COLOMBO DURING THE COLONIAL PERIOD AND AFTER

It’s not just social, political and economic changes that were brought on by Sri Lanka’s independence, but also a complete face lift to the city of Colombo, as writer R. L Brohier put it in his book “Change in the face of Colombo.” The changes to the city date back much further, after the arrival of the Portuguese, Dutch and the British colonisers. There are interesting tales about these changes.

Colombo, according to late journalist H. A. J. Hulugalla, has an eventful history although the city is artificial, much like its harbour. It is said that there was a Moorish trading settlement and the Port of Colombo has seen ships from China, Persia, India and Arabia. Arab traders obtained permission from the country’s king to construct warehouses and dwellings for themselves, confirmed by Ibn Battuta in his writings on his travels to Sri Lanka.

In his book, titled “Colombo”, published to mark the centenary of the Colombo Municipal Council, Hulugalla wrote that the city was always under strong foreign influence until Ceylon received political independence in 1948. The establishment of the Colombo Municipal Council in 1866 was the first substantial step taken by the rulers to give the Ceylonese the feeling that Colombo was their city and metropolis as according to him, the Sinhalese did not appear to have formed a significant part of the town’s population and had very little say in its administration upto then.

A little known happening in Colombo was the great earthquake which took place in 1615. Late Dr. K. D. G. Wimalaratne, the former head of the Colombo Archives, in one of his articles, talks about the earthquake, which took place on April 14, 1615. He relates the story in the following manner:

“Seven o’clock on the evening of 14th April, a severe earthquake shook the land, heralded by what are described as peals of thunder. The terrified inhabitants, rushed to the streets to escape from the swaying houses which were tumbling down on all sides, great fissures emitting sumptuous fumes opened on the surface of the ground. A portion of the city wall, with one of the bastions, collapsed, and stone bridge was entirely destroyed, while, fire broke out. Two hundred houses fell to the ground, and the dead alone were estimated at over two thousand.”

Colombo had been largely covered in forest centuries ago until the Portuguese, Dutch and the British constructed churches, government offices and dwelling places. The Dutch turned some portion of Colombo into a cinnamon estate. The estate had run from the area, still known as Cinnamon Gardens, right up to Havelock Town. The cinnamon plantation was cleared by the British in 1888 to construct a weaving mill, known as Wellawatte Mills, located at Havelock Town. This was bought over by the famous Captain family and was nationalized during the time of the SLFP government in 1970. Modern Day Havelock City stands on this location today.

Another change seen in the city is the present day rugby ground down Reid Avenue. The Race Course was earlier located at Galle Face and later relocated at Reid Avenue. This was turned into an air field during the World War 2 in the early 1940s. Air traffic continued from Race Course to Ratmalana till the early 1950s. An article published in Gnanartha Pradeepaya (Sinhalese Catholic weekly) relates the story on how a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary was brought to Sri Lanka, flown by an aircraft from Race Course to Ratmalana where the then international airport was located, before the statue was to be taken back to Italy.

Christine Spittel Wilson, the daughter of scholar and famous medical practitioner Dr. R. L. Spittel, mentions in her biography, “Christine - a memoir” the presence of a graphite mine during the time her father built his home ‘Wycherley’, with one part of the house used as Sri Lanka’s first private hospital. This graphite mine was located at the spot where the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation is located today. The home of Dr. Spittel is Wycherley International School today.

There is an interesting story about Temple Trees, as related by Iswari Corea in her book ‘Glimpse of Colombo’. The house which is known as Temple Trees was called ‘De Brandery’ which means Distillery. From 1805 the house was owned by Frederick Mylius a judge of the Ceylon Civil service. In 1940 Western Province government agent C. R. Buller occupied it while it became a property of the Layard Family until 1848. It was then bought by Christopher Elliot. The property was then acquired by J. P. Green in 1856. ‘De Brandery’ was named Temple Trees after two Temple Trees growing on either side of the building. It was taken over by the government somewhere between 1903 to 1913, when there were no houses for government servants. This story is retold by Mervyn Herath in his book ‘Colonial Kollupitiya and its Environs’.

Another iconic building in Colombo is the President’s House that also bears an interesting story.

Many years after Colombo was taken over from the Portuguese, the Dutch built a house on the spot where the President’s House spreads itself today. It was known as Government House. The last Dutch Governor, Van Angelbeck, lived in it and continued to reside in it even after the British captured Colombo. Behind the building was a sunkengarden, elegantly landscaped and pleasing to the eye. Rows of buildings extended on either sides – these housed the various government offices and also afforded accommodation for a small cavalry unit. It is said that there was a tower on which a bell was hung. In 1804, with the end of the Dutch era, the building came to be occupied by Major General Hay Macdowall, who commanded the British Troops. In the early part of the 20th century, Sir Thomas Maitland was the first British Governor to occupy the building and, thereafter, it became the property of the Government and the city residence of the Governor. It was also the meeting place of the Executive Council of the Government before old Parliament building was built.

Colombo is fast becoming a concrete jungle with almost 20 highrise buildings already constructed and many more to come. The air quality of the city was reported to have declined recently and as Former President of the Young Town Planners Forum Dilan Manawadu put it “there are no proper planned cities in Sri Lanka while the cities in Sri Lanka are deadly cities.”

With that legacy, it is questionable what Colombo has achieved, as the country’s premier city, during the last 75 years since Sri Lanka’s independence.