Portuguese Encounters with Sri Lanka and the Maldives
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Portuguese Encounters with Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Translated Texts from the Age of the Discoveries

Chandra R. de Silva

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eBook - ePub

Portuguese Encounters with Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Translated Texts from the Age of the Discoveries

Chandra R. de Silva

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About This Book

Portuguese Encounters with Sri Lanka and the Maldives: Translated Texts from the Age of the Discoveries is designed to provide access to translations of 16th- and 17th-century documents which illustrate various aspects of this encounter, combining texts from indigenous sources with those from the Portuguese histories and archives. These documents contribute to the growing understanding that different groups of European colonizers - missionaries, traders and soldiers - had conflicting motivations and objectives. Scholars have also begun to emphasize that the colonized were not mere victims but had their own agendas and that they occasionally successfully manipulated colonial powers. The texts in this volume help to substantiate these assertions while also illustrating the changing nature of the interactions. The present volume contains chapters covering the Portuguese arrival in Sri Lanka and their first encounters with the island and its peoples, their subsequent relations with Kandy and Jaffna, and a final chapter on Portuguese relations with the Maldive Islands. A historical introduction provides the context in which the documents can be read and a select bibliography indicates the most recent and authoritative secondary works on the subject

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Information

Publisher
Routledge
Year
2017
ISBN
9781351909792
Topic
History
Edition
1
Chapter 1
The First Visit of the Portuguese to Sri Lanka
The documents in this chapter illustrate different perspectives of the first encounter between the Portuguese and the people of the kingdom of Kotte in the island of Sri Lanka.
The Portuguese, having arrived in India in 1498, had established a trading factory at Cochin in 1500 and a permanent presence in the Indian Ocean by 1502.1 They learnt about Sri Lanka very early.2 Nevertheless, as seen in document (a) in Chapter 2 of this volume, understanding of social and religious traditions lagged far behind knowledge of commercial opportunities.
In 1505, Viceroy Francisco de Almeida received definite instructions from his king to ‘discover’ Sri Lanka.3 His son, D. Lourenço de Almeida, who was sent to intercept Muslim traders in the Maldives soon after, was blown by adverse winds and forced to make landfall in Sri Lanka. Barros (document (b)) and Queirόs (document (d)) following him, suggest that the Portuguese made first landfall in Galle, but the placing of the first padrĂŁo4 in Colombo suggests that Gaspar Correia (document (c)) was correct when he reported that the Portuguese landed in Colombo.
Much of what we know about the local ruler comes from the Rajavaliya (document (e)). The extracts that follow give a fascinating glimpse of how both the Portuguese and the Sinhalas elaborated the story of the first encounter to build their own versions of history.
(a) King Manuel’s Letter, 1507
Letter of King Manuel to Pope Julius II, Abrantes, 25 September 1507, translation adapted from V. Perniola (ed.), The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka: The Portuguese Period, 1 (Dehiwala, 1989), pp. 4–6.
The Latin original of this has been published in Bullarium Patronatus Portugalliae Regem in Ecclesis Africae, Asiae atque Oceaniae, Levy Maria Jordão (ed.), 1, (Lisbon, 1868) pp. 319–20, and in Corpo Diplomático Portuguez, Luíz Augusto Rebello de Silva (ed.), 1 (Lisbon, 1862), pp. 116–9 and in Donald Ferguson, ‘The Discovery of Ceylon by the Portuguese in 1506’, in Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, XIX, 1907, pp. 340–41.
The letter was sent by King Manuel of Portugal (1495–1521) to Pope Julius II (1503–13) soon after the receipt of news of the Portuguese discovery of the island of Sri Lanka (Ceylon). It illustrates the ways in which the king of Portugal used his successes in the East to boost his prestige in Europe and gives some indications that the Portuguese ruler thought the event to be of great importance. The document also suggests that King Manuel believed that the ruler of Kotte had offered tribute to him, while the extract from the Alakesvara Yuddhaya (document 2 (f)) states that the king of Kotte saw it merely as an exchange of gifts. Finally, this source gives us a near contemporary account of how an indigenous king received a Portuguese envoy.
To the most Holy and Blessed Father in Christ, Julius, supreme pontiff by Divine Providence; His Holiness’s devoted son, Manuel, by the Grace of God, king of Portugal and of Algarve, on this side of the sea, and on the other side in Africa, lord of Guinea and of the naval and commercial conquest of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and India, humbly kisses the sacred feet.
Most Holy Father, may Your Holiness rejoice and be happy that, from the rising of the sun even to its setting, Almighty God causes all the nations to acknowledge the righteousness and praise of His Catholic faith and of the Holy See. In his goodness, Almighty God grants us a prosperous journey to the end of the earth, subjecting through us new nations and countries to Christianity. Therefore, his enemies are scattered and they who hate Him flee from his face; the islands see and fear; the ends of the earth stand in awe; the Saracens5 are thrown into confusion; the Most High appears to have uttered His word, and the earth, the sea and its fullness are moved for the advance of Christian glory and the despair of infidel potentates. For the mysterious designs pertaining to our exploits in India and the East, which at first sight could perhaps have seemed to be for our personal honour and gain, appear now unfolded and worked out, not so much for ourselves but for the Holy See and the Christian commonwealth. We wish to pass over many things that the Immortal God in His almighty power has accomplished there through us against the Saracens in previous years and continues to accomplish every day. All these have been granted to us with equal generosity. Now, however, may it please Your Holiness gladly to give ear to the very happy news that a short letter from there has brought to us.
We think Your Holiness is aware that in previous years we sent a viceroy6 as our representative in those eastern lands. This was demanded by the daily increase of business, since whatever comes from God is bound to increase. There he will be able to conduct that military undertaking with greater vigour and authority. After making many attacks on the enemies, the viceroy sent his son, Lourenço de Almeida, to harass the enemy’s coast and lands with a naval force. He too, as bidden, approached that most renowned island, Taprobane7 (once thought to be another country, now called in their language Zeylon). He did so to find out from the people there whether he could enter into an alliance with them or should wage war on them. Therefore, after landing in the port of the greatest and most powerful king, who rules over six other kings in the island, he sent his father’s ambassadors, whom he had brought with him. It is worth hearing how the king himself received them, because of its novelty.
There was a very large hall, at the end of which the king’s throne, shaped like an altar, was set in great splendour. On that throne sat the king, according to the fashion of the country, wearing on his head horns, resembling a diadem and adorned with the most precious stones, as are found in the island. Around the king’s throne stood six men, three on the right and three on the left holding large torches, which were lit, though it was day. There were many large silver candlesticks also lit. A multitude of nobles and gentlemen filled the hall on either side, leaving a passage in the centre, which gave free and unhampered access to the king. The king received our ambassadors with great honour as they approached that place, listened to them very gladly, replied to our demands most politely and settled everything peacefully and favourably with our men. Of these demands, one was that he would give us annually one hundred and fifty measures of cinnamon, the best found in the island. Then and there he delivered the first tribute. To this amount our men likewise agreed, on the understanding that it would be acceptable to our viceroy. When the affairs in Taprobane were thus concluded, our men departed thence, and attacked and burnt some maritime towns belonging to the Saracens, situated on the mainland 

