Hanging on a comet

Throughout history, comets have been linked to either disaster or good fortune. J. Sarath Edirisinghe looks at Ceylon and the comet of 1664

From the dawn of history, comets were considered to herald in disaster and calamity, particularly to monarchs and nobles. Before the invention of the telescope, people wondered in awe at these heavenly bodies, which made their appearances without warning and disappeared after tormenting millions. There is historical evidence to show that in the majority of instances the sighting of a comet had been associated with some form of calamity, at least in one of the countries where the comet was visible.

One early recording of a comet associated with some form of upheaval is the depiction of Halley’s Comet in the Bayeux Tapestry, which records the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Some consider this association of comets and catastrophe as mere coincidence, while others believe that comets bring in good luck. Examples of the latter are only a few. Augustus Caesar was proclaimed Emperor of Rome around the same time a comet appeared in the sky. This was widely held as a sign that his time as emperor would be blessed by gods. Stanislaus Lubinetski, in his 1667 treatise ‘Theatricum Cometicum’, which gave an European account of the comet of 1664, contended that their appearance portended good events as often as evil ones.

The King’s bane
The first description of a comet and an associated calamity in Ceylon, by a European, is found in, ‘An Historical Relation Of Ceylon’ by Robert Knox, first published in England in 1681. The details of the comet and the circumstance under which the calamity occurred are described below.

Robert Knox noted down the details of the comet of 1664

The year was 1664. Prince Maha Astana, son of Dona Catherina and Senarat, had been on the throne of Kandy as Rajasimha II, for nearly twenty nine years. He was compelled to keep his kingdom well-secured from the invaders, particularly the Portuguese. Towards this end he maintained the kingdom effectively, guarded by the thickly forested mountains and allowing no roads or bridges, making access difficult to the uninitiated.

Rajasimhe, emulating his namesake, Rajasimha I of Sitavaka, had already proved his prowess against the invading Portuguese at Randeniwala and Gannoruwa, where he annihilated the invaders. He nursed one passionate wish – to be fulfilled before his death. That was to get rid of the Portuguese from the western and northern seaboards of the island, where they wielded power. He knew that without adequate naval power it was almost impossible to get rid of the Portuguese. The circumstances led to an alliance with the Dutch, which some considered foolish and shortsighted. By 1658 the Portuguese were evicted from the seaboard, but the Dutch, betraying the understanding they had with Rajasimha, held on to the former Portuguese possessions. The Kandyans ridiculed Rajasimha’s foreign policy as ‘miris deela inguru gatta wagei’ (like receiving ginger for pepper).

Rajasimha, being brought up in the royal palaces of Mahiyangana and Kandy, which at the time, for all intents and purposes, were Portuguese in tradition, and having studied reading and writing in Portuguese, Latin, music, horsemanship and humanities under the tutelage of Portuguese Franciscan friars, had an unquenching thirst for information on social conditions, battle craft and foreign policy of European powers. One of his fancies, interpreted in various ways, was to collect a menagerie of European captives with whom he could discourse about the conditions of Europe, and to entice or command them into his services at his will. By the 1660s he had collected a considerable number of captives, including the Portuguese, who were offered asylum in his kingdom in 1658. Some of the captives were in his service in the Court of Kandy, while others were stationed in various parts of the Kandyan kingdom, maintained by the Kandyan peasants. Robert Knox Jr. was one of the sailors taken captive by the King’s men at Cottiar bay in 1660, when their frigate ‘Ann’ anchored for repairs. Sixteen Englishmen were taken captive, including the captain Robert Knox Sr. and his son.

In late December 1664, four years after his captivity, with his father dead for the last three years, Knox saw and described a blazing comet across the Kandyan skies. The events leading to the appearance and description of the comet are detailed in Knox’s An Historical Relation Of Ceylon, first published in 1681.

Letters to the King
In December 1664 Rajasimha received a dispatch from Sir Edward Winter, the Governor of Fort St. George in India requesting the release of his English captives. Coincidently the Dutch ambassador Hendrick Draak was also present in the King’s court at about the same time, pleading on behalf of the English captives. The king was so pleased with Sir Edward Winter’s letter and the offer of the Dutch ambassador to accompany the detainees to Colombo that he promised the release of the English captives.

At the time Rajasimha was holding court at Nillambe, about 14 miles south of the royal city of Kandy.All the English captives, now 15 in number from the good ship ‘Ann’ and about 13 other Englishmen from the ship ‘Persia Merchant’ taken captive about one-and-a-half years before Knox, were asked to assemble at Nillambe in order to receive an audience with the King before they were released.

As ordered, the English captives arrived at the Nillambe city, where they were requested to assemble in one of the courtyards of the palace. The exercise took place towards the latter half of December 1664. According to Knox, about this time ‘a fearful blazing star’, appeared in the sky. There was anxious anticipation of a terrible calamity to follow.

