No. 61. — 1908.] PORTUGUESE IN CEYLON. 



89 



PORTUGUESE CEYLON AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 

 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: A SKETCH. 



By P. E. Pieris, M.A. (Cantab.), CCS. 



—e procurar que se faga justiga e favor aos naturaes, porque com 

 isso se fard mais a conquista que corn as armas. 



King to Viceroy, January 12, 1607. 



Introductory Note. 



This sketch contains a summary of the information regarding 

 the condition of the Portuguese in Ceylon and of the districts under 

 their influence during the first fifteen years of the seventeenth 

 century. De Couto's Decades end with the year 1600, and so far 

 as Ceylon is concerned Bocarro's Decada 13 commences from April , 

 1614, when Manuel Mascarenhas Homem was despatched as 

 general. This article, it is hoped, will be of some use in filling up 

 the gap, as the contents of the above two histories will very 

 shortly be available to the public in Mr. Donald Ferguson's 

 scholarly translation," and have been already summarized in the 

 appendices to my translation of Ribeiro. It is based almost 

 exclusively on the "Documentos Remettidos da India ou Lvros 

 das Moncoes," issued in four volumes by the Academia Real 

 Das Sciencias de Lisboa. These documents consist of a series 

 of letters addressed by the king to the viceroy at Goa, accom- 

 panied by a few of the replies and some reports from other 

 parties. The following documents have been utilized in the 

 preparation of this Paper :— Vol. I.: Nos. 1,2, 4, 18, 22, 26, 30, 

 37, 47, 51, 57, 58, 61, 77, 82, 89, 91, 105, 117, 132, 136, 139 ; 

 Vol. II. : 195, 200, 219, 220, 225, 229, 237, 253, 272, 309, 320, 

 356, 367, 380, 397, 399, 401 ; Vol. Ill, : 415, 423, 437, 456, 507, 

 508, 509, 510, 514, 541, 542, 547, 555, 564, 565, 566, 567, 613, 

 648, 649, 650, 654, 758 ; Vol. IV. : 798, 809, 813, 818, 824, 827, 

 869, 899, 901, 916, 925, 972, 994. 



Where any other authority has been relied on it will be referred 

 to in a footnote.* 



* [It is to be regretted that the writer entirely ignores previous 

 scholars (e.g-, Mr. Donald Ferguson in the " Monthly Literary 

 Register," vol. IV., 1896). Such a "summary " without distinct 

 references (book, chapter, page) to other authorities must be greatly 

 discounted in value. — B., Ed. Sec] 



h 20-08 



