Battle of Gannoruwa
Battle of Gannoruwa | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Sinhalese–Portuguese War | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Sinhalese king's army | Portuguese army | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Rajasinghe II Wijayapala |
Diogo de Melo de Castro † Fernão de Mendonça Furtado | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Nearly 70,000 (According to Sinhalese book Mandaram puwatha) |
1,000 Portuguese 5,000 mercenaries | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | 4,000 (approximately) | ||||||
The Battle of Gannoruwa was a battle of the
Melo seized an elephant presented to a merchant by the king, to which the king responded by seizing two of Melo's own horses. Following this incident, Melo assembled his troops and set out for Kandy. The city of Kandy was evacuated by the Sinhalese, and Melo's army found the city empty when they arrived. They sacked and burned the city, and started to return to Colombo. However, their way forward was blocked by the Sinhalese army at Gannoruwa. The Portuguese force was surrounded with all escape routes cut off.
On 28 March 1638, the Sinhalese army attacked the Portuguese force, leaving only 33 Portuguese soldiers alive, along with a number of mercenaries. The heads of the killed Portuguese soldiers were piled before the Sinhalese king Rajasingha II. The battle, which ended in victory for the Sinhalese army, was the last battle fought between the Portuguese and the Sinhalese, and was also the final battle fought by the Kingdom of Kandy. The Portuguese were driven out of the country by the Dutch soon afterwards.
Background
The Portuguese first landed in Sri Lanka in 1505.
Provocations
Melo followed an aggressive approach towards Kandy from the beginning. A caravan of 600 men and bulls was taken into custody and later released. He also raised issues with the peace accord that had been signed earlier between the Portuguese and King Senarath. In the meantime, he assembled his troops in preparation for an attack on Kandy. These troops later encamped in Atapitiya, close to the boundaries of the Kingdom of Kandy as a show of strength. In response to this, the Sinhalese strengthened their defences with troops from Matale and Uva.[8]
Rajasinghe had presented an elephant to a Portuguese merchant, António Machado, who had gained the king's favour.[9] Melo took this elephant into his possession. After hearing about this, Rajasinghe presented another elephant to the merchant. He then seized two horses that were sent to Kandy by Melo for sale, and informed Melo that the horses would be released upon the return of the elephant.[4][9] The Portuguese also killed Rajasinghe's Disawe, a regional officer, of Batticaloa, much to the king's anger.[8]
Preparations
Melo began preparing his troops to attack Kandy after the seizure of his horses by the Sinhalese king. He ordered his Disawes to summon the army to a village named Menikkadawara. On 19 March 1638, Melo departed from Colombo and arrived at Menikkadawara with an army of 900 Portuguese soldiers and 5,000 mercenaries including
The city was evacuated, since the Sinhalese army was not capable of facing the Portuguese army head on. Everything of value in the city was taken away. Instead of facing the Portuguese directly, Rajasinghe and his generals planned a trap. The Sinhalese army encamped on Gannoruwa hill, preparing to attack the Portuguese force upon their return from Kandy.[10]
The king's vow
While reconnoitering with his generals in the area around a shrine called Dodanwala Dewalaya, the king's crown fell from his head. He was informed by his men that he was near the shrine and that the deity presiding in the shrine was powerful. Rajasinghe vowed at the shrine that if he succeeded in defeating the Portuguese, he would present his crown and sword to the shrine.[2]
Battle
The Portuguese force advanced through Atapitiya to
They retreated towards Balana with the objective of entrenching themselves on the slopes of Kiriwat Talawa, but had only reached Gannoruwa by nightfall. The king's army was strengthened by Wijayapala's troops from Matale,
With the Portuguese force suffering heavy casualties, Melo requested an armistice. Rajasinghe did not reply to this, but ordered his drummers to proclaim that all Sinhalese that was with the Portuguese force were to leave them. They were told that those who remained would be put to the sword the next day.[14]
The numbers of the Portuguese force were rapidly reduced before the Sinhalese army charged up the hill and attacked them. Rajasinghe conducted his troops during the battle from under the shade of a tree. The Portuguese force was almost completely destroyed in the fight that ensued. Approximately 4,000 soldiers of the Portuguese force were killed.[17] Only 33 Portuguese soldiers were left alive,[18] along with a number of mercenaries. Rajasinghe and Wijayapala ordered their men not to kill the survivors after the battle was won.[19] Heads of the killed soldiers were piled before the Sinhalese king. A search was made for Melo's body, but it was not found. However, some Sinhalese soldiers found Melo's sword, and presented it to Rajasinghe.[14]
Aftermath
After the victory, Rajasinghe presented his sword and crown to the Dodanwala Devala as he had vowed. Men who had taken part in the battle received positions and lands as rewards. The commanders who led the Sinhalese army in the battle were promoted to higher ranks.[8] The Portuguese did not make any other attempts to take Kandy after this.[5] The Battle of Gannoruwa was the last battle fought by the Kingdom of Kandy.[20] It was also the last battle fought between the Portuguese and the Sri Lankans.[7]
Rajasinghe eventually made an agreement with the Dutch to drive the Portuguese from the country. As a result, the Portuguese were driven out by the Dutch in 1658.[21] King Rajasinghe II later presented Melo's sword to a Dutch Admiral, Adam Westerwolt.[10] The success of the Sinhalese army at the battle was later glorified in the poems Konstantinuhatane and Mahahatane.[11]
References
- ISBN 0-8028-2417-X. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
- ^ a b c d Neangoda, S. M. J. (29 March 2004). "Defeat of Portuguese at the Battle of Gannoruwa". Daily News. Archived from the original on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ "History of Sri Lanka". Saarc.org. 2 August 2008. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ ISBN 955-9140-31-0.
- ^ a b "A fateful, invasive wind". The Nation. 12 November 2006. Archived from the original on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ Wijewardene, Tilak (17 October 2003). "500th anniversary of Portuguese invasion". The Island. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ a b Hewavissenti, Panchamee (3 February 2008). "Episodes of colonised history". Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f Karaliyadda, S. B. (20 March 2005). "Gannoruwa battle". Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ a b c d Panawatta, Senarath (23 March 2008). "The golden landmark in the landscape of Sinhalese military adventure – the defeat of the Portuguese at Gannoruva". Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 27 March 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ ISBN 90-04-08979-9.
- ^ ISBN 81-206-0430-X.
- ^ Akbar, M. Z. (6 November 2005). "An appeal to Muslim voters". Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ISBN 0-313-33205-3.
- ^ ISBN 81-206-1372-4. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ News1st (28 March 2015). "Re-living the victory and re-visiting Gannoruwa's valiant". Retrieved 13 December 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Karunaratne, Gihan (1 May 2012). "Battle of Gannoruwa". Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ^ Karunasiri, Gamage (10 March 2003). "The French connection at the royal court in Kandy". Retrieved 30 January 2009.
- ^ Karalliyaade, S. B. (23 December 2000). "Rajasinghe-II of Senkadagala". The Island. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
- ^ Hulugalle, H. A. J. (6 August 2000). "The travels and adventures of a Portuguese cap maker's son". The Island. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
- ^ Nan (29 July 2007). "Introducing Gaston Perera's Most Recent Publication". The Sunday Island. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
- ^ "Timeline: Sri Lanka". BBC News. 6 January 2009. Archived from the original on 28 January 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2009.