The Alongshore City: Early Modern Colombo and the Creation of a Global South Hub (1550–1820)

This project aims to investigate the socio-environmental impact of several successive waves of ecosystem-engineering regimes which established themselves in and around the port city of Colombo in the early modern period. These regimes each attempted to irrigate and clear the land both through and for the construction of canals, dams, dikes, docks, roads, houses, and plantations. In the process, the composition of Colombo’s society and ecology was in constant flux. By focussing on the (dis)continuities between Lankan, Global Islamic, Portuguese, Dutch, and early British influence on the development of the city and its suburbs, this study attempts to highlight the reciprocal influence the different polities and (a changing) (sub-)urban society had on this process, on each other, and on local flora and fauna; as well as the entanglement of local and global knowledge, labour regimes, and technologies.

Historicising (both local and colonial) infrastructural projects in a Global South city over the long term could offer new perspectives on debates regarding correlations between environmental degradation and European imperialism, and more generally the impact of (early modern) city-building on environments around the globe. Additionally, working and sharing the results with contemporary communities living in the city today could offer an insight into the many ways the (historical) inhabitants of Colombo engineered their own space over time in processes poorly understood, or largely forgotten by their next of kin. Doing so could kickstart discussions about the historic roots to Colombo’s current state of existence, and the kind of environment it should be in the future.

This project is is part of the larger "Colombo: Layered Histories in the Global South City" project, funded by ERC/UKRI, and spearheaded by Professor Sujit Sivasundaram (University of Cambridge). The project at large focusses on a longue durée history of Colombo, and the changes in environment, infrastructure, social composition, cultural expression, and political tensions through the ages of pre-, post-, and colonial rule. The city serves as a case study for a micro-level analysis of processes of globalisation and ‘modernisation’ from a unique trans-imperial, and Asia-centric perspective.