Resisting Narratives: An African Soldier in Sri Lanka’s Anticolonial Struggle

Abstract

After three hundred years of militant, anti-colonial resistance, in 1803, the last independent monarchy in Sri Lanka waged its final successful campaign against the British. Though it would take another twelve years for the British to capture the Kandyan king, British failures in the battle of 1803 served as a turning point in England’s approach to colonialism in Sri Lanka. By mobilizing what Sujit Sivasundaram calls “counter-revolutionary” tactics in the Indian Ocean, the British not only spread its empire but also erased a long history of indigenous resistance. For a number of reasons, the histories of Sri Lankan and Kandyan anti-colonialism have received relatively little scholarly attention. The battle of 1803 opens a window into Lanka’s notions of itself as a globally-engaged kingdom. This essay investigates the history of the battle through the lens of one African soldier – a man named Joseph Fernando – who purportedly worked as the Kandyan king’s “chief executioner.” Through close reading of documents pertaining to the events of 1803, the essay contends that while Fernando himself is likely British propaganda, he nevertheless speaks to the island’s indigenous cosmopolitanism.