SRI LANKA

SRI LANKA / ශ්‍රී ලංකා - இலங்கை.

Ancient maps of Sri Lanka.
Map of Ceylon Island published by Robert Knox in 1681.
Last stamp in a set of 3, issued on 22.09.2020.
Face value: 15 Sri Lankan rupee.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 300,000 copies.
Size: 41 x 30 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 2323A.
- StampWorld No. 1914.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2263.

Robert Knox (1641-1720) was an English sea captain in the service of the British East India Company. In January 1658, together with his father, he began a voyage by sea from Persia, and in November of the following year, a storm threw his ship to the shores of present-day Sri Lanka, where the entire crew was captured by the soldiers of the Kandy's king Rajasinghe II, who treated them rather leniently: young Knox managed to settle down and work as a farmer and peddler, and after nineteen years of captivity he was able to escape and take refuge in Arippu, a Dutch fort on the island's northwest coast, from where he was able to return to London. During the trip he wrote his An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, an account of his experiences, which was published in 1681, accompanied by engravings, among which is the map reproduced on the stamp.