According to the orders that came from Goa, Kotte was abandoned. King Don Juan and his chiefs were brought to Colombo. Leaving the city of Kotte could be considered as the final blow to the king.
Time passed. Kotte was
devastated.
It became a mere playground for elephants and other wild animals. Don Juan lived almost like a prisoner, in the Fort of Colombo.The Portuguese strengthened the Fort of Colombo and equipped
the city of Colombo with
all amenities.
The
boundary was stretched as far as the Khyman’s Gate in what is Pettah today. The southern part of the city got flooded by the waters of the Kelani river and it became one muddy and marshy area.
This strip of land, in later years merged with the Beira Lake. Now the city became open to an attack from land.
The abandoning of Kotte was a victory for Mayadunne. This made King Mayadunne, the accepted ruler of the low country, Kotte, Sitawaka, Raigama, Denawaka, the Four Korales and the Seven Korales – in short all the land area excepting Colombo was the domain of King Mayadunne. Don Juan Dharmapala became a mere puppet, in the hands of the foreigner. He was just a nominal ruler, without subjects or a
kingdom to call his own.
In the name of Portugal, the Portuguese who were engaged in
fighting still treated Don Juan as the ruler and the Savior of Kotte. Whilst things were going on like this, Don Juan’s wife passed away. He took another wife. She was the daughter of the King of Kandy. From her
childhood, she had grown up amongst the Portuguese in Trincomalee. She was known as Dona Margarida. She was brought to Colombo with much
honour and respect .
At the outset, the Portuguese fought with the consent of King Don Juan. But since he was brought to Colombo, they did not pay any heed to him. The king too on his part became helpless and he had to face many difficulties.
In short he had to obey the orders of the Captains.
This provided a chance for the Portuguese to
plunder and ruin the land that belonged to the Kingdom of Kotte. They resumed their fighting.
They set fire to the villages that had fallen under King Mayadunne and ruined the land. King
Mayadunne tried to
protect Wattala, which was a ‘kadawatha’ (opening) to the Aluthkuru and Siyane Korales and suppress the power of the Portuguese. The Portuguese disliked this and defeated King Mayadunne. By this time, Prince Rajasinghe was also passing his days in anger.
He was angry over the marriage of the Kandyan king’s daughter and Don Juan Dharmapala. Prince Rajasinghe too was
interested in this
princess and had an idea of getting married to her. If he could do so, he would have been able to annex Kandy also to his kingdom. While Prince Rajasinghe was passing his time in agony, the Portuguese captured the forts of Rajasinghe.
They ransacked the
viharas and devales. Harbours and the
important cities in the coastal belt were ruined.They brought about havoc and
restlessness in the low country. The Portuguese went by sea, and attacked all the
coastal towns,
including Chilaw, Negombo, Kalutara, Maggona, Beruwala, Aluthgama, Galle and Matara. Then King Mayadunne attempted to block the supply of food, to the Portuguese in Colombo. But his friends the Malabars were
defeated. The Portuguese managed to capture their ships too. |
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