Browsing by Author "Perera, G."

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Kandyan Resistance: Weapons, Tactics, Strategy
(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Perera, G.
The over-all policy objective of the Portuguese was to effect the subjugation of the whole island and thereby to complete its temporal and consequently its spiritual conquest. By 1593 only Kandy remained to be conquered. The near half-century from then till 1638 saw the Portuguese making persistent attempts to overpower Kandy and achieve its object, everyone of which Kandy successfully foiled. This paper is a study using Portuguese and Sinhalese sources of the fighting that ensued during these turbulent times. It first compares the fighting forces, the weaponry, the leadership and the adaptability to the terrain of each combatant. It is argued that though there was a broad parity as regards numbers and fighting spirit of the forces on either side, the Portuguese had the edge in training and experience. In weaponry too it is shown there was nothing to choose between the two. In leadership while the Portuguese commanders were all professional soldiers and some, like Azevedo and de Saa, generals of distinction, on the Kandyan side it varied in quality. As regards adaptability to the terrain, it is demonstrated that while the Kandyans were at home in it, the Portuguese were at a disadvantage. It is against this background that the military strategy and tactics adopted by each side is next surveyed. The Portuguese strategy varied according to prevailing circumstances or the views of the policy makers. It shifted from launching massive invasions into the hills, to defensive measures to forestall a Kandyan backlash, to targeting the Kandyan villages in an economic warfare. The Kandyan strategy to counter these large scale invasions – formulated obviously by Wimaladharmasuriya and meticulously followed in every invasion thereafter – was to avoid meeting the enemy in combat until the time and conditions suited them. The creation and engineering of these conditions were the function of the tactics adopted by the Kandyans. These tactics were to lure the invader deeper into the hills, to sever his supply lines, to induce the enemy’s lascorins to cross over and to create diversionary attacks. A parellel is drawn between the Kandyan strategy of avoiding battle and the theories of both Sun Tzu and Basil Liddell Hart’s “indirect approach”.In conclusion the deficiencies in the strategies of each combatant are discussed.
The Molecular basis for the thalassaemias in Sri Lanka
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2003) Fisher, C.A.; Premawardhena, A.P.; de Silva, S.; Perera, G.; Rajapaksa, S.; Olivieri, N.A.; Old, J.M.; Weatherall, D.J.; Sri Lanka Thalassaemia Study Group
The beta-globin gene mutations and the alpha-globin genes of 620 patients with the phenotype of severe to moderate thalassaemia from seven centres in Sri Lanka were analysed. Twenty-four beta-globin gene mutations were identified, three accounting for 84.5% of the 1240 alleles studied: IVSI-5 (G-->C) 56.2%; IVSI-1 (G-->A) 15.2%; and haemoglobin E (codon (CD)26 GAG-->GAA) 13.1%. Three new mutations were found; a 13-bp deletion removing the last nucleotide in CD6 to CD10 inclusively, IVSI-129 (A-->C) in the consensus splice site, and a frame shift, CD55 (-A). The allele frequency of alpha+ thalassaemia was 6.5% and 1.1% for -alpha3.7 and -alpha4.2 deletions respectively. Non-deletion alpha-thalassaemia was not observed. Triplicate or quadruplicate alpha-globin genes were unusually common. In 1.5% of cases it was impossible to identify beta-thalassaemia alleles, but in Kurunegala detailed family studies led to an explanation for the severe thalassaemia phenotype in every case, including a previously unreported instance of homozygosity for a quadruplicated alpha-globin gene together with beta-thalassaemia trait. These findings have implications for the control of thalassaemia in high-frequency populations with complex ethnic histories.
The Spiritual Conquest: Baptism or Conversion?
(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Perera, G.
