Lubbert Jan baron van Eck (26 March 1719, Velp - 1 April 1765,

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

) was the 31st

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of Portuguese ...

during the

Dutch period in Ceylon Dutch Ceylon ( Sinhala: Tamil: ) was a governorate established in present-day Sri Lanka by the Dutch East India Company. Although the Dutch managed to capture most of the coastal areas in Sri Lanka, they were never able to control the Kandyan ...

. Van Eck was the son of Samuel van Eck (1691-1760) and Jacoba Wilhelmina Maria Couttis (c.1695-1740). He inherited the title "Baron" and "lord of Overbeek" from his father. He joined the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

in March 1732. From June 1740 to April 1741 he sailed as "undermerchant" with the ship "Huis van Foreest" to

Batavia, Dutch East Indies Batavia was the capital of the Dutch East Indies. The area corresponds to present-day Jakarta, Indonesia. Batavia can refer to the city proper or its suburbs and hinterland, the Ommelanden, which included the much-larger area of the Residency ...

. In June 1747 he departed to

Negapatnam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

in southern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. By 1748 he had become

opperhoofd ''Opperhoofd'' is a Dutch word (plural ''opperhoofden'') that literally translates to "upper-head", meaning "supreme headman". The Danish equivalent ''overhoved'', which is derived from a Danish pronunciation of the Dutch or Low German word, is als ...

Porto Novo Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Gu ...

, In 1754 he became opperhoofd of Paliacatta. In 1758 he was appointed governor of

Coromandel Coromandel may refer to: Places India *Coromandel Coast, India **Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements **Dutch Coromandel *Coromandel, KGF, Karnataka, India New Zealand *Coromandel, New Zealand, a town on the Coromandel Peninsula *Corom ...

, which function he took in practise in April 1759. Finally, he was appointed Governor of Ceylon on 29 May 1761, but only took over the leadership on 18 February 1762.A Vrugt, , Dutch National Archive, 1990. It contains a biography on page 9, and a description of his acts as governor from page to 15 Van Eck became governor during a war with the

Kingdom of Kandy The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the Sri Lanka, island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom ...

(1761-1766), started when king

Kirti Sri Rajasinha Kirti Sri Rajasinha ( Sinhala: කීර්ති ශ්‍රී රාජසිංහ, Tamil: கீர்த்தி ஸ்ரீ ராஜசிங்கம்; 11 August 1747 – 2 January 1782) was the second Nayaka king of Kandy. He was ...

invaded and conquered a number of cities and provinces with the aid of Dutch rebels. In 1762 Van Eck managed to recapture the cities of Matara and

Hanwella Hanwella is a town in Sri Lanka, situated about from Colombo, the commercial capital of the country. Hanwella lies on the Colombo-Ratnapura main road, on the banks of the Kelani River. Geography This historic city belongs to the Colombo distr ...

from the Kandyans. An effort to put a Siamese prince, who had visited Ceylon and had powerful backers among Kandyans, on the Kandyan throne failed. Peace negotiations in 1763 failed as well. With backing of the VOC, Van Eck led two invasion in the Kingdom, but he died in office while the second invasion was still not completed.

Iman Willem Falck Iman Willem Falck (25 March 1736 – 6 February 1785) was a Dutch colonial governor who served as the 32nd Governor of Zeylan during the Dutch period in Ceylon. He was appointed on 7 August 1765 and was Governor until 5 February 1785. He was suc ...

, his successor, following the acting governor

Anthony Mooyart Anthony Mooyart (6 December 1698, Jaffna – 1 January 1767, Jaffna) was an acting Governor of Ceylon during the Dutch period in Ceylon. He was appointed on 13 May 1765 and was Governor until 7 August 1765. He was succeeded by Iman Willem Falck. M ...

, finally was victorious and the agreement signed in February 1766 was the start of continued peace between the Dutch and Kandyans until the departure of the first from the island in 1798.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eck, Lubbert Jan van 1719 births 1765 deaths 18th-century Dutch people Barons of the Netherlands Dutch expatriates in Sri Lanka Governors of Dutch Ceylon People from Rheden Dutch East India Company people