{"id":110967,"date":"2021-01-24T19:11:58","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T02:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=110967"},"modified":"2021-01-24T19:13:27","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T02:13:27","slug":"the-special-sri-lankan-elephant-and-the-import-export-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/01\/24\/the-special-sri-lankan-elephant-and-the-import-export-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"The Special Sri Lankan Elephant and the Import Export Trade."},"content":{"rendered":"

Ashley de Vos<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Stemming from the advice given by Arahat\nMahinda to King Devanampiya Tissa (3 C.BCE), that all beings including the\nanimals in the forest and the birds in the air have a right to live, tradition\ndictated that all precious resources, are always protected. The thick forest\ncovered hills and mountains, referred to, by Ferguson (1815) as black, leach\ninfested and full of animals\u201d, were dedicated to the Gods or Devas, and as a\nroyal decree ensured its continuous protection, very few went in to desecrate\nit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The central highlands were mostly uninhabited;\nthe few villages that existed were limited to the edges of the fertile valleys.\nThe non-existence of a hillside building tradition confirmed by the fact, that\nevery commencement of a building operation led to the flattening of the land or\nto the cutting of the hillside to prepare the \u2018gevatha\u2019 or platform on which\nthe dwelling is constructed, reinforces the fact that this wasteful method of\nflattening the site in the hills, belonged to a plain\u2019s tradition, as such is\nfar removed from anything even remotely connected to a hillside tradition[i]<\/a>. The undisturbed\nprotection and preservation of the highlands from human habitation over a\ncouple of millennia permitted a special bio-diversity to evolve, making Sri\nLanka a bio-diversity hotspot. The flora and fauna including the elephant lived\nundisturbed. This made them all very special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the Greeks and Romans the island was known\nas the mother of the most stately of elephants\u201d[ii]<\/a>. the land of the\nsapphire and the hyacinth, the ruby and the pearl\u201d[iii]<\/a>. Ptolemy refers to the\ncountries products as being, rice, honey, ginger, beryl, hyacinth and has\nmines of every sort, of gold and silver and other metals. It breeds at the same\ntime elephants and tigers\u201d[iv]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In succeeding ages writers and travellers from\nall chimes who have visited the shores, join in the chorus of praise of its\nnatural attractions. The sides of the mountains were strewn with gems and the\nair is perfumed with the odour of cinnamon and Ribeiro says, as Ceylon is the\nkey of India, it appears as if God had taken pleasures in enriching it with the\nearth`s choicest treasures\u201d[v]<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The historical records pertaining to the Island\nof Sri Lanka were written on Ola leaf and were maintained by the monks in the\nMonasteries. However, as they only recorded the deeds of the kings who assisted\nand fostered Buddhism and helped develop the different monasteries, there is\nlittle detail of the International trade that existed in the Prasamudra or\nGreat Ocean, in the historic period. Fortunately, much of the details regarding\ntrade could be gleaned from information gathered and recorded by foreign\ntravellers and from objects found in the archaeological excavations. The\nrecords left by foreign writers[vi]<\/a> refer to the role played\nby the island of Sihala-dipa or Taprobane in the lucrative trade that passed\nthrough the Prasamudra\u201d[vii]<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The renown of Ceylon as it reached Europe in\nthe seventeenth century, is quaintly summed up by Purchas, in his `Pilgrimage`,\n the heauens with their dewes, the ayre with a pleasant holesomenesse and\nfragrant freshnesse, the waters in their many riuers and fountains, the earth\ndiuersified in aspiring hills, lowly vales, equal and indifferent plains,\nfilled in her inward chambers with metals and jewels, in her outward court and\nupper face stored with whole woods of the best cinnamon that the sunne seeth,\nbesides fruits, oranges, leimons, etc., surmounting those of Spain: fowles and\nbeasts both tame and wild, among which the elephant, honoured by a naturall\nacknowledgement of excellence of all other elephants in the world, these all\nhave conspired and joined in common league to present unto Zeilon the chiefs of\nworldly treasures and pleasures with a long and healthy life in the inhabitants\nto enjoy them, no marvel then if sense and senualitie have here stumbled on a\nParadise\u201d[viii]<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The elephant has always been regarded as\nspecial and was a protected species, and the Kings held the killing of an\nelephant a criminal offence[ix]<\/a>.  The elephant forests were not cleared[x]<\/a>. Most of the elephants\nwere usually captured when they ventured into the forests in the lower plains,\nand formed the most important component of the Kings\u2019 stables, supervised by\nthe Gajanayake Nilame who was appointed custodian of the elephants[xi]<\/a>, their training and their\ncapture came under the supervision of the Kuruwe Lekham[xii]<\/a>. This special elephant\nfrom the earliest historical period has been depicted and glorified on temple\nand palace walls in sculptural or in painted form. The continuous freezes of\nsculptured dancing elephants are a pleasure to behold. Carefully and lovingly\ntamed elephants were used for ceremonial purposes and personal travel, in the\nhauling of timber and other construction material, in the ploughing of the\nfields, in the hauling of farm produce, in battle, in the building of the dams\nof the wewas, also in the construction of the large stupas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mahavamsa records the use of elephants\nwearing leather boots to consolidate the foundation of the Ruvanweli Stupa in\nAnuradhapura (3C BC)[xiii]<\/a>. Indeed they were the\nfirst theoretical machines, the dozes used in construction. Elephants in full\nregalia continued to adorn the religious processions and were traditionally\nloved by all. In his 150 AD map of Taprobane, Ptolemy identifies the area\nbetween Adams Peak (Sri Pada) that includes the Walawe Ganga basin and the\nRakwana hills to the sea, as being \u2018Elephantorum Hic Sunt\u2019, an elephant feeding\nground[xiv]<\/a>. During the colonial\noccupation of the country, elephants are known to have been captured in the<\/em> Avissawella, Negombo, Mannar,\nKalutara, Matara, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee,\nBatticaloa, Buttala area etc.  