{"id":91122,"date":"2019-07-07T22:27:27","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T04:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=91122"},"modified":"2019-07-07T05:44:44","modified_gmt":"2019-07-07T12:44:44","slug":"brutality-of-the-portuguese-some-historical-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/07\/07\/brutality-of-the-portuguese-some-historical-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"BRUTALITY OF THE PORTUGUESE \u2013 SOME HISTORICAL FACTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

From\nthe year 1505 until 1658, for about 153 years, a good part of the coastal\nregion of Sri Lanka was under the control of the Portuguese.  This was a period marked by extreme forms of violence\nand atrocities against the Sinhala community, especially the Sinhala Buddhists.\nIt was a period  marked by intense Roman\nCatholic missionary activity. From the year 1543 onward, Franciscans\nestablished centres in the country and Jesuits were active in the north.  Dominicans and Augustinians arrived toward\nthe end of the 16th<\/sup> century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nPortuguese used their extensive powers of patronage and preference in\nappointments to promote Christianity. For varied reasons, many members of the\nlanded aristocracy in coastal areas embraced Christianity. They often took\nPortuguese surnames at baptism. Many coastal communities underwent mass\nconversion, particularly in Jaffna, Mannar, and the fishing communities north\nof Colombo. Catholic churches with schools attached to them served Catholic\ncommunities all over the country. Devastation of Buddhist establishments and\nundermining Buddhists was the order of the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • All Buddhist\ntemples, monasteries and places of learning along the coastal belt were\nplundered and destroyed by the Portuguese, and Buddhist monks and devotees associated\nwith these establishments  were subject\nto untold harassment.  Lands belonging to\nthese Buddhist sites were taken over and given to Catholic establishments.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    • The\nPortuguese plundered and destroyed the Citadel of Kotte, which was the\nadministrative capital of Sinhala Kings from the 14th<\/sup> century.  It was a fortified city known as\nJayawardanapura Kotte, and by the 15th<\/sup> century during the reign\nof  the famous Sinhala King Parakramabahu\nVI (1411-1467CE), it had expanded and developed to be a fabulous city.  <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      •  The Dalada Maligawa of Sri Jayawardenapura\nKotte, was one of the most spectacular Buddhist structures in the country at\nthe time of arrival of the Portuguese to Sri Lanka. This monumental religious\nstructure was completely destroyed by the Portuguese.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        • In 1575, the\nPortuguese set fire to the historic Kelani Rajamaha Viharaya and destroyed it\ncompletely. At that time, Kelani \nviharaya was the foremost shrine and monastery of the island\u2019s Buddhist\ncommunity.  At that time, the Buddhist\ncommunity accounted for almost 99% of the population of the country.  All lands that belonged to Kelani Rajamaha\nViharaya were taken over by the Portuguese and given to the Catholic Church. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
          •  Among other colossal Buddhist vihare and monastery\ncomplexes completely destroyed by the Portuguese were:  <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                 Mapitigama Rajamaha viharaya,  Wattala Rajamaha viharaya<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Devinuwara Rajamaha viharaya\nand associated buildings besides    the Munneswaram\nKovila in Chilaw.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            • The\nPortuguese plundered and destroyed all prominent  Buddhist Seats of Learning, most notably : <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

              The famous Vijayaba  Pirvena of Totagamuwa, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              The Padmavathi Pirivena of Keragala and <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              The Sunethra Devi  Pirivena of Pepiliyana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              These were seats of learning associated with reputed\nSinhala Buddhist scholars and literary icons at the time, such as Most\nVenerable  Totagamuwe Sri Rahula and  Most venerable Veedagama Maitreya Nayaka\nTheras. All lands that belonged to these seats of learning were taken away and\ngiven to the Catholic church.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Dr. Daya Hewapathirane<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Dr. Daya Hewapathirane From the year 1505 until 1658, for about 153 years, a good part of the coastal region of Sri Lanka was under the control of the Portuguese.  This was a period marked by extreme forms of violence and atrocities against the Sinhala community, especially the Sinhala Buddhists. It was a period  marked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-daya-hewapathirane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91122","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=91122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91122\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}