Qualla: Dutch Ceylon https://qualla.com/dutch-ceylon en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:36 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/2/2/u/dutch-ceylon-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Dutch Ceylon https://qualla.com/dutch-ceylon Dutch Ceylon: Introduction https://qualla.com/dutch-ceylon/ Photo credit Phillipus Baldaeus, Public domain. 'Kandy is now Flanders,' declared the Sinhalese king, so taken with his new Dutch visitor that he had begun learning the language. The year was 1602. Admiral Joris van Spilbergen had sailed twelve months from the port of Veere to reach Ceylon, and King Vimaladharmasuriya I received him warmly, eager for an ally against the Portuguese who controlled the island's coast. As a parting gesture, van Spilbergen left behind two musicians -- Erasmus Matsberger and Hans Rempel -- to serve at the Kandyan court. It was a charming beginning to a relationship that would curdle into 156 years of colonial exploitation, broken treaties, and caste-based slavery.

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Image: Phillipus Baldaeus | Public domain

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/2/2/u/dutch-ceylon-wp/w22u-dutch-ceylon-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Dutch Ceylon: The Enemy of My Enemy https://qualla.com/dutch-ceylon/ Photo credit Zapata1000, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Portuguese had been in Ceylon since 1505, ruling the maritime provinces with what the sources consistently describe as oppressive authority. The Sinhalese kingdoms fought them constantly but could not dislodge them alone. Meanwhile in Europe, Portugal had fallen under the Spa...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/2/2/u/dutch-ceylon-wp/w22u-dutch-ceylon-the-enemy-of-my-enemy.mp3 0:06 2 full Dutch Ceylon: Blood on the Beach at Batticaloa https://qualla.com/dutch-ceylon/ Photo credit Zapata1000, CC BY-SA 4.0. The early Dutch-Sinhalese relationship had an even darker precedent. Shortly after van Spilbergen's friendly visit, a second Dutch fleet arrived under Sebald de Weert -- a commander who had previously discovered the Falkland Islands while seeking a route through Cape Horn. Sebald...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/2/2/u/dutch-ceylon-wp/w22u-dutch-ceylon-blood-on-the-beach-at-batticaloa.mp3 0:06 3 full Dutch Ceylon: From Galle to Colombo https://qualla.com/dutch-ceylon/ Photo credit Zapata1000, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Dutch advance was methodical. In February 1640, Philip Lucasz captured the Portuguese fort at Negombo, north of Colombo. When Lucasz died suddenly, command passed to Willem Jacobsz Coster, who had fought under Westerwolt on the east coast. Coster besieged the formidable fort ...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/2/2/u/dutch-ceylon-wp/w22u-dutch-ceylon-from-galle-to-colombo.mp3 0:06 4 full Dutch Ceylon: The Governor Who Switched Uniforms https://qualla.com/dutch-ceylon/ Photo credit Zapata1000, CC BY-SA 4.0. Dutch Ceylon ended not with a battle but with a bribe. When the French Revolutionary Wars erupted in 1792, the Dutch Republic was conquered and its stadtholder, Prince William V, fled to Britain. His colonial governors faced an impossible choice: obey the exiled prince or the Fre...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/2/2/u/dutch-ceylon-wp/w22u-dutch-ceylon-the-governor-who-switched-uniforms.mp3 0:06 5 full Dutch Ceylon: What the Dutch Left Behind https://qualla.com/dutch-ceylon/ Photo credit Zapata1000, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Dutch controlled Ceylon's coast for 156 years without ever conquering its interior. The Kingdom of Kandy watched from the highlands, alternately allying with and resisting each European power that claimed the shoreline. When the British finally absorbed the entire island, the...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/2/2/u/dutch-ceylon-wp/w22u-dutch-ceylon-what-the-dutch-left-behind.mp3 0:06 6 full