In the courtyard of the palace the detainees were addressed by a chief, who announced that the detainees were no longer prisoners, and that they were at liberty to choose whether they would like to accompany Hendrick Draak, the Dutch ambassador or opt to leave the island by boat supplied by Sir Edward Winter. The English were asked for their choice. Various reasons were considered at the discussion that followed and a unanimous decision was arrived at, which in turn was communicated to the chief. The English had decided to move to Colombo with Draak. The detainees were dismissed, but were asked to report to the palace daily until the king made a decision. Once again they were called to the palace courtyard and were interviewed by a chief, this time, one by one, before being sent up to the King. The interview was to ask each and every detainee whether he would like to opt for service in the Kandyan court, promising wealth, slaves and high positions to those who wished to stay back. Each man surprisingly declined the offer, according to Knox, thereby ‘purchasing’ the King’s displeasure. The captives were sent back to their lodgings to await the King’s response. The captives knew that they were in a terrible situation and with the blazing comet in the night sky, they were wondering in what form the King’s wrath would be unleashed.

A plot brews
According to Knox, about this time the people of the land, having suffered the oppressive autocratic government of the King contrived to plot against him. Contemporary accounts do not support Knox’s views, and it is evident that none other than the plotters knew of the plan of the rebellion about to be launched. It certainly was not a people’s uprising, but a plot by a small group of Kandyan chiefs. Knox had his own grievances against the King, and his reasons for the rebellion are unsubstantiated. It certainly appeared as a plot by a few disgruntled chiefs, aided and abetted by a Buddhist monk, who was not even granted an audience with the King, in spite of arriving at Nillambe, all the way from the Poya Malu Vihare (later the Malwatte temple) in Kandy. The ring leader was Abanwela Rala and the other rebels were Halmassage Kanduru Rala, Mahante Appuhamy, Pallandeniye Mohottiar and Hayasundera Appuhamy. The disillusioned monk was Siri Nivasa Thera of the Poya Malu Vihare.

The appointed day for the rebellion, according to Knox, was December 21, 1664. Knox says that the blazing comet was ‘right over their heads’ on the 21st. At first the rebels were uneasy about the presence of the English captives at Nillambe, knowing that they were captives of the King and therefore were under constant surveillance. They decided to let them be lest a word may reach the King and the plot foiled. At midnight, with the comet right above their heads, the plotters moved to the palace. But this time a few other disgruntled chiefs had joined the rebels. They were Edanduvave Rala, Dissave of the Four Korales, Hinagama Apphamy, Dissave of Udapalata, and Rankotdivela Rala, Dissave of Uva.

The rebels succeeded in slaying the guards and many other officers, including the first Adigar Daldeniye Rala. The plotters moved up to the bed chamber of the King, beyond which none of the rebels could proceed due to the reverence they still had for him. The defenceless king was at their mercy, but the charisma of Rajasimha and the profound respect for the sanctity of the King’s person compelled them to resist a confrontation. Amidst the prevailing uncertainty among the rebels, the King made his escape through a back exit and reached Hevahata, where he took refuge in the Galauda mountain. The rebels, pursuing the fleeing king, abandoned the chase and retired to the Nillambe city.

Rebels rule the day
Following the supposedly successful rebellion, the plotters marched triumphantly to the city of Kandy, taking the English captives with them. At the palace of Kandy, the rebels ceremoniously proclaimed a very reluctant, young Prince Maha Astana, the only son of Rajasimha, as King. According to Knox, amidst confusion and plans to go after the fugitive King, the King’s sister fled with the young Prince to the country close to where the King was. According to historian Lorna Dewaraja, the ‘Prince, on the advice of his relatives collected an army and decided to attack the rebels, which was the turning point of the episode. The rebels attempted to flee to the Dutch in the lowlands, but the Prince’s troops effectively prevented their escape. There was fighting among the rebels themselves, with some trying to plea allegiance to the old King.

During this time, Knox mentions a ‘great man’ appearing on behalf of the old King, who was in fact Tennakoon Rala. Few days later, the King marched to the city of Kandy with his followers, and as expected the rebels were severely dealt with, except the ringleader Abanvela Rala, who was sent to the Dutch for a suitable punishment. The Dutch, exploiting the situation to their advantage, provided Ambanvela Rala with food and shelter, and kept him as a valuable resource of information on the Kandyan kingdom, useful for their future hostilities. Years later, he gave a detailed account of the rebellion, which no doubt were highly biased, as he had a personal grudge against the King.

According to Knox, the rebellion lasted five days, and now with no hope for release the English captives went back to their own houses to prepare for the Christmas dinner. They had to leave their meat ‘roasting in the spit’, when Tennekoon Rala summoned them once again to rise against the rebels. This campaign was abandoned when he realised that most of the rebels were already dealt with, while the others had sneaked into the Dutch territories.

A comet tail turns east
About the comet, Knox says that ‘…and one thing I very much wondered at, which was that whereas before this rebellion, the Tail stood away towards the Westward from which side the Rebellion sprung, the very night after (for I very well observed it) the Tail was turned and stood away towards the Eastward’.
Knox recounts the appearance of yet another comet in February 1666 that had its tail in the west with the head buried in the horizon. According to him, with the memory of the comet of 1664 and the rebellion still fresh in their minds, the King and the people were much daunted. The King, Knox says, sent ‘…men upon the highest mountains in the land to locate where the head of the blazing star was’. But the ‘head’ remained buried in the horizon, and the men could not perceive its location. The comet was visible for about a month and then disappeared without any issue. Although there are no scientific records of a comet in 1666, Knox asserts that it was very similar to the one he saw in England in 1680.

The comet of 1664 so vividly described by Knox in the Kandyan kingdom was seen by millions of others in America, England, Europe and Japan.
(To be continued next week)