siege, early modern

Siege of Colombo

Name: Siege of Colombo
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka

Siege of Colombo was a siege conducted in 1587 at Colombo, in what is now Sri Lanka; it ran into the following year. Its exact site is not recorded; the atlas places it at Colombo. It was part of Sinhalese–Portuguese conflicts, which ran from 1527 to 1658. The recorded result: Portuguese victory.

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Fought1587ran into the following year

WhereColombo, Sri Lanka6.927N, 79.861E, placed at the location, approximate

OutcomePortuguese victory

BelligerentsKingdom of PortugalagainstKingdom of Sitawaka

Casualties and losses24 soldiers; 80 lascarins; 500 civiliansand5,000 men

Part ofSinhalese–Portuguese conflicts1527 to 1658

Where it sits in Sinhalese–Portuguese conflicts

4 placed engagements of Sinhalese–Portuguese conflicts in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date	1587 (year precision) to 1588
Place	Colombo, Sri Lanka 6.927N, 79.861E
Kind	Siege, early modern
Strength	Start of the siege: 300 Portuguese soldiers; 700 Lascarins; 1 galley, 5 fustas; End of the siege: 2,000 soldiers	50,000 soldiers; 2,200 elephants; 60,000 servants
Casualties and losses	24 soldiers; 80 lascarins; 500 civilians	5,000 men
Commanders	João de Correia de Brito Tomé de Sousa Arronches	Rajasinha I

Placed at Colombo; the exact site is not recorded. with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Siege of Colombo 1655, 3.2 km W
Siege of Kotte 1557, 3.5 km SE
Action of 2 May 1654 1654, 6.7 km NW
Battle of Mulleriyawa 1559, 9.7 km E
Battle of Gannoruwa 1638, 91 km NE

In the same war

Before: Battle of Mulleriyawa 1559
After: Battle of Vannarapannai 1619
All 4 engagements of Sinhalese–Portuguese conflicts

Elsewhere in 1587

Siege of Colombo is one of 1,390 engagements of the 16th century in the atlas and one of 19 in present-day Sri Lanka.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q125998118, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Siege of Colombo (1587–1588), revision 1383805686, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.