Portuguese Ceylon

{{short description|Portuguese-controlled kingdom in Asia, 16th–17th century}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}

{{Infobox country

| native_name = {{native name|pt|Ceilão Português}}
{{native name|si|පෘතුගීසි ලංකාව}}
pṛtugīsi laṁkāva
{{native name|ta|போர்த்துக்கேய இலங்கை}}
Pōrttukkēya ilaṅkai

| conventional_long_name = Portuguese Ceylon

| common_name = Ceilão Português

| era = Colonialism

| status = Colony of Portugal

| status_text =

| empire = Portugal

| government_type =

| event_start = Death of Dharmapala of Kotte

| date_start = 27 May

| year_start = 1597[https://archive.org/stream/ceylonportuguese00pier/ceylonportuguese00pier_djvu.txt Ceylon and the Portuguese, 1505–1658 (1920). Author: Pieris, P. E. (Paulus Edward), 1874–; Naish, Richard Bryant, 1891– Subject: Sri Lanka – History] p.140

| event_end = Surrender of Jaffna

| date_end = June

| year_end = 1658

| event1 = Luso–Kandyan Treaty

| date_event1 = 1633

| event2 =

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| event_pre = Portuguese arrival

| date_pre = 1505

| event_post =

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| p1 = Kingdom of Kotte

| flag_p1 = Flag of Kotte.svg

| image_p1 =

| p2 = Kingdom of Jaffna

| flag_p2 = Nandi flag.png

| p3 = Kingdom of Sitawaka

| flag_p3 = Flag of Sitawaka Kingdom (1521 - 1594).png

| s1 = Dutch Ceylon

| flag_s1 = Flag of the Dutch East India Company.svg

| image_s1 =

| image_flag = Flag Portugal (1640).svg

| flag_alt =

| image_flag2 =

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| image_coat = Royal Arms of Portugal.svg

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| image_map = File:Portuguese Ceylon.svg

| image_map_alt =

| image_map_caption = {{legend|#358484|After the death of King Dharmapala (1597)}} {{legend|#17CCC7|Portuguese Ceylon at its greatest extent 1594–1619}}

| image_map2 =

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| capital = Colombo

| national_motto =

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| common_languages = Portuguese (official)
Sinhala
Tamil

| religion = Roman Catholicism

| currency =

| leader1 = Philip I

| leader2 = Philip II

| leader3 = Philip III

| leader4 = John IV

| leader5 = Afonso VI

| year_leader1 = 1597–1598

| year_leader2 = 1598–1621

| year_leader3 = 1621–1640

| year_leader4 = 1640–1656

| year_leader5 = 1656–1658

| title_leader = King of Portugal

| representative1 = Jerónimo de Azevedo

| representative2 = António de Amaral de Meneses

| representative3 =

| representative4 =

| year_representative1 = 1597–1614

| year_representative2 = 1656–1658

| year_representative3 =

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| title_representative = Captain-General

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}}

Portuguese Ceylon ({{langx|pt|Ceilão Português}}; {{langx|si|පෘතුගීසි ලංකාව}}; {{langx|ta|போர்த்துக்கேய இலங்கை}}) is the name given to the territory on Ceylon, modern-day Sri Lanka, controlled by the Portuguese Empire between 1597 and 1658.

Portuguese presence in the island lasted from 1505 to 1658. Their arrival was largely accidental, and the Portuguese sought control of commerce, rather than territory. The Portuguese were later drawn into the internal politics of the island with the political upheaval of the Wijayaba Kollaya, and used these internal divisions to their advantage during the Sinhalese–Portuguese War, first in an attempt to control the production of valuable cinnamon and later of the entire island. Direct Portuguese rule did not begin until after the death of Dharmapala of Kotte, who died without an heir, and had bequeathed the Kingdom of Kotte to the Portuguese monarch in 1580.De Silva (1981), p. 114 That allowed the Portuguese sufficient claim to the Kingdom of Kotte upon Dharmapala's death in 1597. Portuguese rule began with much resistance by the local population.De Silva (1981), p. 100

Eventually, the Kingdom of Kandy sought help from the Dutch East India Company, with whom they initially entered into agreement. After the collapse of the Iberian economy in 1627, the Dutch–Portuguese War saw the Dutch conquest of most of Portugal's Asian colonies – Ceylon included, between 1638 and 1658. Nevertheless, elements of Portuguese culture from this colonial period remain in Sri Lanka.

{{History of Kandy}}