Gerard Pietersz Hulft (12 December 1621 in Amsterdam – 10 April 1656 in Colombo), was a Dutch general. In 1655 he was sent with a fleet to Ceylon and died in action.
Life
editHulft was born as the youngest son of the brewer Pieter Hulft, and member of the Civic Guard at the Lastage, a neighborhood near the port of Amsterdam. After concluding his law studies Gerard Hulft was made Secretary to the City Council in 1645, a position he held until 1653.[1] He served under Johan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen, and Cornelis de Graeff. In 1652, a merchant vessel in which he had invested a fortune, was captured by the British. In the ensuing war Hulft hired and kept at his own expense a group of 24 sailors. After the war he lost his job as Secretary due to an administrative conflict with the burgomasters, when he refused to change the wording.[2] He seemed to have been a friend of Govert Flinck, who painted his portrait before his departure to the East.[2]
Enlisting with the VOC, where his brother Joan was a governor, he left for Batavia in April 1654, carrying letters nominating him either as Governor-General or Director-General of the Indies. Upon his arrival in Batavia in October, after a six-month journey, he joined the Council of Indies. In August 1655 the shrewd Joan Maetsuycker sent him with eleven ships and 1120 soldiers to Ceylon.[3] His mission was to crush the Portuguese utterly.[4] Hulft arrived in mid-September in Negombo. During his staying in Ceylon he maintained cordial relations with Rajasinghe II of Sri Lanka, the most powerful king of the island.[5]
Hulft marched from Maggona and fought the Portuguese in the vicinity of the Panadura Moya Kata.[6] The Dutch took the fort of Kalutara by surprise and laid siege to the city of Colombo, in October 1655.[7][8] On their first attack on 12 November, the Dutch lost 300 people, and 350 were seriously wounded. Half a year later Hulft died in action, being hit from the townwall by an arquebus in his right shoulder. This happened a month before the surrender of Colombo and two weeks after his visit to the Royal Palace, as described by the Dutch minister and orientalist Philippus Baldaeus.[9] His corpse was decorated with flowers and fruits and transported to Galle.[10] His ensign Pieter de Bitter brought the news to Batavia.[citation needed]
See also
edit- Hultsdorf, the legal centre of Colombo
Bibliography
edit- DE SILVA, Rajpal Kumar, BEUMER, Willemina G. M. Illustrations and views of Dutch Ceylon, 1602-1796: a comprehensive work of pictorial reference with selected eye-witness accounts, London: Serendib Publications, 1988.
- RIBEIRO, João. "História trágica da ilha de Ceilão". Lisboa: Publicações Alfa, Biblioteca da Expansão Portuguesa, 1989
- BALDEUS, Philippus. "A true and exact description of the most celebrated East India coasts of Malabar and Coromandel and also of the isle of Ceylon with their adjacent kingdoms and provinces". Amsterdam: 1672
References
edit- ^ "[anonymous] - Inventories". frick.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
- ^ a b "Section - CODART - Dutch and Flemish art in museums worldwide". codart.nl. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
- ^ Balbian Verster, J.F.L. (1932) Gerard Hulft 1621 - 1656, p. 141. In: Yearbook Amstelodamum.
- ^ "Homepage - History - VOC/Dutch East India Company - WolvenDaal". wolvendaal.org. Archived from the original on 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
- ^ Atlas of Mutual Heritage. "The arrival of general Hulft at the court of Rajasingha II". atlasofmutualheritage.nl.
- ^ "Kalutara — An Odyssey". thesundayleader.lk. Archived from the original on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
- ^ "Colonial Ceylon | New World | Portugal | Military History | Balagan | Steven Thomas". Archived from the original on 2011-01-06. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
- ^ Newton, Arthur Percival (1940). The Cambridge history of the British Empire. Vol. 2.
- ^ Baldaeus, Philip (1996). A description of the East-India coasts of Malabar and Coromandel and also of the Isle of Ceylon with their adjacent kingdoms and provinces. ISBN 9788120611719.
- ^ "Dutch Reformed Church of Galle". AmazingLanka.com. Archived from the original on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
External links
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