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Historical View of Foreign Influences on Queens' and Elite Females Gayathri Ranathunga(1) Historical View of Foreign Influences on Queens’ and Elite Females’ Dress in the Kandyan Kingdom of Sri Lanka (1) Fashion Design and Product Development, Department of Textile and Clothing Technology, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Katubedda, Sri Lanka. (email: [email protected]) Abstract: Foreign influences played a pivotal role in because they were the first ladies of the country. Royal changing ancient fashion trends of Sri Lanka from time females including the Queen, princesses and their to time .The influences made huge differences in relatives of the early 16th Century were converted to women’s fashions. As a result of foreign influences a Christianity. Most of the early royalties of the Kandyan new hybrid formation of fashions emerged in women’s Kingdom from their childhood grew up under dress. This research attempts to find out how different Portuguese protection. When Karalliyadde Bandara foreign influences caused exquisites fashions in queens’ (1552-82) (Father of Queen Dona Catherine), was and elite female dresses in the Kandyan Kingdom of expelled to Mannar by King Mayadunne of Sri Lanka. Sitawaka(1521-81), Karalliyadde Bandara and his two children accepted the Catholic faith expecting political Keywords: Foreign influences, Hybrid fashions, protection from the Portuguese (Lankananda 1996, Queens, Elite females, Kandyan Kingdom verses 73,76), they acquired considerable Portuguese cultural influences. The first Dutch admiral Jori Van Introduction Spilbergen who visited Kandy in 1602 AD reported that the Queen and her children all were dressed in the Kandy was the last Kingdom of Sri Lankan Christian manner (Paranavithana 1997:32). During the th administration which extended from the 14 century colonial occupation Queen Dona Catherine was a AD to 1815.The Kandyan era is the last and the first direct victim of Portuguese political pressures. The era of the early Sri Lankan administration during Portuguese kept her under their command as she was which both western and eastern foreign influences the rightful heir to the Kandyan throne. Queyros spread over the Kingdom within a short period of (Perera 1930, 483) expresses how she was cared for and time, namely South Indian, western (Portuguese, isolated purposely from her own people. It is said that Dutch, British) and Siamese. These influences caused “the general places Portuguese to guard the princess a huge impact on Kandyan costumes in every aspect and not allowing the Chingalaz to speak to her” like novel dress items and patterns, silhouette, (Perera 1930, 483). Nevertheless, Francisco de Silva, accessories, headdresses, dress materials, colours and who had brought the princess to the hill noticing her even the methodology of wearing. The importance of loneliness supplied a Portuguese lady (Catherina de this historical era is that for the first time Sri Lankan Abreu) and four religious at the order of St. Francis people were exposed to varied foreign clothing and one from the Society of Jesus for her company influences. (Perera 1930,482). The education imparted to princes Queens and Elite females bore the highest status and princesses’ knowledge of the manners and customs in civil society. Plenty of foreign influences were of royalty in the West was given to her. When she reflected in the costume of the queens and elite females married King Vimala Dharma Suriya I and became Queen of the Kandy she had enormous power, wealth [9] Proceedings of the Third International Symposium, SEUSL: 6-7 July 2013, Oluvil, Sri Lanka and connections and much awareness of following for all maritime lands around Sri Lanka. The political Western dress etiquettes. expansion of 1665 AD and the increase in the lands and subjects of the Dutch in Ceylon influenced deeply During the 16th Century the existing Sinhalese their trade policy (Arsarathnam 1956, 159). They could Buddhist tradition blended thoroughly with South now supply all these people with their clothing Indian Culture. The elementary reason was, King (Arsarathnam 1956,158).Then they strictly restricted Narendra Simha, the last Sinhalese king by blood had other private trading activities carried out by Hindus several matrimonial alliances with South Indian and Muslims and increased discriminatory duties. princesses ( Dewaraja 1988.38-45). The Nayakkar Therefore Sri Lankans had to be satisfied with the Kings’ era marks an important historical phase in textiles that were brought by the Dutch. The Dutch South Indian dress inspirations. As a result of King identified the interests of natives and largely supplied Narendrasingha’s marriage the Nayakkar supremacy those textiles (Arsarathnam 1956, 161). Brocade was started. King Narenrdasinhga’s wife