In the past, the Island of Sri Lanka was known in many names. The oldest was Sihala Deshaya. This meant the land of Singhalese. The Arabs called the island Taprobane. During European times the island was known as Ceylon. Throughout history, she was world-famous as a major trading place. The port of Galle was the center of most of the trading that took place. Galle was the international harbor for centuries. This was changed at the beginning of the 20th century. The port was moved to Colombo by the British in 1911. Along with the port, most of the trading activity moved to Colombo. Sailing vessels were replaced with steam vessels. They wanted a deeper and larger port. Colombo port was the outcome. With the new port the trading activity also, increased.

Among the many items, we traded; gems, pearls, jewelry-grade corals, turtle shells, ivory, gyrinops walla, timber, and spices were on top of the list. The merchants traded with these items with almost all the known civilizations. Many merchants from China, Japan, India, Greece, Rome, Persia, Egypt, Arabs, and North Africans came to the island for trading. If I say among the trading goods gems and jewelry were one of the main items of the list. Though the gems were not found in the Galle area. The gemstones were found in Rathnapura and in the surrounding areas. The gems found their way into the Galle market for sale. For that matter still, most of the gems found in the county come to Galle for cutting and to be made into jewelry and for sale. Sea surrounding the island was full of pearls and also turtles, these raw materials were harness and supplied for the jewelry industry. The steady supply of raw materials helped the industry to grow. This continued for centuries.

With the famous city of Galle, the main gem and jewelry trade took place in the north part of the city. It was known as Kallu Walla. It means Black Beach in Singhala. The sand on the beach was black in color. Kalu Walla's name came into existence like that. Since my attention in this write-up is about gemstones, jewelry, and its ancillary businesses. Also, how Kallu Walla became a world center for jewelry making and other associated businesses. Today people call her the Idar-Obistine of Sri Lanka. This town is famous for its gem Cutting and jewelry making in Europe. The city of Idar - Obistine is located in Germany. Even today in the gem trade every one knows the best gem cutters come from there. And its one of the main centers for jewelry making in Europe.

Back in the day, the caste system was very strong in South Asia. Depending on the occupation of different people, they have categorized into a particular cast. The people who were involved in jewelry making and gem cutting were known as “ Nawandanna” people. They were also into coral carving, coral Jewlellary making, Ivory carving, and various accessories making from turtle shells, pearl jewelry, etc. They were either involved as artisans or as merchants who worked in these crafts. Since there was a very large flow of traders coming into the Galle, the city was a thriving commercial place for centries. Kallu Walla gave a lot of prominence to the city of Galle because of the jewelry business.

The Arab traders originally came in search of herbs used for perfume making. They were famous for making perfumes in the old world. Our island had certain types of wood (gyrinops walla) which they used for perfumes. We use the Singhala name for the timber as Walla Patta. Also, cinnamon oil and some other oils were also taken to use in the perfume industry. Then the Arab merchants saw the prospects of the jewelry trade and start trading in jewelry and gemstones. Since the craftsmen were so good they brought pearls, turtle shells, and corals from Arabia and got them made into jewelry and other accessories. Ivory was plentiful in Africa. The Arab merchants brought ivory to Galle to trade. This trade was a very big and thriving business. This ivory, turtle shell carving trade continued till the beginning of the 1980"s. But with the strict international laws to protect endangered animals, this came to an end. Since the laws and enforcement in the area were very strict in Sri Lanka there was no room to continue this business.

The people around Galle were sea-fearing people for centuries. They too visited other countries for trading. They were used to traveling to faraway places to do trading. However, during colonial times, more and more people from Galle started traveling to other parts of the world. Mostly to the other colonies of the colonial masters. Some of them settled down in the colonies. During the time of British rule, it happened broadly. Many citizens of Galle settled down in Africa, South Esat Asia. They concentrated their business mostly on trading. Some took the jewelry out of Galle and sold them there. This happened quite well since by law they could do it with ease. These traders continued to have their connections with Galle. Some traders supplied certain raw materials to the Galle jewelry trade. Among them, pearls, ivory, corals, turtle shell, and gems used to come. The gems and marble came from Burma. Ivory came from Africa, and the pearls, corals, and turtle shells from Arabia.

