Life Stories
What urged Lankans to seek justice through VOC institutions? Conflict over property and inheritance is one of the themes that recurs most frequently in the historical records.
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After walking for over an hour and crossing the Kelani river by ferry, Francina, twenty years old, reached the church of Mutwal with its palm-leaved roof in the nick of time.
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June, 25th 1751. 21-year-old Sinhalese Anthony Gomes stepped into the
damp meeting room of the Wolvendaal Church in Colombo. Young Anthony cleared his throat, and asked the council members what could be a career-defining question.
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The archives bear witness to the use of justice by eighteenth century Lankans. Family feuds over property were at the hear of most cases and could drag on for years. Land came with status, privilege and service, as well as food security. It was worth fighting for.
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After King Rajasinha II forged an alliance with the Dutch to definitively defeat the Portuguese, the “Hollanders” became recurring characters in poems praising the king and his actions. One poet, the Minister from Kirimetiyawa, dwelled on the Dutch more than any other.
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Willem de Melho left Sri Lanka at the age of eleven to receive higher education in Amsterdam. His life serves like a kaleidoscope on a wide range of historic topics: from cultural brokerage and translation to Chettiar community conflicts and from Christian religion to Dutch revolution.
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