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Portuguese Forts in Ceylon
For centuries the Muslims had trade connections with Ceylon, which created some friction when the Portuguese arrived in 1505. The Iberians had been fighting to remove the Muslims from their homeland for several centuries, so there was no love lost between the two cultures. Portugal, the sole European trading power in Asia, did not want economic competition from anyone. When Dom Lourenço de Almeida landed at Colombo, he had to establish a Portuguese power base to protect national interests, so he began construction of a fort at the harbor town. The king of the lowland Sinhalese population, at the capital city of Kotte, welcomed the Portuguese. He was impressed by their guns and armor, and asked their protection in return for an annual tribute to be paid in cinnamon. King Parakrama Bahu VIII hoped to use the Europeans to secure his position against threats from the Tamil peoples in the northern part of the island, the highland king of Kandy, and the Moors.
The Portuguese built forts along the western coast of the island and soon dominated the export market from Ceylon. The island’s traders were ruled by a governor-general on the island of Goa, who directed their economic activities throughout Asia. Working with the existing power structure, the Portuguese eventually expanded their trade dominance to political control as well. By allying themselves with the successive kings of Kotte and protecting them against the other powers on the island, they could dictate to the Sinhalese leaders. At one point, the island was divided among three rival Sinhalese brothers. When a secret embassy to Portugal in 1540 asked the government to bless an infant heir to the throne of Kotte, the Portuguese did so, then sent troops and Franciscans to aid in the young king’s rule. This event did much to consolidate Portugal’s hold on the economy and the population.
The only serious threat to Portuguese power was King Rajasinha I of the local kingdom of Sitawaka. Learning from the Europeans, Rajasinha built an army furnished with modern weapons, and then defeated Portuguese troops, after which he laid siege to Colombo. He built a navy and harassed Portuguese shipping. He also made war against the other kings on the island and defeated them. At the height of his reign, which lasted from 1554 to 1593, Rajasinha controlled all of Ceylon except Colombo and the kingdom of Jaffna on a small island off Ceylon’s north coast. Renouncing the dominant faith of Buddhism and becoming Hindu, he persecuted Buddhist priests on Ceylon. However, he was regarded as a national champion for defending the island from foreign invaders.
During their struggle with Rajasinha, the Portuguese earned the enmity of the Ceylonese by capturing a sacred relic, one of Buddha’s teeth. The Tooth Relic was the island’s most sacred possession, and losing it to a foreign power was devastating, especially when the Portuguese archbishop at Goa ordered it burned as a heathen talisman. This action, along with the resistance of the islanders under Rajasinha, badly hurt Portuguese chances of recovering their former political or trade position. When the Dutch began to expand their international trade routes, they were able to break into the Ceylon market because of Portuguese weakness.
Surprisingly, 150 years of Portuguese presence in Ceylon produced few lasting results. The main effect was the introduction of Catholicism, a faith followed to this day by a significant minority of Ceylonese. Catholic priests sent to the island by the Portuguese usually acted on behalf of their converts against government persecution, and thus made a favorable impact. Their presence during the Portuguese dominance is regarded as the major reason Islam never took strong hold in southern India or Ceylon. The Portuguese also introduced a number of new food crops, which the Ceylonese turned to the island’s benefit.
