Category Archives: British imperialism

February 6, 2022 · 11:36 pm

Remembering DS Senanayake on Sri Lanka’s Independence Day

Senanayake Foundation, Item in Daily Mirror, 4 Feb 2022

The first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) D.S. Senanayake entered the National Legislature in 1924. He was relatively unknown in the country and was pushed into prominence by his elder brother F.R. Senanayake, who was a very popular and active figure in the social and political arena. Many were surprised and taken aback to see D.S. entering the political field, as they were expecting his brother F.R. to fit the role. Perhaps the only person who had faith in D.S’s capability at that time was none other but F.R. Senanayake himself. 

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February 1, 2022 · 11:38 pm

British Imperial Pillage? The Parthenon Marbles

An Item in the Archaelogy News Network, 20 October 2021, with this title  “Trophies For The Empire: The Case Of The Parthenon Sculptures”

A recently published article by eminent Professor David Rudenstine at New York’s University Cardozo Law School examines the cultural property dispute between Greece and Great Britain over the Parthenon Sculptures taken to London in the early 1800s by the British ambassador, Lord Elgin. The article specifically assesses the legality of their appropriation and argues that, contrary to conventional narrative, there is no evidence that establishes that Ottoman officials gave Elgin prior or subsequent written permission to remove the Parthenon Sculptures from the edifice. Three translations of the document were said to have been made (Ottoman to Italian, then Italian to English), however the English document has since been lost.

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January 29, 2022 · 11:36 am

Kaffir Traditions: Vibrant Traces at Sirambiyadi off Puttalam

Dishan Joseph, in Daily News, 20 February 2021, with this title “A slice of Africa in Puttalam”

Most Sri Lankans in Colombo city would have caught a glimpse of robust women, of African descent dancing to pulsating drumbeats. We have applauded the performances of the African Manja group. But have we truly understood their origins, displacement and hardships hidden behind their smiles. I firmly believe that after their generations have lived here for 500 years, they too are very much Sri Lankan.

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January 28, 2022 · 5:55 pm

Sarojini Jayawickrama’s Book on Robert Knox

Nira Wickramasinghe: reviewing Sarojini Jayawickrama’s Writing that conquers. Re-reading Knox’s Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, (Social Scientists Association, Colombo 2004)

 

Among academic historians in many parts of the world there exists an almost pathological fear of contamination by literary studies via the linguistic turn which manifests itself in the display of fierce criticism of authors of postmodern or cultural studies especially those interested in ‘discourse’ or textual analysis. This is an indication of how centred professional historians still are in the historicist and implicitly empiricist models which are responsible for their material and political hegemony in academia as well as in the public sphere.

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January 24, 2022 · 11:00 am

The Senanayakes at STC, at Cricket and in Politics in Ceylon

Michael Roberts

In seeking details relating to DS Senanayake’s career at S. Thomas’ College after I received a copy of his school-leaving character reference from Warden Stone,[1] I received a fascinating note from Mevan Pieris[2] about young DS Senanayake’s school career and his cricketing ‘achievements’ at the big match against Royal.

“Indeed, a valuable item [referring to Warden Stone’s certificate]. At least a certified photocopy of it should be maintained at the College Library and at the National Archives, especially since he was known as Kele John who could not pass any examinations and was in what was called the Commercial Class of STC. No doubt he was physically strong and tough and would have been an ideal dormitory prefect to keep the guys quiet. ”

 ‘By the sea’ at Mutwal looking at Colombo Harbour — scenic paintng from O’Brien the 1860s

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January 22, 2022 · 6:55 pm

The Transfer of Power in South Asia & DS Senanayake

Kingsley M de Silva … being chap 21 in his slim volume DS. The Life of D.S. Senanayake (1884-1952) … Kandy, ICES, 2016, 129pp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DSS_ToC

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December 30, 2021 · 4:53 pm

The Horrendous Record of Western Manipulations in Recent World History

Fair Dinkum, responding to the Global Times item in Thuppahi entitled “China on the World Stage: A Judicious Assessment,”….. https://thuppahis.com/2021/12/30/china-on-the-world-stage-a-judicuous-assessment/

We need to move to a new narrative about China, but also a new structure for the world, and not allow Western defence or military establishments to play language games over China, just because the rise of China doesn’t suit them. To take one example, in an article published in the US “Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy” journal this year titled “Cold war Redux: The West Loses Africa’s Horn” – just thinking about the title says much about colonialism. From the 18th to the 20th centuries, African nations were colonialised and carved up by the Britain, France, Portugal, Germany and Belgium for their own selfish gains. They did the same in Asia, the Middle East and South America. They were all Western powers.

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December 29, 2021 · 7:34 pm

Tutu: A Moral Pillar in Our Troubled Times

Basil Fernando, in Groundviews, 29 December 2021, where the title reads “Desmond Tutu: The Man who revived the Moral Universe”

Archbishop Desmond Tutu who passed away this week will be counted among the great human beings who contributed to the political transformation of his own country and a person who revolutionised the idea of achieving equality under the most difficult of circumstances.

Cape Town, South Africa – October 6, 2011: The Arch Bishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu at his official book launch , St George’s Cathedral 2011                

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December 6, 2021 · 1:18 pm

Yogini. Stolen Artefacts and Sotheby’s Shame

Dalya Alberge, in The Guardian  5 December 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/dec/04/looted-and-left-in-an-english-garden-the-goat-goddess-can-return-to-india

Looted and left in an English garden, the goat goddess can return to India. The statue, once on sale at Sotheby’s, was recovered amid claims it was part of a precious trove of stolen.

 

For more than 20 years, those who lived in and around the village of Lokhari in Uttar Pradesh, India, have prayed for the return of an important statue of a goddess that was stolen from a local temple. Now those prayers have been answered. The 8th-century goat-headed deity has been discovered thousands of miles away – in an English country garden, covered in moss.

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November 19, 2021 · 11:49 pm

“Anglo-Ceylonese”: A Missing Dimension in British Ceylon

Michael Roberts

The conquest of the island of Ceilao by the British between 1796 and 1818 was an outcome of their imperial conquests in India and underpinned by their sea power. The presence of their troops and other personnel in British India was so extensive that in time a new ethnic category-cum-group emerged in the localities (usually towns) with British personnel: namely, the Anglo-Indians.[i] By the late 19th century these people of mixed descent spawned by British personnel in India stood as a distinct community of Christians speaking Indian English as their mother-tongue and oriented to both India and the United Kingdom.

 

An Anglo-Indian being washed and coiffured

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