put up with the most appalling conditions on his long sea voyages and endure the most agonizing extremes of heat and cold. Wherever he went he would seek out the poor and the sick and spend his time in ministering to their needs. Yet while he was occupied all day with these incessant labours, he would spend the greater part of the night in prayer. And all this was done with a gaiety and lightness of heart, which remind one of the other Francis-of Assisi.
The story of his journeys is an epic of adventure. He arrived in Goa in May 1542 and went on from there to Cape Comorin in the south of India. Here he spent three years working among the pearl-fishers, or Paravas, of the Fishery Coast. From there he went on to the East
Indies, to Malacca and the Moluccas, and, finally, in 1549 he set out for Japan. He died on December 3rd, 1552, on a lonely island, vainly seeking to obtain entrance into China. Thus in ten years he traversed the greater part of the Far East. When one considers the conditions of travel, the means of transport, the delays and difflculties which beset him at every stage, it is, even physically an astounding achievement. It is even more remarkable when one considers that he left behind him a flourishing church wherever he went and that the effects of his labours remain to the present day.
Many miracles have been attributed to St Francis. He was said to have possessed the gift of tongues, to have healed the sick and even to have raised the dead; but for the last, at least, there is no real evidence. That he possessed the gift of prophecy seems to be certain, but he can hardly have possessed the gift of tongues. The evidence is, on the contrary, that he had to rely throughout on interpreters to translate his message into the different languages he required, and was often sadly misled. The real miracle of his life, as has been said, was the miracle of his personality, by which he was able to convert thousands to the faith wherever he went and to win their passionate devotion.
He died abandoned with but one companion, without the sacraments or Christian burial. But within a few weeks his body was recovered and found to be perfectly incorrupt. It was brought to Goa and received there with a devotion and an enthusiasm which showed that the people had already recognized him as a saint. He was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1619 and canonized together with St Ignatius by Pope Gregory XV, on March 12th, 1622. He is now the patron of all the missions of the Catholic Church.
His first encounter with Ignatius took place at the University of Paris, where Francis went at the age of nineteen. Ignatius was much the elder man, and it took him some time to win Francis from his worldly ambitions. But eventually Francis capitulated and gave himself with his whole soul to the new life which the Exercises of Ignatius opened up to him. He became one of the first members of the Society of Jesus and made his vows with Ignatius and five others on August 15th, 1534, and was finally ordained priest on June 24th, 1537.
The first object of Ignatius and his companions had been to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but events turned out otherwise. Ignatius was asked by King John of Portugal to send priests to the new missions in India, and his choice fell eventually on Francis. Francis, it must be said, had no particular qualifications for this task. Though he took his degree at the University, he was possessed of no great learning, and the only books he took with him on all his missionary journeys were his breviary and a book of meditations. His ignorance of the religion of the people to whom he went to preach the gospel was complete. He regarded all 'moors' and 'pagans' as enemies of God and slaves of the devil, to be rescued at all costs from his power. His attitude never changed, and the devout Muslim, the learned Brahmin and the Buddhist monk made equally little impression on him.
In this respect his mind remained essentially medieval. He saw a vast new world opening before him and his one desire was to win it to Christ. He brought with him nothing but his consuming love for God and for the souls of his fellow men. It is noticeable that he never criticized the social, political or ecclesiastical institutions of his time. He accepted the slave trade and the Inquisition alike apparently without question and, although he complained bitterly of the abuse of power, he never questioned the right of the Portuguese power in India and was prepared at all times to make use of it in the interests of the gospel.
Yet though he might accept the external circumstances of life as he knew it, he preserved an absolute detachment of heart. He deliberately chose to live in the most complete poverty and refused to accept any of the material conveniences which were offered to him. His food was reduced to so small a quantity that it was a miracle that he kept alive. The only concession he would make in clothing for his long missionary journeys under a tropical sun was a pair of boots. He could put up with the most appalling conditions on his long sea voyages and endure the most agonizing extremes of heat and cold. Wherever he went he would seek out the poor and the sick and spend his time in ministering to their needs. Yet while he was occupied all day with these incessant labours, he would spend the greater part of the night in prayer. And all this was done with a gaiety and lightness of heart, which remind one of the other Francis-of Assisi.
The story of his journeys is an epic of adventure. He arrived in Goa in May 1542 and went on from there to Cape Comorin in the south of India. Here he spent three years working among the pearl-fishers, or Paravas, of the Fishery Coast. From there he went on to the East
Indies, to Malacca and the Moluccas, and, finally, in 1549 he set out for Japan. He died on December 3rd, 1552, on a lonely island, vainly seeking to obtain entrance into China. Thus in ten years he traversed the greater part of the Far East. When one considers the conditions of travel, the means of transport, the delays and difflculties which beset him at every stage, it is, even physically an astounding achievement. It is even more remarkable when one considers that he left behind him a flourishing church wherever he went and that the effects of his labours remain to the present day.
Many miracles have been attributed to St Francis. He was said to have possessed the gift of tongues, to have healed the sick and even to have raised the dead; but for the last, at least, there is no real evidence. That he possessed the gift of prophecy seems to be certain, but he can hardly have possessed the gift of tongues. The evidence is, on the contrary, that he had to rely throughout on interpreters to translate his message into the different languages he required, and was often sadly misled. The real miracle of his life, as has been said, was the miracle of his personality, by which he was able to convert thousands to the faith wherever he went and to win their passionate devotion.
He died abandoned with but one companion, without the sacraments or Christian burial. But within a few weeks his body was recovered and found to be perfectly incorrupt. It was brought to Goa and received there with a devotion and an enthusiasm which showed that the people had already recognized him as a saint. He was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1619 and canonized together with St Ignatius by Pope Gregory XV, on March 12th, 1622. He is now the patron of all the missions of the Catholic Church.
The Portuguese Language Heritage In Asia by Marco Ramerini
The Portuguese language (in relation to the trade and colonial expansion of Portugal), was in XVI – XVII – XVIII centuries the trade language of the Indian Ocean shores.
Portuguese was used, at that time, not only in the eastern cities conquered by the Portuguese but was also used by many local rulers in their relations with the other European powers (Dutch, English, Danish, etc. ).
In Ceylon, for example, Portuguese was used for all contacts between the Europeans and the indigenous peoples; several Kings of Ceylon were fluently in speaking it, Portuguese names were common among the nobility.
