The thombo treasure. Colonial population administration as source for the historical demography of early modern Sri Lanka
Publication year
2020Author(s)
Source
Australian Economic History Review, 60, 1, (2020), pp. 105-121ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor

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Organization
Economische, Sociale en Demografische Geschiedenis
Journal title
Australian Economic History Review
Volume
vol. 60
Issue
iss. 1
Languages used
English (eng)
Page start
p. 105
Page end
p. 121
Subject
Categories Contested; Europe in a Changing World; Radboud Group for Historical Demography and Family HistoryAbstract
During their occupation of Sri Lanka (1640–1796) and following Sinhalese
and Portuguese practices, the Dutch created an elaborate
registration of people, estates, and labour services. The administrative
records known as the thombos are incomparable in their level
of detail, yet they have hardly been used for the purposes of demographic
or economic history. This article describes the challenges
involved in ‘decoding’ the thombos, that is, reconstructing the
meaning of particular variables in the light of the prevailing legal
pluralism in which Sinhalese common law and Roman-Dutch law
co-existed uncomfortably. It also summarises research findings
from a pilot study involving about two hundred small villages in
Colombo province. Finally, it sketches research horizons, as the
thombo ‘treasure’ holds great prospects for (comparative) studies
into family systems and the impact of colonial rule on fertility and
mortality.
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- Academic publications [188808]
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- Faculty of Arts [22819]
- Open Access publications [57378]
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