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Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom

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Map of the Kingdom of Jaffnapatnum by Fr Phillipus Baldeus " Description of the Isle of Ceylon " printed at Amsterdam 1672

Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom happened after Portuguese traders reached Sri Lanka by 1505 where their initial forays were against the south-western coastal Kotte Kingdom due to the lucrative monopoly on trade in spices that the Kotte Kingdom enjoyed that was also of interest to the Portuguese.[1] The Jaffna Kingdom came to the attention of Portuguese officials in Colombo for multiple reasons which included their interference in Roman Catholic missionary activities,[1] (which was assumed to be patronizing Portuguese interests) and their support to anti-Portuguese factions of the Kotte Kingdom, such as the chieftains from Sittawaka.[1] The Jaffna Kingdom also functioned as a logistical base for the Kandyan kingdom, locatd in the central highlands without access to any seaports, as an entrypot for military aid arriving from South India.[1] Further, due to its strategic location, it was feared that the Jaffna Kingdom may become a beachhead for the Dutch landings.[1] It was King Cankili I who resisted contacts with the Portuguese and even massacred 600-700 Parava Catholics in the island of Mannar. These Catholics were brought from India to Mannar to take over the lucrative pearl fisheries from the Jaffna kings.[2][3]

Client state

The first expedition led by Viceroy Dom Constantino de Brganca in 1560 failed to subdue the kingdom but wrested the Mannar Island from it.[4] Although the circumstances are unclear, by 1582 The Jaffna King was paying a tribute of ten (10) elephants or an equivalent in cash.[1][4] In 1591, during the second expedition lead by Andre Furtado de Mendonca, King Puvirasa Pandaram was killed and his son Ethirimanna Cinkam was installed as the monarch. This arrangement gave the Catholic missionaries freedom and monopoly in elephant export to the Portuguese,[4][5] which the incumbent king however resisted.[4][5] He helped the Kandyan kingdom under Emperors Vimaladharmasuriya I and Senarat during the period 1593-1635 with the intent of securing help from South India to resist the Portuguese. He however maintained autonomy of the kingdom without overly provoking the Portuguese.[4][5]

End of the Kingdom

With the death of Pararasasekaran in 1617, Cankili II, an usurper, took control of the throne after killing the rightful regent

.[6] Unable to secure Portuguese acceptance of his kingship, Cankiil II invited military aid from the Thanjavur Nayaks and allowed corsairs from Malabar to use a base in Neduntivu, hence posting a threat to Portuguese shipping routes through Palk Straight.[6] By June 1619, there were two Portuguese expeditions; a naval expedition that was repulsed by the Malabari corsairs and another expedition by Phillippe de Oliveira and his 5,000 strong land army which was able to inflict defeat on Cankili II.[6] Cankili, along with every surving member of the royal family were captured and taken to Goa, where he was hanged to death. The remaining captives were "encouraged" to become monks or nuns in the holy orders, and as most obliged, it avoided further claimants to the Jaffna throne.[6]

According to the Dutchman Rev Phillipus Baldeus (" Description of the Isle of Ceylon " printed at Amsterdam 1672) who travelled in Sri Lanka in the 1600's the Kingdom of Jaffnapattnum consisted of the Jaffna peninsula, the Islands off Jaffna and the Island of Mannar.

At the time, the mainland south of Elephant pass was under the control of the Emperor, and King of Kandy, Senerat (see Vimaladharmasuriya I) and his troops were consistently harassing the Portuguese in the Jaffna Peninsula. The Emperor Senerat was at the time married to Dona Catherina and two of her sons, Vijayapala and Kumarasinghe, were married to Princesses from Jaffna. (Baldeus 1672)

After the fall of Jaffna to the Portuguese, Senarat despatched a 10,000 strong army to Jaffna under the command of Mudaliyar Attapattu. The Portuguese withdrew and the Emperors army occupied Jaffna. The Portuguese General Constantino da Sa Y Noronha later attacked with reinforcements from Colombo and defeated Mudaliyar Attapattu's army and seized Jaffna. According to Portuguese and Dutch publications, the last battle for Jaffna was fought between the Emperor of Ceylon and the Portuguese, and the Europeans seized Jaffna from the Emperor.[7]

Consequences

Over the next 40 years, there were three rebellions against the Portuguese rule, two of which were led by Migapulle Arachchi, until the Dutch capture of Jaffna fort in 1658.[6] During that period, Portuguese destroyed every Hindu temple[8] and the Saraswathy Mahal library in Nallur, the royal repository of all literary output of the kingdom.[9][10] Due to excessive taxation, population decreased and many people moved to Ramanathapuram in India and the Vanni Districts further south.[6] External commerce was negatively impacted, though elephants, Jaffna's principle export, were traded for saltpetre with various kingdoms in India and sent to Lisbon. Thus, decline in trade made it difficult to pay for essential imports and such items ceased to be imported.[6] In the words of Fernao De Queiros, the principle chronicler of Portuguese colonial exploits in Sri Lanka, the people of Jaffna were "reduced to the uttermost misery" during the Portuguese colonial era.[6][8]

Although The Portuguese attempted to completely destroy the Royal family through "encouraged" celibacy there are number of families of Sri Lankan Tamil origin who claim descent from the royal family.[11][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Abeysinghe, T Jaffna Under the Portuguese, p.2
  2. ^ Kunarasa, K The Jaffna Dynasty, p.82-84
  3. ^ Gnanaprakasar, S A critical history of Jaffna, p.113-117
  4. ^ a b c d e Abeysinghe, T Jaffna Under the Portuguese, p.3
  5. ^ a b c de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p.166
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Abeysinghe, T Jaffna Under the Portuguese, p.58-63
  7. ^ Baldeus 1672, Fernão de Queiroz, The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon, The historic tragedy of the island of Ceilão / Captain João Ribeiro ; transl. from the Portuguese by P. E. Pieris. - New Delhi : Asian educational services, 1999
  8. ^ a b Gnanaprakasar, S A critical history of Jaffna, p.153-172
  9. ^ "Portuguese Colonial Period (1505 CE 1645 CE)" (html). Rohan Titus. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
  10. ^ "SRI LANKA: THE UNTOLD STORY Chapter 27 - Horsewhip Amirthalingham" (html). KT Rajasingham. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
  11. ^ Kunarasa, K The Jaffna Dynasty, p.115
  12. ^ "The Royal Houes of Jaffna" (html). H.R.H. Prince Remigius Kanagarajah. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
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