Repression of Buddhism in Sri Lanka By Portuguese (1505 – 1658) - Part 1

The First Phase of Western Colonialism -The Portuguese Period (1505 – 1658)

The European entry into Asia, commencing with the Portuguese in the 16th century, was driven by two principal factors, namely the aim of colonizing Asian countries for purpose of trade and exploitation of natural resources, and converting the inhabitants of these lands to Christianity.

The Portuguese had as one of its primary aims the propagation of the Christian faith in the newly ‘discovered’ lands of Asia, including Sri Lanka (called ‘ Ceilao’ by the Portuguese) and the realisation of this aim was accompanied by steps taken to suppress wherever possible all other religions extant in these lands namely Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam.

Crown Patronage of missionary activity in the East

The Portuguese authority to spread Christianity in the East was derived from the Papal Bulls issued by the Popes namely Calixtus III, Nicholas V, Alexander V1 and the Pope’s Treaty of Tordesillas (in 1492), which divided the newly ‘ discovered’ lands between Spain and Portugal, and imposed on the rulers of these countries the duty of propagating the Christian faith. The Western part of the world was allocated to Spain and the Eastern part to Portugal.

To the Portuguese the Christianisation of newly ‘discovered’ lands was a State objective. The Portuguese Crown maintained the entire ecclesiastical establishment in the East. The Doctrine of Padroado (jus patrionatus established by the Papal Bulls of 1514) provided the authority for missionary work to be in the hands of the Portuguese Crown in areas where Portugal claimed political rights.

The noted historian C. R. Boxer says “The conviction that Portugal was the missionary nation above all the others in the Western World – Alferes da Fe, ‘standard bearer of the faith’ as the poet – playwright Gil Vicente boasted – was widespread and deeply rooted among all classes”. ( 1)

Further Royal dispatches addressed to Viceroys, Governors and Bishops began with these words (or words to that effect) in the opening sentence “ Forasmuch as the first and principal obligation of the Kings of Portugal is to forward the work of conversion by all means in their power ……” (2) The Padroado has been loosely defined as a combination of the rights, privileges and duties granted by the Papacy to the Crown of Portugal as patron of the Roman Catholic missions and ecclesiastical establishments in the regions of Africa, Asia and Brazil. (3)

The Padroado Real or Royal patronage of the Church overseas was one of the most cherished prerogatives of the Portuguese Crown. It was to become the cause of bitter disputes between Portuguese missionaries and other Roman Catholic powers. (4)

Diogo do Couto, the Portuguese Soldier cum Chronicler says in his sixth book ‘ Decada’ (1612) that “ The Kings of Portugal always aimed in this conquest of the East at so uniting the two powers, spiritual and temporal, that the one should never be exercised without the other ” (5)

Father Paulo de Trindade, the Franciscan Chronicler, writing in his ‘ Spiritual Conquest of the East’ at Goa in 1638, says ‘ The two swords of the civil and the ecclesiastical power were always so close together in the conquest of the East that we seldom find one being used without the other: for the weapons only conquered through the right that the preaching of the Gospel gave them, and the preaching was only of some use when it was accompanied and protected by the weapons” (6)

It is in the exercise of the Padroado Real that we see the close collaboration between the Church and the State in the promotion of Christian missionary activity in conquered lands. An important component of this relationship was the doctrinal position of the Papacy, which was vigorously upheld by the Church that ‘ temporal possessions were occupied unlawfully by the infidels’ in conquered lands and that these ‘ should be allotted among the faithful’.(7) There was an inter-locking policy of temporal and spiritual objectives where benefits flowed to both the Vatican and Portugal.

The Dark Age in Sri Lanka’s History

The propagation of Christianity commenced with the arrival of the Portuguese in Colombo in 1505, in a fleet of ships commanded by a young sailor named Don Lourenco de Almeida, son of the first Portuguese Viceroy of India.

Father S.G. Perera in his book ‘A History of Ceylon for Schools’ divides the Portuguese presence in the island as falling into three distinct stages (8):

a) Portuguese – Sinhalese alliance (1505 – 1551)

b) Portuguese Protectorate of Kotte (1551 – 1597)

c) Portuguese Domination (1597 – 1658)

Learned Historians and commentators now generally regard the arrival of the Portuguese in the year 1505 as the beginning of the Dark Age in the history of Sri Lanka. The Portuguese through a policy of cunning statecraft and ruthless terror were able to govern the coastal areas of the island for most of the next 150 years, until the Dutch replaced them in 1658.

