He was the second-born son of Diogo Lopes de Sousa, 10th Lord of the town of Bordonhos (near
São Pedro do Sul, Portugal) and of the
Patronage of its Churches and of his wife and cousin, Dona Isabel de Sousa. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but as he had at least two older brothers, the first of whom was born in the mid-1530s, it is likely that it occurred around 1540. He made his career in the Portuguese
Estado da India, where he served as captain of
Malacca. In 1594, following political developments in Ceylon – which the Portuguese crown interpreted as an opportunity to extend Portuguese rule to the entire territory of the island, namely through the subjugation of the Kingdom of
Kandy, which until then had successfully resisted the expansion of the Portuguese – Pedro Lopes de Sousa was appointed to the new post of
capitão-geral da conquista do Ceilão ("captain-general of the conquest of Ceylon" – the maximum representatives of the Portuguese crown in Ceylon, based in
Kotte, had used the designation of "Captain" between 1518 and 1551 and that of "Captain-major" after that date). He arrived in
Colombo from
Goa, with fresh troops to reinforce the Portuguese military potential, in May 1594. A few months later, he commanded an army composed of Portuguese and local auxiliaries, known by the name of
Lascarins, which invaded the Kingdom of Kandy, with the aim of placing on the throne the legitimate queen,
Dona Catarina – a child in her early teens, who was under Portuguese protection and had changed her birth name from
Kusumasani Devi when she was baptized. The
Battle of Danture was an important turning point in the History of the Kingdom of Kandy. It ensured an independence that Kandy would be able to keep for more than two centuries – despite repeated attempts at annexation by Portugal, and later by the
Netherlands and the
British Empire – until the year 1815. The Portuguese crown reacted to the defeat at Danture with the appointment of a new captain-general (D.
Jerónimo de Azevedo) who arrived in Colombo, with military reinforcements, in December 1594. , Lords of
Bordonhos in
Portugal == Marriage and children ==