During the\nearlier Dutch period, an elephant had even found its way into the Colombo Fort.\nThe fact that elephants were encountered in a number of locations also confirms\nthat they were in a habit of moving down from the thick forested hills in\nsearch of food and water. However, prior to the arrival of the British there is\nvery little evidence of the unnecessary or willful decimation of\nelephants.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Over\ntime the elephant evolved a special pair of feet, suitable to the terrain, the\nspecial hills and mountains in which it lived. Tennent refers to this special\nagility being due to a faculty that is almost entirely derived from the\nunusual position, as compared to other quadrupeds of the knee joint of the hind\nleg, arising from the superior length of the thigh bone, and the shortness of the\nmetatarsus. The heel being almost where it projects in man, instead of lifted\nup as a \u2018hook\u2019\u201d[xv]<\/a>.\nIt is this which enables the elephant, in descending declivities, to depress\nand adjust the weight of his hinder portions, which would otherwise over balance\nand force him headlong\u201d[xvi]<\/a>. He further states that,\nit is by the same arrangement that he is enabled, on uneven ground, to lift\nhis feet, which are tender and sensitive, with delicacy and plant them with\nsuch decision as to ensure his own safety as well as that of objects which it is\nexpedient to avoid touching\u201d[xvii]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tennent\u2019s observation is confirmed by Dr.\nHooker, writing in the Himalayan Journal, concludes that \u2018the elephant\u2019s path\nis an excellent specimen of engineering for it winds judiciously\u2019[xviii]<\/a>.  During a Portuguese attack on the Balana fort,\nit is noted that, Gasper de Valadares tried to get in the Enemy\u2019s rear by the\nelephants way (Ali Mankada), two leagues from Balane, when they made the\ndiversion on that part, they found it well fortified\u2019[xix]<\/a>. Elephant paths were\nbeing used as access ways by man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The great central plateau is called the\nHorton\u2019s plains (7200 feet above MSL.), in honour of its British discoverer\nLord Horton. The larger part of it is still covered with primaeval forests,\nalternating with dry or marshy meadows known as patenas. Leopards, bears and\nwild elephants are the sovereigns of this domain. As we came to the top of the\nplateau, after climbing to the top of a deep ravine, we came upon the\ncharacteristic Nilloo scrub, the favourite haunt of the wild elephant. The\nlarge heaps of dung, some quite fresh, which we saw in every direction and the\ntrodden undergrowth, were ample evidence of the frequent visits of herds to\nthis spot. The elephants steadily eat their way through the Nilloo scrub; one\nmarching close at the heels of another. Every bush that is not devoured is\ntrodden flat; and where a herd of twenty or thirty of these colossal beasts\nhave marched in single file through the woods, an open road of some yards wide\nis left ready beaten, as good as heart can desire – in a wilderness. In fact,\nthese elephant tracks were the only path used during the expeditions of the\nnext few days, and by following them alone we made several very interesting\nexcursions\u201d[xx]<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emmerson Tennent states that; prior to 1840\nand before the coffee plantations had been extensively opened in the Kandyan\nranges, there was not a mountain or a lofty feature of land of Ceylon which the\nelephant had not traversed in their periodical migrations in search of water\nand the sagacity which they display in laying out roads is almost incredible.\nThey generally keep along the backbone of a chain of hills, avoiding steep\ngradients and one curious observation was not lost upon the government surveyors,\nthat in crossing valleys from ridge to ridge, through forests so dense as to\nobstruct a distance view, the elephants invariably select the line of march\nwhich communicates most judiciously with the opposite points, by means of the\nsafest path\u201d[xxi]<\/a>.\nThe astute early British surveyors followed the \u2018Aliman Kadas\u2019 or the elephant\ncorridors in setting out the road traces and the transportation networks that\nconnected the coffee and tea estates and the estate towns in the hills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tennent further confirms that, in Ceylon the\ndistricts in which the elephants most abound, are all hilly and mountainous. In\nthe later, especially, there is no range so elevated as to be inaccessible to\nthem\u201d[xxii]<\/a>. A statement confirmed\nby Major Skinner who mentions that in 1840, he found spore of an elephant on\nthe very summit of Adam\u2019s peak, at an altitude of 7420 feet and on the pinnacle\nwhich the pilgrims climb with difficulty, by means of steps hewn in the rock.\u201d\nand in 1847 records, elephants on the Ramboda pass on the road to Nuwara Eliya\u201d[xxiii]<\/a>. The agility of the\nelephants to negotiate the steepest hill is highlighted in the Ceylon Observer\n(1865), which refers to the attempt to capture elephants in Avissawella. The\nCorral was constructed close to a wall of rock so precipitous and high that it\nwas considered superfluous to continue the enclosure in front of them. But over\nthe rocks the elephants made their escape and the corral was a total failure\u201d[xxiv]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tennent also refers to an interesting account\nof a Kraal recorded by a person he describes as an able and accurate describer,\npublished in the Colombo Observer, March 1866, in which is stated that an\ninfuriated tusker, the \u2018property of the government\u2019, made a rush to escape the\nenclosure and fairly leaped the barrier, of some fifteen feet high, only\ncarrying away the top