Cite
MLA
“Battle of Randeniwela.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-randeniwela-1630/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Battle of Randeniwela. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/battle-of-randeniwela-1630/
The Portuguese army was destroyed after its Sinhala auxiliaries deserted; its commander de Sá was killed.
01Into Uva
Constantino de Sá de Noronha, who as captain-general had pulled down the Koneswaram temple at Trincomalee in 1622, built a chain of forts round Kandy and in 1630 marched inland to strike at Uva, ruled for King Senarat by his son. His army was a small Portuguese core with several thousand lascarins, Sinhala soldiers in Portuguese service. He reached Badulla and burned it. The Kandyan forces fell back before him and gathered in the hills.
02Desertion and defeat
As the army turned back, the lascarins, long resentful of Portuguese rule, deserted in a body and joined the Kandyans. At Randeniwela, in heavy rain, the Portuguese were surrounded. They fought for a day behind a ring of baggage and were overrun. De Sá was killed. The Portuguese historian Queyroz counts it among the worst disasters the Portuguese suffered in Asia. Kandy’s forces went on to besiege Colombo, though they could not take it.
Randeniwela broke Portuguese hopes of conquering Kandy; within a decade Kandy turned to the Dutch to drive them out.
