Trincomalee, historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast of the island overlooking the Trincomalee Harbour, Trincomalee has been one of the main centres of Sri Lankan Tamil speaking culture on the island for nearly a millennium. With a population of 99,135, the city is built on a peninsula of the same name, which divides its inner and outer harbours. It is home to the famous Koneswaram temple from where it developed and earned its historic Tamil name Thirukonamalai. The town is home to other historical monuments such as the Bhadrakali Amman Temple, Trincomalee, the Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall and, opened in 1897, the Trincomalee Hindu College. Trincomalee is also the site of the Trincomalee railway station and an ancient ferry service to Jaffna and the south side of the harbour at Muttur.
Dutch India consisted of the settlements and trading posts of the Dutch East India Company on the Indian subcontinent. It is only used as a geographical definition, as there was never a political authority ruling all Dutch India. Instead, Dutch India was divided into the governorates Dutch Ceylon and Dutch Coromandel, the commandment Dutch Malabar, and the directorates Dutch Bengal and Dutch Suratte.
The Dutch–Portuguese War was a global armed conflict involving Dutch forces, in the form of the Dutch East India Company, the Dutch West India Company, and their allies, against the Iberian Union, and after 1640, the Portuguese Empire. Beginning in 1598, the conflict primarily involved the Dutch companies and fleet invading Portuguese colonies in the Americas, Africa, and the East Indies. The war can be thought of as an extension of the Eighty Years' War being fought in Europe at the time between Spain and the Netherlands, as Portugal was in a dynastic union with Spain after the War of the Portuguese Succession, for most of the conflict. However, the conflict had little to do with the war in Europe and served mainly as a way for the Dutch to gain an overseas empire and control trade at the cost of the Portuguese.
The Diocese of Jaffna is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Sri Lanka. Latin Catholicism in the diocese's territory dates to the time of Francis Xavier. The current bishop is Justin Gnanapragasam.
The action of 2 May 1654 was a sea battle which took place near Colombo, Ceylon, when a force of 11 Dutch ships led by Rijckloff van Goens defeated 3 Portuguese galleons, which ran aground and were burnt near Carmona, north of Cabo de Rama. On about 4 May Zijdeworm was burnt as a fireship near Karwar, and on 6 May the Portuguese galleon Nazareth was burnt near Hanovar. This removed a significant proportion of Portuguese ships in the Indian Ocean area.
Pandara Vanniyan was a Tamil Chieftain who ruled in Vanni Nadu in 18th century AD. He is referred to by some as the last Tamil king in Sri Lanka, who also rose to revolt against the British Ceylon empire and Dutch Ceylon empire, who died battling the British colonial rule on the island. He was officially declared a National Hero of Sri Lanka in 1982.
The Treaty of The Hague was signed on 6 August 1661 between representatives of the Dutch Republic and Portugal. Based on the terms of the treaty, the Dutch Republic recognized Portuguese sovereignty over New Holland in exchange for an indemnity of 4 million reis, conversion from 2 million caroli guilders, over the span of 16 years.
Dutch Ceylon was a governorate established in present-day Sri Lanka by the Dutch East India Company. Although the Dutch managed to capture most of the coastal areas in Sri Lanka, they were never able to control the Kingdom of Kandy located in the interior of the island. Dutch Ceylon existed from 1640 until 1796.
Rijcklof Volckertsz. van Goens was the Governor of Zeylan and Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. He was the Governor of Zeylan from 12 May 1660 to 1661, then in 1663 and finally from 19 November 1664 to 1675 during the Dutch period in Ceylon. He was also served as Council Member of India during 1679. Van Goens’ managed to monopolize the cinnamon trade, get hold of the Malabar pepper and drive away the Portuguese from Ceylon and the Coromandel Coast for the VOC.
The Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom occurred after Portuguese traders arrived at the rival Kotte kingdom in the southwest of modern Sri Lanka in 1505. Many kings of Jaffna, such as Cankili I, initially confronted the Portuguese in their attempts at converting the locals to Roman Catholicism, but eventually made peace with them.
Forts in Sri Lanka date back thousands of years, with many being built by Sri Lankan kings. These include several walled cities. With the outset of colonial rule in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka was occupied by several major colonial empires that from time to time became the dominant power in the Indian Ocean. The colonists built several western-style forts, mostly in and around the coast of the island. The first to build colonial forts in Sri Lanka were the Portuguese; these forts were captured and later expanded by the Dutch. The British occupied these Dutch forts during the Napoleonic wars.
Jaffna Fort is a fort built by the Portuguese at Jaffna, Sri Lanka, in 1618 under Phillippe de Oliveira following the Portuguese invasion of Jaffna. The fort is located near the coastal village of Gurunagar. Owing to numerous miracles attributed to the statue of the Virgin Mary in the church nearby, the fort was named as Fortress of Our Lady of Miracles of Jafanapatão. It was captured by the Dutch under Rijcklof van Goens in 1658, who expanded the structure. In 1795, it was taken over by the British, and remained under the control of a British garrison until 1948. As the only large military fort in the country, because of the presence of only government and military buildings within its ramparts, it was garrisoned by a detachment of the Ceylon Army.
When to date the start of the history of the Jaffna kingdom is debated among historians.
The statue of Our Lady of Miracles, Jaffna Patão, is a wooden sculpture now preserved in the Church of São Pedro in Bainguinim, Goa, India.
Sinhalese–Portuguese conflicts refers to the series of armed engagements that took place from 1518 AD to 1658 AD in Sri Lanka between the native Sinhalese and Tamil kingdoms and the Portuguese Empire. It spanned from the Transitional to the Kandyan periods of Sri Lankan history. A combination of political and military moves gained the Portuguese control over most of the island, but their invasion of the final independent kingdom was a disaster, leading to a stalemate in the wider war and a truce from 1621. In 1638 the war restarted when the Dutch East India Company intervened in the conflict, initially as an ally of the Sinhalese against the Portuguese, but later as an enemy of both sides. The war concluded in 1658, with the Dutch in control of about half the island, the Kingdom of Kandy the other half, and the Portuguese expelled.
Negombo Fort was a small but important fort in Negombo, approx. 30 km (19 mi) north of Colombo, that was built by the Portuguese to defend Colombo.
Portuguese invasion of Jaffna kingdom in 1591 AD was the second expedition against the Jaffna kingdom by the Portuguese. The campaign, led by Captain André Furtado de Mendonça, started from Mannar and continued to Nallur, the capital of the Jaffna kingdom. The Portuguese captured the kingdom, killed the king, and installed Ethirimana Cinkam as the new ruler.
The Portuguese invasion of Jaffna kingdom in 1560 AD was the first expedition against the Jaffna kingdom by the Portuguese Empire. It was led by Viceroy Dom Constantino de Bragança and resulted in the capture of the capital, Nallur. The king of Jaffna, Cankili I, managed to escape and regained the capital through a pact that he made with the Portuguese. He subsequently incited a peoples' rebellion against the Portuguese, resulting in their withdrawing their forces from Nallur. The Jaffna kingdom, however, lost its sovereignty over Mannar Island and its main town, Mannar.
Adriaen Adriaensz Roothaes was a Dutch captain, Commander of Galle, Ceylon, and acting Governor of Dutch Ceylon from November 1664 to April 1665.
The Conquest of Malabar (1658–1663) encompassed a series of military campaigns led by Rijckloff van Goens with the objective of acquiring Portuguese-controlled territories along the Malabar Coast. The Dutch pursued these campaigns with determination, ultimately achieving success in their endeavor. As a result, the Dutch secured control over various regions along the Malabar Coast, marking a significant shift in the regional geopolitical landscape
Portugal 
Rijckloff van Goens 