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Ceylon Coconut Plantations

Type Object Region Sri Lanka Time 1600

Sri Lanka (anciently Ceylon) has long cultivated coconut (Cocos nucifera); Portuguese colonizers expanded coastal plantations after the 16th century,…

Timeline

  1. 1600–1656Southwest coast · Sri LankaThe Portuguese controlled coconut plantations on Sri Lanka's southwest coast, supplying Indian Ocean shipping and Goa trade with copra, toddy, and coconut oil, while local Sinhalese farmers were forced to enlarge their groves.
  2. 1658–1670Colombo · Western ProvinceAfter fully controlling Sri Lanka's west coast in 1658, the Dutch brought coconut products into the company's monopoly trade system, setting up warehouses to buy copra and coir (raw material for coir rope) for Batavia and the Netherlands.
  3. 1661–1670Jaffna Peninsula · Northern ProvinceSri Lankan coir became a key material for ship's cables and rigging; the Dutch East India Company purchased it in bulk, spurring expanded planting in the north and west and fiber-processing workshops.
  4. 1665–1680Port of Galle · Southern ProvinceCoconut oil and copra were exported through Galle and Colombo to India's west coast and Southeast Asia; coconut cultivation ranked with cinnamon and gems as one of the three pillars of Ceylon's economy under Dutch rule.

Sources