Continued Dutch conquest of Ceylon in the 1670s

Name: Continued Dutch conquest of Ceylon in the 1670s
Start: 1671
End: 1680

Type Event Region South Asia Time 1671–1680

In the 1670s the VOC pressed the inland Kingdom of Kandy, launching expeditions and consolidating its cinnamon monopoly, while Kandy under Rajasinha …

Timeline

1671–1675Colombo · Sri LankaThe VOC established a governor's office in Colombo, brought the cinnamon groves of the southwest coast under company control, reorganized local harvesting systems, and banned private trade, making Ceylon the core of the Dutch global cinnamon supply.
1675Kandy · Sri LankaThe Dutch launched an expedition from the lowlands against the Kingdom of Kandy, attempting to force Rajasinha II to accept vassal status and open the cinnamon-producing regions, but met stubborn resistance from Kandy's troops and people in the mountains, and the expedition failed to achieve its objectives.
1677–1680Inland Ceylon border · Sri LankaAfter military setbacks, the Dutch and Kandy turned to diplomatic negotiations, maintaining a fragile truce by the late 1670s; the Dutch controlled the coast and cinnamon regions, Kandy retained its inland independence, and island-wide unification remained unrealized.

Sources

Ceylon Under the British — Lorna Srimathie Dewaraja (1972)
The Dutch in Ceylon: An Account of Their Early Visits to the Island, Their Conquests and Their Rule Over the Maritime Regions During a Century and a Half — R. G. Anthonisz (1929)
The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Volume 1 — Nicholas Tarling (ed.) (1999)