Veins of Influence: Colonial Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in Early Photographs and Collections, by Shalini Amerasinghe Ganendra
[This book is a pioneering monograph that brings a rich array of early and previously unpublished images of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) into the global discourse of photography, pairing a striking lens of visual appreciation with distinctly humanizing perspectives.
Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, Buddhism, commoditification, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, ethnicity, female empowerment, governance, heritage, Hinduism, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, photography, photography & its history, plantations, Portuguese imperialism, power politics, religiosity, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, tourism, transport and communications, unusual people, wild life, working class conditions
Adilah Ismail in the Sunday Times, 7 June 2015, where the title is “Colourful history of a historian” … with highlighting imposed by the Editor Thuppahi viz, Roberts himself
Looking back on his ‘going-down memory lane interviews’ with retired Britishers and Sri Lankans who served mainly in the Ceylon Civil Service, Michael Roberts who was in Sri Lanka recently, talks to Adilah Ismail about the beginnings of a passion.
Filed under British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, Colombo and Its Spaces, colonisation schemes, communal relations, constitutional amendments, cultural transmission, devolution, economic processes, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, Kandyan kingdom, land policies, language policies, Left politics, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, parliamentary elections, patriotism, plantations, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Bob Dunn’s Book on THE DISPUTED COUNTRY. AUSTRALIA’S BORDE , pubd in 2004 and bearing ISBN 0 646 43306 7 serves up an intriguing set of stories amidst fascinating photographs and illustrations. It is yet another insight into the complexities of colonisation in this continent made possible for me by Michael Evans who has lent me the booklet.
Capt Elmo Jayawardena, … AN ESSAY that is borrowed from elanka = https://www.elanka.com.au/the-last-of-the-mohicans-by-capt-elmo-jayawardena/
Lionel Sirimane … navigator
The lane down Nugegoda which is in the outskirts of Colombo, is named Mudaliar Avenue. Two left turns after that would bring you to number 1/8. This is Uncle Siri’s and Aunty Olga’s domain. Sadly, she passed away. As Uncle Siri says, “she went to heaven in 2021”, a sentiment whispered softly, sounding more like a person finding it impossible to fill the huge empty space she left. Perhaps painful heartstrings may be tugging when he mentions her. 68 years is a very long time to share a blissfully happy life and lose your soul partner.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, citizen journalism, cultural transmission, education, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
“Taiwan Jack,” commenting serially on the New Item re the aunch of a cross-seas Bullet Train Link: see …………………………….. https://thuppahis.com/2023/10/01/china-taiwan-cross-sea-bullet-train-a-stunning-achievement/#more-75749
News Item in CNA, 28 September 2023, bearing this title “China launches first cross-sea bullet train line near Taiwan Strait”
BEIJING: China launched its first high-speed rail line that will travel across ocean bays, skimming along the coast of the southeastern province of Fujian near the Taiwan Strait, according to state media on Thursday (Sep 28).
Dr. Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, presenting a proposal with this fuller title “Concept Note for an Indian Ocean World Museum, Researc and Resource Center”
Sri Lanka is ideally located for an Indian Ocean World Museum in what has been termed the “Asian 21st Century.” People of diverse cultures, religions, histories, and linguistic communities have mixed and mingled for centuries along the ancient spice and silk trade routes of the Indian Ocean where Lanka is centrally placed.
Map from Arundathie abeysinghe’s article referred to below
Filed under Africans in Asia, ancient civilisations, China and Chinese influences, cultural transmission, economic processes, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, modernity & modernization, Muslims in Lanka, pilgrimages, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, sea warfare, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, world events & processes
A New Investigative Website …. https://atita.org/
About Atita: Atita is dedicated to the investigation of historical events in Sri Lanka. Taking its name from the Pali word for “past” (atīta), Atita serves to fill in gaps in English-language literature of Sri Lankan history.
All are welcome to read our work, but those already familiar with Sri Lankan history since 1948 will find it the most enriching. Our primary focus is on events from 1948 to 1972, when Sri Lanka was still called “Ceylon.”
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Chandra R. De Silva, refereed article originally pubd in Modern Ceylon Studies, Vol II/1, 1970, pp. 18-34.
At the end of the sixteenth century[ii] when the Portuguese came into possession of the south-western sea-board, Madampe proper, was a sizeable village inhabited by about a hundred families.[iii] Though situated some forty miles to the north of Colombo, the centre of Portuguese power and activity, Madampe was in some respects well located being within seven miles of the important port of Chilaw and within three miles of the sea, over which the Portuguese still had undisputed control.[iv] The village moreover, had twenty two minor villages attached to it, the whole forming the gabadagama[v] or royal demesne of Madampe, an area of approximately sixty square miles.
Statue of horse at Taniyavalla Devalaya, Madampe (constructed 1894) …… Photo from 2017
Filed under art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, European history, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, life stories, military strategy, patriotism, politIcal discourse, Portuguese imperialism, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, sri lankan society, transport and communications, Uncategorized, world events & processes
Chandra R De Silva
We should welcome the efforts of Thiru Arumugam to draw attention to the Description of Ceylon by François Valentijn ………………. (see ……………………. https://thuppahis.com/2023/08/27/francois-valentijns-description-of-ceylon/#more-74805). That work is a valuable source of Sri Lankan history, and as Sinnappah Arasaratnam has pointed out, his work has been used by many subsequent writers. However, Valentijn’s work needs to be used with caution. When Arasaratnam writes that ‘Valentijn’s is one of the most accurate accounts of the pre-European period of Ceylon history up to his time’ (p. 33), he is comparing Valentijn’s work only to those of other Europeans. Despite their defects, Sinhalese and Pali historical works written before Valentijn (from which European writers drew information) were certainly more comprehensive on that subject. As Arasaratnam himself comments, ‘it was noted that Valentijn often had only partially published his source and that he was not always the best judge of what was important. . .’ (p. 43).
Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, centre-periphery relations, historical interpretation, life stories, literary achievements, politIcal discourse, Portuguese imperialism, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes
thuppahi