cross beam with a great crash\u201d, completely forcing him to\nrethink his view and change that \u2018the elephant is too weighty and unwieldy to\nleap, at least to any considerable height or distance\u201d. Ferguson the editor of\nthe Observer on the request of Tennent, had the height rechecked and concluded\nthat the height was nine feet, but remarked that even this was formidable\u201d[xxv]<\/a>. It was not only the\nclimbing or leaping ability but also smell that prompted the elephants to make\na periodic appearance in the peninsular of Jaffna when the Palmyra fruit\nripened\u201d[xxvi]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heydt records the Dutch efforts in the capture\nof elephants for export to the sub-continent, he refers to an elephant trap\nthat was built and maintained as a permanent feature close to the Matara Fort,\nin great detail. Not far from Maderen, the company has an elephant trap, which\nis surrounded by many thousand stakes, and extends over a great length and\nbreadth. When now they intend to capture elephants, as many Sinhalese as\npossible are brought together, and the more one can have of them, the better it\nis. These separate themselves very widely one from another: and by night with\nlights, by day with the noise of various instruments they cause terror among\nthem, seeing that they cannot well bear such, but rather flee from it. In this\nmanner the Sinhalese thus provided, all march towards the elephant trap, as is\ndone amongst us when a hunt is made with beaters\u201d[xxvii]<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katugaha in his article on the \u2018The last Kraal\nin Sri Lanka\u2019 held at Panamure, states that in the construction of the kraals,\nin the past the Dutch followed the Portuguese pattern, but was often a rounded\ntriangle with a somewhat broader funnel. The stockade in this triangle form\ncontinued to be used till about 1800 when the inner enclosure was done away\nwith leaving only one main enclosure and the funnel at the apex. In the early British\ntimes, prior to 1833, the shape of the stockade underwent radical change and\nbecame a plain rectangle with a narrow entrance and no funnel: from the front\nangles two lines of fencing, well concealed, were continued forward and outward\nso as to contain and guide the elephants to the stockade\u2019s entrance\u201d[xxviii]<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heydt has a detail description of how the Dutch\nelephant trap works, Near the gates, on which entrance they have ready some\ntame elephants, which must as if show the way, and must enter first.  These then the wild ones follow, until they\nare brought into an open space provided with 2 or 3 drop-gates, on which men\nsit hidden. As soon as these see that the wild elephants have been brought\nthrough by the tame ones, they cut the Rottangs (rattans) which hold up the\ngate, so that they fall and enclose the place. Then they take again the tame\nelephants and let them show the way to the wild ones, until they lead each into\na very long and narrow path, so that he cannot turn around unless he is very\nsmall: and so he goes along this passage until he comes to the end of it, and\nas soon as he is there, they quickly push in some tree trunks behind him, so\nthat he cannot now go backwards. Then they try to tie him up, and bring him\nslowly forward, between two tame elephants. If now he will not go forward, they\nset a third behind him, which must belabour him with his trunk in a most\npitiful manner, so that he begins to weep and to cry out: and afterwards they\nbring him into a place destined for this purpose, and look after him well, and\nseek daily, now with kindness, now with beatings, to make him tame, seeing that\nthey have a quite extraordinary intelligence, more than other beasts\u201d[xxix]<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heydt has an equally interesting account of\nwhat happens to the elephant after capture and the need to partially train them\nprior to export. He refers to the Place (Matara fort) as being full of trees,\nbushes and coconut gardens, which are very abundant, not only inside the fort\nbut outside as well, creating the impression of a forest totally hiding the\nbuildings[xxx]<\/a>.\nBehind the first half bastion some quite low roofs peep out from among the\nbushes, which (roofs) cover the elephant stables: the Company has in this\nisland no other place which is so convenient for the capture of elephants as is\nMaderen (Matara). For that reason a large number are taken here yearly, or at\nleast every 2 years, whereas on the contrary near Negombo, where as mentioned\nabove there is also an elephant-trap, several years often go by before this\nhappens. The elephants which they purpose to train are placed for safety\nbetween trees, which are in this Place (fort) planted 4 by 4 conveniently for\nthis, where they can be better disciplined than in the stables. Often several\nmonths pass before they are somewhat tamed, and can understand the speech of\ntheir tutor, (and learn even) so much as to lie down: but they are often sold\nbefore they are properly trained. And to transport such safely, they are tied\nbeside a tame one and thus led\u201d[xxxi]<\/a>. “In 1697 there were\n97 elephants in the stables at Matara“[xxxii]<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heydt then goes on to describe how animals are\nmeasured, examined and priced for the international market and then escorted tied\nto tame elephants to the point of shipment. While I was still in Colombo, there\ncame thus (tied) beside tame elephants yearly 50 \u2013 60 which had been taken\nhere, to be sent from there to the Coromandel Coast and Bengal: since the Kings\nthere buy them from the Company to use them for their pomp. They remained\nusually for 3 to 4 weeks near Colombo before they went further, and first must\nbe measured, according to the custom there, both in height and length, which is\ndone by the Couber wherein linen is sold. At this measuring attention was given\nalso to the tail, whether it were complete; and had also its tufts complete, on\nwhich are hairs which are about 4 or at the most 6 inches long, hanging down on\nboth sides of the tufts. They are as thick as a raven-quill, or rather more,\nwhereas on the contrary the other hairs of the body are thinner. When selling\nor purchasing these beasts one also looks very closely at the ears, seeing that\nin the case of many these are highly torn. Those now which have good ears and\ntails, and no visible defects, are highly valued: on the contrary those which\nare loaded with such defects suffer a great diminution of value\u201d[xxxiii]<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Colombo they are led to Mannar or further\nto be shipped out across the straits[xxxiv]<\/a>, and one hour from\nColombo they must cross the wide River Madual or Kelani River[xxxv]<\/a>.  