History - Page 4

Conversion of King Sangili (II) Segarajasekaran to Christianity and Execution in Goa

King Sangili (II) Segarajasekaran  who was sent a prisoner to Goa by Captain General Dom Constantino de Sa de Noronha, was in the time of the government of Fernao de Albuquerque (Twenty first Governor 1619-1622), tried by a court and sentenced to be beheaded. During the time of his imprisonment he was constantly visited by the Religious of St. Francis of Goa who proposed to him that he had lost the temporal life he should not lose the eternal, but accept the Faith of Christ and Baptism the only means of salvation.  Favoured by God, who only seeks the repentance of the sinner, he abandoned the blindness in which he walked, and which was the principal cause of his tyrannies and said that he wished to be a Christian. The same Father baptized him under the name of Don Philip. There was also baptized his wife under the name of de Dona Margarida of Austria, and the God father of both was the Archbishop D. Frey Christouao de Lisbon, with all Regal pomp. For which he soon, and with great desire, learnt the catechism and said that from his tender years he ever had desire to receive our Holy Faith, as he understood that it was the only true one from the teaching of Friar Pedro de Betancor, of whom he was a special friend, but that carried away by ambition and in order to remain with his own, he had not attempted to receive it.  He affirmed that he did not regret death, since he died a Christian, and was able in that way to obtain pardon for the great affronts which he had committed; that it was better to be a Christian coolly than a pagan King; and that he appreciated having received the law of Christ more than having possessed many Kingdoms. He listened to the sentence of death with great courage. They placed on a table before him an Image of Christ crucified, with which he spent those days in colloquies and acts of repentance, to the surprise and edification of those who say and understood.

A theatre was prepared in the courtyard of the custom house draped in mourning; on it a carpet with a cushion of red velvet; whither he came accompanied by many Religious of St. Francis who helped him to die well.  He did not consent to have his hands tied, saying that it was not necessary because he died for his faults with great pleasure, and as he uttered the sweet name of Jesus his head was cut off, the executed took place around in 1623.

After the death of King Sangili (II) Segarajasekaran he was dressed in the habit of St. Francis as he had asked when living; and being carried by the same Religious in procession, he was buried in their chapter. His wife retired into the house of converts were she lived an exemplary Christian life.

In the midst of these many conversions of Princes and of the other people of Jaffna, it is right that we should not forget the young Prince, son and heir of Late King Ethirmanasingham Pararajasekaran. As soon as Sangili took tyrannical possession of that government, the Queen his mother, seeing that the one who had killed so many Princes would not spare the most important one, at the first opportunity which she had, entrusted him to Father Friar Luis de S. Diogo, Rector of that Casa, asking him with many tears to receive him as a son, for he was not hers any more, and that should King Sangili (II) Segarajasekaran  kill him, he would have to give an account to God.  The Father received him with courage equal to his charity, whereby he exposed himself to the wrath of the tyrant. As soon as King Sangili (II) Segarajasekaran knew it, he waxed wrath and sought to wrest him from his arms, calling upon him with great shouts to give him up.  The Father ever withstood him, and the boy, who was about 7 years old and who already understood quite well the evil that might befall him from this tyrant, embraced the Father so firmly that even with his teeth he held fast to the habit, and with so many tears that it moved those who were present to great compassion, and they helped him so much with their own tears that the tyrant desisted in shame, so as not to disclose altogether his mind against a weak child and a poor Friar armed only with the favour of God.

