5/5 Dimesh A. 2 years ago on Google
Fort
Fredrick
(Tamil:
திருகோணமலை
கோட்டை,
romanized:
Tirukōṇamalai
Kōṭṭai;
Sinhala:
ත්රිකුණාමලය
බලකොටුව,
romanized:
Thrinkunamalaya
Balakotuwa),
also
known
as
Trincomalee
Fort
or
Fort
of
Triquillimale,
is
a
fort
built
by
the
Portuguese
at
Trincomalee,
Eastern
Province,
Sri
Lanka,
completed
in
1624
CE,
built
on
Swami
Rock-Konamamalai
from
the
debris
of
the
world-famous
ancient
Hindu
Koneswaram
temple
(Temple
of
a
Thousand
Pillars).[1]
The
temple
was
destroyed
by
the
Portuguese
colonial
Constantino
de
Sá
de
Noronha
under
Phillip
III,
occupier
of
the
Jaffna
kingdom
and
Malabar
country
on
the
island.
On
the
Konamalai
cape
was
also
built
a
new
village
of
Portuguese
and
Tamil
people,
50
Portuguese
soldiers
and
inside
the
fort,
a
church
named
after
"Nossa
Senhora
de
Guadalupe".
The
Fort
of
Triquillimale
was
dismantled
and
rebuilt
by
the
Dutch
in
1665,
renamed
Fort
Fredrick.
Several
Hindu
shrines
in
the
Tamil
country
were
destroyed
during
the
occupation,
particularly
under
Philip
II,
when
Trincomalee
became
the
scene
of
naval
battles
during
Europe's
Thirty
Years'
War.
King
Ethirimana
Cinkam
of
the
Jaffna
kingdom
had
resisted
a
call
by
D.
Jerónimo
de
Azevedo
in
1612
to
aid
the
latter
in
building
a
fortress
in
Trincomalee.
The
enterprise
was
abandoned.[2]
With
the
defeat
of
King
Cankili
II,
all
of
the
territory
of
the
kingdom
of
Jaffna,
comprising
Trincomalee
and
Batticaloa,
was
assigned
to
the
"spiritual
cures
of
the
Franciscans."
This
decision
was
taken
by
the
bishop
of
Cochin,
fray
Dom
Sebastião
de
S.
Pedro.[3]
By
the
end
of
1619,
a
small
Danish
fleet
had
arrived
at
Trincomalee;
in
May
1620,
the
Danes
occupied
Koneswaram
temple
and
began
works
for
the
fortification
of
the
peninsula
before
being
defeated.[4]
This
fort
was
captured
by
a
Dutch
fleet
under
Antonie
Caan
in
1639
and
in
1665
a
new
fort
was
built
here
by
the
Dutch
to
defend
against
the
advancements
of
the
British
and
the
French.
In
1672,
the
year
when
the
Dutch
Republic
was
attacked
by
France,
Britain,
and
two
German
states,
the
French
tried
to
establish
a
base
for
the
French
East-India
Company
in
nearby
Kottiyar
Bay,
but
they
were
soon
forced
to
leave.[17]
Trincomalee
was
important
for
its
large
all-season
secure
harbor.
In
late
18th
century
Trincomalee
traded
hands
once
more
with
the
British
capturing
it
during
the
Fourth
Anglo-Dutch
War,
the
French
taking
it
from
the
British
and
handing
it
back
to
the
Dutch
East
India
Company
(VOC)
at
the
Peace
of
Paris
in
1784.
In
1795,
when
the
French
had
occupied
the
Dutch
Republic
during
the
War
of
the
First
Coalition,
it
was
again
taken
over
by
the
British,
who
renamed
it
Fort
Fredrick.
It
remained
a
British
garrison
till
1948.
Duri
Coastal
artillery
guns
were
added
during
the
two
World
Wars.
Today
it
remains
garrisoned
by
a
detachment
of
the
Gajaba
Regiment,
Sri
Lanka
Army,
but
accessible
to
visitors.
Arthur
Wellesley,
later
1st
Duke
of
Wellington
visited
whilst
a
Colonel
in
the
British
East
India
Company,
the
bungalow
he
resided
in
is
known
as
Wellesley
Lodge
which
is
inside
Fort
Fredrick
and
now
is
the
officer's
mess
of
the
2nd
(Volunteer)
battalion
of
the
Gajaba
Regiment
of
the
Sri
Lankan
Army.[18]
2 people found this review helpful 👍
