Browsing by Author "Wisumperuma, D."

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Date of the Martello Tower at Hambantota
(University of Kelaniya, 2013) Wisumperuma, D.
The Martello Tower in Hambantota in the southern Sri Lanka is the sole example of this fortification type in the country. It is a round gun-tower of two stories on a small hill which was designed to be used as a defence structure. This style originated after a tower in Corsica that caused difficulties to the British during their battles with the French in 1794 and these towers were adapted to the British defensive strategies soon. The exact date of the construction of Hambantota Martello Tower is not established due to unavailability of records. The suggested dates for the tower vary; one statement said it was constructed shortly after 1796 and another placed the origin of the tower between 1803 and 1806. The first known published reference to the tower is dated to 1806. It is often mentioned that this might have been used during the barricade of the Kandyan Sinhalese in 1803, when they attacked the British held territories. The objective of this paper is to date the construction of this tower, based on authentic records of the British administration. According to the records available, Martello Tower at Hambantota was constructed after August 1804. It is evident that Major General D.D. Wemyss, Commander of the Forces in Ceylon, ordered Lt. W. Gosset of the Royal Engineers who was in charge of the engineer department at Galle to construct a round tower to contain fifty people. Records also suggest it was still under construction by mid-1805.
Introduction of Sri Lankan Biota to the Western World By the Portuguese
(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Wisumperuma, D.; Goonatilake, W.L.D.P.T.S.de A.
Sri Lanka is a tropical island of the Indian Ocean, and lying midway on the sea route between east and west. Its unique geo-climatic features support rich biological diversity. These resources are still being described scientifically and new discoveries of flora and fauna are still occasionally published. These wealthy biological resources received the attention of travelers, explorers, scholars, religious dignitaries, royalty and pirates from other parts of the world who came across the country since the ancient times. These observations were recorded and a considerable number of such accounts still exist. In this paper we have considered the accounts in the published literature which were compiled during the Portuguese occupation during the 16th – 17th centuries. The accounts of these literatures are general descriptions or scientific accounts. However, the present binominal scientific nomenclature by Carl Linnaeus appeared in 1750s, after the period of our concern. Therefore, we have compared these descriptions with present known biological taxa and have made an attempt to identify each species exactly. The accuracy, reliability and the validity of the descriptions of these accounts are also evaluated. The paper also analyzes the scientific nature and the contribution to the world of science of these descriptions, as among pioneering descriptive accounts of our biodiversity, which opened up the enormous biological resources of this island to the western world.
Role of the Portuguese in Introducing Plants to Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Rajaguru, R.M.S.M.; Wisumperuma, D.
With their expansion of colonial activities since the 15th century, the Portuguese and other colonial powers played a part in the dispersal of plants and animals primarily among countries they interacted with and secondarily other countries associated with those. This is a part of the biological component in the concept known to historians as the ‘Columbian Exchange’. The Portuguese are responsible for the introduction of a significant number of plants to countries like Sri Lanka, while at the same time being responsible for introducing plants native to us to other countries. Eventually these introductions caused a considerable change of the agriculture and economy of the recipient countries and altered the plants associated with the lives of natives. This study is focused on the plants which were introduced by the Portuguese during their occupation of the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka. These plants had an economical and agricultural importance or a food value as vegetables or fruits. This paper categorizes the introduced plants scientifically mainly based on their origin or secondary origin and linguistic evidence. The changes caused in agriculture, economy and lives of people of Sri Lanka due to these introductions after the last five hundred year period is also briefly analyzed.