Although the elephants are taken into flowing\nwater twice daily, yet none the less those which are newly caught do not\nwillingly go into deep water, and in this show themselves very obdurate. Among\nothers, one tore himself loose from the crimp (as they call the tame ones) and\nbacked out of the river; and when he found himself free began to run as fast as\nhe could. Now not very far from the place where this river falls into the sea\nthere lies as though a hamlet of many houses, in which live fishermen for the\nmost part: and this is also called Madual (Mutuwal) after the river. The\nelephant now ran towards these houses. Those who sat on the tame elephants came\nwith all speed to catch this one again; and all the remaining ones were\ncompelled to wait. But after this they fastened him between two tame ones, and\nset a third behind him, to beat him with its trunk so that he cried out\npitifully, and if blew on a trumpet. On this occasion, I was told that they can\nswim very well, but do not like to go into deep water; also the female\nelephants (coming) behind the males too easily drown, and for this reason are\nshy of water, especially when they see beforehand that they must swim a long\nway. I have also noticed that they like nothing so well as to lie for some\nhours each day in flowing water, and indeed so that nothing remains outside but\na little of the body, and the trunk, by which they breathe\u201d[xxxvi]<\/a>.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onesicritus (323C.BC) refers to the elephant\nspecies on the Island of Taprobane[xxxvii]<\/a> as being bigger and\nmore warlike, than those found on the mainland[xxxviii]<\/a>. Aelian (4C.BC),\nrecords that the elephants on the island were physically stronger and bigger in\nappearance than those of the mainland and may be judged more intelligent in\nevery way and that many were exported to Kalinga[xxxix]<\/a>. Cosmos Indicopleustes\n(6C.AD) refers to the elephants in Kalinga as being the best on the sub\ncontinent. Probably, a reference to the elephants that had been originally,\nexported from Taprobane to Kalinga.  Until\nthe 19th<\/sup> C, large numbers of captive animals were moved across\nnational bounders, primarily as beasts of war and burden. The geographic extent\nand scale of this transport will never completely be known, but there are\nrecords of transport of literally thousands of elephants, over thousands of\nkilometers, especially during periods of war\u201d[xl]<\/a>. Most of the 3000 war\nelephants of the Delhi Sultanate came from captures from enemies in South\nIndia, as tribute from subordinate rulers, or as imports from various regions,\nincluding East Bengal, Sri Lanka and Pegu in lower Burma\u201d[xli]<\/a>. The elephant was much\nmore valuable than the horse, but reserved for royal and army use and not a\ncommon trade object\u201d[xlii]<\/a>. For example, one\nhistoric trade route existed between Sri Lanka and the sub-continent by about\n300 BCE and later in medieval times, another developed between Pegu in southern\nMyanmar to Sri Lanka and Bengal, and then to the Sultanate of northern India,\nwhere wild elephants had been largely extirpated by this time\u201d[xliii]<\/a>. Tennent gives an\naccount of Arab traders transporting elephants from Ceylon to India in 1600[xliv]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History records that the Greek general Pyrrhus\nof Epirus in 280 BCE, transported 20 elephants from the Greek peninsula to\nfight the Roman army in the Battle of Heraclea , which he won at enormous cost\nof life. The records are silent on how they were transported. However, later\nattempts, when Metellus had to transport elephants across the Straits of Messina\nfor display in Rome, he made use of a raft made up of large jars lashed to a\nframe, the framework covered in planks, and covered in earth and brushwood, so\nthat the raft looked like a farmyard. As the elephant`s eyesight is weak in\nbright sunlight, they may have been tricked to enter the disguised barge in the\ndaytime[xlv]<\/a>. The Carthaginians were\nlater to transport elephants from Africa to Sicily by sea. And this could\nhardly have been on a raft.  Instead, as\nAsia used ships to transport elephants from the earliest period, this knowledge\nwould have reached the Mediterranean and the efficiency of transport may have\nchanged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Devanagala inscription of Parakrama Bahu 1\n(12C.AD), records the details of his naval campaign in Burma where he\ncommissioned a huge fleet of a hundred ships as a step against the Burmese\nKing`s decree to discontinue the payment of elephants as tribute and the unfair\nincrease in the prices for individual animals, making it difficult to trade in\ntuskers[xlvi]<\/a>. The expedition was a\nsuccess and normalcy prevailed.  In the\n11C ADE, The King of Lanka sent a trade delegation to Cambodia. Due to the\ntrade rivalry between Burma and Cambodia, while traversing Burma, the King of\nBurma captured the Envoys and confiscated their elephants, money as well as\nships. The King of Lanka immediately stopped the selling of elephants to\nforeign countries and immediately increased the price[xlvii]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of these references confirm that the\nSinhalese have been involved in the capture and the export and import elephants\nfrom time immemorial. Considering the number of elephants including tuskers that\nwere imported for breeding and training, from the Pegu region of southern Myanmar\na major source of elephants for Lanka[xlviii]<\/a>, some connections may\nhave existed between the imported and those in the wild. Unfortunately this\nwill ensure, that Sri Lanka`s claim to a separate strain will always remain under\na cloud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parakrama Bahu 1 in the Nainativu inscription\nwritten in Tamil states that foreign merchants are welcome and assured\nprotection. It mentions that the island traded in elephants and horses. But in\nthe event of a foreign ship being wrecked, half the goods would go to the King.