Abstract:
The nature of the European colonial encounter, the ways in which indigenous people
responded to the colonial presence, and the specific nature of the polity that emerged
out of the colonial domination are still debated by scholars. This paper seeks to
address these issues by looking at the peasant revolts in Southern Sri Lanka in the
context of the Portuguese and the Dutch interventions. The research problem concerns
the question of how to understand these revolts or peasant uprisings as the dominant
mode of explanation envelops them in the general narrative of anti-colonial struggles.
The method is critical reading of contemporary and near-contemporary records, both
published and archived, and of the modern scholarly discourses of the anti-colonial
struggles. The conceptual framework is mainly drawn from the works of Irfan Habib,
Ranajith Guha and others. The 1616 revolt was reportedly led by Nikapitiye Bandara
and Kuruvita Rala, who were outsiders to the traditional ruling elite. Their ability to
mobilize peasants was enhanced by the weakened hegemonic links between the
Portuguese and the peasantry. Riots in the Dutch territory in the early eighteenth
century were caused by measures taken by the Dutch to raise the level of surplus
extraction. These revolts signalled the break-up of the traditional system of authority.
These revolts were alarming, not only for the colonial powers but also, at times, for
the indigenous ruling elite as well. The Dutch were able to devise new forms of
governmentalisation in order to re-hegemonise the peasantry, which was a sine qua
non for the maximization of the extraction of the surplus of the peasant.
