The Proteas Plucked for a Lotus Land: Ceylon’s Boer Internment Experience, 1900–1902

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores Britain’s decision to intern over 5,000 captured Boer (Afrikaner) combatants on the island of Ceylon from 1900 to 1902 during the South African War. Using hitherto unanalysed source material, this manuscript resolves several unanswered questions regarding the experience of Boer internment in Ceylon itself and whether the internment experience matched Britain’s imperial expectations. Given the sheer number of captured Boers who refused to accept British sovereignty, Britain initially resolved to send these captives overseas to prevent the possibility of prisoners rejoining the Boer struggle. With the Boers originally sent abroad for security purposes, this manuscript examines how Britain moved from simply detaining the prisoners to formally rehabilitating and reeducating them as imperial citizens. The article argues that while internment in Ceylon did pacify the Boers, Britain nonetheless failed to convince the Boers to discount their culture and heritage in favour of a greater British imperial identity.