The Ambassador who went to Kandy
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The Dutch governor informed Batavia that it was not possible to make peace with King Rajasinghe. The Dutch entertained a fear that the king will get friendly with the Portuguese again. Because of this, they thought of making some kind of peace, with the king.
There, every detail was discussed with the king. Certain conditions were altered slightly. The discussion was based mainly on cinnamon trade. The freedom given to the Dutch regarding cinnamon trade was restricted.
With this in mind, in 1638, Governor Jan Maetsuycker sent a Dutch ambassador to Kandy to discuss certain points relating to a peace agreement with the king. The ambassador met the king.
The agreement reached said, “until payment was made to the company, for the services they rendered to the king, cinnamon was not to be given to anyone else.” Further it was agreed to appoint a Dutch government agent (Disapathi) to Matara and until Colombo is captured, Negombo should be kept under their control.
All these suggestions were made to the king by the Dutch. As soon as this peace treaty was signed, Maetsuycker made arrangements to note down a few points for his successor to read and understand. He left the country. There was no mention made about the debt owed to the Dutch.
By Halaliye Karunathilake Edited and translated by Kamala Silva Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila