COLOMBO, Feb 4: If not for the Treaty of Amiens in which Britain, France, Spain and Holland carved up the colonies in 1802, Sri Lankans could be sipping wine instead of tea, driving on the right instead of the left side of the road and speaking Japanese, not English.British invaders arrived in this Indian ocean island in 1796 while the French revolution was in full swing.
French seafarers, who landed in the north-eastern port of Trincomalee, probably received their orders to withdraw in line with the Amiens treaty.
Going by Sri Lanka's record of getting one foreign power to oust another, ruling the country at the time could have led to local leaders seeking French aid to kick out the British.
In 1658, Sri Lankan chieftains were helped by the Dutch to oust the then Portuguese colonial masters who ruled the country since 1505.
The Dutch in turn were kicked out in 1796 with the help of the British who conquered the entire island by 1815.
Modern day Sri Lankan administrative and political systemsare remnants of British colonial rule.
Independence was granted on February 4, 1948, a year after Britain pulled out of the Indian subcontinent after creating Pakistan by dividing India.
Sri Lankans today drive on the left hand side of the road following its colonial heritage. English is widely spoken and the country's native Sinhalese was not an official language till 1956.
If not for the British, Sri Lanka probably would not be playing cricket. The country became world champions in limited-over cricket in 1996, 15 years after being admitted to the elite club of Test playing nations.
However, the best of British heritage is regarded as tea and the English language. If not for tea which was introduced to Sri Lanka by a Scotsman by the name of James Taylor, the country could have perhaps turned into a vineyard.
Despite the absence of malt and grapes, the country has done well to keep its spirits up.
The sap from coconut flower goes to make the local alcoholic drink, arrack, while sugar cane is alsoused to make a much more potent drink.
With the British came the Morris Minor to Sri Lanka. The black and yellow painted cars were used as taxis till recently. There certainly could have been more French-made Citroen 2CV models on Colombo roads if not for the British.
And of course, Sri Lankans would be driving on the right side of the road instead of following the British style of keeping to the left.
As recently as 1942, there was a chance that Sri Lanka could have aligned themselves with the Japanese to get rid of the British and possibly become a Japanese colony.
Former President Junius Jayewardene, one of those who tried to get the Japanese to oust the British, recalled in a 1991 lecture that a then Sri Lankan Leader Don Stephen Senanayake felt the country would automatically get independence after the World War II.
``My working with them (the British) and friendship with them now when they are in trouble, will bring results after they win the war,'' Jayewardene quoted Senanayake as saying evenas the Japanese bombed the country in April 1942.
``The British empire cannot survive after this war,'' Senanayake told freedom agitators then. He died in March 1952 after falling off his horse.
Not many Sri Lankans speak Japanese but the roads are chock a block with Japanese motorcycles, cars, vans, buses, trucks, all driving not on the left but what is left of the roads built by the British.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
