page_title: Batticaloa
section_title: European colony
hierarchical_section_title: Batticaloa / History / European colony
caption_attribution_description: Expansion of Sitawaka Kingdom from 1521 to 1587
context_page_description: Batticaloa is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka and is a major commercial city. It is on the east coast, 111 kilometres south of Trincomalee, and is situated on an island. Pasikudah is popular tourist destinations situated 35 km northwest with beaches and flat year-round warm-water shallow-lagoons.
context_section_description: Portugal
  Lourenço de Almeida, the Portuguese Admiral for India invaded Ceylon and made it a Portuguese colony. Batticaloa was fortified in the 1620s, which was held until 1638, when the Dutch successfully invaded it.
caption: The growth and impact of the kingdom of Sitawaka, 1521–1594
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