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400 years of Dutch-Sri Lanka Relations. Edited by Saman Kelegama and Roshan Madawela. Reviewed by Vijita Fernando.

2002 marked 400 years of Dutch Sri Lanka relations. To mark this anniversary, the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka and the newly formed Sri Lanka –Netherlands Association held a symposium to examine the relations between the two countries and analyze the various aspects of Dutch influence on Sri Lanka. The book is a result of this symposium and contains a selection of papers presented then.

The meticulously researched introduction by the two authors of this comprehensive collection provides the ground work from which to view the 400 years of interaction between the Dutch and Sri Lanka, beginning with the historic field visit of the Joris Van Spill Bergen in 1602, to the Dutch rule lasting till 1796. History has recorded the influence of this interaction on the many aspects of Sri Lankan life. This collection of essays delves deep, recording the Dutch presence as seen in monuments, mansions, canals and in the legacy of Roman Dutch law.

It is not possible in a review of this nature to discuss each one of these scholarly contributions in any depth. However, reading through them, one can glean the amount of scholarship that has gone into every one of them. Of particular interest to the average reader is the section on Dutch landmarks and legacies, pinpointing the Dutch influence on the country’s culture , its impact on the Sinhala language and on architecture and the legacy of the Dutch maps, to name a few. Additionally, there is a glimpse of how Sri Lankan Art, furniture design and medical knowledge had a significant impact in Holland. Dutch interest and knowledge of herbal medicine and pharmacology led to significant research being conducted on plants in the costal belt of Sri Lanka.

One cannot overlook another legacy of the Dutch - the impact on the country’s cuisine. The exotic dishes, which still find a special place notably during festive times, have been handed down from generation to generation and still retain their Dutch names and give pleasure to the gourmet.

The history of the Burgher community in Sri Lanka is also placed in perspective against the backdrop of political changes in West Europe and the founding of the Verenigde Oost-Indiche Compagnie (VOC), coming down to the present day Burghers and the contributions they have made to medicine, law, literature, archaeology, science, politics, in fact, to almost every sphere of life.

Some names I have picked out at random from the collection are Professor K.M. de Sliva whose features in the local media have always been welcome reading, Dr. Lorna Dewaraja , always a felicitous writer, who can deftly turn a phrase to give life to the most prosaic of subjects, K. D. G. Wimalaratne whose newspaper features are wholesome lessons on his particular discipline, Deloraine Brohier whose knack of story telling and detailed knowledge of her community are always fascinating, Vernon Mendis, the diplomat par excellence and of course writer novelist and critic, Carl Muller, forever associated in my mind with his jam fruit tree!

This is not a volume to be dipped into to verify a date or to check the spelling of lomprijst. It contains the kind of information that can be useful to the serious student of any of the disciplines discussed in the book. It is reference material for the researcher, the teacher and maybe, the journalist. For the serious minded reader it can provide fascinating reading to look back at events, people, customs and lifestyles of a bygone age and ponder on the vestiges of that period.

I enjoyed the book and I have spent fascinating hours visiting a significant period in my country’s history.

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