It has been 200 years since the first recorded freedom struggle in Sri Lanka against the British occupation, and Isuri Kaviratne from the Sunday Observer journeyed to Uva-Vellassa to trace ancient memories of those first cries for liberty. Vellassa, the land of a hundred thousand paddy-fields and the rice bowl of the country, forever altered by that struggle, after the British used scorched earth policies to quell the uprising, rendering the region one of the poorest in the island to date. This is the first installment of a story that is neither forgotten nor forgiven
Smiles, everybody smiles, as a response to the question, ‘So what happened after 1818?’ and one resident of Vellassa answered my question; ‘Nothing! Nothing happened in Vellassa after 1818’. Well, nothing good. As Prof Gananath Obesekera has written in his articles, Vellassa was ignored during the colonial era and even afterwards.
“That’s a result of the D’Oyly syndrome, it’s plaguing our society”, H.M. Gunaratne Banda said, referring to Sir John D’Oyly, a famous colonial administrator who learnt Sinhala and mingled with the local communities freely. He is said to be one of the masterminds behind drafting the 1815 Kandyan Convention. “D’Oyly is dead and gone, but his influence still remains and the seeds he planted still control our mindset. That’s why the uprising is even now called a rebellion, not a freedom struggle, from the viewpoint of the colonizers”. Undoubtedly, the action taken by the government to decriminalize heroes who took part in the 1818 uprising is a relief and the families feel great to be recognized, but Vellassa remains the same; the people have lost everything. Some descendants claim they didn’t get invites, for the commemorative event some couldn’t make it because they couldn’t afford it, and some were forgotten because history is not kind. All in all, their lives remain the same. The lives, culture, land and history that were lost, were lost forever. The Sunday Observer was told that the public wrote to the Archaeological Department on protecting historical sites, such as the walauwa that is said to be Bhutewe Rate Rala’s which now houses the mosque in the area, but are yet to hear from the authorities.
It is said, when squashing the uprising, Robert Brownrigg, the then governor of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) said he’ll stop it in such a way that people in Vellassa wouldn’t be able to stand up on their own feet for 200 years to come, and he was proven right. In a letter he had written to Earl Bathurst in 1817, he explains how armies led by Major McDonald who was the Commandant in Badulla back then, burnt houses, livestock, cultivated lands of Vellassa, and the people stood by in silence unable to do anything, only with a glimmer of determination in their eyes that they will retaliate, watching their homeland burning to dust.
But, what happened in Vellassa in 1818 in not a simple story to tell. Academically, there can be several reasons for the Uva Vellassa uprising: the lords in Kandy didn’t want to live under the rule of the British; the taxes they had to pay was increased; Buddhism was not given the importance that was promised in the 1815 Kandyan Convention that people in Vellassa refer to as the ‘Agreement of Tears’. But most importantly, people in Vellassa didn’t recognize the foreign king, and didn’t want to surrender their independence to this unknown entity.
When the British rulers heard whispers of people organizing in Vellassa against their ruling, they appointed one of their supporters known as ‘Hajji Muhandiram’ as administrative head of the area, which was not welcomed by the people, especially, because there weren’t any Muslim communities in Vellassa back then.
Eventually, he was captured and imprisoned by Bhutewe Rate Rala,and Assist. Resident Sylvester Douglas Wilson and a group of soldiers visited Vellassa on a rescue mission. There are several versions among people in Vellassa as to how the incident occurred. Some say, he came for a discussion but brought spies with him to scout the area; others say, he was prepared for an attack. However, after a failed discussion, he was on his way back when Wilson made an unexpected stop, and decided to spend the night in Vellassa.
Folk tales will tell you how Meegaha Pitiye Rate Rala was suspicious of Wilson, followed him and saw how he broke the journey unexpectedly and sent scouts around. He got on to a rock, took aim, one arrow, one shot, that hit Sylvester Douglas Wilson. His army retreated immediately.
This was not taken lightly by Governor Brownrigg. Stories of the atrocities they faced have passed down from parent to child, sibling to sibling, and the people in Vellassa still remember how Brownrigg wanted to kill 1,000 from Vellassa for every British soldier that fell, and destroyed over 12,000 lakes. Vellassa, the name that reflected thousands and thousands of acres of paddy fields were destroyed, and every man and woman above the age of 16 massacred. The remaining land was acquired by the state, and Muslims supportive of them were settled. Dr. John Davy who visited Vellassa 12 years after the uprising, wrote in his journal that he didn’t see any cultivated land, or livestock, or any people for seven days. There was nobody to even ask what happened.
