Doing justice to Slave Island

• Published date: 07 February 2023
• Publication title: Daily Mirror

The change of name also helps recognize Slave Island's multifaceted history and character. It did begin as an abode of slaves, but during Dutch rule (1658-1796), it had ceased to be so, asserts historian Prof. B.A. Hussainmiya. 'It was populated largely by Malay soldiers who were recruited by the Dutch to defend their possessions in Ceylon,' he said. Slave Island housed the famed Ceylon Rifle Regiment, the precursor of the Ceylon Army. It also housed Ceylon's first botanical gardens named 'Kew' Gardens after the original in England. The banks of the Beira Lake were cherished picnic spots in British times, and later, the area became a bustling commercial centre due to its proximity to the Colombo port.

Slave Island might have been an island at some point, but for the most part, it was a peninsula jutting into what is now Beira Lake, which was very much larger than it is today. Asiff Hussein, author of The Great Days of Colombo quotes James Selkirk, author of Recollections of Ceylon (1844) as saying that the place was used by the Dutch to keep their slaves. Alan Walters, writing in 1892, said that the slave connection could be traced to the murder of a Dutch dignitary and his wife living in the fort by a Kaffir slave. Following this horrific mid-night episode, the Dutch decided to ferry all the Kaffirs to the Island in the Beira Lake in the night and ferry them back to the fort at daybreak. And to prevent the slaves from escaping from the island they also put crocodiles in the lake.

As for the origin of the term Kompanna Veediya, there are various theories. It stems from its association with the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC) that used the area to quarter its Malay soldiers brought from Java (Indonesia). Kaffirs and Indians who served as soldiers were also quartered there. There is another theory that says that the term Kompanna comes from the Malay word 'Kampong' meaning 'village'. And according to the Colombo Cold Stores' website, the term Kompanna Veediya emanated from its predecessor, the Colombo Ice Company, that was set up in 1860 by a German engineer.

The over-crowded and untidy Slave Island of today was Sri Lanka's first botanical gardens named after Kew gardens in Britain. But due to the problem of flooding the garden was shifted to Kalutara and finally to Peradeniya near Kandy. The garden area was taken by the Ceylon Rifle Regiment (CRR) raised by the British. Dr. Husseinmiya says that in its heydays, the CRR had...