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Portuguese Colonialism Sri Lanka

Description of the Portuguese Forts and Settlements in Ceylon, as narrated by Captain João Ribeiro

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. COLOMBO: The city of Colombo, the main city of today’s Sri Lanka, was founded by the Portuguese. The first Portuguese attempt to settle in Colombo was done in 1518, when the Viceroy Lopo Soares de Albergaria landed in Colombo with a large fleet. Here the […]

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Dutch Bibliographies Dutch Colonialism Portuguese Bibliographies Portuguese Colonialism Sri Lanka

Trincomalee 9 – Bibliography. The History of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka) during Portuguese and Dutch rule

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. Continued from: The first British occupation and the definitive Dutch surrender 9.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY CONSULTED MATERIAL You can also look for the sources quoted in the notes. SOURCES: – Various Authors “Livro das plantas, das fortalezas, cidades e povoações do Estado da Índia Oriental”, 1991 Codex […]

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British Colonialism Dutch Colonialism Sri Lanka

Trincomalee 8 – The first British occupation and the definitive Dutch surrender

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. Continued from: The consolidation of the Dutch presence 8.0 THE FIRST BRITISH OCCUPATION AND THE DEFINITIVE DUTCH SURRENDER In December 1780 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland declared war to The Netherlands. The news reached Ceylon in June 1781 and some preparations were […]

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Dutch Colonialism Sri Lanka

Trincomalee 7 – The consolidation of the Dutch presence

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. Continued from: The French attempt 7.0 THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE DUTCH PRESENCE This period of instability resulted in a remarkable decrease of the volume of commerce, dealt with Trincomalee. The figures of this decline are inconsistent, but it seems that in the first ten years […]

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Dutch Colonialism French Colonialism Sri Lanka

Trincomalee 6 – The French attempt

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. Continued from: The new Dutch occupation and the reconstruction of the Fort 6.0 THE FRENCH ATTEMPT A new threat encumbered on the Dutch possessions of Ceylon, it materialized in March 1672 in the shape of a great French fleet, that of admiral de la Haye. […]

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Dutch Colonialism Sri Lanka

Trincomalee 5 – The new Dutch occupation and the reconstruction of the Fort

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. Continued from: The Dutch conquest and the abandonment of the Fort 5.0 THE NEW DUTCH OCCUPATION AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FORT During the subsequent years it is likely that the Dutch maintained only a small fortified outpost in Kottiyar Bay 1, but also this […]

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Dutch Colonialism Portuguese Colonialism Sri Lanka

Trincomalee 4 – The Dutch conquest and the abandonment of the Fort

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. Continued from: The arrival of the Danes, the Dutch and the construction of the Portuguese Fort 4.0 THE DUTCH CONQUEST AND THE ABANDONMENT OF THE FORT The first attack of the Dutch on the Portuguese forts of Ceylon was directed towards the eastern coast of […]

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Danish Colonialism Dutch Colonialism Portuguese Colonialism Sri Lanka

Trincomalee 3 – The arrival of the Danes, the Dutch and the construction of the Portuguese Fort

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. Continued from: The first contacts with the Portuguese 3.0 THE ARRIVAL OF THE DANES, THE DUTCH AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PORTUGUESE FORT The strategic importance of the control over the bays and the ports on the eastern coast of Ceylon discovered, it was clear […]

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Portuguese Colonialism Sri Lanka

Trincomalee 2 – The first contacts with the Portuguese

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. Continued from: Introduction 2.0 THE FIRST CONTACTS WITH THE PORTUGUESE A first interest of the Portuguese with regard to Trincomalee has been in the first years of the 1540s. All had begun, when the king of Kandy, Jayavira, on the advice of Nuno Alvarez Pereira […]

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Dutch Colonialism Portuguese Colonialism Sri Lanka

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

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 […]

