As is well-known, archaeology is the study of man’s past with the help of his artefactual remains. The early roots of Sri Lanka’s archaeological development are rooted in the colonial domination that the country underwent under the British, wherein, the English administrators took a paternal interest in discovering the lost grandeur of the island.
Although the intentions of the British in restoring the relics of the past were filled with mere bureaucratic objectives, their efforts produced a set of extraordinary archaeologists. Undoubtedly, H.C.P Bell was a man of that calibre, whose sincere commitment to tracing the antiquities of Sri Lanka unveiled the island’s glory before the world.
Many decades after his demise, H.C.P Bell’s great-grandson Andrew Bell visited the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka recently to donate the remaining manuscripts authored by H.C.P Bell on the archaeological excavations of Sri Lanka. Andrew Bell’s visit was emblematic of continuing the legacy of Bell in the realm of Archeology.
In particular, Bell’s association with the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka dates back to his stay in Sri Lanka as he was one of its legendary secretaries in the early 20th century. The ambience that attracted the Royal Asiatic Society in British Ceylon was an exclusive one with a rare breed of British administrators, scholars and even military officers who showed a genuine interest in the history of Sri Lanka. Since its inception, the British governor was the patron of the Royal Asiatic Society and each governor until the departure of the British continued to provide the tutelage to the scholarly endeavours of the society.
A critical assessment of Bell’s view towards Sri Lanka and Buddhism might mar his aura of being a reputed archaeologist as he held a condescending attitude to the local beliefs. His writings to the Church Missionary Society in London were an indication showing his abhorrence towards the Sangha and the Buddhist resurgence in the late 19th century.
HCP Bell played a pivotal role in Christian preparation for the Panadura debate, in which Ven. Miggetuwatthe Gunananda Thero vociferated for the Buddhists. From a vantage point of view, Bell’s notion of Sri Lankan society or traditional beliefs reflects the contemporary European understanding of the East filled with contempt and ignorance. The White Man’s burden was a common mission that every British civil servant yearned to fulfil by virtue of the prevailing myth of the West’s superiority over Asia. Thus, Bell’s ideology was not an exception as a person connected to the British Empire.
A Committed Orientalist
One of the rare features of H.C.P Bell, that distinguished him from the colonial servants was his continued obsession with Sri Lanka and its people. It might not be an exaggerative remark to locate HCP Bell in the line of other peculiar Victorians such as Sir Richard Burton and St John Philby as Bell emulated the same tradition of falling in love with the natives and their histories.
From the perspective of Edward Said, who authored ‘Orientalism’ in 1979, Westerners frequently tended to view the East as an exotic place filled with marvels. Since Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt in the early 19th century with French archaeologists and scholars who tried to fathom the Islamic culture of the conquered land, the West viewed the Orient through their own lenses. But, the sanguine efforts made by those adventurers in unfolding the lost relics, ancient cities and hidden pagodas paved the path for new scholarly discourse.
Sigiriya
When the Department of Archeology was set up in the late 19th century in Ceylon, H.C.P Bell took up systematic archaeological excavation as the first Commissioner of Archaeology. The excavation carried out under his guidance in Sigiriya was akin to an adventure showing his flare to the past. By 1897, H.C.P. Bell succeeded in uncovering the remains of King Kshyapa’s Palace atop Sigiriya rock – a victory of courage, determination and unabated fervour of a foreigner captivated by the unique art in Sri Lanka.
The excavation work on the ruins of the palace of King Kashyapa atop the rock presented bitter experiences and challenges for Bell and his team -”Bell party” as they were popularly called. He ensured continual work on the rock in the face of the scorching sun which heated the rock to a greater degree and drained the courage and physical strength of the workers at work.
Besides having completed the archaeological excavation around the country, Bell left a complete set of reports on the archaeologically important monuments and places in Sri Lanka. In particular, the document entitled “Report on Kegalle district of the Province of Sabaragamuwa” possesses a uniqueness as it presents a vivid account of the historicity of the Kegalle area, which remains obscure in the field of archaeology regardless of its underlying importance.
The Archeological survey reports compiled by HCP Bell continue to inspire archaeologists and historians to seek the untouched corners of Sri Lanka’s history.
Legacy continues
The set of documents donated by Andrew Bell to the Royal Asiatic Society’s library include the aforementioned “Kegalle Reports” and other 16 reports compiled by Bell during his stay in Sri Lanka.
Since Shashi Tharoor’s agitated speech at Oxford Union in 2015, the idea of colonial repression has become a hot topic in many circles. However, realistically the moral obligation of the present Brits on the deeds of their forefathers makes a pure vagueness as the socio-political trajectories have been changed. In particular, characters such as HCP Bell cannot be wiped out from history by accusing them as mere treasure hunters.
Bell’s indomitable spirit and zest for restoring the hidden monuments of the island was an impetus for local archaeologists such as Senarath Paranavithana. Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe who worked as the assistant to H.C.P Bell lifted the work initiated by Bell to greater heights, which resulted in considerable progress in Sri Lanka’s archaeology. Thus, Andrew’s visit to Sri Lanka to donate the reports puts one more brick to the scholarship in the country as these documents will be preserved in Sri Lanka’s oldest learned society’s library for future generations.
The writer is the joint secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka and a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.
