{"id":135004,"date":"2024-05-09T10:15:50","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T10:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=135004"},"modified":"2024-05-11T14:33:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-11T14:33:01","slug":"some-aspects-of-slavery-in-post-medieval-ceylon-and-the-role-of-sir-alexander-johnston-in-its-abolition-by-hugh-karunanayake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/some-aspects-of-slavery-in-post-medieval-ceylon-and-the-role-of-sir-alexander-johnston-in-its-abolition-by-hugh-karunanayake\/","title":{"rendered":"SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION  &#8211; By HUGH KARUNANAYAKE"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION &#8211; By HUGH KARUNANAYAKE<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-135147 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Hugh-Karunanayake.png\" alt=\"Hugh Karunanayake\" width=\"140\" height=\"162\" \/>Although slavery in Ceylon flourished during the occupation of the maritime provinces by the Portuguese and Dutch,it seemed that slavery existed as an acceptable practice, even during pre \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0colonial days, and that, despite the practice going against the core principles of the country\u2019s main religion, Buddhism. It was of course a global phenomenon in an age where \u201cmight was right\u201d and no one to espouse the cause of the underprivileged and those in need.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">It could be stated with some certainty that slavery thrived before the advent of mercantilism. In other words , investment in human capital was a sine qua non in an era where commercialism was yet to raise its head. Even in mediaval Europe, people with means owned slaves, traded in slaves, and even enslaved\u00a0 people of European descent as well as non -Europeans . Slaves were used for agricultural and artisanal labour as well as domestic, sexual, reproductive as well as military services. Slavery as a practice reached a climax with the discovery of the East and South of the globe when the newly discovered countries were seen as the main source of the supply chain of slaves. What is known today ethnographically as \u201cBlack America\u201d and also the West indies owe their existence\u00a0 to their founding fathers, who were the pioneering slaves imported in to the new world. It is on record that hundreds of\u00a0 thousands of slaves were imported from Africa. Slavery as a most abhorrent practice was stirring the conscience of communities in America and England to the point that literary works such as \u201c<strong>Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin<\/strong>\u201d began to prick the concience of the broader community.Racial discrimination against people of darker skin pigmentation was at the time,not only accepted as a social norm\u00a0 but legislatively protected as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">While there is some evidence of slavery existing in Sri Lanka from ancient times, it seems to have been confined to the king\u2019s household and possibly to members of the nobility, and do not seem to be a widespread feature. The founding Professor of Sociology in the University of Ceylon Prof Bryce Ryan in his work entitled \u201c Caste in Modern Ceylon\u201d stated that \u201c of slavery<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">\u00a0in ancient Ceylon and through most of the colonial period, there is ample evidence, but it \u00a0was not a product of conquest except in so far as Indian slaves were introduced, and it was an institution coincidental to caste.\u201d Further research seem to underscore the fact that enslavement was a feature of the caste system prevalent in the north and east of Ceylon. Colonial rule has also seemed\u00a0 to serve as a base for \u00a0enslavement as a practice in the north of Ceylon. The Portuguese rule in Jaffna lasted for forty years and was charecterised by high taxation and violence against the people in order to continue in control. Many temples in the peninsula were razed to the ground and many forced to convert to Roman Catholicism. The Nallur library was razed to the ground as if to assert \u00a0the conqueror\u2019s power; an act to be repeated centuries later \u00a0in Jaffna,by conquistadors from the South !<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Sri Lanka had by the time of British rule, gradually recognised slavery as a social norm. it was left to inspired individuals to take up the cause against slavery with vigour. A key crusader against slavery in Ceylon was Sir Alexander Johnston, the country\u2019s third Chief Justice.