Robert Knox Archives

Into the Vanni and Jaffna of the 17th Century-by Darshani Ratnawalli Source:Thuppahis His name was Knox. Robert Knox. English. He was a prisoner in Lanka from 1660 to 1680. Finally he escaped from Kandy or more specifically from Rajasinha II, who claimed to be the sovereign overlord of the whole of Lanka and its people. The world-view Rajasinha II inherited as a ruler of Sinhalē (a perception of pan island chakravartihood) comes across in his correspondence with the Dutch. He told them that “the black people of this island of Ceilao, wheresoever they might be, [are] my vassals by right”- (Roberts: 2004[i]:78). In the royal view, the Dutch were the “faithful Hollanders, the guardians of his coast” and earlier during his enterprise to oust the Portuguese, they were “his hired guns”. In Rajasinha II’s early letters to the Hollanders (written in Portuguese) he was “The most potent Emperor of Ceilao” while they were “My ...

Robert Knox Memorial – tribute to a British Traveler By Arundathie Abeysinghe Located at Eladatte in Lagundeniya about 12 kilometers from Gampola town, this memorial is a tribute to *Robert Knox who lived in *Ceylon for almost 20 years as a captive of *King Rajasinghe II, the ruler of the Kandyan Kingdom. Robert Knox was an English Sea Captain who served in the British East India Company. In 1659, when the ship he was sailing had a malfunction and landed in Ceylon, he was captured by King Rajasinghe II along with 15 other sailors and they were prisoners of the Kandyan Kingdom till he finally escaped to England (present United Kingdom) in 1680. Although, he was in captivity, the King had treated him well and he had been given land as well as houses to live in various places with almost unrestricted mobility within the Kandyan Kingdom. He had ...