Sinhalese–Portuguese War

Sinhalese–Portuguese War
The Portuguese army at Kandy during the campaign of Danture, by Philippus Baldaeus
Date 1527–1658 Location Sri Lanka Result End of the kingdoms of Kotte, Sitawaka, Jaffna and Raigama End of Portuguese Ceylon Incorporation of parts of Kotte and Sitawaka into the Kingdom of Kandy Capture of Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Raigama and much of Sitawaka by the Dutch and the establishment of Dutch Ceylon
Belligerents
Kingdom of Sitawaka  Kingdom of Kandy Kingdom of Jaffna Kingdom of Raigama Vanni chieftains	Portuguese Empire Lascarins Supported by:  Kingdom of Kotte	From 1638:  Dutch East India Company
Commanders and leaders
Rajasinha I Vimaladharmasuriya I Rajasimha II Puviraja Pandaram	Pedro Lopes de Sousa Jerónimo de Azevedo Bhuvanekabahu VII	Adam Westerwold Willem Jacobszoon Coster
Casualties and losses
Unknown	High	Unknown

The Sinhalese–Portuguese War was a series of conflicts waged from 1527 to 1658 between the indigenous Sinhalese kingdoms of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and their allies against the Portuguese Empire. The Portuguese were seeking to expand from their trading post at Colombo to incorporate Ceylon into their growing empire.

The Portuguese expanded their influence on the island by exploiting the political rivalries of the native kingdoms, placing client rulers on the thrones of several kingdoms and directly ruling other areas as Portuguese Ceylon. These machinations allowed them to control the Kingdom of Kotte, but the main beneficiary was the Kingdom of Sitawaka, which from 1521–87 was able to expand – through conquest of other native kingdoms – to cover most of Ceylon. Most of the newly conquered territories then rebelled against Sitawaka. The divided and disorganised rival kingdoms became easy targets for Portuguese expansion. In a series of military conflicts and political manoeuvres the Portuguese extended their control over the kingdoms of Kotte (1551), Jaffna (1591), Raigama (1593) and Sitawaka (1593).

In 1592 the Portuguese placed a client ruler on the throne of the Kingdom of Kandy, but he died soon after in suspicious circumstances and they were forced to withdraw. Seeking to subdue the last major kingdom on Ceylon, the Portuguese launched a full military invasion of Kandy in the Campaign of Danture of 1594. The invasion was a disaster for the Portuguese, with their entire army wiped out by Kandyan guerilla warfare. The war became a stalemate, with further Portuguese attempts to conquer Kandy repeatedly repulsed, whilst the Kandyans were unable to oust the Portuguese from the rest of the island. However the Portuguese were able to conquer the Vanni chieftains in 1621.

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