The Portuguese try vigorously, if not fanatically,…

The Portuguese try vigorously, if not fanatically, to force religious and, to a lesser extent, educational, change in Sri Lanka.

They discriminate against other religions with a vengeance, destroy Buddhist and Hindu temples, and give the temple lands to Roman Catholic religious orders.

Buddhist monks flee to Kandy, which becomes a refuge for people disaffected with colonial rule.

One of the most durable legacies of the Portuguese is the conversion of a large number of Sinhalese and Tamils to Roman Catholicism.

Although small pockets of Nestorian Christianity had existed in Sri Lanka, the Portuguese are the first to propagate Christianity on a mass scale.