TEA, TRINCOMALEE AND TRACING HISTORY!

Today’s Newsletter is about some historical details of interests for all! This particular tracing of history associated with Trincomalee started when Mr Chamikara Pilapitiya (whom I came to know many years before due to both of our interests on Canons, Forts and Military History) came to know of a document written by Captain Robert Percival (of 18th Royal Irish Regiment) in 1796 about a plant in Trincomalee that they used as Tea! (See image below)

 The Tea plantation was introduced to then Ceylon by the British and was not a native plant. However, this narration in Dutch documents bound to prove that there were brewing of Tea in Ceylon even before the introduction of Tea by the British colonials. Thus, commenced the tracing of this ‘mysterious tea tree’ in the Trincomalee Naval Dockyard. This was in 2018, and I was the Deputy Area Commander Eastern Naval Area based in Trincomalee Naval Base. The narration in the document when Mr Pilapitya read-out to me helped me to narrow down on the most likely locality within this 1000-acre property. Having had a good knowledge about the terrain of the Naval Base due to the kind of training I happened to receive during my Cadet time, I was able to focus on an area that resembles the description of the Dutch document.

How I learnt the terrain of the Naval Base Trincomalee goes back to my enlistment as an Officer Cadet in Oct 1986. I belong to the 15th Intake of Officer Cadets who were enrolled in Oct 1986 with 17 Candidates after about 5-6 rounds of interviews dating back to July 1986. I completed by AL examinations in Aug 1986 and by Oct 1986 was in the Navy! We were transferred to Trinco by sea from Colombo due to the cessation of road transportation from Habarana to Trincomalee because of separatist terrorist’s land-mine threats. By end of Nov 1986, the batch was reduced to 15 as 2 candidates were sent home on medical grounds being unable to sustain the physical standards. By end of the first term of 3 months, only 7 out of 15 candidates passed all exams of 13 subjects in English thus enjoying a break of couple of days whilst the re exams were held! Our Training Chief, Chief Petty Officer Albert Rodrigo was a remarkable senior sailor; physically fit, mentally alert, and very responsible in his job. It was the practice that the Divisional Team of a new entry Cadet batch is always hand-picked and the best, and they were true to their reputation were masters of all aspects! He used to force us to walk through the jungles of the Naval Dockyard and used to throw stones at us from the roads if he sees us in the trees! And very rarely he missed the aim as he was a sharpshooter; a pistol firer representing the Navy and Defence Services at that time! Thus, we gradually mastered the art of moving through the jungle canopies and by doing so we learnt the jungles and the terrain of the Naval dockyard.

Somewhere January 1987, Lieutenant Commander (Retd) Somasiri Devendra, a highly respected naval officer with passion for history visited Trincomalee and gave a presentation at the former Shipping Building of the Naval and Maritime Academy. The Area Commander was Commodore Clancy Fernando (another history fanatic with passion for all aspects of history from British Admiralty Railway in Trinco to Canons, flora and Fauna to Forts, from Maps to Charts and sailing and the list is endless.) and the Commandant was Captain Mohan Jayamaha (Who was Killed in Action with General Denzil Kobbekaduwa on 8th Aug 1992 at Ariyali Point, he was the Commander Northern Naval Area). We, the seven Cadets who were free after passing all exams in first sitting itself were seated at the end and I could see the entire senior officers who were seating at the first row when LCdr Somasiri Devendra did his presentation using the Over-Head Projector (OHP; this is the era of no Computers!). The speaker mentioned that there must be the third and final 100 Ton canon somewhere in the Naval Base as two canons were spotted and preserved! There were some discussion and enquiries with speaker and the front row, and I saw Commodore Clancy Fernando turn on his chair at front and say something to the Captain Mohan Jayamaha who was directly behind in the second row. Captain Mohan Jayamaha afterward turned towards the back and called my Divisional Officer; Lieutenant Damayantha Dharmasiriwardana who was couple of rows behind and say something to his ears. Immediately I sensed that we; the seven Cadets are up to something; a task that would surely be related to this ‘missing’ canon! True to my instincts, immediately after the lecture, the Divisional Officer summoned all seven of us and very bluntly told us to change into PT Rig and go into the jungles and NOT to come out without the ‘missing’ canon! That’s it, there were no mentioning of what we are supposed to look for, whether we should have meals or water with us or even where to look for; simply to say, ‘go into the jungles and find it!’

But we knew the terrain; the two ridges and peaks in these ridges and how the road connectivity is there for these peaks. We knew where the existing Gun Sites were and what was there, all thanks to our Divisional Chief Petty Officer’s stone-throwing-jungle-excursions! Thus, when Mr Pilapitiya was narrating the details of what Dutch Officer has written it down in his document, I knew where he should be sent and for that I used a team of SBS personnel headed by the Petty Officer WSS Perera. Having brief them and instructing them to take Mr Pilapitiya along with them, I engaged in my office work. The team spotted the possible tree; and several of them, resembling the details of the British document. (See Image below)

The tree is wrapped with the identification mark and the fully grown tree (below). It’s the leaf of this tree when brewed with hot water gives an identical taste of tea when field tested!

 Our society brew herbal drinks and never has used Coffee or Tea in our ancestral lifestyles. The Coffee was introduced to us by the Arab traders as they sailed across the Indian Ocean. These Coffee were from present day Ethiopia (the Abyssinia) and from the east coast of Africa. These Arab seafarers dominated the seaborne trade from present day Beira (of Mozambique) to Sri Vijayan Empire (present day Indonesia) and even connected China. Therefore, even before the colonials, we were consuming Coffee in most coastal trading points and sometimes the premium coffee was gifted to the Sinhala Kings and Queens.

There is so much of fascinating details to be traced in the history of this island nation and in particular Trincomalee! It is my belief that the next generation get inspired to trace the tracks just as I was inspired by LCdr Somasiri Devendra’s quest to trace the Canons of Trincomalee. This need passion, reading and exploring the terrain. I was fortunate enough to be trained by the best, imparting the best on me! And I earnestly wish today’s generation will do the same to give the best to the next generation and impart the best! Enjoy Reading!