In 1501 or 1505 the first Portuguese seamen appeared here, driven by the winds from the Malabar Coast where they had recently established themselves. They established a trading post, which soon disappeared under the attacks of the Muslim seamen of Calicut. In 1518 they returned in strength and built a fort, in what is still known as the Fort district of the town. One of the gates, with the arms of the king of Portugal and the date 1518, can be seen in Gordon’s Gardens. A native settlement grew up round the fort, and the recollection of this is preserved in the name of this part of the town, Pettah (from Tamil pettai, village).

Throughout the 16th century Kotte remained the capital of a Sinhalese king. The last of these kings, Dharmapala, a puppet of the Portuguese, bequeathed his kingdom to the king of Portugal (who, when Dharmapala died in 1597, was Philip II of Spain). Kotte had its Temple of the Tooth, but the sacred relic was removed to Sitawaka and later to Kandy, when Dharmapala allowed the Portuguese to destroy the Buddhist temples.

Portuguese rule lasted for almost a century and a half. During this period most of the poorer people of low caste, particularly the fishermen were converted to Catholicism.

On 12 May 1656, after a seven months siege, a Dutch fleet commanded by Admiral Van Goens captured Colombo. The new governor, Adrian Van der Meyden, established his residence near the harbour (on the site of St. Peter’s Church) and at once began to lay out a new town. To him and his successors is due the credit for the wide tree-lined streets in the north-eastern part of the town and the numerous drainage canals which made the waterlogged ground habitable.

On 16 February 1796 British forces occupied Colombo without encountering any resistance, putting an end to 140 years of Dutch occupation. The modern town and harbour were developed under British rule.

Features of Interest

The Kelaniya Rajah Maha Vihara Temple
It is considered as one of the most sacred religious place in the Sri Lanka. It stands on the right bank of the Kelani, at the north-eastern corner of Colombo 8 km from the Fort. Near the steps going down to the river from an old building, in the manner of the Ghats of India, rises the Rajah Maha Vihara, the Great Royal Monastery. There was a temple dedicated to Vibushana on this site in pre-Buddhist times, to which the Buddha came a few months after his Enlightenment.