Don Juan of Austria became King of Kandy by the name Konappu Bandara. He began to rule very wisely. For a long time he had been a friend of the Portuguese, even as a child. As a result, he had studied all their customs and
manners, war strategies and even their evil ways. This knowledge helped him to fight them successfully. He understood the needs of his subjects too.
He tried his best to please the people. He showed that he was deeply devoted to Buddhism and helped the Buddhist
temples. He built the Temple for the Tooth, in
his capital city, Kandy. This brought him fame
and honour.
With all these, he had one big disadvantage. That was not having regal right to kingship. But as the Portuguese were not concerned about this drawback, he became king.
Meanwhile a lot of changes took place in Kandy.
Sangkili, who
massacred the Christians in 1544 AD defeated the Portuguese power in Jaffna in
1560 AD. Though he was a very wicked ruler, his subjects were not afraid to oppose him. They rose up in revolt. They made the king’s son, Priviraja Pandaram, king. But later, a person named ‘Kasineyar’, wrested the throne from him.
As the people objected, he too could not rule for long. When the people sought the help of the Portuguese in Mannar, the king was captured and imprisoned. A temporary ruler was appointed. Before long, Kasineyar managed to escape from prison. Though he took over the rule, he could not go on for long. With the help of the
Portuguese captain in Mannar, this king was murdered.Then a person named Periyapulle, became king, by the name of Vegarajasekaram. His
period of rule was also short. He passed away. Then one Puviraja Pandaram became king as Pararajasekaram. He tried to chase the Portuguese from his kingdom.
He besieged Mannar.
But the foreign army that he expected to help him,
namely the army from Calicut, did not arrive in time.
Because of this delay, King Pararajasekaram had to face a very
difficult situation. He had to retreat. He was angry when all his hopes were dashed. He thought of taking revenge and so the Christians in Maanthottam were killed. Meanwhile a fleet of ships, set out from Calicut to help him. The Portuguese got to know of this. They sent an army there under Andro de Fertado de Mandosa.
Mandosa captured and destroyed the Calicut navy. They took
whatever valuables they had and came to Mannar in a victorious manner. Then they set forth with a huge army, to punish the King of Jaffna. They reached Colombu-thurai, disbanded the army of the king of Jaffna and marched as far as the Jaffna peninsula. They were able to capture the stores there.
The following day, this army destroyed the
security posts along the main road and killed a whole lot of people. They then proceeded to Nallur. The king’s army was there. They fought against the Portuguese. The Portuguese army was more powerful and as a result the king’s army was defeated. They were forced to retreat. |
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