Robert Knox

Born in 1642, he was an English sailor whose life changed dramatically when his ship was forced ashore in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, in 1659. He spent almost two decades held in the Kingdom of Kandy before escaping in 1679 and making his way back to England.

After his return, he wrote An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, a detailed account of the island's landscape, customs, politics, and daily life. The book became widely known because it combined close observation with the perspective of someone who had lived there under extraordinary circumstances.

He died in 1720. Today he is remembered both for his remarkable survival story and for leaving behind a work that has long interested readers of travel writing, colonial history, and Sri Lankan history.