The Campaign of Danture comprised a series of encounters between the Portuguese and the Kingdom of Kandy in 1594, part of the Sinhalese–Portuguese War. It is considered a turning point in the indigenous resistance to Portuguese expansion. For the first time in Sri Lanka, a Portuguese army was essentially annihilated, when they were on the verge of the total conquest of the island. A 20,000-strong Portuguese army, led by Governor Pedro Lopes de Sousa, invaded Kandy on 5 July 1594. After three months, severely depleted by guerilla warfare and mass desertions, what remained of the Portuguese army was annihilated at Danture by the Kandyans under King Vimaladharmasuriya. With this victory, the Kingdom of Kandy emerged as a major military power; it was to retain its independence, against Portuguese, Dutch, and British armies, until 1815.
Victory at Danture notwithstanding, only the mobile section of the Portuguese army in Ceylon was annihilated, while their strongholds remained intact, and so Kandy was unable to follow up with an advance into the lowlands. The Portuguese would in the future renew their offensive against Kandy under the reorganized forces of captain-general Dom Jerónimo de Azevedo, devastating Kandy in the process.
Background
By the time of King Mayadunne's death in 1581, his Sitawaka kingdom controlled almost all the Sri Lankan lowlands except for a narrow stretch of territory along the west coast, which was ruled by King Dom João Dharmapala under the protection of the Portuguese. After Mayadunne's death, his son Tikiri Bandara succeeded to the Sitawaka throne as Rajasinha I of Sitawaka, also known as Sitawaka Rajasinghe.
Sitawaka Rajasinghe turned his attention to the Kingdom of Kandy, ruled by King Karaliyadde Bandara, whose daughter was married to Dom João Dharmapala. In 1582 Rajasinghe defeated the Kandyan army at Balana, with the assistance of a Kandyan chieftain, Virasundara Mudiyanse of Peradeniya. The Kandyan king, with his queen, son, infant daughter Kusumasana Devi, and nephew Yamasinghe Bandara, fled to Trincomalee under the protection of the Portuguese.
Soon King Karaliyadde Bandara, his son, and queen died of smallpox, after entrusting his infant daughter and nephew to the Portuguese. The king had named Yamasinghe Bandara as the heir to the throne of Kandy on condition that he marry Kusumasana Devi once she came of age. Yamasinghe Bandara was baptized Dom Filipe. Kusumasana Devi, baptized Dona Catarina, was educated by Catholic priests and brought up according to Portuguese customs.
Soon after the conquest, Kandy rose in rebellion against Sitawaka rule under Virasundara Mudiyanse, Rajasinghe's viceroy in the area. Summoned to Sitawaka under a parley, he was treacherously assassinated by Rajasinghe, who then crushed the rebellion with an iron fist. Hearing of his father's death, Konappu Bandara, son of Virasundara Mudiyanse, fled to Colombo and entered the service of King Dharmapala. He was baptized as Dom João of Austria, became a Lascarin leader and married the daughter of Tammita Bandara, by whom he had a son. He distinguished himself in battles against Rajasinghe, specially during the Siege of Colombo, soon rising to the rank of Mudali.
In 1588, Kandy revolted again, this time under Dom Francisco Mudali, a Christian grandson of Gampola Devi. They expelled the agents of Sitawaka and sent a message to Dom Filipe (Yamasinghe Bandara, now the legitimate heir to the throne) requesting his return. Dom Filipe arrived in Kandy in 1592 with an army of 400 Portuguese under Captain João de Melo and a force of Lascarins under Dom João of Austria (Konappu Bandara).
A few days after his coronation, Dom Filipe died under suspicious circumstances, presumably by poisoning. The Portuguese blamed Dom João of Austria, but Dom João and the Kandyan chieftains in turn accused the Portuguese of poisoning the king. Soon Kandy revolted and the Portuguese army retreated to Mannar. Dom João of Austria became the king of Kandy as Vimaladharmasuriya I.