The Father took up the charge, and watched over his life with such care, that by day he never left him and at night he locked himself up with the boy in his Cell with bolts and chains. The Rebel Dom Luis, of whom we have already spoken, asked for him many a time with large promises of money, I cannot say for certain whether it was to make him the head of that general rebellion, as seems likely, or whether it was with a more wicked purpose, so as not to have any opposition from him.  But the result was that greater precautions and care were taken of him, father Friar Luis de S. Diogo becoming [like] the High Priest Joadas towards the Prince Joas. The Captain Major, considering that for the greater peace of that Kingdom and the greater safety of that boy it was desirable to remove him from these dangers, sent him to Ceylon with the Queen his Mother in the company of the two baptised Queens and Princess and other persons of the Royal Household. The two Queens and Princess remained some time in Colombo, but afterwards the Vedor da fazenda, Lancarote de Seyxas, sent them back to Jaffna, there remaining in Colombo the Prince, the Queen his mother and a sister of his, who entrusted the boy to the Religious of St. Francis of the Convent of St. Antonio. There he remained for some time, learning good customs and the mysteries of Our Holy Faith, for as he was under their discipline and was by nature docile, he was so attached to them that he showed no greater pleasure than to speak of the things of the Catholic Faith, begging the Religious many a time to give him baptism, as he now knew the catechism. There arrived at this time in Colombo the Minister Provincial, Friar Gaspar da Conceycao and he decided to give him the Sacrament, and to satisfy the desire he showed of being received into the bosom of the Church.  While they were preparing for this, there arrived Father Friar Antonio de Nossa Senhora, Rector of Kandy, with a message from the King asking the General to be pleased to the give the Princess, the Sister of this Boy, as wife to his son the Prince Uva and heir of Kandy, promising in reward 40,000 patacas, and to the Father if he succeeded in this negotiation, many favours.  But neither did the Father think it convenient nor did the Provincial, as she wished to become a Christian and would not hear of this, and Captain General Dom Constantino de Sa de Noronha would in no way consent to this relationship, both because it concerned the service of His Majesty, for the tyrant only sought for a new title for the conquest of Jaffna and because it concerned his own honour to speak to him face to face, and [it concerned] his zeal not to hinder her salvation. It was unanimously answered that for no price in the world would the Princess give up becoming a Christian.

Everything being already prepared and 75 persons instructed, on 18th June, 1623 with the pealing of all the bells of the City, all the Parish Priests of St. Francis assembled with those who were in the Convent, and they set out in procession with many dances and plays to the Camera of the City, at the end of the straight street where were the Prince, his mother the Queens, and other catechumens. There were present also, the General, the Captain Colombo, the Vedor of Fazenda, the Ouvidor, many soldiers and a great crowd.  And as soon as the General approached the Prince he put round his neck a beautiful chain of gold with Reliquary, and the boy, his mother, and the other children his cousins were all richly dressed, and the others according to their quality. The procession passed through the principals streets which were well decorated with rich carpets and hung with China brocades till they entered the St. Anonthy’s Church where everything was ready, rich and neat. The Prince was baptized under the name of his Godfather Dom Constantino de Sa Noronha, the Provincial Minister administering the Sacrament. The Father Guardian of the Convent baptized the Queen under the name of Dona Clara da Silva, and her Godfather was the Vedor da Fazenda, Ambrozio de Freytas. Two other Sisters of the Prince were baptized, Dona Izabel, and Dona Maria, Dom Diogo brother in law of the dead King, whose eyes Sangili had put out, as we said; Dona Maria, his wife and Sister of the King Ethirmanasingham Pararajasekaran, with three sons and a daughter, under the names respectively of Don Philip, Don Francisco Don Bernadino and Dona Ines, and along with them the rest. The boys remained with the Religious in that Convent till they went to Goa on the order of the Viceroy D. Francisco da Gama (1622–1627), Conde da Vidigueyra; and there they lived in the College of the Magi studying Latin and good customs, till they went to Portugal as we shall describe.

Captain Major and Governor of the Kingdom, Philip de Oliveira, he governed nine years, wherein he conquered in battle three Kings. His death took place in the year of 1627, on the 22nd day of March , he being 53 years of age. He left the Kingdom in peace and tranquillity to his God and to his King. The King of Kandy having now no Philip de Oliveira to fear, on the ground that the two Princesses of Jaffna were married to his sons, promptly sent his Kinsmen Atapattu with more than 10,000 picked men to Jaffna to join a reinforcement of Badagaz which the Nayakkar of Thanjavur had promised him, in order to conquer that fortalice and Kingdom. When the Parish Priests and the Portuguese heard of this, they retired to the Garrison, and the enemy made himself Master of the Kingdom unopposed, and tried to collect the taxes. The strength of the force he had was, however, not know for certain, nor was there any one who dared to reconnoitre, because no Portuguese was ordered to do so, and he was not pleased with the natives.

