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Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom

The Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom occurred after Portuguese traders arrived at the rival Kotte kingdom in the southwest of modern Sri Lanka in 1505. Many kings of Jaffna, such as Cankili I, initially confronted the Portuguese in their attempts at converting the locals to Roman Catholicism, but eventually made peace with them.

Initial contact
Portuguese traders reached Sri Lanka in 1505; their initial forays were against the southwestern coastal Kotte kingdom, which enjoyed a lucrative monopoly on the spice trade, which was also of interest to the Portuguese. Furthermore, it was feared by the Portuguese that (due to its strategic location) the Jaffna kingdom might become a beachhead for Dutch landings. It was king Cankili I who resisted contacts with the Portuguese, and even massacred six to seven hundred Parava Catholics in the island of Mannar. These Catholics had been brought from India to Mannar to take over the lucrative pearl fisheries extending to Puttalam from the Jaffna kings. == Client state ==
Client state
The first expedition, led by Viceroy Dom Constantino de Bragança in 1560, failed to subdue the kingdom but captured Mannar Island. Although the circumstances are unclear, by 1582 the Jaffna king was paying a tribute to the Portuguese of ten elephants or an equivalent in cash. == End of the kingdom ==
End of the kingdom
With the death of Pararasasekaran in 1617, Cankili II, an usurper, took control of the throne after killing the regent nominated by the Ethirimanna Cinkam. Unable to secure Portuguese acceptance of his kingship, Cankili II through Migapulle Arachchi invited military aid from the Thanjavur Nayaks and the Karaiyars, and allowed them to use a base in Neduntivu, hence posing a threat to Portuguese shipping routes through the Palk Strait. The Portuguese accounts refer to six attempts made by rebels to install a local prince on the Jaffna throne in the years 1620 and 1621. At first, the chief of Karaiyars rose in revolt and offered resistance to the Portuguese, with the help of a large troops of Thanjavur Nayaks. Phillippe de Oliveira is said to have defeated him near Nallur. == Portuguese and the Kandyan kingdom ==
Portuguese and the Kandyan kingdom
's 1681 map According to the Description of the Isle of Ceylon (Amsterdam 1672) by the Dutch Rev. Phillipus Baldeus, who travelled in Sri Lanka in the 17th century. the kingdom of Jaffnapattinam consisted of the Jaffna Peninsula, the islands off Jaffna, and the Island of Mannar. But in dealing with the limitations of the kingdom, Queirós, an historian of Portuguese origin, says: which indicated the kings of the kingdom just prior to capitulation to the Portuguese had jurisdiction over an area corresponding to the modern Northern Province of Sri Lanka and parts of the northern half of the eastern province and that the Portuguese claimed these based on their conquest. At the time, the mainland south of Elephant Pass was claimed by the King of Kandy, Senerat; he and his troops were consistently harassing the Portuguese in the Jaffna Peninsula. His wife's two sons, Vijayapala and Kumarasinghe, were also married to princesses from Jaffna. After the fall of Jaffna to the Portuguese, Senarat dispatched a 10,000 strong army to Jaffna under the command of Mudaliyar Attapattu. The Portuguese withdrew and the Kandyan army occupied Jaffna. The Portuguese General Constantino de Sá de Noronha later attacked with reinforcements from Colombo and defeated Mudaliyar Attapattu's army and seized Jaffna. According to Portuguese and Dutch publications, the last battle for Jaffna was fought between the King of Kandyan kingdom and the Portuguese, and the Europeans seized Jaffna from the Kandyan king. Following Portuguese defeat by the Dutch, the Jaffna Mannar islands and most of Jaffna's Vannimai lands had been reincorporated into the Tamil Coylot Wannees Country by the 18th century. == Consequences ==
Consequences
Over the next forty years, starting from 1619 until the Dutch capture of Jaffna fort in 1658, there were three rebellions against Portuguese rule. Two were led by Migapulle Arachchi, during that period, Portuguese destroyed every Hindu temple Due to excessive taxation, population decreased and many people moved to Ramanathapuram in India and the Vanni Districts further south. External commerce was negatively impacted, though elephants, Jaffna's principal export, were traded for saltpetre with various kingdoms in India and sent to Lisbon. Thus, decline in trade made it difficult to pay for essential imports, and such items ceased to be imported. == Notes ==
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