Thursday, July 3, 2014

Where the Dutch buried their dead

Late last year, I visited Kummaripalem (Bheemili), where, in a green plot among palm trees and weeds, the Dutch had buried their dead between 1661 and 1720. 
The Madras District Gazetteer of 1907 mentions 13 graves and all of them seem to have survived the century since it was written.
The pictures below show 2 gravestones…


…and the 13th one taken from higher up on the steps leading down from the road to the cemetery.

I could not read the inscriptions on many, and the oldest grave I could find was from 1663.


This cemetery is not as well-known as the one on the beach, which was a later addition and is better-maintained.


References Francis W., Madras District Gazetteer, Vizagapatam, (Madras, Government Press: 1907)

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