\nIf the ships carried elephants and horses King would only take a quarter of the\ngoods[xlix]<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ceylon elephant was highly prized on the\nsub continent for its special docile qualities and were captured for export and\nfor use within the country by the Sinhalese, the Moors, the Portuguese and the\nDutch. Unfortunately, due to the paucity of Portuguese records, as most of them\nwere burnt by Van Toll after the Dutch takeover of Colombo.  The real number of elephants exported by the\nPortuguese is not known. Queyroz records the customs duty on the sale of\nelephants paid as feudal tribute by the Vania of Putalao (Putalam) and the King\nof Candea (Kandy), which amounted in all to 20, good and bad (elephants) at 200\nxerafis per head. Not counting the (elephants)\nwhat remained in the hands of the officers of the king on account of their\ncustomary laxicity, amounted to only 4000\u2019 xerafis\u201d[l]<\/a> or 20 elephants. “Abeysinghe\n(1966) records that the Portuguese maintained an annual demand of 37 elephants\nfor export from two kraals. These were valued at 9,250 rix dollars which was\nequal to 15% of the total revenue of the state“[li]<\/a>. “Durate Barbosa (1514)\nrefers to the Royal monopoly of elephants \u2013 a good elephant fetched 1,500\nducats on the Malabar coast, while Ribeiro states that, as the Ceylon elephant\nwas superior , traders were prepared to pay twice or even up to four times for\nthem compared to elephants from other countries“[lii]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Portuguese casado Tristao Golayo de Castel\nBranco owned a special loading area called the Quay of the elephant\u2019s (today\u2019s\nKayts) for the holding and export of elephants\u201d[liii]<\/a>. They were herded\nthrough elephant pass, today, the name for the narrow piece of land through\nwhich elephants were led, tied to tame ones, on their way into the Jaffna peninsula\nand to Kayts for export. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The specialisation of Kayts as a holding and\nstaging place for shipments of elephants is confirmed by  Friar Francisco de Oriente (who) went to\nTanadiua, which is also called the Quay of the elephants, because it is facing\nanother island from which alone elephants are embarked; and on reaching the\nvillage Vratura, he found Tristao Golaya de Castel Branco, a casado of S.\nThome, who had come to build a boat, and from whom he asked for timber to erect\na cross: and cutting down a thick jungle, the den of deer and other game\u2019, he\nsecured the timber for his cross\u201d[liv]<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The well documented Dutch records point to the\nfact that on an average, in excess of 150 elephants were exported annually[lv]<\/a> even though the King of\nKandy had granted permission for taking 20 \u2013 30 animals only[lvi]<\/a>. These animals mostly\ncaptured in the Western and South Western region, which covered an area from\nMannar up to Matara, were marched all the way to Mannar or Kayts tied to tame\nelephants to be shipped abroad. The many rivers that had to be crossed on the\nway to the point of shipment, usually many miles away, was a constant worry, as\nthere were instances when the animals while in the water tried hard to break\naway from their crimps[lvii]<\/a>. Eventually to be\nshipped in large flat bottom wooden barges, ten at a time, to the subcontinent.\nEarlier elephants were also shipped out to the Coromondal coast via Kayts.\nConsidering the 100 year duration of the Dutch stay in the coastal region of\nCeylon, and even allowing for 75% of the Dutch presence in the island as the\nmost productive, the possible total number of elephants exported is a\nstaggering 11,250 specimens<\/strong> in their\nprime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the Dutch, the export of elephants was a\nlucrative item of revenue. In the 18th<\/sup> C. it produced an average of\n100,000 Guilders per year, sometimes more, sometimes less. The Ceylon elephant\ns were greatly desired in India for war and as draught animals. Bengal and Golconda\nMuslim merchants  came along to purchase\nthem. The sales took place in the port of Kayts from where loading of the\nanimals was convenient. They were captured in an elephant kraal or hunt held\nperiodically in different parts of the country where wild animals abound. Such\nkraals were held in the Colombo district, the Matara district and along the\nborders of the Vanni. The holding of the krall was an elaborate and specialised\nprocedure which was carried out by a caste of people [lviii]<\/a>whose occupation it was.\nThey were in charge of a Master of the Hunt who was responsible for the whole\norganisation. They held land as accomodessans for the work they did\u201d[lix]<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The animals captured in the south were marched\nnorthwards to Jaffna by land along the coastal road. They had to pass through\nthe Kandyan Kingdom on their way and special permission had to be sought for\nthis transit. Another source for the supply of elephants was the tax due from\nthe Vanniyar of north Ceylon. In return for the rights they held in the land\nand the taxes they collected from cultivators in the Vanni, they owed the lord\nof the land certain taxes which for long have been commuted in terms of\nelephants. These had to be delivered by them annually in Jaffna[lx]<\/a>. The merchants came to\nJaffna every year to buy elephants. The market operates through brokers who\nwere natives of Jaffna[lxi]<\/a> and had functioned for\nmany years. Many attempt to make direct sales to the merchants ended in failure.\nUnder Imhoff the price had been increased but the results were discouraging. A\nnew and revised price list was soon issued and was operating on Gollenesse\u2019s\ntime.  In fact, the decline of the\nelephant trade continued in Loten\u2019s and Schreuder\u2019s time as well \u201d[lxii]<\/a>.  