battle, early modern

Battle of Mulleriyawa

Name: Battle of Mulleriyawa
Location: Mulleriyawa, Sri Lanka

Battle of Mulleriyawa was a battle fought in 1559 at Mulleriyawa, in what is now Sri Lanka. It was part of Sinhalese–Portuguese conflicts, which ran from 1527 to 1658. The recorded result: Sitawaka victory. Recorded strength: 4,000 Sitawaka men; Unknown number of militia; Unknown number of war elephants; Small number of cavalry against Unknown.

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Fought1559

WhereMulleriyawa, Sri Lanka6.936N, 79.948E

OutcomeSitawaka victory

BelligerentsKingdom of SitawakaagainstPortuguese Empire; Lascarins (local soldiers on the Portuguese side); Supported by: Kingdom of Kotte

Casualties and lossesaround 500 Sitawakansand1,600 Portuguese and Lascarins, several of the Kotte men and officers

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	1559 (year precision)
Place	Mulleriyawa, Sri Lanka 6.936N, 79.948E
Kind	Battle, early modern
Strength	4,000 Sitawaka men; Unknown number of militia; Unknown number of war elephants; Small number of cavalry	Unknown
Casualties and losses	around 500 Sitawakans	1,600 Portuguese and Lascarins, several of the Kotte men and officers
Commanders	Mayadunne Rajasinha I	Jorge de Meneses Baroche

The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Siege of Kotte 1557, 7.2 km SW
Siege of Colombo 1655, 13 km W
Action of 2 May 1654 1654, 16 km W
Battle of Gannoruwa 1638, 82 km NE
Siege of Galle 1640, 106 km S

In the same war

After: Siege of Colombo 1587
All 4 engagements of Sinhalese–Portuguese conflicts

Elsewhere in 1559

Siege of Bahrain Bahrain
Siege of Leith United Kingdom
Honkoku-ji incident Japan
Second Battle of Kalaa of the Beni Abbes Algeria
Battle of Fatagar Ethiopia

Battle of Mulleriyawa 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 Q4871824, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Mulleriyawa, revision 1384601354, 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.