(b) João de Barros’s Account, 1552
Extract from JoĂŁo de Barros, Da Ásia, DĂ©cada I, livro 5, capĂ­tulo V. The most recent edition of Barros is found in Asia (Lisbon, 1973). The translation is adapted from Donald Ferguson (trans.), ‘The History of Ceylon from the Earliest Times to 1600 AD as related by JoĂŁo de Barros and Diogo de Couto’, in Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, XX (1908), pp. 22–5.
Barros, encouraged by King Manuel I and his successor JoĂŁo III to write an account of Portuguese triumphs in Asia, published his first DĂ©cada (from which this extract is taken) in 1552. Although he never visited the East, he was well placed to obtain documents and information on Portuguese activities in Asia in his position as treasurer (1525–8) and, later, factor (1533–70) of the Casa da Índia, the institution that organized Portuguese trade with the East. The extract illustrates how Portuguese hostility to the Muslims (Mouros, as the Portuguese called them) influenced the evolution of the story of the first encounter. The Moors, fearing for their interests, are said to have offered ‘tribute’ of cinnamon on behalf of the king of Kotte. The amount originally offered, which was reported in document (a) as 150 measures, is inflated in Barros’s account to 400 bahar. This was the actual annual tribute from 1533 onwards.8 Barros blamed the ‘deceitful’ Moors for taking the Portuguese on a circuitous path and presenting them, not to the king but to a lord who pretended to be the king. However, Sinhala documents 2 (e) and 2 (f) below indicate that they actually met with the king of Kotte, and the contemporary Portuguese document 2 (a) implies that the Portuguese believed that too. The Moors were also suspected of being responsible for an attempt to damage the Portuguese coat of arms carved on a rock, although the Muslims had sought to place all blame on the ignorant ‘natives’. The document seeks to indicate, however, that the Portuguese were not deceived by the Muslims; they simply decided to pretend that they were taken in. The Portuguese achievement was further elaborated a century later. See document 2 (d).
How the viceroy sent his son Dom Lourenço to discover the islands of the Maldives and the island of Ceylon and what he did on the voyage until he reached Cochin.
The Moors who engaged in the spice trade and the riches of India, seeing that with our arrival they could no longer make their voyages because of the fleets that we maintained on the Malabar coast, at which they all called, sought another new route by which to convey the spices, such as cloves, nutmegs, mace and sandalwood, which they obtained from around Melaka, and pepper, which they obtained from the island of Sumatra at the ports of Pedir and Pasai, and many other things from those parts. This route they followed by coming around the island of Ceylon and between the islands of the Maldives, crossing that great gulf until they reached the mouth of the two straits we have mentioned9 in order to avoid this coast of India, which we had closed to them. The viceroy learnt of the new route that they were taking and also of the island of Ceylon, where they loaded cinnamon, because all that was to be found in those parts was there. It was of great importance to the king’s service to stop that route and to discover that island [of Ceylon] and also those of the Maldives, by reason of the coir obtained from them, which was the one essential for all Indian navigation, since all rigging was made of it, so he determined to send his son, Dom Lourenço, on this enterprise, it being monsoon weather for the passage. The latter took nine sail of those that formed his armada, and although they took some natives with them, owing to the scant knowledge that our people had of that route, they were carried by the currents to the island of Ceylon, which the ancients call Taprobana 
, to Colombo port, [that was] fourteen leagues to the north of Galle,10 which [itself] is at the point of the island where Dom Lourenço made landfall. [There] he found many ships belonging to Moors, who were engaged in loading cinnamon and elephants for Cambay.11 When they saw themselves surrounded by our fleet, they pretended to desire peace with us in order to secure their persons and property. They said that the king of Ceylon had requested them to notify the viceroy and send him someone to conclude peace and friendship with the king of Portugal when they crossed over to the coast of India. [This was] on account of his proximity to the captains and the fortresses they were making in India, and also because of the cinnamon that was in that island of his and other wares that he could give him for the loading of his ships by way of trade. Dom Lourenço had set out to discover and capture the ships of the Moors of Mecca that were sailing from the strait to Melaka by that new route. He knew by the cargo of elephants that these had, as well as from other information that he received from native pilots that he carried, that they were ships of Cambay, with which we were not at war, so he did not wish to do them any harm. Also, because he had arrived with an armed force at that port, where the Moors had spread the story that the Portuguese were sea pirates, he was willing to accept what they offered on behalf of the king. With their assistance he got together some people of the country, with whose approval he erected a stone [marker] on a rock, and upon it he ordered to be cut an inscription saying how he had arrived there and had discovered the island 

