Nicholas Dias Abeysinghe Amarasekere

Maha Mudaliyar The Maha Mudaliyar ( ''Head Mudaliyar'' or මහ මුදලි) was a colonial title and office in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Head Mudaliyar functioned as the head of the low country native headmen and native aide-de-camp to the Governor of Ceyl ...

, ( Sinhala: නිකලස් ඩයස් අබේසිංහ අමරසේකර) (8 May 1719 - 10 May 1794) was a

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka * A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority ** Sri L ...

Dutch colonial administrator. He was appointed as the

(Head Mudaliyar) of Dutch Ceylon, hence he was one of the most powerful personalities in the country.Dutch and British Colonial Intervention in Sri Lanka, 1780-1815
By Alicia Schrikker, pp 67 He received Mudaliyar medal from Governor

Jan Schreuder Jan Schreuder (12 February 1704 in Hamburg – 16 January 1764 in Batavia, Dutch East Indies) was the 30th Governor of Zeylan during the Dutch period in Ceylon Dutch Ceylon ( Sinhala: Tamil: ) was a governorate established in present-da ...

in 1768 and later received the Head Mudaliyar Gold medal on 31 May 1785 from Governor

Willem Jacob van de Graaf Willem Jacob van de Graaf (28 May 1736 or 1737, in Huissen – 10 December 1804, in Utrecht) was the 35th Dutch Governor of Ceylon during the Dutch period in Ceylon. Willem Jacob was the third child of Sebastiaan van de Graaf, Major of Cavalry ...

,DIAS ABEYSINGHE - Family
/ref> as a recognition and reward for his fidelity towards the

Dutch East India 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 co ...

company. A ''Mala Padakkama'' is also said to have been conferred on him by the Kandyan King of the era.

Family and residences

Nicholas Dias Abeysinghe was born in 1719 to the family of Mohandiram Don Joan Dias Abeysinghe and Dona Gimara de Silva of

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Souther ...

. He was married to Dona Clara Goonaratne, daughter of Domingu Jayathileke Goonaratne, Mohandiram Atapattu of Galle and to Adriana Gertruda Ilangakoon, daughter of Ilangakoon Mudaliyar. He had a son and a daughter from his first marriage with Clara Goonaratne; Don Balthazar, who was a Sahabndar Maha Mudaliyar and Dona Ana Hertroyda, who was married to Don Bastian Jayathilleke Gooneratne, Attapattu Mudaliyar of Galle. He had two sons from his marriage to Adriana Gertruda Ilangakoon; Johannes Welhelmus, who was the Mohandiram of Galle and Abraham, a Guard Mudaliyar and the chief interpreter of Sir Robert Brownrigg, the

Governor of British Ceylon The governor of Ceylon was the representative in Ceylon of the British Crown from 1795 to 1948. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in Ceylon. The governor was th ...

. Nicholas Dias Abeysinghe lived at Pokune Walauwa in Dangedera, Galle. He had two other

Walauwa Walauwa or walawwa is the name given to a feudal/Colony, colonial manor house in Sri Lanka of a Native headmen of Ceylon, native headmen. It also refers to the feudal social systems that existed during the colonial era. The term walauwa is derive ...

s located in

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 ...

and

Katunayake Katunayake ( si, කටුනායක, ta, கட்டுநாயகம்), is a suburb of Negombo city in Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is the site of Bandaranaike International Airport or Colombo Airport, the primary international air g ...

. His Colombo walawwa was situated at Silver Smith Street and Katunayake walauwa was situated at Kotugoda.

References

External links

History - The Walawwa
1719 births 1794 deaths Maha Mudaliyars People from Galle Sinhalese civil servants People of Dutch Ceylon Sri Lankan Protestants 18th-century Dutch colonial governors {{SriLanka-bio-stub

Family and residences

See also

References

External links