When the Dutch occupied coastal Ceylon they, particularly under Van Goens, took measures to stop the use of Portuguese. However, it had become so well established among the Ceylonese that even the families of the Dutch Burghers started to speak it.
In 1704, the Governor Cornelius Jan Simonsz said that "if one spoke Portuguese in Ceylon, one could be understood everywhere".
Also in the Dutch eastern capital city of Batavia (today’s Jakarta) Portuguese was the spoken language in XVII-XVIII centuries.
The religious missions contributed to the great spreading of the Portuguese language. Indeed, as many communities converted to Christianity, they adopted the Portuguese mother tongue. Also the protestant missions (Dutch, Danish, English…) that worked in India were forced to use of Portuguese as their evangelisation language.
The Portuguese language has also influenced many an oriental language.
Many Portuguese words were permanently lent to various kinds of Eastern languages such as the Indians languages, Swahili, Malay, Indonesian, Bengali, Japanese, Ceylonese languages, Tetum of Timor, Afrikaans in South Africa, etc…
Besides, where the Portuguese presence was stronger or lasted longer, flourishing communities of "Casados" and "Mestiços" were developed that adopted a variety of the mother tongue: a kind of Creole Portuguese. What remains today is very little. However it is interesting to notice that, to this day, there are small communities of peoples spread throughout Asia that continue to use Creole Portuguese, although for many years (for centuries, in some cases) there had no contact with Portugal.
Another interesting aspect to contemplate is that, during the best period of Portuguese presence in Asia, the number of Portuguese there was never more than 12.000 to 14.000 souls, including the clergy.
TODAY, THERE ARE PORTUGUESE SPEAKING COMMUNITIES IN
Malacca: (Portuguese Settlement, Praya Lane, Bandara Hilir).
About 1000 people speak this Creole Portuguese (Papia Kristang). About 80 % of the older residents of the Portuguese settlement in Malacca regularly speak Kristang. There are also some speakers in today’s Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Kristang is very close to local Malay in its grammatical structure, but its vocabulary is for 95% derived from Portuguese.
Not many years ago, Portuguese was also spoken in Pulau Tikus (Penang) but now it is considered extinct.
The Eurasian community has 12.000 members in the Malaya Peninsula.
Active are MPEA (Malacca Portuguese Eurasian Association) and SPEMA (Secretariat of the Portuguese/Eurasian Malaysian Associations) with seven separate member associations in Alor Star, Penang, Perak, Malacca (MPEA), Kuala Lumpur, Seremban and Johor Baru. There is also a Eurasian Association in Singapore.
Portugal lost Malacca in 1641.
Korlai: (near Chaul, India).
About 900 monolingual people speak this Creole Portuguese, this community has his Portuguese church called: "Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte Carmelo". Originated around 1520 on the west coast of India. Initially isolated from its Hindu and Muslim neighbors by social and religious barriers, the small Korlai community lost virtually all Portuguese contact as well after 1740.
Portugal lost Chaul in 1740.
Damão: (Damão Grande or Praça, Campo dos Remédios, Jumprim, Damão da Cima).
About 2000 people speak this Creole Portuguese.
Portugal lost Damão in December 1961.
Ceylon: [Portuguese Burghers in Batticaloa (Koolavaddy, Mamangam, Uppodai, Dutch Bar, Akkaraipattu); Trincomalee (Palayuttu); Kaffir communities of Mannar and Puttalam ].
It's now used at home only. It was spoken by 250 families in Batticaloa as late as 1984.
There are still 100 families in Batticaloa and Trincomalee and about 80 Afro-Sinhalese (Kaffir) families in Puttalam.
Of about 5.000 Creole people (Batticaloa, Trincomalee), only 500 still speak Creole, the younger generations cannot speak the Creole. <>
Nearly extinct.
In Batticaloa there is the Burgher Recreio Clube "Shamrock" or "Batticaloa Catholic Burgher Union".
There is a little community of Portuguese descendants in the village of WahaKotte (circa 7°42'N. - 80°36'E) (Central Sri Lanka, six kilometers from Galewala on the road between Galewala and Matale), they are Roman Catholic, but it's about two generations that Portuguese Creole it's not more spoke.
Portugal lost Ceylon in 1658.
Macau:
About 2.000 people speak Portuguese as their first language, and about 11.500 as their second language.
Only a few elderly women speak Macanese a Macao Creole Portuguese.
The "Instituto Cultural de Macau" and the "Fundação do Oriente" are still active.
There is also a TV channel and several newspapers entirely in Portuguese.
Macau was a Portuguese province. On 20 December 1999 it was reverted to China.
Hong Kong:
Several hundreds people speak MACANESE. Essentially, these are people that emigrated from Macao.
There is the "Club Lusitano".
Never under Portuguese rule.
Goa:
Portuguese is rapidly disappearing from Goa. It is now spoken only by a small segment of the upper class families and about 3 to 5 % of the people still speak it (estimated at 30.000 to 50.000 people).
Today 35% of Goa's population are immigrants from other indian states.
In the Indian school it is taught as third language (not obligatory). There is a department of Portuguese at the Goa University. However, the "Fundação do Oriente" and the Indo – Portuguese Friendship Society (Sociedade de Amizade Indo-Portuguesa) are still active. The last Newspaper in Portuguese ended the publications in 1980s.
At Panaji many signs in Portuguese are still visible over shops, administrative buildings etc.
Portugal lost Goa in December 1961.
Diu:
Here the Creole Portuguese is nearly extinct.
According to the testimoniance of Maria Luiza de Carvalho Armando, its seems that the Creole Portuguese language is still used in Diu and according to her testimoniance Diu it's the place in India where the Portuguese legacy is the most durable. Thank to: Maria Luiza de Carvalho Armando
Portugal lost Diu in December 1961.
Timor:
Portuguese was speaking in 1950 by less than 10.000 people and in 1974 by only about 10%-20% of the population.
In 1975: East Timor had 700 000 inhabitants from which: 35/70 000 knew how to read and write Portuguese and 100/140 000 could speak it and understand it.
Until 1981, Portuguese was the church language of Timor, when it was supplanted by Tetum.
However, it is commonly used as the business language in the town of Dili.
