Portuguese Ceylon

Portuguese Ceylon (Portuguese: Ceilão Português, Sinhala: Potugisi Lankava) refers to the control of the Kingdom of Kotte by the Portuguese Empire, in present-day Sri Lanka, after the country's Crisis of the Sixteenth Century and into the Kandyan period.Portuguese presence in the island lasts from 1505 to 1658.

Their arrival is largely accidental, occurring in their quest for control of commerce over territorial conquest.

Their appearance coincides with the political upheaval of the Wijayaba Kollaya; they are drawn into the internal politics of the island as they seek to establish control over the lucrative cinnamon trade that originates here.

The Portuguese use these internal divisions to their advantage during the Sinhalese–Portuguese War.

Direct Portuguese rule inside the island d not begin until after the death of Dharmapala of Kotte, who dies without an heir and who by 1580 bequeaths the Kingdom of Kotte to the Portuguese monarch.

This allows the Portuguese sufficient claim to the Kingdom of Kotte upon Dharmapala's death in 1597.

Portuguese rule begins with much resistance by the local population.Eventually, the Kingdom of Kandy seeks help from the Dutch Empire in their efforts to rid the island of the Portuguese.

The Dutch Empire initially enters into agreement with the Kingdom of Kandy.

After the collapse of the Iberian economy in 1627, the Dutch–Portuguese War sees the Dutch conquest of most of Portugal's Asian colonies.

Eventually, Portugal's Ceylonese territories are ceded to the Netherlands.

Nevertheless, there remain elements of Portuguese culture in Sri Lanka today from this colonial period.

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