Arippu Fort in Mannar (මන්නාරමේ අරිප්පු බලකොටුව)

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Arripu Fort is a small two-bastion structure built by the Portuguese, located 20 km south of Mannar Fort, just before the causeway at Arippu. A 1672 sketch of the fort shows a substantial Portuguese fort, later enhanced by the Dutch. The two small bastions on opposite sides may have been Dutch additions.

The Gulf of Mannar has long been a crucial area for rulers of Sri Lanka, prized for its high-quality pearls. Sri Lankans have been diving for pearls in these waters since the 4th or 5th century BCE.

During the colonial period, the pearl trade became highly profitable for the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. Ceylonese divers were made to harvest pearls from small boats, while colonial officials monitored the process from larger vessels and forts, ensuring that none were stolen. The seas around Arippu (historically known as Aripo, Aripoe, Aripa, Arrippo) housed some of the last remaining pearl banks that were heavily exploited by European colonizers, eventually leading to their depletion.

This fort was handed over to the Dutch in 1658 after the fall of Mannar. Fryke and Schweitzer (1700) who made a visit to the pearl banks of Arippu provide a brief description and the conditions of the area as well as the fort;

Aripen (Arippu) is a pretty strong place, kept by 20 Dutch Soldiers, provided with 4 Fieldpieces, and other Warlike Necessaries convenient for a place of that bigness.

Many Malabarians live about it, of whom one may buy Flesh, Milk, Butter, Egges, Fowls, &c. cheap enough: And we bought here two pretty good Bullocks for one Rixdollar, that serv’d both our Companies.

This place is chiefly designed to keep the Pearl-Bank from being fish’d by anyone that hath no title to it, which is an offence punishable with death. It is very unhealthy there, and no European but must expect a Fever that will kill him, if he stays there long. For which reason they are exchang’d from Manara (Mannar) ev’ry four months; and yet they lose generally half their Men.

After the fall of Mannar, this fort changed hands to the British. Fedrick North, the first British Governor to then Ceylon Built his official residency at the Beach Front now known as the Doric, and converted this fort to a bungalow for the officers who managed the pearl fisheries in the area.

Later this bungalow was converted to a Rest House but abandoned due to the LTTE terrorist war which spilled into this area too.

Incidentally, it was to this fort that Robert Knox, the famous prisoner of the Kandyan King, escaped after 19½ years in captivity. The Dutch, who were in control of this part of the country at the time made arrangements to send him back to England. On his return to England, he published his work ‘An Historical Relation of Ceylon’ in 1681.

This book was later translated into Dutch, German and French, and came to be internationally recognised as a book dealing with the Kandyan kingdom, its inhabitants and his experience concerning the socio-economic history of the island. The book was inspired to a certain extent as one of the best-known works of English fiction ‘Robinson Crusoe’ written by Daniel Defoe.

Dutch Fort of Arippu drawn in 1672 from the National Archives of Netherlands — The Dutch Fort of Arippu drawn in 1672 from the National Archives of the Netherlands

References

Nelson, W. A. (1984). The Dutch forts of Sri Lanka: The military monuments of Ceylon. Canongate Publishing Limited.
Fryke, C., & Schweitzer, C. (1700). Voyages To The East Indies 1680 to 1686/1676 to 1683. Cassell and Company Ltd.

Also See

Map of Arippu Fort

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Driving Directions Arippu Fort

Route from Colombo to The Arippu Fort	Route from Anuradhapura Town to The Arippu Fort
Though : Puttlam – Eluwankulama Distance : 235 km Travel time : 6+ hours Driving directions : see on google map	Though : Medawachchiya – Seelawathura Distance : 110 km Travel time : 3 hours Driving directions : see on google map

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References

Also See

Map of Arippu Fort

Driving Directions Arippu Fort

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