Dominicus Corea also known as Domingos Corea and Edirille Rala, was the son of Don Jeronimo Corea and Anna Corea. Don Jeronimo Corea was also known as Mudaliyar Vikramasinha, Commander-in-Chief of King Mayadunne's army. Jeronimo Corea was assassinated by King Mayadunne's son, Rajasinghe. Dominicus Corea was born in Colombo in 1565. At that time, the Portuguese had colonised Ceylon, and his parents converted to Catholicism.
The Kingdom of Kandy was an independent monarchy of the island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century.
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 and fortifications in Sri Lanka date back thousands of years with many being built by Sri Lankan Kings, these include several walled cities. With the out set 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 styled forts, mostly in and round the cost 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.
Mayadunne (1501–1581) was a king of the Kingdom of Sitawaka, who ruled for 60 years between 1521 and 1581. Mayadunne was a fierce opponent of the Portuguese, who had arrived on the Island in 1505. He devoted his whole life attempting to oust his brother Bhuvanekabahu, the king of Kotte and thereby preserve the independence of Lanka, which was being undermined by the Portuguese intrigue. He constantly invaded the territory of Bhuvanekabahu of Kotte.
The Battle of Mulleriyawa in 1559 was a battle and a part of the Sinhalese–Portuguese War. It was one of the most decisive battles in Sri Lankan history and considered as the worst defeat of Portuguese during that period. According to local chronicles the marshlands of Mulleriyawa turned red with blood after the annihilation of the Portuguese. With this victory Sitawaka emerged as a military power which able to challenge the Portuguese expansion.
The Kingdom of Kotte, centered on Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, was a kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century.
Jerónimo de Azevedo was a Portuguese fidalgo, Governor of Portuguese Ceylon and Viceroy of Portuguese India. His full name was Jerónimo de Azevedo de Ataíde Malafaia and he was the 8th son of Dom Manuel de Azevedo, Comendador of São João de Alpendurada and brother of Blessed Inácio de Azevedo.
Bhuvanaikabahu VII was King of Kotte in the sixteenth century, who ruled from 1521 to 1551. He was the eldest son of Vijayabahu VII of Kotte, whom he succeeded, and his chief queen Anula Kahatuda. He was born in 1468 and his brothers were Mayadunne of Sitawaka and Rayigam Bandara. After his father married a second time, his new queen brought a son from another relationship called Deva Rajasinghe, who the king intended to pass on the crown to, and Bhuvanaikabahu and his two brothers responded by fleeing the kingdom, and on their return they had an army given by the King of Kandy.
The Siege of Kotte from November 1557 – November 1558 was a battle part of the Sinhalese–Portuguese War. A 50,000 strong Sitawaka army led by King Mayadunne besieged Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Kotte Kingdom for 12 months against a combined force of Portuguese and lascarins led by Captain-major Dom Afonso Pereira de Lacerda. After receiving reinforcements from Mannar, Portuguese made a sally and succeeded in forcing the besiegers to withdraw. This siege marked the beginning of a series of battles between Portuguese and Sitawaka forces, and ultimately ended as Portuguese abandoned Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte in 1565.
The Danture campaign comprised a series of encounters between the Portuguese and the Kingdom of Kandy in 1594, part of the Sinhalese–Portuguese War. It is considered a turning point in the indigenous resistance to Portuguese expansion. For the first time in Sri Lanka a Portuguese army was essentially annihilated, when they were on the verge of the total conquest of the island. A 20,000-strong Portuguese army, led by Governor Pedro Lopes de Sousa, invaded Kandy on 5 July 1594. After three months, severely depleted by guerilla warfare and mass desertions, what remained of the Portuguese army was annihilated at Danture by the Kandyans under King Vimaladharmasuriya. With this victory, the Kingdom of Kandy emerged as a major military power; it was to retain its independence, against Portuguese, Dutch, and British armies, until 1815.
The Sinhalese–Portuguese War was a series of conflicts waged from 1527 to 1658 between the indigenous Sinhalese kingdoms of Ceylon and their allies against the Portuguese Empire. The Portuguese were seeking to expand from their trading post at Colombo to incorporate Ceylon into their growing empire.
Kalutara fort was built by the Portuguese in 1622. It was located in Kalutara, Sri Lanka.
Veediya Bandara was the commander-in-chief of the Kingdom of Kotte, Sri Lanka, during the reign of Bhuvanaikabahu VII of Kotte (1521–1551). He was a gifted warrior and widely regarded as one of the greatest generals of Sri Lankan history. Well known for his prowess of warfare, he was the central figure of the Kotte army, in a series of relentless wars against King Mayadunne of Sitawaka and occasionally, against the Portuguese. Being impetuous by nature, he got himself involved in many scandals, including the murder of his wife, Samudra Deviya, the daughter of his king.
Delgamuwa Raja Maha Vihara is an ancient Buddhist temple situated in Kuruvita of Ratnapura District, Sri Lanka. This temple is reputed as the hiding place of the tooth relic of Buddha during the ruling period of Portuguese in the country.
The Convention of Malvana was a 1598 agreement between Portuguese colonisers and the Sinhalese chiefs of Ceylon. The convention was organised by the Portuguese General Jerónimo de Azevedo who felt as though the Sri Lankan natives did not demonstrate ample allegiance to King Philip I of Portugal. Following the 1597 death of Dharmapala of Kotte, ruler of the Kingdom of Kotte, Azevedo summoned two deputies from each Korale to a convention. The event took place on the 29 September at Malwana or Colombo—the exact location has been disputed.