Portuguese remains the language for the anti-Indonesian resistance and that of external communications for the Catholic Church.
The Creole Portuguese of Timor (Português de Bidau) is now extinct. It was spoken around Dili, Lifau and Bidau.
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975. Now Timor is an independent nation, it has adopted Portuguese as official language.
Indonesia:
Flores island: (Larantuka, Sikka)
Here Portuguese survives in the religious traditions and the Topasses community (the descendants of Portuguese men and local women) uses it in the prayers. On Saturdays the women of Larantuka say the rosary in a corrupt form of Portuguese.
In the Sikka area of eastern Flores, many of the people of Sikka are descendants from the Portuguese and still??? use that language.
There is the Confraternity of "Reinja Rosari".
Larantuka was abandoned by Portugal in 1859.
UNTIL A FEW YEARS AGO, PORTUGUESE SPEAKING COMMUNITIES EXISTED IN
Ceylon: (Creole Portuguese was used amongst the Dutch Burgher community).
Till the beginning of the 20th. century Creole Portuguese was spoken by the members of this community.
Untill after the Second World War Sri Lankan Catholics in Colombo met for regular church services conducted in Portuguese (at the parish church of St. Anthony's, Dematagoda).
Up to the middle part of this century prayers were being conducted for diminishing groups in Portuguese at a number of Catholic churches in the city (Dematagoda, Hulftsdorp, Kotahena, Kotte, Nugegoda and Wellawatte). Although as a verbal language Portuguese was fast loosing its original purpose at religious devotions in Catholic churches (to be replaced by English and taken over more fashionably and pursued with greater vigour).
Jakarta-Batavia-Tugu: (a suburb of Jakarta).
Here, till the beginning of the 20th. century, a kind of corrupted Portuguese was still spoken by the Christian population in Tugu. The last creol speaking died in 1978.
Never under Portuguese rule.
Cochin: (Vypeen).
It has disappeared in the last twenty years of the 20th. century. The community of Portuguese/Indians (about 2.000 peoples) has his parish church in the old church of Nossa Senhora da Esperança.
Portugal lost Cochin in 1663.
Bombaim or do Norte: (Baçaim, Salsette, Thana, Chevai, Mahim, Tecelaria, Dadar, Parel, Cavel, Bandora-Badra, Govai, Morol, Andheri, Versova, Malvan, Manori, Mazagão)
In 1906, this Creole was, after that of Ceylon, the most important of Indo-Portuguese Creole. In 1906 there were still 5.000 peoples that speaking Creole Portuguese as mother tongue, of these 2.000 were in Bombaim and Mahim, 1.000 were in Bandora, 500 in Thana, 100 in Curla, 50 in Baçaim and 1.000 in others villages. There weren't, at that time, Creole Portuguese schools and the well-to-do classes tended towards to neglect the use, preferred to use the English. "Costa, 1892 & Dalgado, 1906"
Coromandel: (Meliapore, Madras, Tuticorin, Cuddalore, Karikal, Pondicherry, Tranquebar, Manapar, Negapatam…..)
In the Coromandel coast, the Portuguese descendants were generally knew with the name of "Topasses", they were Catholics and spoke Portuguese Creole. With the coming of the English rule in India, they began to speak English in place of the Portuguese and also anglicized theirs names. They are, now, part of the Eurasian community.
In Negapatam, in 1883, there were still 20 families that spoke Indo-Portuguese. "Schuchardt, 1883 & Dalgado, 1917"
ARE DISAPPEARED FOR MANY YEARS THOSE OF
Solor & Adonara: Solor, Adonara (Vure)
Batavia, Java island: (Dutch community of Batavia, Mardijkers)
The Mardijkers are the descendants of the old slaves from Malacca, Bengal, Coromandel, Malabar, that were converted to Protestantism for which they were set free. They spoke a Creole form of Portuguese and were the main group of the Portuguese community of Batavia. After the Dutch conquest of Malacca and Ceylon their number increased considerably. In 1673, a Protestant church was built, in Batavia for the Portuguese community and later, at the end of the XVII century, a second church was built. In 1713, this community had about 4.000 members. "Lopes"
Until 1750, Portuguese was the first language in Batavia, but, after that period, Malay started to dominate.
In 1808, Reverend Engelbrecht celebrated the last mass in Portuguese. In 1816, the Portuguese community was incorporated in the Malay community.
Also in the Dutch families of Batavia, the Portuguese language was vividly used until 1750, in spite of the efforts of the Dutch Government against its use.
Mangalore:
Cannanore:
Bengal: (Balasore, Pipli, Chandernagore, Chittagong, Midnapore, Hugli……)
The Portuguese language was, in the 17th. and 18th. centuries, the "lingua franca" in Bengal. Up to 1811, Portuguese was used in all the Christian (as Catholics as Protestants) churches in Calcutta. At the beginning of the 20th. century, only in a few families a corrupted form of Portuguese was spoke largely mixed with English words. "Campos, 1919"
Moluccas: (Ternate, Ambon, Banda, Makasar)
TERNATENO, a Creole Portuguese that was spoken in the islands of Ternate and West Halmahera, is now extinct.
AMBON, the Creole Portuguese is extinct but some traces of Portuguese are in the language now spoken in Ambon, the Malay-Ambon, which has about 350 words of Portuguese origin.
Along the Indian shores, there were about 44 communities where Portuguese was spoken.
(http://www.colonialvoyage.com/index.html)
Portuguese was used, at that time, not only in the eastern cities conquered by the Portuguese but was also used by many local rulers in their relations with the other European powers (Dutch, English, Danish, etc. ).
In Ceylon, for example, Portuguese was used for all contacts between the Europeans and the indigenous peoples; several Kings of Ceylon were fluently in speaking it, Portuguese names were common among the nobility.
When the Dutch occupied coastal Ceylon they, particularly under Van Goens, took measures to stop the use of Portuguese. However, it had become so well established among the Ceylonese that even the families of the Dutch Burghers started to speak it.
In 1704, the Governor Cornelius Jan Simonsz said that "if one spoke Portuguese in Ceylon, one could be understood everywhere".
Also in the Dutch eastern capital city of Batavia (today’s Jakarta) Portuguese was the spoken language in XVII-XVIII centuries.
