Galle Fort inspired him to learn Dutch
As a young boy standing in the shadow of the Galle Fort, what
thoughts would have passed through the mind of K. D. Paranavitana? He
had looked at the ramparts of the massive and splendid Galle Fort
created by Dutch ingenuity on his countless visits to Galle. But why
return countless times? What was the fascination with these stone
structures that compelled him to study Dutch? That put him on the path
to a career in the Department of National Archives in Sri Lanka? That he
would be knighted by the Queen of Netherlands for his contribution to
the study of the historical relations between The Netherlands and Sri
Lanka?
“I was born in Ginimellagaha, a small village by the side of Gin
Ganga, in Baddegama. I had my early schooling in the Telikada Government
School. Subsequently, I joined Ratnasara Vidyalaya in Baddegama. The
high priest was Ven. Ganegama Saranankara, who studied at Shantiniketan
in India. He was a prolific writer, honoured with the National Literary
Award.
Dr. K. D. Paranavitana |
He was really my guru at that time. As there were no higher classes
in the village school, I got admission to All Saints’ College in Galle
which was later converted to Galle Central College from where I entered
the University in 1964. During my childhood I used to visit the City of
Galle occasionally. Since 1952 onwards from time to time, I went there
with my parents and relatives.
The Galle Fort is a massive construction created by the Dutch and I
was very curious about it. So I continued my reading about the Galle
Fort,” said Paranavitana.
“I first joined the University of Ceylon, Colombo, where at the end
of the first year, I was selected to do a special degree in Sinhala
language. As the special degree courses were not conducted at Colombo at
the time, prospective students were transferred to Peradeniya. There in
addition to my major subject which was Sinhala, I also studied Ceylon
History and Archaeology as subsidiary subjects. With this background, I
thought of a future career in the Department of National Archives,
Department of Archaeology or in the National Museum as those three
departments were related to the subjects I had studied. After graduation
I applied to the National Archives and I was taken in 1970 as an
Assistant Archivist.”
Sri Lankan history
At the National Archives there are about 8,000 volumes of Dutch
records relating to the Dutch period of Sri Lankan history which spanned
for almost 150 years. Among them there is also a unique collection of
land registers which are called Tombos. You don’t find such collections
anywhere in the world where the Dutch East India Company had ruled like
Indonesia or South Africa. Registering lands in the Tombos were started
by the Portuguese and improved by the Dutch. The system was improved by
the Dutch in order to collect as many taxes as possible from the produce
of the village folk. The Dutch documents constitute a very important
part of the colonial archives available at the National Archives.
“The Dutch burghers who were employed in the National Archives
earlier were well versed in Dutch. After their terms of office, interest
towards the Dutch archives gradually diminished. When I joined the
National Archives, there was no officer who was competent to read and
translate Dutch documents such as Memoirs of the Dutch Governors or the
Minutes of the Council Meetings. Therefore, there was a great need to
have a specialist in 17th and 18th century Dutch language and I was
encouraged to fill this gap.”
European languages
Dr. Paranavitana has a natural inclination to learn languages. “I
tried to learn several European languages – Portuguese, French, and
Dutch - and I found Dutch relatively easier. I did a self study here in
Sri Lanka and later I got a scholarship from the Foreign Ministry of The
Netherlands. I spent one year for the post graduate diploma and another
six months to learn 17th and 18th century Dutch language. The
environment there was very conducive to learn the language in a natural
setting. My colleagues at the National Archives of The Netherlands did
not allow me to speak in English. My teachers all spoke in Dutch and my
lessons and examinations were all in Dutch. So my dissertation was also
in the Dutch language.”
Subsequently he obtained his Ph.D. from the University of New South
Wales in Sydney, Australia, for the research thesis written on the topic
"The Archives of the Dutch East India Company Administration in Ceylon
1640-1796.”
Explaining the nature of the Dutch records, he said that the reading
of those documents was no easy task because the language of that period
was not standardized. “One sentence can run through the whole document,
so one has to really understand where this sentence has to be broken.
When I translate, I always do that; I split the sentence and take part
by part and try to grasp the correct rendering of what the original
writer meant. It is his view that we ought to translate.
The other problem is the calligraphy – the writings. There are lots
of abbreviations and various words borrowed from other European
languages such as French and German and even English. The Dutch East
India Company employed people from different parts of the Netherlands.
Also there were people from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and
France.”
“It was the world’s first multi national and limited liability
company. Sri Lanka’s maritime districts were governed by the Dutch East
India Company, a trading organization. The Portuguese rulers were
appointed by the Crown of Portugal and they were government employees,
so they had to report to the Portuguese Crown. Whereas the Dutch
officers were obliged to report to their Board of Directors in
Amsterdam.”
Archival work
According to Dr. Paranavitana, there is an agreement between the
governments of Sri Lanka and The Netherlands which has been referred to
as “The Netherlands and Sri Lanka Cultural Cooperation Programme” under
which funds were provided to translate certain important documents.
There are many publications to his credit. Among them are: An
Inventory of Sri Lanka Maps in the General State Archives in the
Netherland; Journal of Spilbergen, The First Dutch Envoy to Ceylon 1602;
Land for Money: Dutch Land Registration in Sri Lanka.
He has also written a very interesting book on the Galle Fort, a
place which he was fascinated with since his childhood (Galle Fort: The
Heritage City). He has also edited The Dutch and Sinhalese Dictionary
authored by Dutch clergyman Simon Cat. Recently he has made an English
translation of “The Travel Diary of the Dutch Governor of Ceylon Isaac
Augustine Rumpf (1719)”. Even though he has retired from the National
Archives, one could still see him there occupied with Dutch documents.
Dr. Paranavitana was also instrumental in organizing the Presidential
Archives during the tenure of office of J. R. Jayewardene. “President
Jayewardene was very fond of his library and wanted to establish a
Presidential Archives. He had a discussion with the then Director of the
National Archives who asked me to be in charge of that work. I had the
privilege of working with President Jayewardene for about twelve years.
I was very happy to be associated with that project. This institution is
now known as J. R. Jayewardene Centre.”
Besides his interest in archival work, he also had a fascination for
academic teaching. After serving the National Archives for 27 years, he
decided to join the academic staff of the Rajarata University in
Mihintale in 1996 where he functioned as the Head of the Department of
Humanities. “Many of the Arts subjects came under the purview of the
Department of Humanities. I loved teaching. After serving 13 years I
retired from the university service in 2010 as the Professor of
Humanities.”
In recognition of his contribution to the study of historical and
bilateral relations between the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, he was
decorated by the Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands with Knight of the
Order of Orange Nassau. “I never expected any honour or anything at that
time. I worked with dedication and commitment, and I am happy that my
contribution has been recognized by the Dutch monarchy.” |