Siege of Colombo (1587-1588) | |||||||
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Part of the Sinhalese–Portuguese conflicts | |||||||
![]() The Portuguese fortress in Colombo | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
![]() ![]() | Rajasinha I of Sitawaka | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Start of the Siege: 300 Portuguese soldiers 700 Lascarins 1 galley, 5 fustas End of the Siege: 2000 soldiers | 50.000 soldiers 2200 elephants 60.000 servants | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
24 soldiers 80 lascarins 500 civilians | 5000 men |
The Siege of Colombo from 1587 to 1588 was a military conflict between the Portuguese and the Sinhalese troops of the King of Sitawaka, for possession of the city of Colombo, on the island of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka.
After having seized control of the Kingdoms of Kotte and Kandy, Rajasinha I, around whom the Sinhalese nobility opposed to the Portuguese were grouped, began to prepare his troops to expel the Portuguese from Ceylon. [1]
When the monsoon of 1587 began, the Portuguese could not receive reinforcements by sea. On the 4th of June, Rajasinha I established camps with an army of 50.000 warriors, supported by 60.000 servants, 2.200 elephants, including war and cargo elephants, 150 bronze cannons, and 40,000 oxen for transport. [2] At the same time, he ordered the equipment of 65 fustas and 400 smaller vessels to attack the fortress by sea, if necessary.
The captain of the Colombo square was João Correia de Brito, who only had 300 soldiers and 700 lascarins, in addition to a civilian population of around 60.000 that needed to be fed. Correia de Brito had taken precautions so there was no shortage of food. [3] In the port there was a ship sent from Goa with ammunition, but the fortress fleet, led by captain-major Tomé de Sousa Arronches, was stranded ashore due to bad weather. [4] To the south of the fortress, a galleot, a fusta and a balloon (small Asian vessel) had been placed in the lake that served as a moat. [5]
Rajasinha I began by surrounding the city with a network of entrenchments. Then he ordered a ditch to be dug to drain the water from the lagoon, as he intended to attack the city from that side, where the walls were lower. [6] From Colombo, Captain João Correia sent two tons, small boats, on the Indian mainland and, from there, his crews went overland to the fortresses of Goa, Cochin and Negapatam to warn of the siege and ask for reinforcements.
In the monsoon of 1587 it rained relatively little, which made it easier for Rajasinha I to drain the lake and maintain such a large army on the ground. It took a month for the water to drain, during which skirmishes and artillery duels continued. [7]
Once the shovel work was completed, Rajasinha I summoned his entire army for a show of strength, with flags unfurled, weapons shining in the sun and making a lot of noise. The spectacle was impressive and Captain João Correia realized that his duty was to discourage and intimidate the besieged. He therefore immediately ordered a sortie against the Sinhalese troops closest to the walls, who were taken by surprise and thrown into confusion. [8]
On the night of August 3rd, Rajasinha I ordered the first all-out attack. Thousands of Sinhalese launched themselves to climb the mud walls of Colombo, at the same time that the servants, helped by hundreds of elephants, tried to demolish them. They were met with gunfire and the throwing of gunpowder bombs by the Portuguese and the Lascarins. "It was a Dantesque spectacle, in which the adversaries, enveloped by the darkness of the night and the smoke of gunfire, dazzled by the flashes of explosions and fires and deafened by the thunder of artillery and the screams of combatants, only thought of tearing every living thing to pieces that appeared in front of them. Portentous feats of arms, worthy of an Iliad, were performed on that terrible night, both by the Portuguese and the Sinhalese". [9] Some Sinhalese managed to occupy the São Lourenço and São Gonçalo bastions but found themselves driven back by a Portuguese counterattack. [10] The following morning, all the Sinhalese had been forced to retreat, having suffered 400 deaths and 2.000 injuries. [11]
Rajasinha I launched three more assaults on Colombo in the months that followed, accompanied by shovel work to undermine the walls, while the Portuguese carried out sorties against the Sinhalese positions. Raja Sinha understood that without blocking the city by sea, he would never be able to conquer it from the Portuguese, so, when the monsoon was over, on 4 September he ordered his fleet to go out to sea with a force of 18 fustas, four calemutes and 18 large tonnes. However, Captain-Major Tomé de Sousa went out to meet him with two galleys and 18 fustas; the fight was close but the Portuguese's greater experience in naval warfare and their heavier equipment ended up deciding the fight in their favor. [12]
On September 11, the first reinforcements from Goa arrived in Colombo: a galley and six fustas with 250 soldiers. [13] More ships with reinforcements arrived on October 4th, October 23rd, November 4th and February 15th. Finally, on the 18th of February, with artillery salutes and the sound of war instruments, a large fleet of 2 galleys, 16 fustas and 600 men, commanded by Manuel de Sousa Coutinho, was founded in Colombo. [14] They had left Goa on the 4th of February and had put fire and iron on the western coast of Ceylon until reaching Colombo; They were welcomed with the ringing of church bells. [15]
In Colombo there were now 2000 Portuguese soldiers. [16] Realizing that the opportunity to take the city had passed, Rajasinha I abandoned the siege, having lost more than 5000 men. [17]
On the Portuguese side, 24 soldiers and 80 lascarins died, in addition to 500 civilians who were victims of disease. [18]
The siege of Colombo in 1587-1588 was one of the most famous and difficult sieges fought by the Portuguese in the East and is in no way inferior to the sieges of Diu or Chaul. [19]
The Battle of Diu was a naval battle fought on 3 February 1509 in the Arabian Sea, in the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt and the Zamorin of Calicut.
Rajasinghe I also known as the lion of Sitawaka 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 "Rajasinha" after the fierce Battle of Mulleriyawa.
The Kingdom of Sitawaka was a kingdom located in south-central Sri Lanka. It emerged from the division of the Kingdom of Kotte following the Spoiling of Vijayabahu in 1521. Over the course of the next seventy years it came to dominate much of the island. Sitawaka also offered fierce resistance to the Portuguese, who had arrived on the island in 1505. Despite its military successes, Sitawaka remained unstable, having to contend with repeated uprisings in its restive Kandyan territories, as well as a wide-ranging and often devastating conflict with the Portuguese. Sitawaka disintegrated soon after the death of its last king Rajasimha I in 1593.
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João da Silveira was the first Captain of Portuguese Ceylon. Silveira was appointed in 1518 under Manuel I of Portugal. He was succeeded by Lopo de Brito.
Lopo de Brito was the second Captain of Portuguese Ceylon. Brito succeeded João da Silveira and was appointed in 1518 under Manuel I of Portugal, he was Captain until 1522. He was succeeded by Fernão Gomes de Lemos.
Fernão Gomes de Lemos was the third and last Captain of Portuguese Ceylon. Lemos succeeded Lopo de Brito and was appointed in 1522 under John III of Portugal, he was Captain until 1524. In 1524 when he left as Captain, the office was left vacant until 1551, where the office was succeeded by Captain-majors of Portuguese Ceylon. He was also Portuguese Ambassador to Persia, appointed by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1515.
João de Correia de Brito was the 15th Captain-major of Portuguese Ceylon. Brito was appointed in 1583 under Philip I of Portugal, he was Captain-major until 1590. He was succeeded by Simão de Brito.
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