Antique Print of Inhabitants of Ceylon by Baldaeus (1672)

Description: Plate page 142: This plate shows native inhabitants from the Island of Ceylon / Sri Lanka killing dutch VOC people and its commander Koster near Batecalo. This original antique print originates from 'Naauwkeurige beschryvinge van Malabar en Choromandel der zelver aangrenzende ryken en het machtige eyland Ceylon. Nevens een omstandige en grondigh doorzochte ontdekking en wederlegginge van de afgoderye der Oost Indische heydenen', by Philippus Baldaeus, published in Amsterdam in 1672 by Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge & Johannes van Someren.

Artists and Engravers: Philippus Baldaeus, Baelde or Philip Balde (1632 - 1672) was a Dutch minister. He went to Jaffna, Ceylon with an invading Dutch force during 17th Century. As the first European he documented the life, language and culture of Tamil people, living in the north of the island. It is a great historical record, similar to Mahawamsa, and it was immediately published in Dutch and German.