The religious missions contributed to the great spreading of the Portuguese language. Indeed, as many communities converted to Christianity, they adopted the Portuguese mother tongue. Also the protestant missions (Dutch, Danish, English…) that worked in India were forced to use of Portuguese as their evangelisation language.
The Portuguese language has also influenced many an oriental language.
Many Portuguese words were permanently lent to various kinds of Eastern languages such as the Indians languages, Swahili, Malay, Indonesian, Bengali, Japanese, Ceylonese languages, Tetum of Timor, Afrikaans in South Africa, etc…
Besides, where the Portuguese presence was stronger or lasted longer, flourishing communities of "Casados" and "Mestiços" were developed that adopted a variety of the mother tongue: a kind of Creole Portuguese. What remains today is very little. However it is interesting to notice that, to this day, there are small communities of peoples spread throughout Asia that continue to use Creole Portuguese, although for many years (for centuries, in some cases) there had no contact with Portugal.
Another interesting aspect to contemplate is that, during the best period of Portuguese presence in Asia, the number of Portuguese there was never more than 12.000 to 14.000 souls, including the clergy.
TODAY, THERE ARE PORTUGUESE SPEAKING COMMUNITIES IN
Malacca: (Portuguese Settlement, Praya Lane, Bandara Hilir).
About 1000 people speak this Creole Portuguese (Papia Kristang). About 80 % of the older residents of the Portuguese settlement in Malacca regularly speak Kristang. There are also some speakers in today’s Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Kristang is very close to local Malay in its grammatical structure, but its vocabulary is for 95% derived from Portuguese.
Not many years ago, Portuguese was also spoken in Pulau Tikus (Penang) but now it is considered extinct.
The Eurasian community has 12.000 members in the Malaya Peninsula.
Active are MPEA (Malacca Portuguese Eurasian Association) and SPEMA (Secretariat of the Portuguese/Eurasian Malaysian Associations) with seven separate member associations in Alor Star, Penang, Perak, Malacca (MPEA), Kuala Lumpur, Seremban and Johor Baru. There is also a Eurasian Association in Singapore.
Portugal lost Malacca in 1641.
Korlai: (near Chaul, India).
About 900 monolingual people speak this Creole Portuguese, this community has his Portuguese church called: "Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte Carmelo". Originated around 1520 on the west coast of India. Initially isolated from its Hindu and Muslim neighbors by social and religious barriers, the small Korlai community lost virtually all Portuguese contact as well after 1740.
Portugal lost Chaul in 1740.
Damão: (Damão Grande or Praça, Campo dos Remédios, Jumprim, Damão da Cima).
About 2000 people speak this Creole Portuguese.
Portugal lost Damão in December 1961.
Ceylon: [Portuguese Burghers in Batticaloa (Koolavaddy, Mamangam, Uppodai, Dutch Bar, Akkaraipattu); Trincomalee (Palayuttu); Kaffir communities of Mannar and Puttalam ].
It's now used at home only. It was spoken by 250 families in Batticaloa as late as 1984.
There are still 100 families in Batticaloa and Trincomalee and about 80 Afro-Sinhalese (Kaffir) families in Puttalam.
Of about 5.000 Creole people (Batticaloa, Trincomalee), only 500 still speak Creole, the younger generations cannot speak the Creole. <>
Nearly extinct.
In Batticaloa there is the Burgher Recreio Clube "Shamrock" or "Batticaloa Catholic Burgher Union".
There is a little community of Portuguese descendants in the village of WahaKotte (circa 7°42'N. - 80°36'E) (Central Sri Lanka, six kilometers from Galewala on the road between Galewala and Matale), they are Roman Catholic, but it's about two generations that Portuguese Creole it's not more spoke.
Portugal lost Ceylon in 1658.
Macau:
About 2.000 people speak Portuguese as their first language, and about 11.500 as their second language.
Only a few elderly women speak Macanese a Macao Creole Portuguese.
The "Instituto Cultural de Macau" and the "Fundação do Oriente" are still active.
There is also a TV channel and several newspapers entirely in Portuguese.
Macau was a Portuguese province. On 20 December 1999 it was reverted to China.
Hong Kong:
Several hundreds people speak MACANESE. Essentially, these are people that emigrated from Macao.
There is the "Club Lusitano".
Never under Portuguese rule.
Goa:
Portuguese is rapidly disappearing from Goa. It is now spoken only by a small segment of the upper class families and about 3 to 5 % of the people still speak it (estimated at 30.000 to 50.000 people).
Today 35% of Goa's population are immigrants from other indian states.
In the Indian school it is taught as third language (not obligatory). There is a department of Portuguese at the Goa University. However, the "Fundação do Oriente" and the Indo – Portuguese Friendship Society (Sociedade de Amizade Indo-Portuguesa) are still active. The last Newspaper in Portuguese ended the publications in 1980s.
At Panaji many signs in Portuguese are still visible over shops, administrative buildings etc.
Portugal lost Goa in December 1961.
Diu:
Here the Creole Portuguese is nearly extinct.
According to the testimoniance of Maria Luiza de Carvalho Armando, its seems that the Creole Portuguese language is still used in Diu and according to her testimoniance Diu it's the place in India where the Portuguese legacy is the most durable. Thank to: Maria Luiza de Carvalho Armando
Portugal lost Diu in December 1961.
Timor:
Portuguese was speaking in 1950 by less than 10.000 people and in 1974 by only about 10%-20% of the population.
In 1975: East Timor had 700 000 inhabitants from which: 35/70 000 knew how to read and write Portuguese and 100/140 000 could speak it and understand it.
Until 1981, Portuguese was the church language of Timor, when it was supplanted by Tetum.
However, it is commonly used as the business language in the town of Dili.
Portuguese remains the language for the anti-Indonesian resistance and that of external communications for the Catholic Church.
The Creole Portuguese of Timor (Português de Bidau) is now extinct. It was spoken around Dili, Lifau and Bidau.
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975. Now Timor is an independent nation, it has adopted Portuguese as official language.
Indonesia:
Flores island: (Larantuka, Sikka)
Here Portuguese survives in the religious traditions and the Topasses community (the descendants of Portuguese men and local women) uses it in the prayers. On Saturdays the women of Larantuka say the rosary in a corrupt form of Portuguese.
In the Sikka area of eastern Flores, many of the people of Sikka are descendants from the Portuguese and still??? use that language.
