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On a historic quest
Robert Knox, Snr. and his son Robert Knox, Jnr. with their merry band of sailors boarded the ship 'Anne' in London on January 21, 1658. They were to sail on trade missions to East Indies under the British East India Company.
After a voyage of about one year and nine months, they encountered stormy weather along the Coromandel Coast and Bay of Bengal. The ship's mast and sails were damaged and they landed near Kottiar Bay (estuary of Mahaweli Ganga, Trincomalee) on November 19, 1659.
Whiteman's tree
When King Rajasinghe II of Kandy (1629-1687 A.D.) heard of their arrival he sent them gifts and invited them to come ashore. They were received by the Disawe of the district. But later, while Robert Knox Snr, was resting under a tamarind tree the king's men took him captive.
In later years, this tree where Robert Knox Snr. was captured was duly marked with a memorial tablet. On it was carved the words: "This is the Whiteman's tree under which Robert Knox, captain of the ship 'Anne' was captured". The stone tablet was placed in 1893 and was maintained for a number of years by the Government Archivist. When the tree showed signs of decay, he had it sprayed with insecticide and even propped up with brick columns. But the cyclone that lashed Trincomalee in the 1970s brought the tree down. The stone tablet that stood near the foot of the tree was taken to the Colombo National Museum to be preserved for posterity.
Their life and times
Most of Knox's sailors once ashore were actively engaged in knitting garments or engaging in animal husbandry, poultry and even growing paddy. There were others engaged in distilling arrack. Robert Knox Jnr. became a money lender like the Afghans of old in Ceylon. He gave not money, but paddy with 50% interest charged on it.
Some sailors became the blue-eyed boys of the king and were mobilized into His Majesty's armed forces. Among them was Richard Varhan who was appointed commander of the king's 970 soldiers' regiment. A few intermarried and settled down there.
Separation and death
Then came the sad separation of the whole crew on the orders of King Rajasinghe. Robert Knox Snr. and his son were kept for some time in a village called 'Bonder-Coos-Watte (as recorded in Robert Knox's book, 'A Historical Relation of Ceylon' (1681). This village refers to the modern Bandara Coswatta close to Wariyapola in the North Central Province.
Robert Knox, Snr. was afflicted with malaria and died in February 1666 at Bandara Koswatte.
Knox Jnr. and his companions were allowed to stay in villages chosen by the king and allowed to roam around the area. After his father's tragic death, Knox shifted to a place called Handpanadara (modern Deyaladha Amuna Pattuwa), south east of Kegalle (present village Etiriyagala). There he stayed for two years from 1664-1666 earning his living - by knitting caps and other garments.
Next to Legundeniya
From Bandara Coswatte, like a wanderer of no fixed abode, Robert Knox, on the orders of the king shifted to Legundeniya in the Kandy District about 6-7 miles from Gampola accompanied by his comrades John Loveland, John Marry, and William Bay. They lived there for three years from 1667-70 A.D.
In his book 'A Historical Relation of Ceylon' Robert Knox gives his impressions of Legundeniya. "We all four were brought up together into a town on the top of a mountain called Legundeniya, where I and my fellow Bachelor, John Loveland lived together in one house. For by this time, not many people as we, that single man, but seeing so little hopes, despaired of their liberty, and had taken wives or bedfellows. At our first coming into the town, we were very much dismayed, it being one of the most dismal places, I have set upon that Land. It stand alone upon on the top of a mountain and no other town near it and about four to five houses in it".
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On a historic quest Robert Knox, Snr. and his son Robert Knox, Jnr. with their merry band of sailors boarded the ship 'Anne' in London on January 21, 1658. They were to sail on trade missions to East Indies under the British East India Company.
After a voyage of about one year and nine months, they encountered stormy weather along the Coromandel Coast and Bay of Bengal. The ship's mast and sails were damaged and they landed near Kottiar Bay (estuary of Mahaweli Ganga, Trincomalee) on November 19, 1659. Whiteman's tree When King Rajasinghe II of Kandy (1629-1687 A.D.) heard of their arrival he sent them gifts and invited them to come ashore. They were received by the Disawe of the district. But later, while Robert Knox Snr, was resting under a tamarind tree the king's men took him captive.
In later years, this tree where Robert Knox Snr. was captured was duly marked with a memorial tablet. On it was carved the words: "This is the Whiteman's tree under which Robert Knox, captain of the ship 'Anne' was captured". The stone tablet was placed in 1893 and was maintained for a number of years by the Government Archivist. When the tree showed signs of decay, he had it sprayed with insecticide and even propped up with brick columns. But the cyclone that lashed Trincomalee in the 1970s brought the tree down. The stone tablet that stood near the foot of the tree was taken to the Colombo National Museum to be preserved for posterity. Their life and times Most of Knox's sailors once ashore were actively engaged in knitting garments or engaging in animal husbandry, poultry and even growing paddy. There were others engaged in distilling arrack. Robert Knox Jnr. became a money lender like the Afghans of old in Ceylon. He gave not money, but paddy with 50% interest charged on it.
Some sailors became the blue-eyed boys of the king and were mobilized into His Majesty's armed forces. Among them was Richard Varhan who was appointed commander of the king's 970 soldiers' regiment. A few intermarried and settled down there. Separation and death Then came the sad separation of the whole crew on the orders of King Rajasinghe. Robert Knox Snr. and his son were kept for some time in a village called 'Bonder-Coos-Watte (as recorded in Robert Knox's book, 'A Historical Relation of Ceylon' (1681). This village refers to the modern Bandara Coswatta close to Wariyapola in the North Central Province.
Robert Knox, Snr. was afflicted with malaria and died in February 1666 at Bandara Koswatte.
Knox Jnr. and his companions were allowed to stay in villages chosen by the king and allowed to roam around the area. After his father's tragic death, Knox shifted to a place called Handpanadara (modern Deyaladha Amuna Pattuwa), south east of Kegalle (present village Etiriyagala). There he stayed for two years from 1664-1666 earning his living - by knitting caps and other garments. Next to Legundeniya From Bandara Coswatte, like a wanderer of no fixed abode, Robert Knox, on the orders of the king shifted to Legundeniya in the Kandy District about 6-7 miles from Gampola accompanied by his comrades John Loveland, John Marry, and William Bay. They lived there for three years from 1667-70 A.D.
In his book 'A Historical Relation of Ceylon' Robert Knox gives his impressions of Legundeniya. "We all four were brought up together into a town on the top of a mountain called Legundeniya, where I and my fellow Bachelor, John Loveland lived together in one house. For by this time, not many people as we, that single man, but seeing so little hopes, despaired of their liberty, and had taken wives or bedfellows. At our first coming into the town, we were very much dismayed, it being one of the most dismal places, I have set upon that Land. It stand alone upon on the top of a mountain and no other town near it and about four to five houses in it".