was a princess of widely used in making the Kandyan Queens’ and elite ‘Madura’, he subsequently married two other sisters, females’ jackets. died without children and nominated the brother of the queens to succeed him. This began the Malabar Native consorts who belonged to elite families of dynasty(Dewaraja 1988) the Kandyan Kingdom belonged to high cast families (radala) and they were the next fashion conscious The series of royal marriages with South Indian group of the Kandyan society. The elites consisted of families had created quite a colony in Kandy of high ranking officers in the King’s service. Higher Nayakkar relatives of the king, towards the middle of administrative officers were drawn from a few families the eighteenth century (Dewaraja 1988,43). Hence of radala rank. They were descendants of the Gampola Raghavan M D expresses that from 1739 to 1815 Kingdom. They were a powerful civil group from its Kandy had had its own impact on the socio-cultural origin and commonly known as ‘Bandaravaliya’. Th e y landscape of the political alliances with South India. had constant contests between each other for the This situation opened the door to Tamil social and throne (Lankananda 1996, Verse 428). Dewaraja (1988, cultural influences. They brought their own cultural 55) suggests that the title of Bandara was borrowed habits during the same reign. Language, their customs from the Tamil pandaram, priest of the vellala cast who and manners, beliefs and practices as dress and the way officiated in Siva Temples in South India and of life closely resembled those of South Indian families immigrated to Sri Lanka and then they were absorbed (Sastri 1955:302,303,304) . into the high cast called govikula. Dewaraja (1988, 60) Siamese textiles gradually became popular among suggests that the radala preserved its status by frequent Kandyans. During the Dutch occupational era, the intermarriages within its own ranks. Robert Knox Dutch especially brought Siamese textiles. Brocade (Knox 1966, 106) says that thus by each rank marrying could be seen only in the elite and royal family. This constantly within itself, the descent and dignity thereof was also an imported textile material from Batavia was preserved forever. Dewaraja (1988, 66) suggests (Indonesea).This textile type was widely known as that birth, office, wealth and military authority ‘Sangket’ in Indonesia. Somana, brocade (gold combined with a specific style of living and threaded fabric), silk and muslin were luxurious conspicuous status symbols made the radala a socially textiles used only by royalty and high nobles. privileged group. They were stuck in the group and Indonesian textiles like somana, silk, and brocade were hardly escaped from it. broadly imported by the Dutch East India Company Mante (collar) jacket and lower garment, Shawl during the 17th Century. Therefore during that time a (Lansoluwa) with long lower garment, canopy or common sartorial sense appeared among Sri Lankans. kerchief (mottakkiliya) and ohoriya (a dress) were the The Dutch maintained well a textile monopoly within main components of the queens’ and noble womens’ the country. They strategically made the environment attire. These clothing styles resembled Portuguese and so as to make the population depend only on their South Indian dress features. The full attire of a woman textiles. First of all they achieved the autocratic power [10] Gayathri Ranathunga Historical View of Foreign Influences on Queens’ and Elite Females’ Dress in the Kandyan Kingdom of Sri Lanka was completed with the lower garment, upper garment, necklace, earrings, armlets, anklets, belts, and headgear. Materials and Method The present analysis is explored through an observational study of actual descriptions made by observational - participants, historical records, murals of the period and reviewing ancient literature and research papers relevant to the subject. Memoing, coding and concept mapping helped to discover patterns of the Kandyan tradition. Reliability of the Figure 1 data incorporated for the research has been ensured. Queen Dona Catherine – (R.K. de. Silva. Beumer W.G.M, Illustrations and views of Dutch Ceylon, Serendip The pictorial data were cross checked from different Publications, London, p.16) literary sources such as temple murals, cross checked with particular literature and interviews. Many original sources were used. Temple murals were compared with mante jacket (jacket with a collar contemporary sketches which were produced by part) with long lower garment. foreigners (true observations). Interviews with mante jacket (jacket with a collar part) with a academic scholars, artists, inheritances of Kandyan long lower garment is the most depicted dress in wall aristocrats enabled to build a strong logical analysis. paintings. Ananda
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