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The forgotten history of slavery in Sri Lanka – by Tamara Fernando Jesus – College Cambridge 5 September, 2021 Source: sundayobserver The names Vijayabhahu, Dutugamunu and S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike are likely more familiar to the student of Sri Lankan history than Kedoe, Selestina and Cander Wayreven. Who were these three, and why are their life histories not better known? For one thing, all of them were slaves. The 23-year-old Kedoe was brutally executed for the murder of a Dutch official named Barent van der Swann and his wife in 1723 (as punishment, Kedoe was quartered and drawn up outside the walls of the Pettah), Selestina was tried in court for killing her new-born baby (the child may have resulted from rape by her master) in Colombo in 1820 and Wayreven was flogged eighteen lashes for travelling in the palanquin of his owner in Jaffna in 1819. In the early 19th century, ...