There is the Confraternity of "Reinja Rosari".
Larantuka was abandoned by Portugal in 1859.
UNTIL A FEW YEARS AGO, PORTUGUESE SPEAKING COMMUNITIES EXISTED IN
Ceylon: (Creole Portuguese was used amongst the Dutch Burgher community).
Till the beginning of the 20th. century Creole Portuguese was spoken by the members of this community.
Untill after the Second World War Sri Lankan Catholics in Colombo met for regular church services conducted in Portuguese (at the parish church of St. Anthony's, Dematagoda).
Up to the middle part of this century prayers were being conducted for diminishing groups in Portuguese at a number of Catholic churches in the city (Dematagoda, Hulftsdorp, Kotahena, Kotte, Nugegoda and Wellawatte). Although as a verbal language Portuguese was fast loosing its original purpose at religious devotions in Catholic churches (to be replaced by English and taken over more fashionably and pursued with greater vigour).
Jakarta-Batavia-Tugu: (a suburb of Jakarta).
Here, till the beginning of the 20th. century, a kind of corrupted Portuguese was still spoken by the Christian population in Tugu. The last creol speaking died in 1978.
Never under Portuguese rule.
Cochin: (Vypeen).
It has disappeared in the last twenty years of the 20th. century. The community of Portuguese/Indians (about 2.000 peoples) has his parish church in the old church of Nossa Senhora da Esperança.
Portugal lost Cochin in 1663.
Bombaim or do Norte: (Baçaim, Salsette, Thana, Chevai, Mahim, Tecelaria, Dadar, Parel, Cavel, Bandora-Badra, Govai, Morol, Andheri, Versova, Malvan, Manori, Mazagão)
In 1906, this Creole was, after that of Ceylon, the most important of Indo-Portuguese Creole. In 1906 there were still 5.000 peoples that speaking Creole Portuguese as mother tongue, of these 2.000 were in Bombaim and Mahim, 1.000 were in Bandora, 500 in Thana, 100 in Curla, 50 in Baçaim and 1.000 in others villages. There weren't, at that time, Creole Portuguese schools and the well-to-do classes tended towards to neglect the use, preferred to use the English. "Costa, 1892 & Dalgado, 1906"
Coromandel: (Meliapore, Madras, Tuticorin, Cuddalore, Karikal, Pondicherry, Tranquebar, Manapar, Negapatam…..)
In the Coromandel coast, the Portuguese descendants were generally knew with the name of "Topasses", they were Catholics and spoke Portuguese Creole. With the coming of the English rule in India, they began to speak English in place of the Portuguese and also anglicized theirs names. They are, now, part of the Eurasian community.
In Negapatam, in 1883, there were still 20 families that spoke Indo-Portuguese. "Schuchardt, 1883 & Dalgado, 1917"
ARE DISAPPEARED FOR MANY YEARS THOSE OF
Solor & Adonara: Solor, Adonara (Vure)
Batavia, Java island: (Dutch community of Batavia, Mardijkers)
The Mardijkers are the descendants of the old slaves from Malacca, Bengal, Coromandel, Malabar, that were converted to Protestantism for which they were set free. They spoke a Creole form of Portuguese and were the main group of the Portuguese community of Batavia. After the Dutch conquest of Malacca and Ceylon their number increased considerably. In 1673, a Protestant church was built, in Batavia for the Portuguese community and later, at the end of the XVII century, a second church was built. In 1713, this community had about 4.000 members. "Lopes"
Until 1750, Portuguese was the first language in Batavia, but, after that period, Malay started to dominate.
In 1808, Reverend Engelbrecht celebrated the last mass in Portuguese. In 1816, the Portuguese community was incorporated in the Malay community.
Also in the Dutch families of Batavia, the Portuguese language was vividly used until 1750, in spite of the efforts of the Dutch Government against its use.
Mangalore:
Cannanore:
Bengal: (Balasore, Pipli, Chandernagore, Chittagong, Midnapore, Hugli……)
The Portuguese language was, in the 17th. and 18th. centuries, the "lingua franca" in Bengal. Up to 1811, Portuguese was used in all the Christian (as Catholics as Protestants) churches in Calcutta. At the beginning of the 20th. century, only in a few families a corrupted form of Portuguese was spoke largely mixed with English words. "Campos, 1919"
Moluccas: (Ternate, Ambon, Banda, Makasar)
TERNATENO, a Creole Portuguese that was spoken in the islands of Ternate and West Halmahera, is now extinct.
AMBON, the Creole Portuguese is extinct but some traces of Portuguese are in the language now spoken in Ambon, the Malay-Ambon, which has about 350 words of Portuguese origin.
Along the Indian shores, there were about 44 communities where Portuguese was spoken.
(http://www.colonialvoyage.com/index.html)
500 years in retrospect - The Portuguese advent in Sri Lanka by MihinduKulasuriya Susantha Fernando
The first Portuguese to have visited Sri Lanka was Don Lourenco de Almeida. Driven by adverse winds, he reached Sri Lanka's coast near Galle in 1505 (more correctly, 1506).
He might have exclaimed ebulliently, "Vive-Veeva" (a Portuguese form of greeting) to the Lankans he first encountered.
But what unfolded subsequently with the Portuguese advent in Sri Lanka was an acrimonious chapter in the island history.
A nation always divided chronically on ethnic, religious and caste rivalries, became a fertile ground for the Portuguese to convert many Sinhalese and Tamils to the Catholic religion.
The Age of Exploration marked the apogee of Portuguese imperial power and wealth. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, Portugal had a population of one and a quarter million and an economy dependent on maritime trade with Northern Europe.
Although Portugal lacked the wealth and population of its contemporaries, it would lead the European community in the exploration of sea routes to the African continent, the Atlantic Islands, and to Asia and South America over the course of the sixteenth century.
Portugal benefited from a relatively stable monarchy whose kings encouraged maritime trade and shipping ventures.
The Crown offered tax privileges and insurance funds to protect the investments of ship owners and builders. During the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal was a major economic power, its empire stretching from Brazil to the Indies.
In the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese were in the full bloom of their power in the beginning of the 16th century.
With Portugal's command of the seas and its supremacy over the Arabs in the spice trade, Goa in India became the jewel of its eastern empire, taking control of the spice trade from the Indian subcontinent.
