1. It was in 1524 A.D., that Vasco da Gama assumed duties as the Viceroy of India. His first duty was to give instructions to destroy the fortress in Colombo and strengthen the building for stores. It was implemented immediately. The fortress was pulled down.

Nune Preyer de Andradi and 20 Portuguese soldiers were stationed in Colombo and the rest were recalled to India. Those who were here, were to maintain the stores.

2. King Buwanekabahu was sad, the Portuguese army had to leave. A Portuguese army in Colombo was a great strength to him, as his brother Mayadunne was growing in strength and yearning for fame and glory. He was eyeing the kingdom of Kotte. Buwanekabahu was scared of this.

3. As a result, King Buwanekabahu sought the assistance of the Portuguese soldiers stationed at the stores. Meanwhile King Mayadunne thought that the Portuguese had fled through fear of the Muslims. Thrilled over this, he invited the Muslims to come into occupation of the land under his control. He sought the help of the Zamorin of Calicut, to fight against the Portuguese.

4. The Zamorin sent an army to Colombo to capture the stores. The Commander of this army thought that if they were to attack the stores at once, King Buwanekabahu would get offended. He went to Kotte. He made a request to the king to hand over the Portuguese soldiers. To make the king agree to this suggestion, he had to lie.

5. He lied to the king saying that the Portuguese were defeated in a sea battle. He further added that the king of Calicut and the other kings of India were getting ready for a battle on land. More false stories were concocted to mislead the king. He swore to say that he would not kill the Portuguese soldiers if they were handed over to him.

6. Yet, King Buwanekabahu, in no way wanted to hand over the Portuguese soldiers, who were there for his security. But without saying this straight away, he said this request had to be presented to the Council of Ministers. Furthermore, the king told him that if the defeat of the Portuguese at sea was proved, he would consent to their request and wanted this to be made known to the Zamorin as well.

7. In the meantime, King Buwanekabahu sent a message to the person in charge of the stores to come and see him. He came immediately. The king asked him whether what the Commander of the Calicut army had told him was true. Nune Preyer de Andradi – who was in charge of the stores, said that for
certain, there was no such defeat. In addition, he suggested to the king to send an envoy to India to clarify matters further.

8. While all this was happening, the Malabars used another trick. They brought a ship to shore, close to the stores, on the pretext of repairing it. The people who were on the ship were asked to get off there.