Dr.Rohitha Dasanayaka teaches history at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and he is an external evaluator for a number of papers, thesis and projects submitted by people from Tamilnadu and elsewhere.
Dr.Rohitha Dasanayaka teaches history at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and he is an external evaluator for a number of papers, thesis and projects submitted by people from Tamilnadu and elsewhere.
He was born and brought up in Kandy and has done his M.Sc from the Kelaniya University in Colombo.
Interestingly Dr.Rohitha did his Ph.D. at Madras University for 3 years under a Commonwealth scholarship programme between the years 2005 and 2008.
He spoke about his core interest while participating in the 'One-day international symposium on Maritime trade in India through the ages' at the P.S.G.R. Krishnammal College for Women. The college has been at the forefront of such exercises and it’s a well-known fact that it has a fantastic 'Gandhian Study Centre' functioning for years.
The history department of the P.S.G.R. Krishnammal College for Women has done really well by undertaking a number of outreach programmes coupled with valuable academic work.
Dr.Rohitha was happy to share details of his study and experiences in India on the sidelines of the symposium. "My Ph.D. was on the trade relationship between Sri Lanka and West Asia between the seventh and the fifteenth centuries. I chose a scholarship in India instead of the ones that were available in Sweden and China. My 3 years in Madras were very good and I never faced any kind of disturbance in Chennai throughout my period of study. I am indebted to the officials and people of India for their support. In fact, the professor at the Viva stated that I was a symbol of the age-old relationship between India and Sri Lanka."
Dr.Rohitha had gone through a lot of details connected with the interactions that had existed between the people living in Sri Lanka and the Middle East as well. The ever-smiling Dr.Rohitha was lucid while sharing some details about his thesis. "I found a number of Persian and Arabic documents in the process. They had been translated into a number of other languages over time. I learned that the Sri Lankan people welcomed international merchants into their country and that the Tamil merchants of Sri Lanka were in the forefront of trade.
It was a revelation to observe the fact that a number of Arabs began to speak Tamil and over time they spoke so well that the differentiation disappeared. Sri Lanka has a number of tombstones with Arabic written on them and there were translators in both Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. A committee appointed by the king used to advise the kingdom on foreign trade and both Jews and Muslims had a place in the same. The Sinhalese ruler Parakramabahu had established Tamil inscriptions in the interest of the merchants who spoke the language. This shows that the Tamil traders were quite important and prominent in the scheme of things at Sri Lanka. Another inscription by the Chinese navigator Cheng Ho in the south is found in Tamil, Persian, and Chinese! This goes on to convey that Tamil traders were highly engaged in trade. I had the opportunity to study a number of Arabic and Persian documents which furnished details about Sri Lanka."
The wealth of material found at the Madras University library, the archives and the Connemara library had aided his research in a big manner. "I am grateful to Dr.Arul Raja, Dr.Subbarayalu, Dr.Shanmugam, Dr.Champakalakshmi and my guide Dr.Venkataraman for their support. I am indebted to them. During the historic times when Asia held the global economy gems, cinnamon, pepper, coir rope and coconut oil were sold to foreigners while the ports like Trincomalee served as places where merchant's vessels were repaired or serviced. This was possible because of the availability of Jackwood, ebony, and teak in abundance. Besides all this, the welcome attitude, the services of the decent translators and freshwater coupled with good security was of great help.
The rulers had appointed a separate minister for managing affairs connected with the shoreline and maritime trade. These facilities protected the merchants from pirates and no wonder a large number of Persian poets have recorded Sri Lanka in their works. The country came to known as Serendib and the rubies from Sri Lanka have been popularly mentioned all the time. Forest produce connected with medicine and cosmetics were exported too. The merchants came in from the Middle East to worship at the Adam's Peak in the island. A ruler of the island had sent a letter to Egypt in which he had added details about the infrastructural facilities at Sri Lanka while also welcoming people to make use of the same," added Dr.Rohitha.
According to the scholar, "The Sinhalese populace of the times had welcomed commerce while the country prospered due to the commercial activities of Tamils who lived on the island and the merchants from the Middle East. One of the Tamil rulers of Jaffna, in fact, had facilitated the visit of a famous Islamic traveler to the Adam's Peak. The ruler could also speak Persian fluently. Carpets and other items were brought into Sri Lanka by the Middle Eastern merchants and one finds a number of coins from the Arab world in the island. Islamic pottery sherds can also be found in Sri Lanka."
Dr.Rohitha was subtle while his communication was really enlightening. "The period between the ninth and eleventh centuries happened to be the golden era of Arab maritime geography. If you look at the story of Sindbad the sailor, it is interesting to learn that due to the presence of iron nails the ship got discarded while traveling over a magnetic mountain. This confirms the fact that coir ropes and other items were used to place the ship together in Asia unlike in the Mediterranean area were iron nails served the purpose. Tim Severin, the explorer, historian, and writer had retraced the legendary journey of Sindbad by making use of the materials and techniques mentioned in the book connected to the adventurer. Yukti Kalpataru of Bhoja, the famous Indian ruler is one of the rare Indian works which talks about several topics including statecraft, politics, city building, jewel testing, characteristics of books, shipbuilding etc.,
The scholar of history was eager to share details about the University of Peradeniya, "Our University is nearly 2,000 acres in terms of area and we have thousands of students. Many departments are disseminating knowledge and our country is keen to have academic exchanges. Sri Lanka is a marvelous country and I am happy to visit India which is home to my alma mater, the Madras University. The study of history will further the knowledge and positive relationship between the people of India and Sri Lanka."