The advent of the Portuguese in Sri Lanka was quite a different story. It happened accidently. The Portuguese were initially interested in only spice trade with Sri Lanka.
From 1540 under the influence of the Counter Revolution in Europe and with the arrival of the Inquisition in Goa, Portugal's liberal policy towards the Hindus in India, Buddhists in Sri Lanka and religions in other Portuguese colonies was reversed.
Many Hindu temples in India and Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka were razed and churches built on them. Ancient place of worship in Brazil and other lands occupied by the Portuguese suffered the same fate.
The Portuguese resorted to unethical practices of converting people to the Catholic religion. With the dawn of the 17th century, the Portuguese zeal for religious conversions in their occupied territories had died down.
In fact, the Portuguese mistrusting the Jesuits whom they viewed as being puppets of the Pope in Rome, banned the order in 1759. By 1835, all religious orders were banned in Goa, while the Hindu majority were "granted" the freedom to practice their religion.
Is there any good left behind by the Portuguese in Sri Lanka? They introduced to us their cuisine which is particularly diverse. It consists of various recipes of rice, potatoes, bread, meat, seafood and fish (which is their staple diet).
They also gave the Sri Lankans the first taste of wine, and induced the Sinhalese entrepreneurs in the western region to take to the lucrative, labour intensive coconut arrack industry. Portuguese wines are some of the world's best and have been exported since Roman times.
The Portuguese cuisine is characterised by rich, filling and full-flavoured dishes that are cheap to prepare. The influence of Portugal's former colonial possessions is clear, especially in the wide variety of spices used.
These include piri piri-small, fiery chile peppers, as well as cinnamon, vanilla and saffron. Garlic is widely used, as are herbs such as coriander and parsley. Those with a sweet tooth may be interested to learn that one of Portugal's best-kept culinary secrets is its vast and distinctive range of desserts, cakes and pastries. We Sri Lankans inherited them all.
The Portuguese especially enjoy rich, egg-based desserts. These are often seasoned with spices such as as cinnamon and vanilla. Perhaps the most popular is a set egg custard. Also popular is rice pudding, Other custards include pudim flan-a kind of creme caramel (the Sinhalese word, 'pudim', is derived from it).
Indeed, the Portuguese have a long history of absorbing culinary traditions from other peoples. The age of discovery was propelled by the desire for exotic spices.
For instance, curry spices form Goa and later Sri Lanka are common seasonings used very sparingly by the Portuguese for adding subtle flavour and depth to dishes. It is these influences that have helped make Portuguese food so markedly different from that of other Mediterranean countries.
If there is one thing that typifies traditional Portuguese food, it is fish. Meat is also widely used by the Portuguese, especially chicken and pork. we Sri Lankans got used to them mostly due to the Portuguese influence.
An old Sinhalese adage had it hat even the cat flesh was very expensive in the Colombo Fort (meaning the fort built by the Portuguese). In those days, whatever meat that could not be served immediately was turned by the Portuguese into a wide variety of cured meats, especially spicy sausages.
These include mouth-watering linguica (the Sinhalese 'lingus' is a word derived from linguica) which is a seasoned pork sausage with onions, garlic and pepper, and chourico which is a spicy dried sausage.
Most towns in Portugal had a local speciality, usually egg or cream based pastry. Sri Lankans who adopted such delicacy, still call it pastela (patis), etc.
Bread and bakery industry were introduced to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese who came from a great bread-eating nation. They also taught the islanders to have religious festivals on an extravagant scale. Festivals play a major role in Portugal's summers.
Even though they have religious connotations, most of these celebrations are, infact, anything but religious. Every city and town has its own festivals. The June Festivities are very popular, these festivities are dedicated to three saints known as Santos Populares (Popular saints) and take place all over Portugal.
Why the populace associated the saints with these pagan festivities is not known. A common denominator in these festivities are the wine and agua-pe (a watered kind of wine), traditional bread along with sardines, marriages, traditional street dances, fireworks and joy.
The Portuguese language enriched the Sinhalese vocabulary to such an extent that hundreds and thousands of Portuguese words came to be used widely in the spoken as well as the written language of the Sinhala people.
Some of them are as follows: almariya (wardrobe), yatura (key), katura (pair of scissors) kanappuwa (teapoy), putuwa (chair), mesaya (table), pastala (patis), anda (bed), buru anda (folding or camp bed), isthoppuwea (veranda), salaya (sitting room), panawa (komb), hettaya (jacket), konthaya (rosary), suruvama (statue), renda rala (arrack renter) etc.
The Sinhala language is a veritable hotchpotch of words borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, Portuguese and English. Biralu (bilros in Portuguese) lace-making is a unique handicraft introduced to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese.
Once a lucrative cottage industry in the villages situated along the southern littoral belt especially Ambalangoda, Balapitiya, Dodanduwa, Galle, Habaraduwa and the hinterland, it has deteriorated almost to the level of extinction now.
In Portugal, the lace-making industry is till carried out in border fishing villages such as Caminha, Vila do Conde, Setubal and Azurara.
The Sinhalese word, renda, is derived from the Portuguese word rendas. Some of the museums in Portugal, such as the Museu das Rendas de Bilros display specimens of the articles used in the past in lace making. These are well presented.
The Portuguese are a very musical-minded, fun-loving people. They introduced to Sri Lanka a new style and tradition in music, called kaparingha - played with fast tempo and beat, to the accompaniment of a Portuguese musical instrument called Viole.
What we enjoy today as Baila music is a distant shadow or corruption of such musical tradition of the Portuguese.
Being the first western super power to have colonized Sri Lanka, the Portuguese influence was very much evident not only in music, but also commerce, fashion, language, customs, habits and even matrimonial rites (coronchi ceremony being one) among the Sinhalese in the western seaboard of Sri Lanka.
As time passed by inexorably amidst the changing drama of Sri Lanka's history, the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, gradually struck root in the Island and made generations of Sri Lankans law-abiding, disciplined, hard-working, civic-conscious and God-fearing citizens.
