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 executed 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.
Sebald or Sebalt de Weert was a Flemish captain and vice-admiral of the Dutch East India Company. He is most widely remembered for accurately plotting the Falkland Islands in 1600.
King Rajasinghe II, also known as Rajasingha II, was a Sinhalese King, reigned 1629 – 6 December 1687; seventh king of the Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka. Rajasingha requested Dutch aid to help expel the Portuguese from the island, which they successfully did in 1656. By this time however it had become clear to the Kandyans that the Dutch not only intended to expel the Portuguese but to replace them as the major colonial power on the island. This transfer of power is also believed to be where the Sinhala idiom / figure of speech “ඉඟුරු දී මිරිස් ගත්තා වාගේ” Inguru di miris gaththa wagay was originated - in reference that the Dutch Rule was much more of a menace to the king and cruel to the people in the island than the Portuguese. From 1645 onwards Rajasingha was engaged in sporadic warfare with his erstwhile allies.
Karava is a Sinhalese speaking ethnic group of Sri Lanka, whose ancestors migrated throughout history from the Coromandel coast, claiming lineage to the Kaurava royalty of the old Kingdom of Kuru in Northern India. The Tamil equivalent is Karaiyar. Both groups are also known as the Kurukula.
The following is a chronological overview of the history of the Karavas and Karaiyars caste of Sri Lanka and India. Both communities were historically also known as Kurukulam, meaning Kuru clan.
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.
The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on 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.
Rajasinghe I was a king of Sitawaka, known for his patriotism and fight against the Portuguese invasion of Sri Lanka. Born as Tikiri Bandara to King Mayadunne, he received the name "Rajasimha" after the fierce Battle of Mulleriyawa.
Vimaladharmasūriya I was a king of Kandy from 1590 to 1604. His reputation was built when he successfully repulsed two major Portuguese offensives on Kandy, the Battle of Danture in 1594 and the Battle of Balana in 1602, in both of which the Portuguese were humiliatingly defeated.
Vimaladharmasurya II was a peaceful king of Kandy who succeeded his father, Rajasinghe II, on December 7, 1687.
Senarath Adahasin was king of the Kingdom of Kandy from 1604 to 1635. He is said to be the successor to king Wimaladharmasuriya I of Kandy. However first hand accounts are not available concerning what happened after the death of Vimaladharmasuriya I. He is said to be a cousin or brother of Vimaladharmasuriya according to most sources. He was not a legitimate ruler hence he married not only the deceased king's widow Dona Katherina but also her two daughters, in order to legitimize his claim to the throne.
The Battle of Mulleriyawa in 1559 was 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.
Lascarins is a term used in Sri Lanka to identify indigenous soldiers who fought for the Portuguese during the Portuguese era (1505–1658) and continued to serve as colonial soldiers until the 1930s. The lascarins played a crucial role not only in the colonial armies, but also in the success of the campaigns of the local kingdoms.
The Kingdom of Kotte, named after its capital, Kotte, was a Sinhalese kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century.
Kusumāsana Devi, also known as Dona Catherina, was ruling Queen of Kandy in 1581. She was deposed, but queen consort of Kandy by marriage to Vimaladharmasuriya I of Kandy from 1594 to 1604.
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 Siege of the Portuguese fort Santa Cruz de Gale at Galle in 1640, took place during the Dutch–Portuguese and Sinhalese–Portuguese Wars. The Galle fort commanded 282 villages, which contained most fertile cinnamon lands in southern Sri Lanka It was also an important strategic coastal defense of Portuguese Ceylon. The Dutch, who were in an alliance with the Kingdom of Kandy, landed an expeditionary force under Commodore Willem Jacobszoon Coster of Akersloot, at the Bay of Galle, on 8 March 1640. After bombarding the fort for four consecutive days, Dutch troops stormed the fort and secured a victory on 13 March 1640. The Portuguese garrison, led by Captain Lourenço Ferreira de Brito, mounted a stiff resistance and unexpectedly high casualty rates among Dutch troops gave rise to the proverb “Gold in Malacca, lead in Galle”. With this victory the Dutch gained access to a large port which they later used as a convenient naval base to attack Goa and other South Indian Portuguese defenses. They also gained access to the Sri Lankan cinnamon trade and gained a permanent foothold on the island.
Sinhalese–Portuguese conflicts refers to the series of armed engagements that took place from 1518 to 1658 in Sri Lanka between the native Sinhalese 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.
Kuruvita Rala was a Sri Lankan rebel leader and prince of Uva, who served as regent in the kingdom of Kandy. He was also a relation of Dona Catherina, Queen of Kandy and the guardian of her children.
Kingdom of Kandy 
Portuguese Empire 
