fights to be unsuccessful was that Seethawaka
kingdom did not have adequate naval strength.
King Rajasinghe, who was on a constant battle
with the Portuguese, died of being wounded
by pricking a bamboo thorn in the Pethangoda
garden on his way back to Seethawaka after
being defeated in a battle with the king of the
Kandyan kingdom, Wimaladharmasooriya.
Afterwards, the kingdom Seethawaka collapsed.
There were many reasons that caused the collapse
of the Seethawaka kingdom; engaging of the
Seethawaka rulers in a constant battle, following
anti-Buddhist policy by king Rajasinghe in his
later time, killing Veerasundara Bandara, who
assisted King Rajasinghe to surrender the Kadyan
kingdom and therefore, getting less support from
the Kandyans, acceding of Konappu Bandara,
who was the son of Veerasundara Bandara, to
the Kandyan throne, having no proper heir to
the Seethawaka kingdom were some of them.
However, the attempt of the Portuguese to
extend their power in this country was limited
due to the patriotic fight against the Portuguese
by the Seethawaka rulers.
The Portuguese, who become stronger again
during the period of decline of Seethawaka
kingdom, established their power in many
coastal areas in this country by capturing the
areas of the kingdoms of Kotte and Rayigama and
some of the areas which were under Seethawaka
after the collapse of Seethawaka.
Jaffna Kingdom
The Jaffna kingdom, which started after the
downfall of Rajarata civilization, was ruled
by a dynasty called Arya Chakrawarthi. King
Pararajasekaram, who belonged to that dynasty,
was ruling Jaffna during the period in which the
Portuguese came to this country. The Portuguese
did not pay much attention to Jaffna during the
first decade after their arrival to this country
because Jaffna did not produce trade items
such as cinnamon and pepper. In 1519 a prince
named Sankili captured the power of Jaffna and
ruled the area until 1561.There started conflicts between King Sankili and
the Portuguese because the trading ships of the
Portuguese were disturbed and the king acted
against their attempt to spread Catholic religion
in the areas in Jaffna during the king Sankili’s
ruling period. Accordingly, the Portuguese
invaded Jaffna against the king in 1543. But, the
battle was prevented as king Sankili agreed to pay
the ransom without going to a battle with them.
After coming to a peaceful agreement with the
ruler of Jaffna, the Portuguese acted to propagate
Catholic religion in the areas of Jaffna. As the
Hindu priests rose against this, king Sankili
disturbed the Portuguese affairs of propagating
their religion in the Mannar area. King Sankili
went to the area of Mannar with his army and
ordered all the people, who had embraced
Catholic religion, to embrace their traditional
religion. He administered severe punishments
to those who did not obey his order. As it was
an impediment to spread Catholic religion in
Mannar area, the Missionary priests requested
the Portuguese to dethrone the Jaffna ruler.
Therefore, king Sankili came to an alliance with
Seethawaka Mayadunne in 1548. When Veedeye
Bandara, who was an anti-Portuguese, fled to
Jaffna, king Sankili welcomed him. But nothing
of these was successful.In 1560 the Portuguese invaded Jaffna again,
king Sankili had to abandon the capital and flee.
Afterwards, though he protected his power once
again on the strict conditions of the Portuguese,
at this time the Portuguese captured Mannar and
built a fortress there. The deprivation of Jaffna
was a great loss to the Jaffna ruler. As a result of it,
he not only lost a considerable land, but also the
income that Jaffna received by diving for pearls
in the Mannar area. Further, the Portuguese
had the opportunity to intervene in the political
affairs of Jaffna from Mannar.In 1561 a prince named Puvirajapandaram