This Inscrutable Englishman: Sir John D'Oyly, Baronet, 1774-1824

This Inscrutable Englishman: Sir John D'Oyly, Baronet, 1774-1824 image
ISBN-10:

0304700959

ISBN-13:

9780304700950

Edition: First Edition
Released: Jan 01, 1999
Publisher: Cassell
Format: Paperback, 294 pages
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Description:

Sir John d'Oyly (1774-1824) accomplished in 1815, through shrewd diplomacy and the creation of an efficient intelligence network, the peaceful annexation on behalf of the British Crown of Sri Lanka's fiercely independent mountain kingdom of Kandy. Yet, in the press, d'Oyly voluntarily exchanged the prospect of further honours for permanent exile. Was he merely the Crown's "obedient servant", constructing a blueprint for British imperial domination or had he permitted himself to dream a romantic dream? This study of d'Oyly's conduct, motives and seemingly contradictory personality, set against the background of a feudal Asian state catapulted by colonization into a 19th century dominated by Eurocentric concepts of morality and oriental" exoticism, and by utilitarian notions of civilization, aims to unravel the cultural and psychological implications of colonial rule for both colonizer and subject.











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