In the meantime no extraordinary trouble has\nbeen taken this year to establish new hunts, as otherwise we would be\nover-burdened with these gluttonous animals with no small harness to the poor\ninhabitants from whose gardens they must be provided and, besides, at the\nordinary time scale we will be able to bring to market about 150 animals this\nyear\u201d[lxiii]<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dutch Governor Thomas Van Rhee in his 1697 record\nto the Company discusses alternate transport methods, ” We have been\ncasting about in our mind for some other means of transport, but so far we\ncould think of nothing better than the construction of two large pontoons, a\nlittle larger than the pontoon “De Hoop” which is 64 feet long, 18\nfeet wide and 3 and1\/2 feet deep carrying 40 lasts\u201d.  “It is a flat bottomed vessel with a\nround prow and keel, and carries a mast with a mizzen and foresail, so that it\nmay go close by the wind; and because of its floating capacity may easily pass\nover the shallows of the Mannar River”[lxiv]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commencement of the Human Elephant\nconflict in the British era<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dislocation and systematic elimination of\nthe elephants from its traditional habitat, brought about by the British\ninitiated expanding coffee and later tea plantations created the first real\nHuman Elephant Conflict on the island and thereafter the magnificent elephant\nwas declared a pest and hunted for sport. A reward of a few shillings was\nplaced for the head of an elephant, and from 1845 \u2013 1856, 3500 rewards were\nclaimed in the Northern Province alone, and during the period 1851 – 1856, a\nsimilar reward of a paltry number of shillings was paid for 2000 elephants\nkilled in the Southern Province between Galle and Hambantota. This may not\ninclude the 1400 claimed by Major Rogers and 500 each claimed by Captain Galloway\nand Major Skinner. Tennent records the official killing from 1845 \u2013 1856 as\nbeing 5500 elephants<\/strong> in the Northern\nand Southern Province alone[lxv]<\/a>, of course, this figure\ndoes not include the injured that were afforded a solitary death in the forest.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the tea estates of the British Plantation\nEnterprise continued to expand into the virgin cloud forests of the East, South,\nSouth East and South West escarpments of the central high lands, it destroyed\nmany thousands of acres of virgin cloud forests. It may be also be concluded\nthat many thousands of elephants, were forced to sacrifice their habitat, to\nthe murderous British Plantation Enterprise to be killed as a pest to rid the\nelephant from the highlands, to make way for the establishment of the plantation\nindustry, to move into the plains in the years that followed. Tennent concludes\nthat at the rate they are being killed the species will soon be extinct in\nAsia\u201d[lxvi]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The availability of patches of forests, in\nwhich the small herds, usually family groups of elephants under a matriarch,\ncould recuperate in, with a number of family groups coming together in search\nof water, like that seen at Minneriya today referred to by some as \u2018the\ngathering\u2019, a coming together of different groups for water, an infusion of\nminerals and to ensure regeneration of the species.  In 1844 Tennent, made a similar observation of\nhow,  several herds sometimes browse in\nclose contiguity, and in their expeditions in search of water, may form a body\nof possibly one or two hundred members. But on the slightest disturbance each\ndistinct herd hastens to reform within its own particular circle and to take\naction on its own behalf for retreat or defense\u201d[lxvii]<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, the accelerated destruction of\nthe forest covers from 1977 onwards, and its reduction to 18% today (we don\u2019t\nregard rubber plantations as valid forest additions for biodiversity support),\nhas encouraged the steady worsening of the ensuing Human Elephant Conflict. A\nsad conflict, that has led to the willful destruction of an average of 150\nelephants a year or one elephant killed every two days. Considering a\nconservative average of 125 elephants a year, the total number of elephants\nkilled over the 30 year period is in excess of 3750 elephants<\/strong>. These are mind boggling figures and do not include\nthose dying from poisoning, the cruel \u2018Hakka Patas\u2019 an extremely cruel and\ninhuman form of tortured death and from gunshot wounds, unnoticed in the\nforest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A survey conducted by the Department of\nWildlife Conservation in 2011 \u2013 12, concluded that there are approximately 6000\nelephants in the wild. Since 2000 with greater human encroachment into the\nforests for developmental exploitation, thereby reducing the elephant habitat\nand escalating the Human Elephant conflict, and the increased fatality due to\ntrain accidents, the numbers being killed annually, has increased considerably.\nToday, the mortality rates are closer to 150 -160 per year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certainly, with enhanced encroachment into the\nforests if the massacre continues at this accelerated rate, together with the proposed\ncreation of holding pens for the troublesome animals, a process that will invariably\nand eventually capture the roaming males, the so-called troublesome animals,\nwho provide and are responsible for the gene base. The continuing illegal\ncapture of juveniles by individuals looking for objects, that they hope will,\nenhance their prestige in their limited social circle, will add to the problem\nand very soon the elephant will be extinct in the wild in Sri Lanka, and that\nfor a certainty, within the next ten years[lxviii]<\/a>. In the past those\nwho had elephants knew how to care for them, they were mostly working\nelephants, well fed and bathed. They were regularly exercised, not kept tied to\na tree in the garden to be exercised once a year at the annual pageants, to be\nborn an elephant today is certainly an entry into \u2018Apaya\u2019[lxix]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to enhance and increase the elephant\nhabitat within Sri Lanka, one possibility may be to use the genetic engraving,\nthat helps map out the route for the elephant to engage in regular and periodic\nincursion up into the escarpments of the southern highland plateau, possibly\nthe last bastion to fall to the once lucrative plantation enterprise, is\nconfirmed by elephant sightings at Poonagala, Millennium