The Prince Don Bernadino afterwards took the habit of St. Francis, and bequeathed the right he had to the Kingdom of Jaffna to the King of Portugal. In that Holy Order he was much esteemed for his virtues and docility, and he held therein honourable posts till in our days he died leaving behind a holy remembrance. And in order not to interrupt the history of the temporal war, I shall here narrate what further was done in the spiritual conquest. The three of them were later sent to Goa where the Crown Prince Dom Constantino became a Franciscan as Constantino de Cristo and held various posts in the Order. The two Princesses Dona Izabel and Dona Maria became nuns at the Augustinian Convent of St. Monica at Goa, the first Sri Lankan to become nuns. Dona Izabel died in her youth (1645) while Dona Maria lived to an advanced age and on 1st January 1682 was elected Prioress of her Convent, and She died on 9th April 1682. Since they choose the life of celibacy they died without descendants. Most of the members of the Royal Family of Jaffna converted as Catholic Christians, as a result relatives gave them up and some were deserted.

In Goa these Royal exiles lived under surveillance, many of the younger members being lodged with religious Orders-males in the College of Kings at Bardez and females in the Convent of St. Monica in Goa. Eventually many of them, like younger Royalty from Sitawaka and Kandy, entered Holy Orders.

King Senarat of Kandy (1605-1635), was a step brother of King Wimala Dharmasuriya he was married to Empress Dona Catherina and they had three sons namely Prince Wijayapala, Prince Kumarasingha and Prince Mahastane. King Senerat of Kandy, sent his forces on two occasions to occupy the Jaffna lands. His object seems to have been two fold to break through the ring fence with which the Portuguese were encircling his Kingdom, with their seizure of Trincomalee in 1623-1624 and Batticaloa in 1628, and also to test the claims of two Princesses of Jaffna, daughters of King Sangili (II) Segarajasekaran, who were married to sons of King Senarat and Empress Dona Catherina. They were Prince Wijayapala and Prince Kumarasinghe, these weddings were being celebrated in Thanjavur.

Prince Wijayapala was a brave and chivalrous, cultured and studious with leanings towards European ways and like his father he was fond of books, Prince Kumarasinghe a young man without any force of character, and Mahastane, when King Senarat died in 1636, he left the Empire between his three sons. Matale to Prince Wijayapala his eldest, Uva to Prince Kumarasinghe and Kandy to Mahastane the youngest. When Prince Wijayapala died, Mahastane later became the King of Kandy under the Imperial name of Rajasingha (II), was the first to marry a Nayakkar Princess and  Prince Kumarasinghe died in 1637.

King Rajasingha (II) of Kandy was not prepared to deal sternly with his brother Prince Wijayapala  who had helped him so well at his hour of need, and merely kept him under surveillance at Senkadagala. In April, shortly after the departure of the Sinhalese Ambassadors from the court, Prince Wijayapala who had been so long under surveillance, succeeded in effecting his escape to Uva and raised the standard  of revolt there. Once again the King took the field and occupied Uva, Whereupon Prince Wijayapala lost heart and fled to Sabaragamuwa, accompanied by Munwatte Bandara and 500 men leaving his Princess and children behind. The Prince received the disappointing resolution with resignation and left to Goa in December accompanied by two of his noblemen and his servants. He was kindly received by the Viceroy and was assigned a sufficient allowance for his suitable maintenance four years. Later on the return of Mascarenhas as Viceroy he was persuaded to embrace Christianity and was baptised with great Ceremony King Dom Joao IV.  standing sponsor to him by proxy. Prince Wijayapala died in 1654, having ceased to be of any importance after his departure from Ceylon.

In 1678 there had been at Colombo for about six years a party who was know as the Prince of Kandy and who claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne. The Dutch kept him in Colombo outside the city near the old hospital with a guard of six files of Musketeers and a Sergeant and a considerable retinue with the intention of placing him on the throne at the death of King Rajasingha (II). In November of this year he succeeded in effecting his escape as appears from a Dutch report of 1681 he had been with Dutch since 1675, and was known as the Prince of Matale. he would from the confused Dutch narrative appears to have claimed to be the son of Prince Wijayapala.

The Portuguese ruled the Maritime Settlements in Sri Lanka for 153 years (1505-1658), The Dutch for 138 years (1658-1796) and The British for 19 years (1796-1815). There after with the annexation of Kandy Kingdom by the convention, the British became the sole rulers of the Island and administered the country for 133 years, until Independence on 04th February 1948.

References

1. Cambridge University Library, London.
2. Oxford University Library, London.
3. School of Oriental and African Studies University of London.
4. The National Archives Kew.
5. The British Museum, London.
6. The Archives of The Netherlands.
7. The Library of The Netherlands.

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