Arandora fort
Arandora fort | |
---|---|
Kurunegala, Sri Lanka | |
Coordinates | 7°28′11″N 80°28′01″E / 7.4697°N 80.4669°E |
Type | Defence fort |
Site information | |
Condition | Destroyed |
Site history | |
Built by | Portuguese & Dutch |
Battles/wars | Several |
Arandora Fort (Sinhala: අරන්දොර බලකොටුව, romanized: Arandora Balakotuwa) was built by the Portuguese in Narangoda, Kurunegala, and was captured by Dutch in 1665.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/AMH-4548-NA_Maps_of_the_entrenchments_at_Arandere%2C_Tontotte%2C_Ruanelle_and_Sitavaque.jpg/300px-AMH-4548-NA_Maps_of_the_entrenchments_at_Arandere%2C_Tontotte%2C_Ruanelle_and_Sitavaque.jpg)
The fort served as a base camp for the Portuguese and it served as a fortification for the Dutch, especially against the forces of the Kandyan king Rajasinghe II. In October 1670 the Kandyan forces attacked and captured the fort taking the Dutch garrison, who were stationed there at the time of the battle, prisoners. In order to facilitate the release of the prisoners the Dutch closed the ports at Batticaloa, Kottiar and Kalpitiya.[2]
There are no visible remains of the fort.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Arandora Fort". Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ "Arandora – Accuras – Hakmana". VOC Sri Lanka. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ "Colonial Forts – relics of old time warfare". Ceylon Today. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- Nelson, William A.; de Silva, Rajpal Kumar (1984). The Dutch Forts of Sri Lanka – The Military Monuments of Ceylon. Canongate.