(http://www.dailynews.lk/2005/12/03/fea05.htm)
The Portuguese Cultural Imprint on Sri Lanka by Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya
The Portuguese era marked the end of medieval Sri Lanka and the beginning of modern Sri Lanka. It changed the island's orientation away from India and gave it a unique identity moulded by almost 450 years of Western influence due to the presence of three successive European powers : the Portuguese (1505-1658), the Dutch (1658-1796) and the British (1796-1948). The Portuguese cultural imprint can be analyzed by examining : (a) those who claim Portuguese descent (the Portuguese Burghers), (b) those who do not claim Portuguese descent but who follow the Roman Catholic faith, (c) those who are neither of Portuguese descent nor follow the Catholic faith but nevertheless underwent a sociocultural transformation. Language is a necessary element in the set of culture. The other elements are subjective and could include religion, food, dress, music and dance.
The interaction of the Portuguese and the Sri Lankans led to the evolution of a new language, Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, which flourished as a lingua franca in the island for over three and a half centuries (16th to mid-19th). Pidgins and Creoles are contact languages ; they evolve when people who do not speak each other's mother-tongue come into contact. Pidgins only survive as long as the interlingual contact lasts and are generally shortlived. The etymon of Pidgin is business. A Creole is a Pidgin which has become the mother-tongue of a speech community. Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, a subset of Indo-Portuguese (the Portuguese Creole that flourished in coastal India), has been the solution to the inter-communication problems that arose when the Portuguese and Sri Lankans came into contact. In Sri Lanka, miscegenation reinforced the Creole as the mestiços (offspring of a Portuguese father and a Sri Lankan mother) were bilingual – they were proficient in the Creole and Sinhala or Tamil. Boxer (1961 : 61) comments that the Eurasians (mestiços), or even slave women, kept alive the use of the Portuguese language in places like Batavia, Malacca and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), which were under Dutch control.
In contemporary Sri Lanka, the Creole is limited to the spoken form. The major groups of speakers are the Burghers (people of Portuguese and Dutch descent) in the Eastern province (Batticaloa and Trincomalee) and the Kaffirs (people of African origin) in the North-Western province (Puttalam) (see map for geographic locations). The Creole speakers do not belong to the higher echelons of Sri Lankan society and have been marginalized due to the sociopolitical changes that occurred since the Portuguese era ended.
During the Portuguese era, the mestiços or topazes (etymon Sanskrit dvibash, " one who speaks two languages ") were in demand because they served as interpreters. When the Dutch took over the coastal areas and maltreated the Catholics, the Portuguese descendants took refuge in the central hills of the Kandyan kingdom under Sinhalese rule. Tennent (1850 : 72) observes that the Portuguese Burghers had been suppressed by the Dutch penal laws and that even under the more liberal British regime they had not aspired to rise above the status that their forefathers had been reduced to. Despite their disadvantaged socioeconomic position, the Burghers have maintained their Portuguese cultural identity. In Batticaloa the Catholic Burgher Union has played a pivotal role in reinforcing this. The Union is however struggling to finance the in-house English newsletter with Portuguese extracts.
As the Creole was losing ground in the island, many Burghers substituted one prestige language (Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole) for another (English). Most of the affluent Burghers, whose mother-tongue became English, have emigrated to economically strong English-speaking countries, mainly to Canada and Australia. The World Bank classifies Sri Lanka as a low income country. Emigration was inevitable, given the fluency in English of the affluent Burghers.
The Dutch Burghers and Portuguese Burghers contracted intermarriages. Today, many Burghers in Batticaloa have Dutch names, but are Roman Catholics and follow Portuguese cultural traditions. Even though the Dutch were more powerful from the outset, they were not able to entrench their cultural traditions in Sri Lanka. Dutch was used for administrative purposes during the Dutch era, but attempts to spread the language proved futile. Instead the Dutch had to learn the Portuguese Creole for home conversation due to their Creole-speaking wives and nannies.
The Kaffirs, on the other hand, were brought to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese, Dutch and British, as a part of the naval force and for domestic work. Whatever their African origins, the Kaffirs were exposed to and have assumed Portuguese culture. Not surprisingly, there was intermarriage between the Portuguese Burghers and Kaffirs who belonged to the same culture set ; they spoke Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole and were Roman Catholics. The Kaffirs are mainly chena cultivators but a few have found employment in the Puttalam Salt Pans, the Puttalam hospital and in local government offices as peons and labourers. Although they have withstood cultural pressures from the other ethnic groups for a long period, they are now blending into multiethnic Sri Lanka due to cross-cultural marriages. The Creole is fast losing ground as a spoken language but the community retain their Portuguese linguistic legacy by singing Portuguese Creole songs on social occasions (Jayasuriya 1995, 1996, 1997). Some Kaffirs are emigrating for economic reasons, a phenomenon common to all ethnic groups. The 18,5 million population of multiethnic Sri Lanka consists of 73,95 % Sinhalese, 12,7 % Sri Lankan Tamils, 7,05 % Moors, 5,52 % Indian Tamils, 0,32 % Malays, 0,26 % Europeans, Eurasians and Burghers, 0,20 % Others (Chinese, Kaffirs, Veddhas, Indian Moors, Europeans).
The Portuguese introduced Christianity to the island. They granted special favours to those who converted (de Silva, 1994). However, the first Catholics in Sri Lanka were voluntary converts in Mannar Island (off the northwest coast). They invited Francis Xavier who was in India during that time. He was unable to accept the invitation but sent a representative who made voluntary conversions. During that time Mannar was under the control of the king of Jaffna, Chekarasa Sekaran, who ordered the people to reconvert. They refused and the king massacred the Catholics. This had wide repercussions and, instead of eliminating Catholicism, led to the conversion of others southwards down the west coast as far as Dondra. The Portuguese took a top-down approach. Therefore, in 1557, they converted Dharmapala, the king of Kotte, who had suzerainty over the other two kingdoms (Kandy and Jaffna). He was baptised Dom João Dharmapala breaking a 1,850 year-old tradition as a Christian King sat on the Sinhalese throne. Several Sri Lankan aristocrats and others followed the King and converted. The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, however, was run by the Portuguese, who unfortunately did not train an indigenous clergy. It was a microcosm of the Church in Portugal. Therefore it is not surprising that when the Dutch routed the Portuguese, maltreated the Catholics and forced conversions into the Calvinist faith, the Catholic Church rocked and tumbled and fell to its very foundations. Catholic marriages, practice of Catholicism and Catholic priests were forbidden by the Dutch. The Catholics had to meet in each other's houses in order to practice their faith. At this time, the Catholic Church was at a low ebb and may have completely disappeared had it not been for the work of the Goan priests who stepped into the island to save Catholicism. Father Joseph Vaz came to Sri Lanka from Goa in 1687 and worked single-handedly for ten years. He was known as the " Apostle of Ceylon ". In 1696, he was joined by two colleagues, Father Joseph de Menezes and Father Joseph Carvalho. Father Jacome Gonsalvez followed them in 1705. Father Vaz saw the need to indigenize the Church and ensured that Father Gonsalvez's excellent linguistic skills were employed for producing a catechism and liturgy in Sinhala and Tamil. Today's devoted Catholic community are indebted to the work of the Goan priests.