The Rajavaliya describes the entry of the Portuguese to Sri Lanka thus:-

"There is in our harbour of Colombo a race of people, fair of skin and comely withal. They don jackets and hats of iron, rest not a minute in one place but walk here and there. They eat hunks of stone and drink blood." (9)

Several noted historians and commentators have expressed their indignation over the methods employed by the Portuguese during their period of dominance in the following words :

Sir James Emerson Tennent refers to the Portuguese conduct in Sri Lanka in these terms-

"There is no page in the story of European colonization more gloomy and repulsive than that which recounts the proceedings of the Portuguese in Ceylon. Astonished at the magnitude of their enterprises, and the glory of their discoveries and conquests in India, the rapidity and success of which secured for Portugal an unprecedented renown, we are ill-prepared to hear of the rapacity, bigotry and cruelty which characterized every stage of their progress in the East. They appeared in the Indian seas in the three-fold character of merchants, missionaries and pirates. Their ostensible motto was amity, commerce and religion. Their expeditions consisted of soldiers as well as adventurers, and included friars and chaplain majors. Their instructions were to begin by preaching, but, that failing, to proceed to the decision of the sword." (10)

The historian Paul E. Peiris observes :

“They found in Ceylon a contented race and a fairly prosperous country ….. and it is melancholy to reflect that they succeeded in producing nothing but chaos. Out of a long list of high - born Hidalgos whom Portugal sent to Ceylon, it is difficult to point to one name as that of an enlightened statesman and high - principled administrator….

No stately fabric remains as compensating for that religious fanaticism to which ample witness is borne by the devastated ruins of those lovely structures which the piety of generations had strewn broadcast over the country… Their bequest to the Dutch was a colony of half –castes, a failing agriculture, a depopulated country, and a miserable and ill - conditioned people… They had in Ceylon an opportunity almost unique in the experience of European nations in the East, but their moral fiber had proved unequal to the occasion…”.(11)

G.P. Malalasekera in his Ph.D. dissertation which was later published as a book under the title ‘The Pali Literature of Ceylon’ makes the following comment in lucid language on the high handed methods employed by the Portuguese in pursuit of their colonial objectives which included conversion of the people of the country into Christianity and the concomitant repression of Buddhism:

"Every stage of their progress was marked by a rapacity, bigotry, cruelty and inhumanity unparalleled in the annals of any other European colonial power. Their ferocity and their utter indifference of all suffering increased with the success of their army; their inhuman barbarities were accompanied by callousness which knew no distinction between man, woman and child; no feeling of compassion was strong enough to stay their savage hands in their fell work. To terrify their subjects and bring home to them the might of the Portuguese Power, they committed atrocities which had they not been found recorded in the decades of their friendly historians, seems too revolting to be true. Babes were spitted on the soldier's pikes and held up that their parents might hear the young cocks crow. Sometimes they were mashed to pulp between millstones, while their mothers were compelled to witness the pitiful sight before they themselves were tortured to death. Men were thrown over bridges for the amusement of the troops to feed the crocodiles in the river, which eventually grew so tame that at whistle they would raise their heads above the water in anticipation of the welcome feast." (12)

Footnotes

1. Boxer, C.R.,The Portuguese Seaborne Empire 1415 – 1825 ( London: Hutchinson) 231

2. Boxer, The Portuguese …., 231

3. Boxer, ….228

4. Boxer, …..228

5. Boxer,…… 228

6. Boxer…….228

7. Perera, S.G., A History of Ceylon for Schools – The Portuguese and the Dutch Periods 1505 – 1795, ( Colombo: Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd., 1932) 134

8. Rajavaliya, ( A Historical Narrative of Sinhalese Kings from Vijaya to Vimala Dharma Surya II ), ( Colombo: Government Printer, 1900) 63

9. Tennent, Sir James Emerson, quoted in the ‘Betrayal of Buddhism’ Abridged version of the Report of the Buddhist Committee of Inquiry, 1956, vii – viii

10. Peiris, P.E. quoted in the ‘Betrayal of Buddhism’ Abridged version of the Report of the Buddhist Committee of Inquiry, 1956, ix –x

11. Malalasekera, G.P., The Pali Literature of Ceylon ( Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1994 ) 261 –262 ( quoting Manuel de Faria e Sousa, The Portuguese Asia)

12. Boxer, 66