Ferguson rediscovered
 June
29 happened to be an important day to the undergraduates and the staff
of the Social Sciences Faculty of the University of Kelaniya. The day
was coincident with the death centenary of the archeological and
historian Donald W. Ferguson (1853 - 1910), a rare scholar who dealt
mainly on the studies pertaining to the two historic periods of
Portuguese and Dutch invasion. These descriptions are a rare collection
on Sri Lanka, then Ceylon.
At the University
The seminar to mark this event was sponsored by the Asian Studies
Centre, Department of Mass Communication of Kelaniya University. An
array of varying types of scholars, enthusiasts who knew the works of D.
W. Ferguson, and those who wanted to know about him and his works
attended the seminar, which was addressed by two main presenters, Gaston
Perera and Dr. K. D. G. Wimalaratne. The seminar was chaired by
Professor Anura Manatunga and Chandrasiri Rajapaksa, the Social Sciences
Dean.
As a point in commencement, a brief biographical sketch was
presented. That helped the participants understand Ferguson as a person
as well as a scholar, and where he stood in his subject area. In
addition, a rare publication titled as Gasper Correa's Lendas Da India,
translated by D. W. Ferguson, was also lauded with an introduction by
Gaston Perera. The journal is published by Royal Asiatic Society of Sri
Lanka (first print 2010).
This monograph too was of help to the reader on knowing the life and
words of D. W. Ferguson. As this scholar Perera states, the Fergusons
were a well known family in Ceylon of the late 19th Century. D. W.
Ferguson is the son of an eminent English journalist and the co-editor
of Ceylon Observer at the time, A. M. Ferguson. He came to the country
in the 1840s and after a failed start in planting and officialdom, had
settled down in the profession of journalism. This was an important
factor for the mass communication history students in our country.
Making of a scholar
Followed by the success as a co-editor, A. M Ferguson had later been
the proprietor of the paper. His youngest son Donald Ferguson too was
influenced by his father to take up writing, research and investigation
into various aspects of history. Donald was born in Ceylon in 1853 and
had his primary and secondary education in the United Kingdom. One
significant point is that he had accrued these skills without any
university education or any other form of higher education.
D. W. Ferguson had been known as a linguist who had self studied
languages such as Greek, Portuguese and Spanish, in addition to English
and Latin. Browsing through the learned articles on Portuguese and Dutch
periods in Ceylon, as published in the journal of Royal Asiatic Society
(Ceylon Branch), a reader may see his cursory references to Sinhala,
Pali and Snaksrit sources. During his travels from one country to
another he had been an avid lover of books, and had been a frequent
visitor to the British Museum.
The volume of articles titled as Lendas du India is a collection of
rare historical material that are relevant to the local history as seen
by Gasper Correa. They were initially translated and published in Ceylon
Literary Register from November 1888 to February 1889.
Gaston Perera's interpretation
As stated by Gaston Perera, Ferguson's collection of books has a
history of its own, with the acquisition of the Ceylon Observer by D. R.
Wijewardene. Donald Ferguson's collection is known as the 'Ferguson
collection' available in the Wijewardene library to those interested
Asian Educational Services in New Delhi. Its title reads: 'The Earliest
Dutch Visits to Ceylon'. Going through these copies a reader may
discover that these come as a posthumous publication in JRAS (C. B),
since they refer to a period of publication from 1927 onwards.
Perera refers to a monograph titled as 'The Ferguson Section of D. R.
Wijewardene Library'. In the monograph series 1, a detailed account is
given as further information. Most of the learned articles written by D.
W. Ferguson and published in journal of Royal Asiatic Society are now
compiled in the opening article Ferguson says that 'The first visits of
the Dutch to Ceylon 1601 and 1602 were not accidental, but pre-arranged
that is certain."
Then he goes on to submit corroborative evidence from various sources
hitherto untranslated.
Some of the points raised in this seminar were of interest not only
to a specialized audience, but to many outsiders as well. At a time when
the entire university structure and culture are dormant requiring a
serious discourse, this was a pleasant and resourceful encounter.
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