The Portuguese presence in Asia was generally limited to urban areas but Sri Lanka was an exception (Subrahmanyam 1993 : 216). The institutions that defined the matrix of social interaction with the local context were extended to non-urban areas. The Portuguese have left their stamp on Sri Lankan social administration, society, fine arts and language. This imprint can be traced through the Portuguese lexical borrowings in Sinhala (the language spoken on the island since 483 BC). There are at least a thousand Sinhala words with Portuguese etyma. A complete analysis of the Sinhala lexicon to identify words with Portuguese etyma is yet to be undertaken.
Lexical borrowing occurs when languages are typologically similar (for example between Old English, Norse and French). Portuguese and Sinhala are not typologically similar. Borrowing is unlikely if two languages are divergent and speakers cannot understand each other. Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, a language which combines linguistic elements from Portuguese and Sinhala, enhanced the Portuguese borrowings in Sinhala. Weinreich (1953) gives cultural influence as a reason for lexical borrowing. Cultural loans mirror what one nation has taught another. The Portuguese borrowings in Sinhala can be grouped into semantic fields :
Examples of Sinhala words with Portuguese Etyma:
| Semantic fields | Sinhala | Portuguese | Gloss |
| Civil administration | gudam(a) | gudão | warehouse |
| Judicial administration | petsam(a) | petição | petition |
| Military structure | bayinettu(va) | baioneta | bayonet |
| Land administration | tombu(va) | tombo | record/archive |
| Architecture | rippa(ya) | ripa | lath |
| Furniture | mesa(ya) | mesa | table |
| Cuisine | koppa(ya) | copo | cup |
| Dress | saya | saia | skirt/petticoat |
| Education | iskola(ya) | escola | school |
| Flora | pera | pera | pear |
| Names | Peduru | Pedro | Peter |
| Music | viyole | viola | viola |
| Dance | baila(ya) | baile | dance |
| Religion | anju | anjo | angel |
These semantic fields reflect the areas of Sri Lankan socioculture that have been influenced by the Portuguese. The majority of borrowings are nouns. This is not surprising as the most important reason for borrowing is to extend the referential function of a language. Borrowing has occurred whenever the Portuguese introduced a new concept or object., e.g. bayinettu(va) (<baioneta Portuguese, " bayonet "). Sinhala synonyms with Portuguese etyma are used in preference to their counterparts that existed before the Portuguese era., e.g. bastama (bastão Portuguese) vs sarayatiya (Sinhala) " walking stick ".
The Portuguese era was fraught with turmoil and conflict. The Portuguese intended to be traders and offered the Sri Lankan monarch protection in return for securing the cinnamon monopoly. Later they were drawn into the island's politics due to feuds and schisms in the Kotte dynasty. The Portuguese recognizing their limitations in manpower and resources took a pragmatic approach in their relationship with the Sri Lankans. Miscegenation bred loyal soldiers locally and increased their military strength. Boxer (1961 : 61) remarks that whatever the drawbacks of miscegenation as practised by the Portuguese, their offspring remained loyal to the Portuguese Crown and to the Roman Catholic religion, often long after the Portuguese had withdrawn.
It is not surprising therefore if those of Portuguese descent or those of Roman Catholic faith display Portuguese cultural traditions. However, the Portuguese cultural imprint has not been limited to these two minority groups. Portuguese cultural traits will be perpetuated by the mainstream Sri Lankans who are neither of Portuguese descent nor Roman Catholics. Moreover, so deeply have these influences been absorbed into the daily and unconscious behaviour of the population that it will continue in perpetuity. As early as 1540, João de Barros, the Portuguese chronicler predicted that :
" The Portuguese arms and pillars placed in Africa and Asia, and in countless isles beyond the bounds of three continents, are material things, and time may destroy them. But time will not destroy the religion, customs and language which the Portuguese have implanted in those lands " (Barros 1540).
Sri Lanka is a paradigm of de Barros' statement. The Portuguese legacy is inseparable from contemporary Sri Lankan life. The Portuguese as traders were not saddled with imperial ambitions or status. Perhaps because they sought " Christians and spices ", the process of transformation was unconscious. However, there has been a lack of linguistic, hence cultural, analysis of the complicated evolution of this strategically placed cross-over point between East and West-Sri Lanka.
(December of 1998/Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya/University of London)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barros, J. de 1917, Diálogo em louvor de nossa língua, Lisbon, n.p. [first publ. 1540]
Boxer, C.R. 1961, Four Centuries of Portuguese Expansion, 1415-1825 : A Succinct Survey, Johannesburg, Witwatersrand University Press, 102 p.
De Silva, C.R. 1994, " Beyond the Cape : The Portuguese Encounter with the Peoples of South Asia ", in S.B. Schwartz (ed.), Implicit Understandings, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 637 p.
Jayasuriya, S. De Silva 1995, " Portuguese and English Translations of Some Indo-Portuguese Songs in the Hugh Nevill Collection ", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (Colombo, Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka), XL : 1-102.
––– 1996, " Indo-Portuguese Songs of Sri Lanka. The Nevill Manuscript ", Bulletin of the School of Oriental & African Studies, London, University of London, LIX (2) : 253-267.
––– 1997, " Hugh Nevill Collection of Indo-Portuguese Verses : Portuguese and English Translations of Oersaan and Falentine ", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, XLII : 107-212.
Subrahmanyam, S. 1993, The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500-1700 : A Political and Economic History, London, Longman.
Tennent, Sir J.E. 1850, Christianity in Ceylon, London, Murray.
Weinreich, U. 1953, Languages in Contact, The Hague, Mouton [reprinted in 1968].
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