dethroned king Sankili and captured the power.
Hereafter, a struggle started among the heirs for
the throne of Jaffna. In this effort, since some
sought the assistance of the Portuguese, the
Portuguese could bring those who were in favour
of the Portuguese to power. Even some of those
rulers acted against the Portuguese when they
had the opportunity, the Portuguese invaded
Jaffna once again and appointed a person called
Edirimannasinham, who was loyal to them, to
the throne of Jaffna. Though he ruled obediently
to the Portuguese, several times he allowed king
Senarath, who was the ruler of the Kandyan
kingdom, to maintain trade relations with South
India through Jaffna sea. With the death of the
Jaffna ruler in 1617, once again power-struggles
started. As a result of it, one prince Sankili
Kumara, who was a member of the royal family,
captured the power. The Portuguese never
tolerated the occasional supports of the Jaffna
rulers to the Kandyan king for his trade affairs
and his relations with South India. Accordingly,
a Portuguese army under the leadership of Philip
De Olivera seized Jaffna in 1621. Afterwards,
though there were some rebellions against the
Portuguese, the Portuguese suppressed them
and established their power by in Jaffna 1621.
The following facts caused the collapse of the
Jaffna kingdom; the division of Jaffna people due
to the power-struggles of the heirs to the throne
of Jaffna, there was not an adequate army for its
rulers, and Jaffna was not naturally protected as
the Kandyan kingdom.
The Attempts of the Portuguese to expand
Their Power in the Kandyan Kingdom
Since the Portuguese had spread their power
in many parts of the low-country after the
collapse of Seethawaka kingdom, the Kandyan
kingdom was held responsible of protecting
the independence of the country. The Kandyan
kingdom was able to keep that responsibility by
facing various challenges from the Portuguese,
Dutch and the English until 1815. Here, let’s
consider the attempts of the Portuguese to extend
their power in the areas in Kandy and the actions
that the Kandyan people took against them.The attempts to extend their power in the
Kandyan kingdom alias Udarata kingdom was
started by the Portuguese during the same time
in which they were interfering in the political
affairs of Kotte. We described in the eighth
chapter how the Portuguese attempted to spread
their power in the Kandyan kingdom even before
king Wimaladharmasooriya came to power in
the kingdom.The Battle of DanthureThe Potuguese was never pleased with acceding
Konappu Bandara, who was well aware of
warfare and other strategies of the Portuguese
by staying under them for a certain period of
time, to the throne of Kandyan kingdom in the
name of Vimaladharmasooriya I. Therefore,
the Portuguese attempted to accompany
Kusumasana Devi (Dona Kathirina), who
was in the care of the Portuguese and was the
daughter of Karaliyadde Bandara, to Kandy
and bring her to power. By doing this they tried
to establish a ruling which was loyal to them.
In the invasion made under the leadership of
Captain General Gero Lopes De Susa, they
made Kusumasana Devi the queen of Kandy in- But the Kandyans, who hesitated to accept
one appointed by the foreigners as the queen,
supported the king Vimaladharmasooriya I.
Pero Lopes De Susa had to withdraw with his
army. In October in 1594 there was a great battle
between the Portuguese army and the Kandyans.
The whole Portuguese battalion was destroyed
in this battle and even Pero Lopes De Susa, who
led this invasion, too was killed. Kusumasana
Devi was arrested by the Kandyans in the battle
and afterwards king Vimaladharmasooriya I
wedded her. As a result of this marriage, a new