Trincomalee 1 – The History of Trincomalee during Portuguese and Dutch rule: Introduction

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Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster.

INDEX:

1.0 The History of Trincomalee during Portuguese and Dutch rule: Introduction.

2.0 Trincomalee: The first contacts with the Portuguese.

3.0 Trincomalee: The arrival of the Danes, the Dutch and the construction of the Portuguese Fort.

4.0 Trincomalee: The Dutch conquest and the abandonment of the Fort.

5.0 Trincomalee: The new Dutch occupation and the reconstruction of the Fort.

6.0 Trincomalee: The French attempt.

7.0 Trincomalee: The consolidation of the Dutch presence.

8.0 Trincomalee: The first British occupation and the definitive Dutch surrender.

9.0 Trincomalee: Bibliography.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The bay, called by the Portuguese ‘Baía dos Arcos’, where is situated the city of Trincomalee 1 on the island of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) has always been considered as one of the best ports of the world. Its highly strategic position in the centre of the Indian Ocean trade routes and its control of the entire Gulf of Bengal would have rendered the place ideal for the development of a great port and trading centre, but this did not happen. In fact otherwise from what it could be thought, seeing the beauty and the importance of such an anchorage, Trincomalee, never became a centre of primary importance during the Portuguese and Dutch colonial age. The first two colonial powers, which dominated and occupied the coastal areas of the island of Ceylon for about 300 years (1505/6-1796), preferred to focus their interest towards the southwestern part of the island (where have been the ports of Colombo and Galle), while along the east coast the Portuguese and Dutch presence was non-existent, or for part of the mentioned period limited to the surrounding zone of the forts of Trincomalee and Batticaloa.

This lack of interest for Trincomalee and in a generalized manner for the eastern coast was caused by various factors. The main reason, was at the age of the arrival of the Portuguese in Ceylon, the more important kingdom of the island and with which the Portuguese had trade relations (mainly because of the commerce of cinnamon) was that of Kotte, whose territories extended in the south western zone of the island 2 and whose capital, Jayawardhanapura Kotte, was a few kilometers from Colombo, thus Colombo became used from the Portuguese as the main base for the subsequent expansion on the island. During the first Portuguese period the east coast of Ceylon was practically neglected, and only after the first European contenders (the Danish and the Dutch) reached threateningly the Asian seas, the Portuguese deemed the occupation and the fortification of Trincomalee and Batticaloa necessary.

Another reason, for which Trincomalee never rose to the rank of an important trading centre during the Portuguese period, was well explained by Queyroz: “[Trincomalee] … had one great inconvenience, that at that time there were no other neighbours save the Bedas who are such barbarous and unruly men that they did not even show their face.” 3 Queyroz further on observed, that if the zone around Trincomalee would become inhabited and cultivated, it could be easily self-sufficient. 4

The port of Trincomalee, together with those of Kottiyar and Batticaloa, was used, in the 16th century by the kingdom of Kandy, as a port for the export of elephants and walnuts of areca and for the import of the goods of first necessity from other Asian countries. Although Barros indicates Trincomalee between the nine reigns of the island of Ceylon,5 it was only a small principality under the dominion of the Vanniyar6 of Trincomalee and Kottiyar who was tributary and subject at least nominally to the king of Kandy. The territory subject to the Vanniyar of Trincomalee was scarcely inhabited and had an extension of 23 leagues.7 Trincomalee was situated between the areas nominally controlled by the kingdoms of Kandy and Jaffna. The presence of the river Mahaweli Ganga, which does not flow far away from Trincomalee, facilitated the connections with the plateau and with Kandy and thanks to this, an intense traffic of goods was carried out through the ports of Kottiyar and Trincomalee. In the village of Vintêna, which was situated three leagues from Trincomalee, the Kandyans used to trade and to exchange the products of Ceylon (mainly elephants and walnuts of areca) with opium and other consumer goods, with the merchants arriving from the rest of Asia.8

According to what Queyroz writes, Triquilemalê means “mountain of the three pagodas”, which were erected 9 by the king of Ceylon on a high cape above the sea, two of them were situated at the extremity of an overhanging cliff to the sea, the third instead was situated in the middle of the cape on a higher point. This last pagoda, the temple of Koneswaram, was the main of all and one of the most venerated of all India.10 The main reason of the importance of Trincomalee was this pagoda, which Queyroz called the Rome of the populations of the East or the Rome of the pagans.11 The temple is described, in a letter of 1613 written by the Jesuit fray Barradas: “[The temple is]… a massive structure, a singular work of art. It was of great height, constructed with wonderful skill in blackish granite, on a rock projecting into the sea, and occupied a large space on the summit.”12 The village of Trincomalee was situated on the isthmus of the cape where there were the pagodas.

To be continued by: The first contacts with the Portuguese

NOTES:

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