In 1593, Sitawaka Rajasinghe attempted to retake Kandy, but his army was defeated at Balana. While returning from the battle he died from an injury caused by a bamboo splinter. On Rajasinghe's death, his general Mannamperuma Mohottila (a Vaduga mercenary leader named Aditta Kee-Vendu Perumal, who had risen in rank by winning the king's favour) deserted to the Portuguese and changed his name to Jayavira Bandara Mudali. With his assistance, the Portuguese conquered Sitawaka in 1594. During the looting of Sitawaka, Jayavira Bandara Mudali managed to secure a vast treasure, making him rich and influential.
As the Jaffna kingdom was already subjugated (since 1591), with the fall of Sitawaka only the Kingdom of Kandy stood in the way of the Portuguese completing their conquest of Sri Lanka. Although Vimaladharmasuriya ruled with the support of the inhabitants, being a son of a chieftain made him a usurper while the last legitimate heir to the throne, the princess Dona Catarina, remained with the Portuguese.
Prelude
Planning
The campaign was masterminded by Francisco da Silva, captain of the fort at Colombo. His original plan was to enter Kandy with an expeditionary force in order to establish the princess Dona Catarina, then aged ten or twelve, on the Kandyan throne. Once Kandy was secured, she was expected to rule the kingdom as a vassal of the Portuguese king.
Pedro Lopes de Sousa, a highly respected fidalgo from Trancoso, happened to call at Colombo on his way to Goa from Malacca, in order to pick up provisions and fresh water. Francisco da Silva received him well at the fort, and casually broached his plan. Silva also expressed a desire to lead the expedition, citing his long experience of fighting in Ceylon. He further requested Souza to pursue the matter in Goa, in order to obtain additional troops and other resources for the expedition.
Sousa reached Goa in a few days and, as promised, he submitted the plan to the council of state. The council received the proposal enthusiastically, and unanimously approved its execution. They made three decisions, however, which were to have a crucial impact on the outcome. First, instead of appointing either Francisco da Silva or Pedro Homem Pereira, Captain-Major of Portuguese Ceylon, both of whom were veterans in warfare with the Sinhalese, the council entrusted the leadership of the expedition to Sousa. Reluctant to accept the task, Sousa made two demands on behalf of a nephew of his (name unknown): that he, instead of Pereira, be appointed Captain-Major of the Field, and that he be given Dona Catarina's hand in marriage. The council granted both requests, the latter under the condition that the marriage would be postponed until the Kingdom of Kandy was completely subjugated. They further granted Sousa the title of General Conquistador, the first ever created in Ceylon, with the administrative title of Governor and the field rank of Captain-General.
Preparation
Before the end of April 1594, a ship under Dom Bernardo Coutinho sailed in advance from Goa, with ammunition and provisions. But the ship, being old and unseaworthy, was sunk by a storm in Colombo harbor. The Portuguese managed to unload the munitions, but the other provisions were lost, leaving them with low supply reserves by the time of the campaign. (Charges were later laid against Matias de Albuquerque, viceroy of India 1591–1597, for negligence and lack of support for the expedition, holding him largely responsible for its eventual defeat.)
A fleet of eighteen ships and a galley followed the supply ship, carrying Sousa with six or seven hundred Portuguese soldiers. They were at Negombo when they encountered the storm which sank the supply ship. They were forced to anchor there and travel to Colombo over land. By the time Sousa reached Colombo, Captain Francisco da Silva had left for Mannar to command the garrison there. Instead, he found a resentful Pedro Homem Pereira, who denied assistance to the expedition in protest of the Sousas' having been preferred over him.