Just the way the Singhalies went and settled in other colonies the Arab merchants who came to do trading sealed down in Galle. These Arabs came from Morocco, North Africa, and Arabia. They settled down in and around in Galle. The more affluent once in the Galle fort and others mostly in the Kallu Walla area. Before the European occupation, the Arabs took permission from the local rulers and settled down here. The traders were important to the island since the trading business brought a lot of revenue and tax money. Basically, the rulers of the land then did not mind that as long as the tax was paid. This made the rulers very rich. The local rulers went a step forward and allowed the Arabs to marry SriLankan women. Most of the Arab merchants married Sinhala girls. The Arabs were here in Galle even before Islam was introduced in Arabia. They integrated quite well into the setup here. Later after Arabia became Muslim the religion came to the Island. I would say Galle was one of the first places in the country where Islam worships begun on the island. I would say this was the start of the Muslim religion on the island.

With the above-mentioned facts, the Galle and Kallu Walla became famous for the gems and jewelry industry around the international trading community. This trend has continued in this part of Gelle (Kalu Walla) for centuries. And now a large part of the population living in this area are involved in the business. The number of people involved in the trade is about 35000 to 40000. That’s the reason why the locals called this Kalu Wella area is the Idar-Obestine of Sri Lanka.

With the construction of the new harbor in Colombo, most of the jewelry traders shift to Colombo. But most of the craftsmen were producing jewelry there in Kallu Walla. The jewelry-making business in Kaluwalla did not get disturbed. It continued to flourish. With the growth of the British empire in other parts of Asia and in Australia more doors were opened for trade. So many tourists from Europe came to Colombo on transit from Europe to South East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Gems and jewelry purchasing was one of the main things to the tourist. Especially the sapphires were very much in demand.

Then came the second World War. Things are very rough and difficult for the people here as well. At the end of the second world war, many things changed around the world. The British left Ceylon soon after India became independent in 1945. Ceylon got independence from Britain in 1948. Even under the local masters, the jewelry business in Kaluwalla continued quite well. The Colombo port became a very busy port. Because of her location all almost all the vessels that moved from East Asia and Australia to Europe called on the Colombo port for refueling and for supplies. After the war, the steam vessels were replaced with large diesel-powered cruse ships. They were very large and large amounts of people travel in them. So many civilians and government officials, and soldiers of colonial powers moved up and down from Europe to East Asia and Australia. Colombo was one of their main ports on the maritime business. Colombo's trading business thrived due to this. Jewelry sales took the center stage among the visiting tourists. The account says Colombo in 1900 had 2,00,000 tourists and these numbers grow a lot after the war.

The next big incident that came in aid of the Kallu Walla gem and jewelry business was the introduction of tourism to the island. Soon after the independence, the young nation was looking for ways to earn foreign currency. Our nation had all the makings to make this island a major tourist destination. The fine beaches, wildlife, ancient history, and archeological sites, etc., were the ones that we had to offer. And in the 1960s and in the 1970s the country was exposing itself to the tourist industry in a very big way. The government promoted tourism as an industry. Many tax concessions, land allocations to build tourist hotels, etc., were given. More and more hotels came up around the country. Thousands of tourist arrival grow to millions. Many Europeans and Japanese tourists visited the country. Among the European tourist, the Sothern Beachers were the most attractive. The reason for this is Sri Lanka is blessed with receiving rains from two directions. The South Western monsoons and North Eastern monsoons. The South Western monsoons came from the Indian ocean from the Africa side, and they hit on the central mountains for six months. The mountains are situated in the middle part of the island. The North Eastern monsoons come from the Bay of Bengal and hit on the central mountains in the other six months of the year. The reverse floor crisis crosses the island nourishing all the tributaries and flora and fauna. The island was rated one of the tropical paradises in the world. For the European tourist, the sun and the sand destination was the most wanted. During the wintertime in Europe, they started to go on holiday. They went in search of sun and sand destinations. Sri Lanka was one of the main such destinations.

