Saturday, 8 February 2014 00:00
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By Sarah Hannan
Born during the time of the conflict, I never had the opportunity to visit the Northern Province as a kid. I had heard so much about Jaffna from my maternal grandfather who had frequented the district during his tenure at the Ceylon Government Railway and was determined to pay a visit to the peninsula at some point.
When I was requested to head north for an assignment recently, I jumped at the opportunity and planned my route to Jaffna immediately. With another important task assigned in the area I had limited time but still scouted around the satellite view of the peninsula for interesting places to visit. I was quite intrigued by a star fort which distinctively stood out from the geography and judging the distance from my accommodation in Jaffna figured it was just a 10 minute drive.
I was supposed to be at the Tellipalai Base Hospital by 9 a.m. but the meeting was pushed back for around two hours. I seized the opportunity to pay a visit to this historic site to experience a little bit of history of the Jaffna Kingdom and the Dutch architecture.
Visiting the fort for the first time I was relieved to see the information centre located on the right hand side which had ample information about the history of the Jaffna fort, historic sites around Jaffna and the artefacts that were excavated by the archaeologists. Despite the scorching heat there were a considerable amount of visitors at the fort. A family had just ended their tour in the fort and was taking shelter from the sun in the shadow of the exit point.
Restoration underway
The fort is undergoing a restoration process funded by the Netherlands and Sri Lankan Governments and only some parts of it can be explored. The glacis has been restored using similar pumice stones that were used while it was constructed. As soon as I entered I noticed the markings done by the archaeologists outlined the original plaster and some of the original pumice stones too were numbered.
The rampart at the entrance of the fort is styled according to Dutch architecture and has been spared of destruction. Unfortunately graffiti by tourists who have visited the Fort on various occasions have disfigured the surface.
I continued to the centre of the fort and spotted the dilapidated structures and a pile of rubble which I later learnt was the Dutch Church which was bombed during the civil war. It had broad walls built of limestone and can be identified through the documentations of its original layout.
Navigating my way through a flight of stairs to one of the bastions I met more people and witnessed a teenager pestering a group of tourists. The teenager approached me as well and said he needs money to pay for his tuition class since his family is facing financial difficulties. His father had had a stroke recently and had not fully recovered so the family now depends on other people for survival.
Panoramic views
Once I reached the bastion we got a closer look of the Belfry which was secured by iron rods due to restoration, but the walls seemed to still hold up. The Belfry is similar to the ones that are at other Dutch Forts in the country. Standing at one of the sentry points I got a panoramic view of the Palk Strait and the road leading to Nagadeepa and was greeted by a gentle breeze.
Descending from the bastion we headed towards the exit and spotted an ornate framework railing on the right hand side which leads into the rampart (inaccessible) which may have been used by the Dutch to transport arms to the rampart. The outer moat outside the ramparts is built into five tunnels each in a twin formation and is in good preservation.
Much works needs to be done to restore the Jaffna Fort but is doubtful that it could be restored to its full glory. A fort that has witnessed many historic events will however stand to represent parts of our heritage with more missing buildings.
The Portuguese structure
Portuguese Captain Joao Ribeiro accounts that Jaffna Fort was a quadrangular fortress which had four bastions, four half moons in the middle of the line of triple thick ramparts built of pumice stones. At the time the fort had housed 300 Portuguese families and 700 handicraftsmen.
Secured by the ramparts were the convents of Sao Francisco and Sao Domingos, the college of the society, the mother church, the Holy House of Mercy and the hospital. Two leagues away from at the mouth of the channel was a fort with good artillery which was garrisoned by a company of infantry. The total strength of the defence team for Jaffna Fort was 200 Portuguese which belonged to six companies with some native Lascars. (Source: www.colonialvoyage.com)
Dutch strengthen the fort
After a three-and-a-half month siege led by Raiclop Van Goins in 1658, the Dutch captured Jaffna Fort. It is stated that the fort was demolished and then rebuilt in several phases the first being from 1665 to 1680 changing the square fortification in to a star fortress.
The construction of the fort was completed in 1792 which erected five bastions named: Holland, Zeeland, Friesland, Utrecht and Gelderland. At the time the fort was considered to be one of the strongest forts in Asia.
Unlike the Colombo and Galle Forts that fortified the towns Jaffna Fort exclusively functioned as a military and administrative fort. During the Dutch administration the Portuguese Mother Church was also demolished and the Dutch Reformed Church was built instead.
Surrendering to the British
In 1795 the Dutch residing in the Jaffna Fort surrendered to the British, without either party firing a single gunshot. The buildings in the fort were in their original state up until 1970 despite it being used by the British and the Sri Lankan (Ceylon) Government. The fort housed a garrison parade ground, Queen’s house, sentry points and Police quarters apart from the other important structures built during the Dutch administration.
Pix by Daminda Harsha Perera