Sousa managed to muster a force of 800 Portuguese soldiers, including the troops brought from Goa and a hundred soldiers obtained from the Sitawaka garrison. Meanwhile, Jayavira Bandara Mudali arrived in Colombo, after his southern campaigns, with a force of 9,000 Lascarins and offered his assistance. Against the advice of veteran soldiers, Sousa made up his mind to proceed with his expedition at once, disregarding the low supply reserves and the upcoming monsoon season. He sent a message to Silva at Mannar, where Princess Dona Catarina was staying, announcing his intentions. Silva gathered a force of 200 Portuguese and 400 Lascarins in order to rendezvous with Sousa's army. As they were about to depart, the bamboo pole of Dona Catarina's royal palanquin gave way. The princess considered it a bad omen, saying "... Wada, forebear and remove me not thus, for it portends a great calamity ...". Francisco da Silva calmed her down, and after repairing the palanquin they left towards the Kandyan border, delayed by eight days.
In June 1594, the Portuguese and Lascarins (now 15,000 strong) marched out from Sitawaka. Their first stop was Attanagalla. After three days, they reached Menikkadawara, but the monsoon rains delayed them there for fourteen days. They then advanced towards Galbodagama (which stood at the site of the current-day Polgahawela railway station), burning and destroying the countryside of Seven Korale. The prince of Seven Korale, uncommitted thus far, became a Christian and declared his allegiance to the Portuguese. Leaving Seven Korale, the army camped in the vicinity of Balana Pass, gateway to the Kingdom of Kandy, to await the princess and the force from Mannar. Once these had arrived, Sousa advanced toward the pass.
Opposing forces and the effect of terrain
Portuguese army
The strength of the Portuguese army amounted to 20,000 men and 47 elephants (used to carry supplies). Captain-General Pedro Lopes de Sousa was in command, with his nephew as Captain-Major of the Field. His 1000 Portuguese soldiers included 600–700 from Goa, in twenty companies; 100 from Sitawaka; 200 from Mannar, in six companies; and some drawn from other garrisons. Jayavira Bandara Mudali commanded 15,400 Lascarins, comprising 15,000 from Sitawaka and Colombo and 400 from Mannar, with an unknown number of Vaduga mercenaries.
The army was supported by coolies, oxen, and transport elephants. To feed this host of 20,000 men the Portuguese had provisions sufficient only for a month, but Sousa was confident of supplying his forces from the Kandyan countryside once the territory had been secured.
Kandyan army
The Kandyan army consisted of forces raised from the five divisions of the kingdom. None of the muster rolls from this era has survived, from which to accurately determine the initial strength of the Kandyan army, but a reasonable estimate of 10,000 men has been made from studies of revenue registers.
Terrain and the Balana pass
You look up and see on each side a mountain towering above and on each side an overhanging gloomy forest ...
— John Davy, describing the Balana pass in 1821
The Kandyan Kingdom, comprising five divisions surrounding the capital, Kandy (also known as Senkadagalapura), is situated on a plateau 1,500 feet (450 m) above sea level, largely surrounded by an impregnable mountain wall. The only access to the central plateau was through gaps in the mountains. Of these passes, the most important was the Balana pass, the one closest to Colombo, which was called "the door to the Kandy Realm". It was steep and difficult to traverse, and during wartime the usual paths were obstructed with felled trees and "elephant thorn" (Acacia tomentosa). Invading armies often required scaling ladders to climb near-perpendicular rocks. The Kandyans, using this terrain to their advantage, fortified the pass with felled trees and stockades mounted with cannon. At the summit of the Balana pass a fortalice functioned as a lookout post that could give early warning of an approaching enemy (hence the name Balana, which means "lookout"). Sentinels gave warning signals by blowing a conch shell; alarms were relayed to inland hills at Diyakelinavella and Gannoruwa.
Most of the Kandyan Kingdom was mountainous and thickly forested, inhabited by snakes and leeches. The cold, wet climate compounded the difficulties of the terrain. Invaders were forced to march in single file along narrow paths, stretching an army over long distances. The Kandyans often used these narrow paths to set up ambuscades, trapping advancing columns by suddenly felling trees to the front and rear.