Chap. II.] 



DISSENSIONS. 



46 



in allaying irritation, recovered the prisoners of war, and a.d. 

 retained possession of the two important stations of 

 Negombo and Galle, on the confines of the cinnamon 

 coimtiy, till the expiration of the truce with Portugal in ^.d. 

 1650, and the declaration of war by the Netherlands two 1650, 

 years afterwards. 



At that moment the Portuguese in Colombo were in a 

 state of mutiny against the Governor Mascarenhas Ho- 

 mem ; and Eaja Singha, no doubt influenced by this 

 circumstance, signified his readiness to take the field 

 along with the Dutch. Some time was spent in skirmishes 

 whilst the latter were waiting for reinforcements from 

 Batavia; but at length in October 1655, on the arrival of 

 the Director-General Gerard Hulst, an advance was made 

 from Galle which led to the surrender of Caltura \ and 

 Colombo, which was forthwith invested, capitulated on 

 the 12th May, 1656.2 



No sooner was the victory achieved, than hostihties 

 broke out between the Kandyans and their new allies ; 

 the Dutch persisting in retaining their conquests, which 

 Eaja Singha contended they were bound to dehver over 

 to him, by the terms of the Westerwold treaty.^ In 

 an attempt to wrest Colombo from them, the emperor 



A.D. 



1656. 



to recognise or address him by the 

 title of " God."— 75«/., p. 1.3G, ch. 

 xiii. p. 178. The Kandyans lite- 

 rally attach the idea of divinity to 

 royalty ; tliey style the King, Knniara 

 Devyo, which means " the Prince 

 Go(V The palace had the same de- 

 corations as a temple, including the 

 emblem of the sacred goose (see ante, 

 Vol. I. I't. IV. ch. vii. p. 148), and the 

 homage to the sovereign was called 

 pinkama, ''worship." See Knox, pt. 

 ii. ch. ii. p. 38. Nor were the Dutch 

 themselves consistent in their resist- 

 ance to this profanity ; for in 1665 

 they received in Colombo a fanatic 

 who, under the name of " the Un- 

 knoion God,'''' was engaged in foment- 

 ing revolt against llaja Singha. — 

 Valentyn, Oud en Nieuw Oost- 

 Indien, ch. xv. p. 261. 



^ BALD^5:rs, ch. xxiii. p. 047 ; Va- 

 LEXTYN, ch. xii. p. 14.% 146. 



* Copious details of the long siege 

 of Colombo are given by Baldjei'S, 

 ch. xxiv. to xxix. 



* RALD.iitrs, ch. XXV. p. 633, 650. 

 This alleged breach of the treaty i3 

 constantly refeiTed to by all the 

 recent historians of Cejdon, but 

 certainly, on looking to the letter of 

 the Westenvold convention as it is 

 given in BALBasirs, ch. xxii. p. 641, 

 there is nothing in the text which 

 binds the Dutch to give up the 

 captured fortresses to the King of 

 Kandy. That such was tlie expecta- 

 tion of Raja Singha scarcely admits 

 of a doubt, but in all probability the 

 treaty was so worded by the J hitch, 

 as to bear the construction which 

 they afterwards gave it. 



