Portuguese conquest of Jaffna (Vannarpannai)

01The last king of Jaffna

The Aryachakravarti kings had ruled Jaffna from Nallur since the 13th century, patrons of the Nallur Kandaswamy temple and of Tamil learning. From the 1560s the Portuguese pressed them, and by 1591 Jaffna was a tributary. Cankili II seized power as regent around 1616 and sought help from the Nayak of Thanjavur against the Portuguese. That was the excuse Goa needed. In 1619 Filipe de Oliveira landed with an army.

02Vannarpannai and after

Cankili’s forces, with men sent from Thanjavur, were beaten at Vannarpannai, close to the capital, in June 1619. Cankili fled, was caught, and was taken to Goa, where he was executed in 1621. Jaffna became a Portuguese province. In the years that followed the Portuguese pulled down the temples of the peninsula, the Nallur Kandaswamy among them, and used their stones for churches and the fort. The temple at Nallur was rebuilt in the 18th century and is today the great shrine of Jaffna.

Dynasty · c. 1532–1673 CENayakas of ThanjavurFour Nayaka kings ruled the Kaveri delta from Thanjavur for about 140 years, beginning as Vijayanagara governors. With their great minister Govinda Dikshita they made the delta a centre of music and learning, and built the core of the Thanjavur palace.Read →