point, Koslanda,\nRandeligala. Kanneliya, Adam\u2019s Peak etc., an area usually entered from the\nsouthern plains and up the steep Koslanda hills, to advantage. With careful\nplanning, enhancement and reforesting of the highlands being abandoned by the\ntea industry[lxx]<\/a>,\nto recreate the forest landscape, the area could then be reused, to\nsuccessfully win back the lost habitat for the elephant and ensure the islands\nwater security for the future as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ashley de Vos<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endnotes<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[i]<\/a>   De Vos 1988, The Built Environment in 2025,\nInaugural Conference, OPA, Colombo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[ii]<\/a>  Dion. Periegetes, ver.593: Hwen-Thsang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[iii]<\/a>  Khordadbah., Book of routes, Tr. M. Meynard\nin the Journal Asiatique, 1865. Ceylon. M.S An Officer, Late of the Ceylon\nRifles Vol 1, 1876, London Chapman Hall. Asian Educational Services, 1994,\nDelhi. p1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[iv]<\/a>   Ptolemy. Bk Vll, Ch lV. Sect 1.Ancient India\nas Described by Ptolemy, 1927, Ed Chuckerverty. Calcutta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[v]<\/a>  Ceylon. M.S an Officer, Late of the Ceylon\nRifles Vol 1, 1876, London Chapman Hall. Asian Educational Services, 1994,\nDelhi p2, 3. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[vi]<\/a>  Weerakkody D.P.M. 1997, Taprobane, Brepols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[vii]<\/a>  Kautilya\u2019s Arthasastra, Ed. Shama-Satri Mysore,\n1909. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[viii]<\/a>  Ceylon. M.S An Officer, Late of the Ceylon\nRifles Vol 1, 1876, London Chapman Hall. Asian Educational Services, 1994,\nDelhi p3.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[ix]<\/a>   D`Oyly. J. The elephant kraal of 1809. 1809.\nRAS Journal Vol XXVl. No.91.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[x]<\/a>   Kautilya\u2019s Artha-Sastra, Ed. Shama-Sastri,\n1909. Mysore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xi]<\/a>   Seneviratne. D.V., Elephants in Sinhala\nLiterature. 1973. Sri Lanka Wildlife Bulletin No. 27-30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xii]<\/a>   The Kuruve Lekham controlled the Kuruwe or\nelephant men. The training of the war elephants was the duty of the Kuruwe clan\nwho came under their own Muhandiram. Op. cit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xiii]<\/a>   Mahawamsa. Tr. Wilhelm Geiger. 1912. Oxford\nUniversity Press. London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xiv]<\/a>  A personal communication from, Prof. Merlin\nPeris. 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xv]<\/a>  Tennent E.T.. 1867, The wild Elephant\nLongman, London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xvi]<\/a>  Tennent E.T.. 1867, The wild Elephant\nLongman, London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xvii]<\/a>  Op. Cit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xviii]<\/a>  Hooker Dr. Himalayan Journal., Vol 1.  Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol\nXlll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xix]<\/a>  Fernao De Queyroz. The Temporal and Spiritual\nconquest of Ceylon, Tr. S.G.Perera. 1930. Five books in three Vols. Reprint\n1992. Vol 11, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi. p578.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xx]<\/a>  Ernst Haeckel, A visit to Ceylon. Tr. Clara\nBell, 1883. 1975 reprint, Tisara Prakasakayo Ltd. Dehiwela. p204.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxi]<\/a>  Tennent E.T.. 1867, The wild Elephant\nLongman, London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxii]<\/a>  Op. Cit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxiii]<\/a>  Skinner Major T. 1890, Fifty years in Ceylon,\nWT Allen & Co London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxiv]<\/a>   Ceylon Observer, March 1865.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxv]<\/a>  Tennent E.T.. 1867, The wild Elephant\nLongman, London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxvi]<\/a>  Op. Cit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxvii]<\/a>  Johann Wolffgang Heydt, Allerneuester\nGeographisch Und Topographischer Schau-Platz Von Africa Und Ost Indien, 1744.\nWilhersdorff. R. Raven-Hart, Heydt\u2019s Ceylon, 1952, being the relevant sections\nof the original pertaining to Ceylon. Ceylon Government Press, Colombo. p48.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxviii]<\/a>   Katugaha. H.I.E. The last Kraal in Sri\nLanka. Gajah 29,  2008. p5-10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxix]<\/a>  Johann Wolffgang Heydt, Allerneuester\nGeographisch Und Topographischer Schau-Platz Von Africa Und Ost Indien, 1744.\nWilhersdorff. R. Raven-Hart, Heydt\u2019s Ceylon, 1952, being the relevant sections\nof the original pertaining to Ceylon. Ceylon Government Press, Colombo. p48,\n49.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxx]<\/a>  Op. Cit  p51.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxxi]<\/a>  Johann Wolffgang Heydt, Allerneuester\nGeographisch Und Topographischer Schau-Platz Von Africa Und Ost Indien, 1744.\nWilhersdorff. R. Raven-Hart, Heydt\u2019s Ceylon, 1952, being the relevant sections\nof the original pertaining to Ceylon. Ceylon Government Press, Colombo. p51.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxxii]<\/a>   Jayawardena. J. The Elephant in Sri Lanka.\n1994. The Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka. Colombo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxxiii]<\/a>  Johann Wolffgang Heydt, Allerneuester\nGeographisch Und Topographischer Schau-Platz Von Africa Und Ost Indien, 1744.\nWilhersdorff. R. Raven-Hart, Heydt\u2019s Ceylon, 1952, being the relevant sections\nof the original pertaining to Ceylon. Ceylon Government Press, Colombo. p52.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxxiv]<\/a>  Op. Cit. p52.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxxv]<\/a>  Possibly the Kelani River north of Madual or\nMutuwal, the mouth of which extended to Wattala, which was also one time a\nport. The hour distance referred to by Heydt (1744), could be a traditional\nhour which was usually 24 or 28 minutes according to the copper Paethatiya, the\nKelani River was indeed close and just north of Colombo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxxvi]<\/a>  Johann Wolffgang Heydt, Allerneuester\nGeographisch Und Topographischer Schau-Platz Von Africa Und Ost Indien, 1744.