Forts in Sri Lanka

Forts and fortifications in Sri Lanka date back thousands of years with many being built by Sri Lankan Kings, these include several walled cities. With the out set of colonial rule in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka was occupied by several major colonial empires that from time-to-time became the dominant power in the Indian Ocean. The colonists built several western styled forts, mostly in and round the cost of the island. The first to build colonial forts in Sri Lanka were the Portuguese, these forts were captured and later expanded by the Dutch. The British occupied these Dutch forts during the Napoleonic wars.

Most of colonial forts were garrisoned up until the early 20th century. The coastal forts had coastal artillery manned by the Ceylon Garrison Artillery during the two world wars. Most of these were abandoned by the military, but retained civil administrative officers, while others retained military garrisons, which were more administrative than operational. Some were reoccupied by military units with the escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War, Jaffna fort for example came under siege several times.

Ancient forts

Name	Founded	Abandoned	Location	Condition	Controlled by	Type	Notes
Vijithapura	5th Century BC Anuradhapura Kingdom		Central Province			Fortress City	^{[N 1]}^[1]
Sigiriya	5th Century by Kashyapa I	495 CE	Dambulla, Central Province	Ruined	Government of Sri Lanka	Citadel	^{[N 2]}
Mapagala fortress			Central Province				^{[N 3]}
Balana fort			Balana, Central Province
Sitawaka fort			Avissawella, Western Province

Colonial forts

Portuguese forts

Name	Founded	Abandoned	Location	Condition	Controlled by	Type	Notes
Colombo fort	1518, 1554	1524, 1870	Colombo fort, Western Province	Destroyed	-	Defence
Fort Fredrick	1624	-	Trincomalee, Eastern Province	Good	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence	^{[N 4]}
Batticaloa fort	1628		Batticaloa, Eastern Province	Good	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence	^{[N 5]}
Arandora fort			Narangoda, North Western Province	Destroyed	-	Defence	^{[N 6]}
Arippu fort			Arippu, Northern Province	Ruins	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence	^{[N 7]}
Delft Island fort			Neduntheevu, Northern Province	Ruins	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence	^{[N 8]}
Elephant Pass fort	1776		Elephant Pass, Northern Province	Destroyed	-	Defence	^{[N 9]}
Galle fort	1588	-	Galle, Southern Province	Good	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence
Haldummulla fort			Haldummulla, Uva	Ruins	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence
Fort Hammenheil	1618		Jaffna Peninsula, Northern Province	Destroyed	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence	^{[N 10]}
Jaffna fort	1618		Jaffna, Northern Province	Destroyed	Government of Sri Lanka	Star fort
Kalutara fort	1655		Kalutara, Western Province	Ruins	Government of Sri Lanka	Deference
Kayts Island fort	1629		Kayts, Northern Province	Ruins	Government of Sri Lanka	Deference
Mannar fort	1560		Mannar, Northern Province	Destroyed	Government of Sri Lanka	Deference
Matara fort	1550		Matara, Southern Province	Destroyed	Government of Sri Lanka	Deference
Menikkadawara fort	1599		Kegalle, Sabaragamuwa Province	Destroyed	Government of Sri Lanka	Deference
Negombo fort	1672		Negombo, Western Province	Destroyed	Government of Sri Lanka	Deference
Pooneryn fort	16??		Pooneryn, Northern Province	Ruins	Government of Sri Lanka	Deference
Ratnapura fort	1618, 1620		Ratnapura, Sabaragamuwa Province	Destroyed	Government of Sri Lanka	Deference
Ruwanwella fort	1590s		Ruwanwella, Sabaragamuwa Province	Destroyed	Government of Sri Lanka	Deference
Hanwella fort	1957		Hanwella, Western Province	Destroyed	Government of Sri Lanka	Deference

Dutch forts

Name	Founded	Abandoned	Location	Condition	Controlled by	Type	Notes
Fort Hammenheil	1618	-	Jaffna Peninsula, Northern Province	Good	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence
Koddiyar fort	1622		Muttur, Eastern Province	Destroyed		Defence
Katuwana Fort	1646	-	Katuwana, Southern Province	Good	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence
Kalpitiya fort	1667–76	-	Kalpitiya, North Western Province	Good	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence	^{[N 11]}
Mullaitivu fort	1715		Mullaitivu, Northern Province	Ruins		Defence	^{[N 12]}
Star fort	1763–65	-	Matara, Southern Province	Good	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence
Fort Ostenburg			Trincomalee, Eastern Province	Ruins	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence	^{[N 13]}
Point Pedro fort			Point Pedro, Northern Province	Destroyed		Defence	^{[N 14]}
Tangalle fort			Tangalle, Southern Province	Good	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence	^{[N 15]}

British forts

Image	Name	Founded	Abandoned	Location	Condition	Controlled by	Type	Notes
	Martello tower	1801-03		Hambantota, Southern Province	Good	Government of Sri Lanka	Defence tower
	Fort MacDowall	1803		Matale Central Province				^{[N 16]}

Notes

↑ It was the site of a major battle between the forces of Elara and Dutthagamani
↑ Royal Palace. Briefly used as an outpost of the Kingdom of Kandy in the 16th and 17th centuries.
↑ Located to the south of Sigiriya is the Mapagala Fortress (‘Rock of the Viceroy’), a fortress with massive stone walls, which was built prior to Sigiriya.
↑ Later controlled by the Dutch and then the British
↑ Captured by the Dutch in 1638
↑ Captured by the Dutch in 1665
↑ Handed over to the Dutch in 1658
↑ Later controlled by the Dutch
↑ Later controlled by the Dutch
↑ Rebuilt by the Dutch in 1680
↑ In 1795 the fort was surrendered to the British
↑ Rebuilt by British during their occupation of the country in 1795
↑ Later surrendered to the British 1795
↑ Later surrendered to the British 1795
↑ The fort is still being used as a prison by the Department of Prisons.
↑ Outpost during the Kandyan Wars

References

↑ Senaveratna, John M. (1997). The story of the Sinhalese from the most ancient times up to the end of "the Mahavansa" or Great dynasty: Vijaya to Maha Sena, B.C. 543 to A.D.302. Asian Educational Services. pp. 125–128. ISBN 978-81-206-1271-6.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Forts in Sri Lanka.

Forts of Sri Lanka

Ancient Forts

Colonial Forts

Portuguese Forts	Arandora fort Arippu fort Batticaloa fort Colombo fort Delft Island fort Fort Fredrick Fort Hammenheil Galle fort Haldummulla fort^† Hanwella fort Jaffna fort Kalutara fort Kayts Island fort^† Malwana fort^† Mannar fort Matara fort Menikkadawara fort^† Negombo fort Pooneryn fort Ratnapura Portuguese fort^† Ruwanwella fort
Dutch Forts	Elephant Pass fort Fort Beschutter Fort Ostenburg Fort Pyl Kalpitiya fort Kankesanthurai fort Katuwana fort Koddiyar fort Mullaitivu fort Point Pedro fort Ratnapura Dutch fort Star fort Tangalle fort
British Forts	Fort MacDowall Martello tower

Less or no contribution/renovation works of Dutch are marked by † symbol under "Portuguese Forts", and others are considered as Dutch forts too.

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