\u00a0 Sir Alexander was a man before his time. It was he who with the \u00a0best of intentions accompanied two Buddhist \u00a0monks to England ostensibly with the aim of broadening their intellectual horizons. However he entrusted them to the care of Rev Adam Clarke who converted \u00a0the two monks Ven Muni Ratne and Dharmaratne to the Christian faith and they returned to the island converted to Christianity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-135012 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/SOME-ASPECTS-OF-SLAVERY-IN-POST-MEDIEVAL-CEYLON.jpg\" alt=\"SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION - By HUGH KARUNANAYAKE\" width=\"504\" height=\"430\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Dr Adam Clarke with the two monks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The protestant ethic had in the meantime gained great ground in the occident, and\u00a0 its conscience was stirred. It was difficult \u00a0to reconcile the gospel of Christ with the human bondage that was slavery. Anti slavery\u00a0 movements began to appear in the early 19 th century. Many books, pamphlets were written and published, oratory against slavery was the favoured flavour of the time. It was against this backdrop that Sir Aexander Johnston the third Chief Justice of Ceylon took office.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-135007 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/SOME-ASPECTS-OF-SLAVERY-IN-POST-MEDIEVAL-CEYLON-2.jpg\" alt=\"SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION - By HUGH KARUNANAYAKE\" width=\"382\" height=\"495\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-135008 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/SOME-ASPECTS-OF-SLAVERY-IN-POST-MEDIEVAL-CEYLON-3-e1715249492560.jpg\" alt=\"SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION - By HUGH KARUNANAYAKE\" width=\"600\" height=\"393\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">\u00a0(Above)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 TWO EXAMPLES OF ANTI SLAVERY MATERIAL<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-135009 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/SOME-ASPECTS-OF-SLAVERY-IN-POST-MEDIEVAL-CEYLON-4.jpg\" alt=\"SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION - By HUGH KARUNANAYAKE\" width=\"412\" height=\"511\" \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The person to whom the country owes much in terms of the social reforms initiated during the early British period, is none other than Sir Alexanderr Johnston. Johnston was responsible for bringing the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mahavamsa\">Mahavamsa<\/a>, Sri Lanka&#8217;s historical epic, to European attention when he sent manuscripts of it and other Sinhala chronicles to Europe for publication during his tenure as Chief Justice.\u00a0Johnston encouraged the translation of the\u00a0Mahavamsa\u00a0and other works in order to bring British colonial law into alignment with local traditions and values. The reforms that Sir Alexander Johnston made included universal public education, freedom of religious practice, abolishment of slavery,\u00a0employment of natives in government, and the codification of laws including the traditional views of Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists.He was indeed a pioneer social reformer whose impact was felt even during the centuries that followed. The Dictionary of National Biography refers to Sir Alexander thus : Under his impulse Ceylon now led the vanguard of Indian reform. A system of universal popular education was set on foot, religious liberty was established, and the owners of slaves were led to agree to their complete emancipation; public employment was largely opened to the natives and half-castes, while Europeans were permitted to acquire land; trial by jury was established, and a considerable advance was made in the preparation of a code of law, in which provision was made for the due preservation of the views and usages of Hindus, Muhamadans, and Buddhists<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Sir Alexander Johnston as Chief Justice introduced the jury system to Ceylon as a key component of judicial administration. Being aware of the various ethnic, caste and religious groups that formed the population of the country, he took great care to ensure that jurors represented the broader community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-135010 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/SOME-ASPECTS-OF-SLAVERY-IN-POST-MEDIEVAL-CEYLON-5-e1715249513633.jpg\" alt=\"SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION - By HUGH KARUNANAYAKE\" width=\"600\" height=\"314\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Table depicting ethnic \/caste composition of jurors in 1812<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-135011 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/SOME-ASPECTS-OF-SLAVERY-IN-POST-MEDIEVAL-CEYLON-6-e1715249528781.jpg\" alt=\"SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION - By HUGH KARUNANAYAKE\" width=\"600\" height=\"417\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Jurors at the Supteme Court \u00a0Watercolour by James \u00a0Stephanoff\u00a0 1818\/19.