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Dutch Colonialism Sri Lanka

The Dutch Fort of Galle in Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

Written by Marco Ramerini. Photos by Dietrich Köster. The city of Galle is located along the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka, about 120 km south of Colombo. Here first the Portuguese, and then the Dutch had built a fort to control the bay. The Portuguese sacked Galle in 1587 and then in 1597 built a […]

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Portuguese Colonialism United Arab Emirates

The Portuguese forts of Quelba and Corfacão (Khor Fakkan)

The city of Khor Fakkan (Corfação) is located along the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (25°20’N – 56°22’E). Here, the Portuguese, around 1620, built a triangular fortress with triangular bastions and a round tower in the center. In the log book of the Dutch vessel the Meerkat (1666) we read: “Gorfacan is a place on a […]

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Oman Portuguese Colonialism

The Portuguese fort of Matrah (Matara)

Situated in a natural harbour near the Oman capital Muscat, tha city of Matrah (Matara). The Portuguese built a fort in Matrah in 1588, the fort was part of the defenses of the city of Muscat. The Portuguese controlled the fort between 1588 and 1648. The fort at Matrah was a square fort with four bastions at […]

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Oman Portuguese Colonialism

The Portuguese fort of Soar

The city of Sohar (24 ° 21’N – 56 ° 43’E) is located along the Omani coast about 200 km north-west of Muscat. The Portuguese came to Soar in 1507 and made ​​the city tributary. After several rebellions, the Portuguese retook the city in 1516 and again in 1523. The Portuguese fortified Soar probably between […]

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Oman Portuguese Colonialism

The Portuguese fort of Sibo

Sibo (As Sib) (23°40’N – 58°12’E) is a coastal town located along the Oman coast 50 km north-west of Muscat, where the Portuguese in the 17th had a triangular fortress with bastions in the angles. Here a description of this fort extracted from António Bocarro “O livro das plantas de todas as fortalezas, cidades e povoações […]

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Oman Portuguese Colonialism

The Portuguese fort of Muscat (Mascate)

The Portuguese first conquered and sacked Mascate in Oman in 1507. The Portuguese retained the control over Muscat for more than a century. The Turks conquered from the Portuguese Muscat on two occasions: in 1552 and in 1581-1588. The fortifications of Muscat were reinforced by Belchior Calaça in 1588 by order of the governor of Portuguese India Don Manuel […]

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Portuguese Colonialism United Arab Emirates

The Portuguese forts of Mada and Libedia

The two fortresses of Mada and Libedia were located along the eastern coast of the present United Arab Emirates. Libedia has been identified in the present town of Bidyah (25 ° 26’N – 56 ° 21’E) along the coast midway between Fujairah and Dibba. The two forts were square or rectangular shape with bastions at […]

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Portuguese Colonialism United Arab Emirates

The Portuguese fort of Doba

The fortress of Doba, probably the present town of Diba al Hisn (25 ° 36’N – 56 ° 17’E) today in the emirate of Al-Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, was a square fortress with round bastions and a tower in the center. The Portuguese controlled the city from 1624 to 1648. For the image thanks to […]

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Oman Portuguese Colonialism

The Portuguese forts of Curiate and Sidabo

Curiate (Kuriyat/Qurayyat) is a town situated south-east of Muscat along the Oman coast. The Portuguese fortress of Curiate (Kuriyat/Qurayyat) was rectangular fortress built by the Arabs and conquered by the Portuguese in 1507. The fort was probably rebuilt in the last quarter of the 16th century. The Portuguese lost this fort in 1648. Here a description of […]

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Oman Portuguese Colonialism

The Portuguese fort of Borca

Borca was a Portuguese fortress that stood at 12 (?) leagues from Muscat along the coast of Oman. The fortress had a triangular shape with three bastions at the corners of the triangle. In the fortress lived a Portuguese captain with 8 Portuguese soldiers and 30 lascarins. Probably the Portuguese fort of Borca corresponds to […]