BATTLE OF MULLERIYAWA

1. The Battle of Mulleriyawa in 1559 was a battle and a part of the Sinhalese–
Portuguese War. It was one of the most decisive battles in the history of Sri Lanka and was
considered during that time to be the worst Portuguese defeat. The marshes of Mulleriyawa
turned red with blood after the extinction of the Portuguese, according to local chronicles.
With this victory Seethawaka emerged as a military power which able to challenge the
Portuguese expansion. By winning this battle Seethawaka emerged all-powerful, able to
challenge the Portuguese who lost the opportunity to ensure their total control of the island.
2. The Portuguese wanted to conduct an all-out offensive against Seethawaka and kill
King Mayadunne since relations had so deteriorated between the Kotte King and Seethawaka.
But King Bhuvanekabahu VII did not support their reason, he only wanted Portuguese help
for defensive purposes. After Bhuvanekabahu's death in 1557, Dharmapala came to the Kotte
throne, he was more or less a puppet king under Portuguese influence. At this time
Mayadunne of Seethawaka was raiding the Kotte border and extending its (Seethawaka's)
sphere of influence.
3. Under these circumstances, in 1562 the Portuguese Captain General in Colombo,
Dom Afonso Pereira de Lacerda persuaded Dharmapala to invade Seethawaka and led an
army along banks of the Kelani River towards its capital. Mayadunne received the news of
this invasion force and sent a strong army under the command of his son Tikiri Bandara
towards Hewagama. On arrival, he summoned militia from Aturigiri Korale, Hewagam
Korale, Koratota, and Hokandara areas to further bolster his numbers. The two armies met in
marshland at Mulleriyawa on the southern bank of the Kelani River. The battle was fought
over several days during which the entire Portuguese army was either killed or captured. It
came to light that the Sinhala kings had used their local knowledge to great effect, even
though the Portuguese were equipped with superior weaponry.

1st BATTLE OF MULLERIYAWA

4. The battle was short and the Seethawakans were defeated. They withdrew towards
Hewagama leaving 200 dead, pursued by the Portuguese. Wickramasinghe Mudali was
himself wounded. Jorge de Menezes wanted to annihilate the Seethawakans and pressed the
pursuit. Retreating Seethawakan forces took refuge in a narrow pass which had been fortified
earlier. Against the better judgment of veteran soldiers, de Menezes ordered to attack the
fortified pass. But now reorganized and well entrenched, Wickramasinghe Mudali managed
to repulse repeated waves of attacks.
5. The Portuguese were exhausted by these futile attempts and their ammunition stocks
were consumed. When the captains confronted de Menezes about low stocks of gunpowder, it
led to the famous reply "... If there is no powder, they could load their muskets with sand, and
if they did not shoot, they could end the fight with the sword, because as long as they had
nails and teeth, such brave Portuguese had no need of arms." De Menezes renewed the
assault, but his men retreated against his orders to. They had been forced to rest in the village
of Mulleriyawa, tired and low on ammunition.

2ND BATTLE OF MULLERIYAWA

6. Tikiri Bandara divided his forces into three groups. The first group consisted of
militia men from Athurugiriya, Hewagama, Koratota, Hokandara, and 1000 Seethawakan
swordsmen with targes. In a flanking maneuver, he sent them to cut off the enemy's retreat
and to assault the rear. He then strengthened the remaining forces of Wickramasinghe Mudali
with elephants and elite targeted bearers and deployed them in the left and right wings. Their
exact purpose is not known, but their orders were possibly to protect flanks and stand as
reserves. Finally, the remaining target bearers, war elephants, and cavalry were deployed in
the center by Tikiri Bandara and assumed the command alone.
7. Meanwhile, the Portuguese found their rear blocked by large trees and the enemy
close by, they drew up themselves in an open area at Mulleriyawa. Rajavaliya specific about
the fact that Seethawaka forces attacked an enemy army in formations, on the other hand
according to Portuguese sources they were ambushed by a force of war elephants while
withdrawing.Tikiri Bandara, mounted on a horse, led the center on a massive assault. His
force was formed in divisions (Jayasundara division, Vijayasundara division), but the target
bearers, war elephants, and horses charged mingled together to prevent Portuguese from
reloading their muskets. To escape fire, targeted bearers advanced under the cover of the
elephants. The flanking maneuver worked and the war elephants broke through the
Portuguese ranks. The battle soon became an intense melee; unable to reload, the Portuguese
had to use their muskets as clubs. The intensity of the battle described in Portuguese sources
by accounts of men trying to stop elephants with banner staffs, and a soldier attacking
Chingalaz (Sinhalese) with teeth when he lost his weapons.
8. Throughout the battle line, Tikiri Bandara rode, urging men to continually push the
assault and close the gaps. The Portuguese managed to withdraw through a gap in the line
once and discovered that Seethawakan forces were hurrying to the next pass to cut their
retreat again. When something unexpected happened, the Portuguese almost gave up on
themselves. Antonio Dias de Lomba, a soldier, shot a berço cannon that had been abandoned
in the region.
9. The shot fell among a line of Seethawakan soldiers, killed many. It must have
shocked the Seethawaka forces because they stopped attacking. The Portuguese, taking
advantage of the lull, managed to retreat through a wood. Although the Seethawakans were
no longer pressing the attack, Portuguese sources provide names of 6 soldiers which were
killed in this wood by Seethawaka forces using musket fire alone. Some Portuguese soldiers
retreated using boats. In the smaller stockade that they seized in the early part of the war,
those who fled sought shelter.
10. According to Portuguese reports, only 50 soldiers were killed (30 in the main battle
and 20 from their wounds, after retreating to the smaller stockade). According to Rajavaliya,
1,600 Portuguese and Lascarins besides several Kotte men and soldiers were felled.

