The Portuguese Discovery of Ceylon: Accidental Empire

In 1505, a Portuguese fleet blown off course stumbled upon the island of Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon. This episode tells the story of that first encounter: how Lourenço de Almeida's ships landed at Colombo, the treaty with the Kotte king Dharmaparakramabahu IX, and the gradual establishment of Portuguese influence through the cinnamon trade and fort-building. We explore the local political landscape—the fractious Sinhalese kingdoms of Kotte, Kandy, and Jaffna—and how the Portuguese manipulated rivalries. We also discuss the role of the Lascarins, Sri Lankan auxiliaries who fought for the Portuguese, and the introduction of Catholicism and the Inquisition. This is the overlooked beginning of four centuries of European colonialism in Sri Lanka.

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