When step aside from the documents stored at the British National Archives and listen to oral histories of the people, the situation gets more complicated. There is a house that people still refer to as, ‘Maru Gedara’ where descendants of Meegaha Pitye Rate Rala still reside.
H.M. Gunabanda, one of his descendants, said, their family used to live in the area where the house of Rate Rala was situated before the colonisers burnt it down, but gradually moved out. Meanwhile, H.M. Muthubanda a retired Principal in the area narrates the story he heard from his ancestors, that Douglas Wilson indeed fired weapons at Bhutewe Rate Rala the previous night and was taking a detour when he met Kohukumbure Rate Rala, Bhewe Rate Rala and Meegaha Pitiye Rate Rala the following day, when Meegaha Pitiye Gamethi Rala took aim and shot Wilson.
There are different variations to every story in Vellassa, which people assure to be the truth they heard from their ancestors, concluding that scattered families tried to hold on to their past, and at times, changed the story so as to protect their identities, scared for their lives in the face of the atrocities committed.
There are two parts to the 1818 uprising; first is the freedom struggle that was initiated in Vellassa, led by civilians. Second is the involvement of the Kandyan Lords, taking the fight to the heart of Kandy. It is with the involvement of the Kandyan counterpart that a legitimacy was given to the freedom struggle, bringing the ‘daladawa’ to Vellassa for protection.
On the other hand, it recognized familiar names as heroes. Signing the 1815 Agreement and living in Kandy under the English ruling didn’t make Keppetipola Disawe a hero, au contraire, the last few months of his life spent fighting the freedom struggle made him a hero.
But Keppetipola is too famous a name for history to play a trick and disappear. There are others to whom history was unkind. Bhutewe Rate Rala and Kohukumbure Rate Rala who were said to have sat down for discussion with Keppetipola when he first came to Vellassa with the British army; Meegaha Pitiye Rate Rala who, with one arrow, shot Wilson, and Nape Rewatha thero, Ambagolle Thero, Monarawane Buddharakkhitha Thero, said to be the masterminds of the freedom struggle that even the British feared; Vilbawe thera and Doresamy (Dura deru samy-the monk who held a position) who some claim to be the same person, while others claim the former kept up appearances to protect the latter who was the king the people recognized to lead the rebellion; have almost been wiped out from today’s history books.
Some heroes such as, Kiulegedara Mohottala are known as a criminal under the English Legal System. The ‘Vedda’ community who played an equally important role in the uprising too are forgotten. People of Vellassa are constantly referred to as uncivilized barbaric people in letters written by Brownrigg.
“That’s mostly due to what D’Oyly wrote” Gunaratne said. “He learnt our language, infiltrated into our society, and wrote a version of our history that we still teach in schools. The winner writes the history. Not the losing party. We know it, but we don’t act on it,” Gunaratne, who is the Secretary of Vel-Eliya Foundation said. “Unfortunately, the D’Oyly syndrome is too strong, we recognize the heroes that the British wanted us to, in the way they intended them to be remembered”.
If the purpose is to know what really happened in Vellassa, it’s 200 years too late. But their folk tales are still very much alive. That’s what’s left of the Uva Vellassa freedom struggle. We don’t trust oral traditions, and we require proof from British archives, from letters Robert Brownrigg wrote. Or statements the English made, or stories D’Oyly wrote in his diary. The winner takes it all, loser standing small, all over again.
Gunaratne pointed out another reason for the lack of historical events recorded. “People who came into power after the colonization, didn’t find the truth appealing.
“Too many betrayals, especially, if you had power, wealth during the colonial era,” he said.“The other reason is that our children have left us. They have left this poverty stricken area. They have embraced what is trendy these days and we can’t keep up with them, or do anything to make them feel their heritage in their blood. They only return looking for treasures and we don’t have any. Therefore, they stopped coming back to us.”
70 years of independence has not been kind to Vellassa either, as it still remains the poorest area in Sri Lanka, with minimal development projects taking place. Out of the said 12,000 lakes, a handful has been repaired, such as Mallipotha Lake with its ancient structures still visible where they were destroyed.
It emits a sense of nostalgia of the ancient glory of Vellassa, On the other hand, Mallipotha Lake fails to provide adequate water for cultivation in the area. People told the Sunday Observer that an irrigation scheme is most welcome, but not in the way the Weheragala Scheme was constructed, which diverted water from the Menik River in the poorest region of the country, to Lunugamvehera, another area with dire water needs.
There are stories of Vellassa in circulation that are pleasing to listen to. But if you peep deep inside, you see that there’s nothing left. If this article feels like a constant plaguing, that is the feeling of the people in Vellassa who have been neglected for 200 years by the D’Oylys of the West and East.
Pix: Thilak Perera