DUTCH CAPTURED CEYLON 1656 MAY 12
DUTCH CAPTURED CEYLON 1656 MAY 12 Dutch Ceylon (Sinhala: ලන්දේසි ලංකාව Landesi Lankava) was a governorate established in present-day Sri Lanka by the Dutch East India Company. It existed from 1640 until 1796. In the early 17th century, Sri Lanka was partly ruled by the Portuguese and Sri Lankan kingdoms, who were constantly battling each other. Although the Portuguese were not winning the war, their rule was rather burdensome to the people of those areas controlled by them. While the Dutch were engaged in a long war of independence from Spanish rule, the Sinhalese king (the king of Kandy) invited the Dutch to help defeat the Portuguese. The Dutch interest in Ceylon was to have a united battle front against the Iberians at that time. The Portuguese The Dutch were invited by the Sri Lankans to help fight the Portuguese. They signed the Kandyan Treaty of 1638 with Rajasinghe II and soon embarked on a war against their common enemy. As such the Dutch were appointed ...