dynasty started in Kandy. The attempts, which
the Portuguese made to establish a ruling which
was loyal to them, were unsuccessful with a
great debacle. Military manoeuvres of king
Vimaladharmasooriya I, support of the Kandyans
to the king, and rejoining the army, which went
from low country to assist the Portuguese, to
the king in Kandy caused the victory of king
Vimaladharmasooriya I.
The Battle of Balana
After the death of Pero Lopes De Susa, Don
Geranimo De Asavedu was sent here by making
him the Captain General by the Portuguese.
With the defeat of the Portuguese in Danthure,
a rebellion sprang in the areas in the low country
under the leadership of Edirille Rala. King
Vimaladharmasooriya I supported this rebellion.
Therefore, the Portuguese defeated the rebels by
killing the leaders of the rebellion and setting fire
to the villages and property. Afterwards Asavedu
prepared for a battle with Kandy. In 1602 Asavedu,
who brought an additional army from Gowa,
invaded Kandy with a battalion of thousand
soldiers. But the Portuguese army reached only
the Balana pass. In this place, the Kandyans,
who besieged the Portuguese in accordance with
a manoeuvre of king Vimaladharmasooriya I,
launched a horrendous attack on the Portuguese.
The people from the low-country who had
gone to support the Portuguese, joined the
king’s party at this time too. A considerable
number of Portuguese soldiers were killed due
to the attack of the Kandyans and their weapons
were arrested by the Kandyans. With this
defeat Asavedu withdrew to Colombo through
Malwana. After the unsuccessful invasion of
Asavedu, the Portuguese followed a policy of
attacking the Kandyans and their villages from
time to time instead of invading Kandy using
a big army. Therefore, king Senarath, who
became the Kandyan ruler after the death of
king Vimaladharmasooriya, entered into a peace
agreement with the Portuguese in 1617. But it
did not work properly.
The Battle of RandeniwalaAs the Portuguese Captain General Constantinu
De Sa invaded Kandy via Uva area, the Battle
of Randeniwala started. Constantinu De Sa led
this invasion with about 600 Portuguese soldiers
and another battalion of about 4500 mercenary
army in the month of July 1630. The Portuguese
captured the city of Badulla and destroyed it. The
Kandyan king Senarath had come to Badulla with
his army and started attacking the Portuguese.
Prince Maha Asthana (later he became the king
of Kandy in the name of Rajasinghe II), who was
a son of king Senarath, provided the leadership
to the Kandyan army. When the Kandyan army
besieged the Portuguese, the Mudalis who
had gone from the low country to support the
Portuguese, rejoined the king. As a result of
this, the Kandyan army became stronger and
the Portuguese was helpless due to the attacks
of the Kandyans. Therefore they withdrew to
Randeniwala which was close to Wellawaya. In
this the Kandyans encircled the Portuguese and
attacked them resulting in killing about 350
Portuguese soldiers. Another group of soldiers
were arrested. Even Captain General Constantinu
De Sa was killed in the battle. This invasion was
not done suddenly by the Portuguese. They had
planned it for about two years. But all the plans
of the Portuguese went awry in the face of the
manoeuvres of the Kandyans.The Battle of GannoruwaIn the month of March in 1638, Kandy was once
again invaded by the then Captain General Diago
De Melo in Sri Lanka. The Portuguese, who went
with about one thousand of the Portuguese
soldiers and other thousands of mercenary
soldiers, entered the city of Kandy without any
difficulty. King Rajasinghe, who had come to
the throne after king Senarath, abandoned the
city tactically. Afterwards, the Kandyan army
encircled the Portuguese at the right time.
There was a horrendous battle between the two
parties in Gannoruwa. However, the Portuguese