Page 64 - Vimarsha Volume 2

and he expressed that the Dutch administrators completely neglected the agricultural
sector of Ceylon.

On the other hand, he highly appreciates the road development and establishing
communication facilities in the country. His appreciation showed his ethnocentric

ideology toward his nation and that biasedness and ethnocentric writing are
considered as weaknesses of this book. “As a field for commercial enterprise, as a
general depot for stores and troops, and as a centre of communication with our other

East India possessions, there can no other station be pointed out to equal it in that
quarter of the world” (Percival, 1975:374). Even though there are weaknesses of “An
Account of the Island of Ceylon 1803”, written by Robert Percival, it can be identified

as a specific ancient description which provides a picture of the colonial period of
Sri Lanka as well.

3. Conclusion

Robert Percival’s writing about the Island of the Ceylon is one of the major sources

th
which illustrates Sri Lankan society in the early 18 century. He witnessed the
existing socio-cultural, economic and political factors in that era and he tried to
elaborate them by using his personal experiences, observations and previous literature

surveys of Island of Ceylon. Percival provides a comparative description between Sri
Lankan society and the Indian Society. He describes behaviours of different ethnic

groups such as Ceylonese Dutch, Portuguese, Malays and Moores.

An Account of Island Ceylon explains the origin, manners and language, the caste
system, marriage system of Ceylon people. furthermore, it describes the prevailed

religions and superstitious beliefs of coastal and Kandyan Sinhalese people. Even
though this book provides historical information during the British governance of
Ceylon, he wrote this book with ‘ethnocentric’ and biased ideas which were enriched

by British cultural setting. Since he belonged to the British nation and worked as a
military officer to the British government, he tried to provide criticisms toward other

nations which were dominated Ceylon, such as Portuguese and Dutch. Meanwhile,
he tried to appreciate the British administration of that era as well. This can be

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