Batticaloa Fort | AmazingLanka.com

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The Fort in Batticaloa lies on one of the many small islands of Batticaloa on the east coast of Sri Lanka. The building of this fort by the Portuguese was completed in 1628 after a Dutch fleet landed in Batticaloa in 1603 with a fleet of six ships to take part in a joint effort to oust the Portuguese from the island after an initial agreement with the King of Kandy. This infuriated the Portuguese who had a firm holding in the Island and built this fort when Constantino de Sa de Noronha was made captain-general by Damiao Botado when Bishop Governor Dam Frei Ruiz de Brito was governing the state of India.

On May 18, 1638, the Dutch, in alliance with a strong Sinhalese force, captured this fort after King Rajasinghe of the Kandyan Kingdom requested their assistance in expelling the Portuguese from the country.

The fort that stands today was constructed by the Dutch after demolishing the original Portuguese fort on the same site. Reconstruction of the fort was completed by the Dutch in 1682 (Canagaratnam, 1921). It features two walls leading to the ramparts, each 16.5 meters long, and two others measuring 13 meters each. The breastwork on one side of the fort measures 19.2 meters, tapering to 11 meters, with empty spaces on the bastions measuring 11 meters. The stone-and-lime walls are 2.7 meters high, including their parapets, and 1.1 meters wide. These walls form two bulwarks, which are filled in the middle with mud.

The main watergate is located in the center of the eastern rampart, facing a small quay along the lagoon. The lagoon borders the fort on the north and east, while a water-filled ditch surrounds the other two sides. It is said that this ditch was infested with crocodiles during the Dutch period. The southwest bastion, larger than the other three, houses the fort’s bell tower.

Early maps of the fort depict a church inside its walls, which disappears from later maps. This church was positioned at right angles to the area now occupied by the main Kachcheri building. An inscription on a stone slab found near the Kachcheri, where the old Dutch church once stood, records that the church was founded on February 18, 1740, and the first stone was laid by Mrs. M.^A.M. de Moor, the wife of the Chief of Batticaloa, Mr. Raymond Buyk (Canagaratnam, 1921).

This Fort has a 41 gun embrasures, more than other forts of similar size, such as Kalpitiya (30) and Mannar (24). However, this does not necessarily indicate that the fort received the full allocation of cannons from the Dutch East India Company (Nelson, 1884).

The fort of Batticaloa changed hands again in 1796 when it was surrendered to the British.

The fort has important ancient religious significance because of a Buddhist stupa with a Chatra dating back to the 1st century BC from the Ruhuna kingdom of King Kavantissa.

A map of the Batticaloa Fort area from the 1636 publication Description of CEYLON - in the Book of the Plans of all the Fortresses Cities and towns of the State of Oriental India by ANTONIO BOCARRO translated to English by Tikiri Bandara Herath Abeyasinghe — A map of the Batticaloa Fort area from the 1636 publication Description of CEYLON – in the Book of the Plans of all the Fortresses Cities and towns of the State of Oriental India by ANTONIO BOCARRO translated to English by Tikiri Bandara Herath Abeyasinghe

Antique print of the Batticaloa Fort, Sri Lanka by Baldaeus, printed in 1672 for the Dutch first edition of Baldaeus’ work ‘A true and exact description of the most celebrated East-India coasts of Malabar and Coromandel and also of the Isle of Ceylon’ published in Amsterdam, 1672 by Janssonius van Waasberge en van Someren

Dutch Fort of Batticaloa drawn in the 17th century - From the national archives of Netherlands — Dutch Fort of Batticaloa drawn in the 17th century – From the national archives of Netherlands

References

Abeyasinghe, T. B. H. (1995). Description of Ceylon in the Book of the Plans of all the Fortresses Cities and towns of the State of Oriental India by ANTONIO BOCARRO Dedicated to the Most Serene Royal Majesty Philip IV of the Spains and III of Portugal our Lord the King February 17, 1635. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, New Series 39, 1–83.
Baldaeus, P. (1703). A True and Exact Description of the Most Celebrated East-India Coasts of Malabar and Coromandel and Also of the Isle of Ceylon: Vol. III–III (1st ed.). A. and J. Churchill. (Original work published 1672)
Canagaratnam, S. O. (1921). Monograph of the Batticaloa District of the Eastern Province, Ceylon. H. R. Cottle, Government Printer of Ceylon.
Nelson, W. A. (1984). The Dutch forts of Sri Lanka: The military monuments of Ceylon. Canongate Publishing Limited.

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Driving Directions to Batticaloa Fort

Route from Colombo to Batticaloa Fort	Route from Colombo to Batticaloa Fort
Through : Kurunegala – Polonnaruwa distance :325 km Travel time : 5.30 hours Driving directions : see on google map	Through : Rathnapura – Beragala – Monaragala distance : 400 km Travel time : 6 hours Driving Directions : see on google maps