ATTACK TO COLOMBO FORT OF PORTUGUESE

11. Having conquered Kandy, King Rajasinha of Seethawaka turned his attention to the
Portuguese stronghold at Colombo. He timed the campaign to begin shortly after the start of
the monsoon season, so the Portuguese would not be able to send reinforcements by sea. On 4
June, around Colombo, the Sinhalese army appeared, consisting of 50,000 soldiers, 2200
packed elephants, 40,000 oxen, and 150 small caliber bronze cannons. 65 light galleys were
supporting the army, which were to block the fortress by sea.The Portuguese captain
defending Colombo was João de Correia de Brito, who had 300 Portuguese soldiers assisted
by 700 Lascarins, plus a civilian population of some 60,000. He had stockpiled stocks of food
and ammunition, expecting the threat of a siege.. The Portuguese flotilla of 6 galleys was
beached due to the weather, But nevertheless, with a distress call, Brito sent a small craft over
the sea to Goa.
12. Plan view of Portuguese Colombo, made in 1650. Knowing of Colombo's defences,
which included a lagoon serving as a moat by its southern side, Rajasinha began the siege by
having entrenchments dug around the walls and the lagoon drained, which took a month.
With the digging complete, Rajasinha rallied his entire army outside Colombo in a display of
force, shouting war-cries to intimidate the besieged. Unafraid, Brito ordered a sally against
the soldiers closest to the area, causing them to become very confused.
13. Rajasinha ordered the first mass attack on the night of 3 August. Thousands of
Sinhalese attempted to scale Colombo's earthen walls, while sappers (aided by hundreds of
elephants) tried to breach them.They experienced superior Portuguese firepower.Some
Sinhalese were able to climb onto the bastions São Lourenço and São Gonçalo, but were
repelled by a swift Portuguese counter attack. By the following morning, the Sinhalese had
been driven off, having suffered 400 dead and 2,000 wounded.
14. Over the following months Rajasinha attempted three more assaults on Colombo,
along with attempts to undermine the walls, while the Portuguese conducted sorties against
Sinhalese positions. With the end of the monsoon, the first Portuguese reinforcements from
Goa arrived on 11 September. Further ships carrying reinforcements arrived on 4 October, 23
October, 4 November, and 15 February. Finally, on 18 February a large fleet of eighteen
galleys commanded by Manuel de Sousa Coutinho arrived, after raiding Seethawakan shores
in northwestern Sri Lanka. The fleet sailed and sounded its cannons in battle formation, the
Portuguese defenders greeted it by ringing their church bells and firing a general salvo from
the cannon of the fortress. With the arrival of the reinforcements, there were now 2,000
Portuguese soldiers inside the fortress, in addition to the lascarins and civilian
defenders.Rajasinha realized that shortly afterwards, the chance to take Colombo was lost and
lifted the siege. The Sinhalese have lost 5,000 men over the eight-month campaign.

References

"450th anniversary of the Battle of Mulleriyawa". Retrieved 23 October 2014.

Ceylon and the Portuguese, 1505-1658, By P.E. Pieris, page 85

Fernao de Queyroz. The temporal and spiritual conquest of Ceylon. AES reprint. New Delhi:
Asian Educational Services; 1995. p. 345, ISBN 81-206-0765-1. Page 133
Hettiarachchi, Kumudini (12 September 2010). "A blow from the past". The Sunday Times.
Retrieved 27 October 2015.