As mentioned earlier most of the tourist hotels came up in the country. Most of the tourist hotels came upon the western and the south coast of the island. The reason for this was because it was the dry season to the west and the south part of the country. No monsoons and the weather were warm. The sea was very calm and favorable for bathing, swimming diving, surfing, etc., for tourists. This allowed the European to have the ideal sun and sand vacation coupled with wildlife and cultural tourism.

Once again the Galle became the center for the Sothern Tourism industry. The ancient Dutch Fort in Galle and the surrounding clean white beaches, wail watching in Mirrissa, surfing in Kabalana and Marrissa, wildlife in Yala, became the main attractions. Galle was at the center point for touristic activity. So many large world-famous tourist towns came up on the map. Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna, Koggala, Benthota, Walli Gama, Mirissa, Tangalle etc. They were all within the 30 - 40 km distance from Galle.

Among the more affluent Europeans and the Japanese tourist were into Fashion and Jewelry. By this time the Sir Lankan sapphires were famous around the world. Our blue sapphires and star sapphires were rated as the best one can find. For the tourist visiting Sri Lanka on holiday was not full filled if they do not buy a piece of jewelry or a gemstone. The gem stores came all over the country. Most of these gem and jewelry traders were originally from the Kalu Walla area. They never broke their links to the craftsmen of Kalu walla. Work continued to come to Kallu Walla jewelers. Actually, the work increased drastically due to tourism. Before the covid pandemic, the Island got more than 3.5 million tourists. We were expecting to get over 5 million tourists per annum to the country after the covid pandemic is over.

The government has identified the gem and jewelry business as an important industry and has given many tax concessions to uplift the industry. This has resulted in investing in machinery and other related things. As a result, many rough gemstones are brought to the country from gem-producing countries for cutting and to set in jewelry. Many diamond cutting facilities also have come up in the country. There are many traders dealing in diamonds now. This was not something that was there before. This is a new contribution to the industry. The availability of gemstones freely has contributed a lot to the industry. Jewelry makers from Sri Lanka have tied up with many jewelry traders in Europe, India, Middle East, and Thailand to make jewelry and export to sell in those markets. Most of the jewelry is made here in Kalu Walla. This has resulted in the business growing in the area even larger.

One of the other main reasons how the gem and jewelry business has grown in Kallu Walla is the gem merchants finding their way into the gem-producing countries. In the reasons past many gems, fields were located in African countries. Madagascar, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Malawi, DRC, Nigeria, and many more. Also, a large volume of gem fields was discovered in Pakistan, Afganistan, and Tajikistan. The adventurous nature of the Sri Lankans from the area was always there in them. Thousands of merchants have gone to these African countries to purchase gemstones. Most of them are from the south part of the country. They buy rough gems and they bring them to Sri Lanka. The majority of these gems are traded in the South of the country. Galle and Beruwella market. Beruwela is a few km away from Galle. The cut gemstone market is established in Beruwela. I would say due to the hardships in Africa and due to political unrest, and wars, most of the gem traders from Europe and from the US do not go there. Due to this, the Sri Lankans have become the dominant rough buying merchants in Africa. This has contributed a lot to the gem and jewelry business in Kallu Walla.

Similarly, many new gem fields have come up in Tajikistan, Afganistan, and Pakistan. Also Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Many gem merchants have gone and have established as rough gem buyers in these countries. This too has contributed to the Kallu Walla gem and jewelry business immensely.

In the last two to three decades with the introduction of the free market economy, the Asian countries have become quite affluent. Especially the Chines and the Indians. They have become major buyers of our gems and jewelry. A large floor of tourists also come to Sri Lanka from there. This has helped the gem and jewelry business of Kallu Walla in a very big manner.

I believe this trade in Kallu Walla will grow even more and it will keep its place in the trade as a major player.

By: KDS