Lawmaking in Dutch Sri Lanka: Navigating Pluralities marks a break in understanding the history of Roman-Dutch law in Sri Lanka. Methodologically, it challenges socio-legal studies that concentrate... Show moreLawmaking in Dutch Sri Lanka: Navigating Pluralities marks a break in understanding the history of Roman-Dutch law in Sri Lanka. Methodologically, it challenges socio-legal studies that concentrate on major jurisdictional conflicts alone, emphasizing the lived experience of everyday practices of judicial forums. It uncovers the navigation of plural practices in the Landraad, a judicial forum set up by the Dutch East India Company in seventeenth-century Sri Lanka. A choice of laws came into play in that forum, that choice being significant at varying degrees for different areas of the law such as evidence, inheritance, land, and marriage law. While there was inevitable conflict, the local normative order was as much a social fact for the early colonial rulers as Roman-Dutch law. This is contrary to the received wisdom of the ages that Roman-Dutch law was imposed on the Sinhalese of the maritime provinces under Dutch control. When translated into everyday lives, such adoption of plural practices could rebound on coloniser and colonised in unexpected ways, revealing the complexities of colonial law in practice. Show less
There is a growing body of bioarchaeological research on eighteenth and nineteenth century colonial Cape Town, a significant node in the transportation networks of both the Indian and Atlantic... Show moreThere is a growing body of bioarchaeological research on eighteenth and nineteenth century colonial Cape Town, a significant node in the transportation networks of both the Indian and Atlantic oceanic slave trades, attempting to shed light on the lives of enslaved persons. Here, a preliminary archaeological isotopic dietary baseline for the colonial Cape is presented. It is apparent from the data that cattle tended to graze far inland from Cape Town in an arid C-3-C-4 to purely C-4 biome. Sheep/goats grazed close to the settlement or some distance away in C-3 to C-3-C-4 biomes. A qualitative comparison of the baseline data to that of enslaved persons at The Cape suggests that this population did not consume large amounts of marine protein as has been concluded in the past. The archaeological baseline data was utilised, in combination with published modern data, to create a quantitative dietary reconstruction of a subset of this population using a Bayesian multi-source diet mixing model (FRUITS). The reconstruction confirms that the Cape's enslaved did not consume much marine protein but relied predominantly on terrestrial C-3 plant protein. Show less
Could early modern chartered companies effectively ensure that their agents overseas were working in the best interests of the firm rather than in their own personal interests? This prin-cipal... Show moreCould early modern chartered companies effectively ensure that their agents overseas were working in the best interests of the firm rather than in their own personal interests? This prin-cipal-agent problem has been the topic of a number of important studies in early modern economic history. This article contributes to the debate by elaborating on two case-studies from the two large Dutch chartered trading companies, the East- and the West India Compa-nies (VOC and WIC respectively). Exploration of the careers of two individuals within these companies shows that supervision – and indeed career-making – was frequently a matter of unwritten rules and codes of conduct. While formal written rules might be found lacking, control could still be exerted through patronage or family ties. But this presented the com-panies with other challenges as well. In studying principal-agent problems, researchers in economic history need to be aware of informal mechanisms of control as well as formal on Show less
Ethnopharmacological relevanceFrom 1640–1796, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) occupied the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Several VOC officers had a keen interest in the medicinal application... Show moreEthnopharmacological relevanceFrom 1640–1796, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) occupied the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Several VOC officers had a keen interest in the medicinal application of the local flora. The Leiden University Library holds a two-piece codexentitled: Icones Plantarum Malabaricarum, adscriptis nominibus et viribus, Vol. I. & II. (Illustrations of Plants from the Malabar, assigned names and strength). This manuscript contains 262 watercolour drawings of medicinal plants from Sri Lanka, with handwritten descriptions of local names, habitus, medicinal properties and therapeutic applications. This anonymous document had never been studied previously.Aim of the studyTo identify all depicted plant specimens, decipher the text, trace the author, and analyse the scientific relevance of this manuscript as well as its importance for Sri Lankan ethnobotany.Materials and methodsWe digitised the entire manuscript, transcribed and translated the handwritten Dutch texts and identified the depicted species using historic and modern literature, herbarium vouchers, online databases on Sri Lankan herbal medicine and 41 botanical drawings by the same artist in the Artis library, Amsterdam. We traced the origin of the manuscript by means of watermark analysis and historical literature. We compared the historic Sinhalese and Tamil names in the manuscript to recent plant names in ethnobotanical references from Sri Lanka and southern India. We published the entire manuscript online with translations and identifications.ResultsThe watermarks indicate that the paper was made between 1694 and 1718. The handwriting is of a VOC scribe. In total, ca. 252 taxa are depicted, of which we could identify 221 to species level. The drawings represent mainly native species, including Sri Lankan endemics, but also introduced medicinal and ornamental plants. Lamiaceae, Zingiberaceae and Leguminosae were the best-represented families. Frequently mentioned applications were to purify the blood and to treat gastro-intestinal problems, fever and snakebites. Many plants are characterised by their humoral properties, of which ‘warming’ is the most prevalent. Plant species were mostly used for their roots (28%), bark (16%) or leaves (11%). More Tamil names (260) were documented than Sinhalese (208). More than half of the Tamil names and 36% of the Sinhalese names are still used today. The author was probably a VOC surgeon based in northern Sri Lanka, who travelled around the island to document medicinal plant use. Less than half of the species were previously documented from Ceylon by the famous VOC doctor and botanist Paul Hermann in the 1670s. Further archival research is needed to identify the maker of this manuscript.ConclusionsAlthough the maker of this early 18th century manuscript remains unknown, the detailed, 300-year-old information on medicinal plant use in the Icones Plantarum Malabaricarum represents an important ethnobotanical treasure for Sri Lanka, which offers ample opportunities to study changes and continuation of medicinal plant names and practices over time. Show less
The ship's surgeons in the employ of the Dutch East India Company were responsible for the healthcare on board the ships and in the hospitals founded by the Company in a vast geographical area... Show moreThe ship's surgeons in the employ of the Dutch East India Company were responsible for the healthcare on board the ships and in the hospitals founded by the Company in a vast geographical area expanding from South Africa to Japan. They were not highly regarded by their contemporaries, who criticised them for being little more than barbers or loblolly boys. The author of this fascinating study paints the true picture of the profession, drawing on her analysis of data for some 3,000 ship's surgeons in the Company's service, and including the recruitment policy of the Company, the career of the surgeons, their geographical origins, their life expectancy, to mention but a few. The results of her analysis, based on many hitherto unpublished sources, show this negative image to be a myth. The surgeons were, as a rule, fairly well educated according to the standards of their time. The tragic fact that they were confronted with diseases unknown in Europe and incurable at the time contributed to the sailors' and the society's dismissive attitude to their skills Show less