When the Moors saw that Dom Lourenço trusted in the words that they spoke to him on behalf of the king, they pretended to go and come back with messages for him. They finally brought four hundred bahar of cinnamon from that which they had collected on shore for loading, saying that the king, in token of the peace and amity that he desired to have with the king of Portugal (although it had not yet been agreed to by his ambassadors), offered him all that cinnamon to load his ships with if he wished. And because Dom Lourenço said that he wished to send a message to the king, they offered to take and bring back the persons that he would select for that purpose. They were Paio de Sousa, who went in the capacity of ambassador, and [also] his clerk, Gaspar Dias, son of Martim Alho, a resident of Lisbon, and Diogo Velho, a servant of Dom Martinho de Castelobranco, the king’s controller of revenue, who afterwards became conde de Villanova, and one Fernão Cotrim and other persons in his service. These, being entrusted to the Moors who had arranged this expedition, were conducted through such dense thickets that they could scarcely see the sun and took so many turns that it seemed to them more like a labyrinth than a direct road to any place. And after traversing for a whole day, they were brought to an open place where there were many people. At the end of it were some houses of wood that seemed to be somewhat superior. They said that the king had come there to take his pleasure, as it was a kind of provincial centre. At the end of this open space, at a good distance from the houses, they made them wait, saying that it was not proper for them to go further without leave of the king, and they began to go and come with messages and questions to Paio de Sousa, as if they were from the king, feigning to be pleased at his coming. Finally, Paio de Sousa, with only two of his company, was conducted to the place where, according to the Moors, the person of the king was. As soon as they reached him he at once sent them on their way, feigning to be pleased ...

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