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 EMANCIPATION OF CHILDREN BORN TO SLAVES<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">On the 10 of July 1816, \u00a0Sir Alexander Johnson wrote to the Dutch gentlemen belonging to the Special Jury stating inter alia \u201c<strong><em>many of you are aware of the measure I proposed in 1806 to the principal proprietors of slaves in the island, and of the reason for which its adoption at that time was postponed. Allow me to avail myself of the present opportunity to suggest to you, that should those proprietors, in consequence \u00a0of the change \u00a0which has since taken place in the circumstances of this island,now think that such a measure is advisable,they will. By carrying it into effect,set a bright example to their countrymen, and show themselves worthy of being ranked amongst the benefactors of the human race.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Sir Alexander\u2019s proposal was to grant freedom to all chidren born of slaves in bondage. Needless to say the\u00a0 Dutch members of the Special Jury responded magnificently with a unanimous resolution \u00a0that \u201c <strong><em>all chidren who may be born of slaves from and after the 12 August 1816(inclusive) shall be considered free.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Jurors from other communities including \u00a0Sinhalese, Malabars, Mohameddans, Chitties, and Burghers following the lead given by the Dutch, also unanimouslty resolved that all children born of slaves from and after 12 August 1816 were considered free. There were some mumblings about reparations, but not strong enough to capture Vice Regal attention. That was\u00a0 an age where outward manifestations of a family\u2019s wealth was judged by the number of slaves owned. The die was cast for the future emancipation of all slaves in the island which took place in 1833. The Census oof 1911 records that provision was made for compensation to owners of\u00a0 15 000 slaves during the last decade of the nineteenth century.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Sir Alexander Johnston is little remembered today in a country whose people benefitted immensely from his humanitarian and benevolent dispensations. A small compensatory \u00a0appreciation of his work could however be seen in the descendants of Ven Dharmaratne\u00a0 some of whom live in various parts of the world today, including Sri Lanka, under the assumed family name of Alexander!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #800000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/elanka-newsletter-sign-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Click here to receive your free copy of the eLanka Newsletter twice a week delivered directly\u00a0to\u00a0your\u00a0inbox!<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION &#8211; By HUGH KARUNANAYAKE Although slavery in Ceylon flourished during the occupation of the maritime provinces by the Portuguese and Dutch,it seemed that slavery existed as an acceptable practice, even during pre \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0colonial days, and that, despite [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":135008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,60476],"tags":[64507],"class_list":{"0":"post-135004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-aside","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-articles","8":"category-hugh-karunanayake","9":"tag-although-slavery-i","10":"post_format-post-format-aside"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.7.1 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION - By HUGH KARUNANAYAKE - eLanka<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Although slavery in Ceylon flourished during the occupation of the maritime provinces by the Portuguese and Dutch,it seemed that slavery existed as\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION - By HUGH KARUNANAYAKE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although slavery in Ceylon flourished during the occupation of the maritime provinces by the Portuguese and Dutch,it seemed that slavery existed as\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/some-aspects-of-slavery-in-post-medieval-ceylon-and-the-role-of-sir-alexander-johnston-in-its-abolition-by-hugh-karunanayake\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eLanka\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-09T10:15:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-11T14:33:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/SOME-ASPECTS-OF-SLAVERY-IN-POST-MEDIEVAL-CEYLON-3-e1715249492560.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"393\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/some-aspects-of-slavery-in-post-medieval-ceylon-and-the-role-of-sir-alexander-johnston-in-its-abolition-by-hugh-karunanayake\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/some-aspects-of-slavery-in-post-medieval-ceylon-and-the-role-of-sir-alexander-johnston-in-its-abolition-by-hugh-karunanayake\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"eLanka admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd\"},\"headline\":\"SOME ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN POST MEDIEVAL CEYLON AND THE ROLE OF SIR ALEXANDER JOHNSTON IN ITS ABOLITION &#8211; 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