The Contribution of Protestantism in the Social Development of Jaffna Society: A Study Based on the Dutch Documents

Abstract

The nation had several socio-cultural developments from the 16th to the 19th century. The Dutch dominated Ceylon’s marine regions from 1656 until 1796. The Dutch were primarily motivated to conquer Sri Lanka because they wanted to propagate protestant faith and benefit from commerce and the wealth it produced. The fact that many people had switched from their native religions to a foreign one in a short amount of time was seen favorably by the Dutch. By drawing comparisons between the super stationary ideas of Catholicism and the reformed ideals of protestant Christianity, the Dutch were persuaded that they might be readily converted to their faith. In an aggressive attempt to establish their own distinctive brand of Protestantism, four more priests were sent from the Netherlands to serve in Sri Lanka’s major towns. The Jaffna region has existed as a separate kingdom for a very long time. Tamils also believed that Hinduism was central to their culture. However, this was altered when Europeans arrived and brought their Christian faith with them. This type of Christianity have aided in social development during hard times by influencing the many hierarchical development systems in Sri Lanka, especially in Jaffna. The Dutch high command, on finding Jaffna the most conducive place to propagate the protestant faith. Finding out how protistan religion influenced Jaffna society’s social development is the aim of this research. numerous arrangements for the Jaffna society’s growth have been made possible by the protestant faith. It is important that such topics dealt with Jaffna people’s lives and that they were very beneficial to the next generation’s development, particularly in terms of moral and educational growth. the primary goal of this study is to evaluate these social development conditions using Dutch documents. primary and secondary data are used in this research. The primary source of data is a book on Dutch written by Phillipus Baldaeus. and the research also makes use of Dutch records, including reports, diaries, and memorial notes. The main sources of data are administrative reports, notes, and annual reports. Based on the Dutch era, the data gathered from primary and secondary sources was analyzed. The gathered information was also subjected to a contextual analysis. The most valuable outcome of this research is a deeper understanding of the role Protestantism Faith in the development of Jaffna society through Dutch documents.