The people are disgusted with the king
The Governor of Jaffna, Antonio de Amaral de Meneses, requested the released prisoners to come to the rescue of Mannar. It was successful. The Governor was able to strengthen the fort in Mannar.
After that, the Governor built another fort in Kayts – as it was the door to Jaffna. In the meantime the king had to face a lot of internal trouble. There were two things that worried him most. One was to chase away the Portuguese. The other was his friendly party claiming possession of Colombo, without any idea of returning it.
The dire need to stop the Dutch from claiming possession of Colombo, made the king stay away from the capital for several months. As a result of the king taking decisions on his own and also owing to the government that existed, the people were used to fight in endless battles.
This was also a reason for the subjects to be angry with the king. In his dealings with the foreign powers, the king displayed his weakness and this too worried his people.
The people got disgusted when the king tried to end connections with one foreign power and then embrace another.
The people thought that this action was similar to giving ginger in exchange for chillies. These actions worried them so much that they even tried to get rid of the king by poisoning him. That too failed. The king severely punished those involved in this matter.
By Halaliye Karunathilake
Edited and translated by Kamala Silva
Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila