168 



JOURNAL. R.A.S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. XX. 



COUTO. 



DECADE VII. 

 1554-1565 a.d. 



Portuguese Governors of India. — D. Pedro Mascarenhas, 

 viceroy, September 1554 to June 1555 ; Francisco Barreto, 

 governor, June 1555 to September 1558 ; D. Constantino de 

 Braganoa, viceroy, September 1558 to September 1561 ; 

 D. Francisco Coutinho, count of Redondo, viceroy, Septem- 

 ber 1551 to February 1564 ; Joao de Mendonca, governor, 

 February to September 1564. 



Sinhalese Rulers in Ceylon. — Dharmapala alias Dom Joao 

 Pereapandar, 1551-97 (Kotte); Mayadunne, 1534-81 (?), 

 (Sitavaka) ; ? alms Dom Joao, 155? -6? (Kandy). 



Tamil King in Jaffna. — Sangili. 



Portuguese Captains-Major of Ceylon. — Affonso Pereira de 

 Lacerda, 1555-9 ; D. Jorge de Menezes Baroche, 1559-60 ; 

 Balthazar Guedes de Sousa, 1560-4 ; Pedro de Ataide Inferno, 

 1564-5. 



In this Decade we are told of the ravages committed by 

 Vidiye Raja after his escape from prison ; of an alliance 

 between the Portuguese and Mayadunne for his destruction ; 

 of a combined attack upon him in the city of Pelenda ; and 

 of his flight to Jaffna and death there at the hands of the 

 Tamils (1555-6 ?). We also read of further engagements 

 between the Portuguese and Mayadunne 's troops under the 

 command of Raja Sinha, in which on one occasion the 

 former suffered a serious defeat ; and of the siege of Kotte and 

 its relief (1556-63). Several chapters are devoted to a detailed 

 account of a campaign (in 1560) against the king of Jaffna, 

 commanded by the viceroy in person, which after a successful 

 beginning ended in disaster, the Portuguese being obliged to 

 make a hasty and shameful retirement from the peninsula. 

 A curious and perplexing episode in connection with this 

 expedition is the alleged capture by the Portuguese, in a 