\nWilhersdorff. R. Raven-Hart, Heydt\u2019s Ceylon, 1952, being the relevant sections\nof the original pertaining to Ceylon. Ceylon Government Press, Colombo. p52.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxxvii]<\/a>    Weerakkody D.P.M. 1997, Taprobane, Brepols.\nThe Greek name for the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxxviii]<\/a>  Pliny.P. The Natural History of Pliny. 1855.\nTr. John Bostock and H.T.Riley. 6 Vols. London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xxxix]<\/a>  Sicholfield A.F. 1959, Aelian on the\ncharacteristics of Animals, London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xl]<\/a>   Sukumar. R. The Asian Elephant, Ecology and\nManagement. 1989. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xli]<\/a>    Op. Cit p5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xlii]<\/a>   Kosambi. D.D., The culture and Civilisation\nof Ancient India. 1991, Famous books, Urdu Bazaar, Lahore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xliii]<\/a>   Digby. S., War Horse and Elephants in the\nDelhi Sultanate. 1971. Oriental Monographs. Oxford. UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xliv]<\/a>   Tennent E.T., The Wild Elephant, 1867,\nLongman, London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xlv]<\/a>   Wikipedia. War Elephants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xlvi]<\/a>   Chulavamsa. Ch. LXXVl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xlvii]<\/a>   Goonatilleke. H. Sri Lanka Cambodia\nRelations with special reference to the period 11- 20 C.  JRAAS New Series, Vol.XLVll. Special Number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xlviii]<\/a>   Digby. S., War Horse and Elephants in the\nDelhi Sultanate. 1971. Oriental Monographs. Oxford. UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[xlix]<\/a>   Indrapala. K. The Nainativu Tamil\nInscription of Parakrama Bahu 1. 1963. University of Ceylon Review. Vol XX1\nNo1. P70.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[l]<\/a>  Fernao De Queyroz. The Temporal and Spiritual\nconquest of Ceylon, Tr. S.G.Perera. 1930. Five books in three Vols. Reprint\n1992. Vol 11, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi. p729.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[li]<\/a>   Abeysinghe. T.  Portuguese Rule in Ceylon 1966. Lake House\nBookshop. Colombo. Jayawardena. J. The Elephant in Sri Lanka. 1994. The\nWildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka. Colombo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lii]<\/a>   Op. Cit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[liii]<\/a>  Fernao De Queyroz. The Temporal and Spiritual\nconquest of Ceylon, Tr. S.G.Perera. 1930. Five books in three Vols. Reprint\n1992. Vol 11, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi. p 628.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[liv]<\/a>  Op. Cit. p661.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lv]<\/a>  The Memoirs of Ryckloff Van Goes (1663 \u2013\n1675), Colombo 1962. P27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lvi]<\/a>  Pybus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lvii]<\/a>  The escorting elephants, the tame elephants\nto which the semi tames ones were tied to were referred to as Crimps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lviii]<\/a>  They were the Kuruwe people from Kegalla. The\ntraining of the elephants caught from the wild for both traditional purposes\nand war and even the mahouts were trained by the Kuruwe people. J.Jayawardena,\nBiodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lix]<\/a>   The Memoirs of Ryckloff Van Goes (1663 \u2013\n1675), Colombo 1962. P27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lx]<\/a>   S. Arasaratnam. The Vanniyar of North Ceylon\n: A Study of feudal power and Central Authority, Ceylon Journal of Historical\nand Social Studies. Vol X. No1. P103-5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lxi]<\/a>   S. Arasaratnam. The Vanniyar of North Ceylon\n: A Study of feudal power and Central Authority, Ceylon Journal of Historical\nand Social Studies. Vol X. No1. P103-5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lxii]<\/a>   The Memoirs of Ryckloff Van Goes (1663 \u2013\n1675), Colombo 1962. P27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lxiii]<\/a>    Op. Cit. P71.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lxiv]<\/a>  Thomas Van Rhee, 1697 p.14. also see Roland\nSilva.  Architecture. Discusses forty\nlast or the capacity of a flat-bottomed boat of 64 feet long or 18 feet wide\nand 3 and 1\/2 feet deep is equated to 78 tons of goods or the weight of ten\nelephants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lxv]<\/a>  Tennent E.T.. 1867, The wild Elephant\nLongman, London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lxvi]<\/a>  Op. Cit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lxvii]<\/a>  Op. Cit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lxviii]<\/a>  Sections of this article appeared in the\nLoris, WNPS. Vol. 24, Issues 5&6, 2007.p37-40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lxix]<\/a>   `Apaya`, a Sinhala word refers to Hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[lxx]<\/a>   De Vos 1988, The Built Environment in 2025,\nInaugural Conference, OPA, Colombo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baker\nSamuel., Six years in Ceylon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schoff\nW.H. 1912, The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tennent E.T. 1860, Ceylon, An account of the island  Vols 1,2, \nLondon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ashley de Vos Stemming from the advice given by Arahat Mahinda to King Devanampiya Tissa (3 C.BCE), that all beings including the animals in the forest and the birds in the air have a right to live, tradition dictated that all precious resources, are always protected. The thick forest covered hills and mountains, referred to, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,170],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum","category-nature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}