Portuguese Encounters with Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Portuguese Encounters with Sri Lanka and the Maldives: Translated Texts from the Age of the Discoveries is designed to provide access to translations of 16th- and 17th-century documents which illustrate various aspects of this encounter, combining texts from indigenous sources with those from the Portuguese histories and archives. These documents contribute to the growing understanding that different groups of European colonizers - missionaries, traders and soldiers - had conflicting motivations and objectives. Scholars have also begun to emphasize that the colonized were not mere victims but had their own agendas and that they occasionally successfully manipulated colonial powers. The texts in this volume help to substantiate these assertions while also illustrating the changing nature of the interactions. The present volume contains chapters covering the Portuguese arrival in Sri Lanka and their first encounters with the island and its peoples, their subsequent relations with Kandy and Jaffna, and a final chapter on Portuguese relations with the Maldive Islands. A historical introduction provides the context in which the documents can be read and a select bibliography indicates the most recent and authoritative secondary works on the subject

Chandra R. de Silva is Professor of History and Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

Contents: Introduction; The first visit of the Portuguese to Sri Lanka; Sri Lanka and its peoples; King Bhuvanekabahu and the Portuguese; Kandy: religion and politics; Jaffna: conquest, resistance and governance; The Peace Treaty of 1617; The Portuguese and the Maldives; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.