The Iberian voyages of discovery of the 14th and 15th centuries saw not only the opening of new territories but also an unprecedented expansion of missionary activity. Promoted by the Catholic Church its object was to convert the populations of these new territories to Christianity. This paper examines the extent to which the missionaries who came to Ceylon were suited to the task of converting the people of this island. It argues that as regards the fervour and zeal they brought to the task their commitment and dedication was “exemplary”. Conversion, however, in the real sense of the word, it is maintained, means a radical change of beliefs caused by intellectual conviction, spiritual motivation or emotional insight. In that context it is argued that some of the method of recruitment, the type of training provided to them, their continued lack of proficiency in language and the consequent heavy reliance on interpreters did not match the requirements of conversion in the real sense of the term. The actual methods adopted by the missionaries as well as the instances of professed converts sliding back are cited to illustrate this point of view. (All the various methods of conversion are not discussed in the paper.)These circumstances, it is submitted, determined the direction that proselytization took in Ceylon, which was an emphasis on baptism first, while any instruction, even if it preceded baptism, was hasty, brief and, since done mostly through interpreters, incomplete. Baptism occurred but not necessarily conversion. The sources this paper will rely on are what the missionaries themselves have recorded – the account of Paulo Trinidade for the Franciscans; the letters and reports of the Jesuits extracted from Fr. V. Perniola’s “The Catholic Church – The Portuguese Period”; the various writings of Portuguese historians; contemporary accounts of the Portuguese apostolic mission by authorities such as Boxer, Sanjay Subramaniam, Russel-Wood, Priolkar, Flores, Tikiri Abeysinghe and C.R. de Silva.
Thalassaemia in Sri Lanka: implications for the future health burden of asian populations
(Lancet Publishing Group, 2000) de Silva, S.; Fisher, C.A.; Premawardhena, A.P.; Lamabadusuriya, S.P.; Peto, T.E.; Perera, G.; Old, J.M.; Clegg, J.B.; Olivieri, N.F.; Weatherall, D.J.; Sri Lanka Thalassaemia Study Group
BACKGROUND: Thalassaemias pose an increasing problem for the Indian subcontinent and many Asian countries. We analysed the different types of thalassaemia in the Sri Lankan population, surveyed gene frequencies in schoolchildren, and estimated the burden of disease and requirements for its control. METHODS: We analysed blood samples from patients attending clinics in nine hospitals and defined the different types of beta thalassaemia by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and DNA analysis. The range of mutations was obtained by analysis of beta-globin genes. Capillary blood was obtained from schoolchildren from different parts of the island and analysed by HPLC to provide an approximate assessment of the carrier frequency of beta thalassaemia and haemoglobin E (HbE). To estimate the frequency of alpha thalassaemia the alpha-globin genotypes were also analysed when it was possible. FINDINGS: Blood samples were obtained from 703 patients with beta thalassaemia and from 1600 schoolchildren. The thalassaemia mutations were unevenly spread. Although 23 different beta-thalassaemia mutations were found, three accounted for the thalassaemia phenotype in about 70% of the patients, most whom are homozygotes or compound heterozygotes for IVS1-5 (G-->C) or IVS1-1 (G-->A). The third common mutation, codon 26 (G-->A), which produces HbE, interacts with one or other of these mutations to produce HbE/beta thalassaemia; this comprises 13.0-30.9% of cases in the main centres. Samples from 472 patients were analysed to determine the alpha-globin genotype. Overall, 15.5% patients were carriers for deletion forms of alpha+ thalassaemia. Average gene frequencies showed that there will be more than 2000 patients requiring treatment at any one time, in thefuture, of whom those with HbE/beta thalassaemia will account for about 40%. INTERPRETATION: In Sri Lanka, interactions of the two common beta-thalassaemia alleles will nearly always result in a transfusion-dependent disorder. However, about 40% of patients will have HbE/beta thalassaemia, which has a variable course. The management of these disorders could require about 5% of the total health budget. We need to learn more about the natural history and appropriate management of HbE/beta thalassaemia if resources are to be used effectively.