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 coast 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.

Location of forts within Sri Lanka. Completely destroyed forts are marked by . ()

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
ImageNameFoundedAbandonedLocationConditionControlled byTypeNotes
Vijithapura5th Century BC
Anuradhapura Kingdom		Central ProvinceFortress City[N 1][1]
Sigiriya5th Century
by Kashyapa I		495 CEDambulla, Central ProvinceRuinedGovernment of Sri LankaCitadel[N 2]
Mapagala fortressCentral Province[N 3]
Balana fortBalana, Central Province
Sitawaka fortAvissawella, Western Province

Colonial forts

Portuguese forts
ImageNameFoundedAbandonedLocationConditionControlled byTypeNotes
Colombo fort1518, 15541524, 1870Colombo fort, Western ProvinceDestroyed-Defence
Fort Fredrick1624-Trincomalee, Eastern ProvinceGoodGovernment of Sri LankaDefence[N 4]
Batticaloa fort1628Batticaloa, Eastern ProvinceGoodGovernment of Sri LankaDefence[N 5]
Arandora fortNarangoda, North Western ProvinceDestroyed-Defence[N 6]
Arippu fortArippu, Northern ProvinceRuinsGovernment of Sri LankaDefence[N 7]
Delft Island fortNeduntheevu, Northern ProvinceRuinsGovernment of Sri LankaDefence[N 8]
Elephant Pass fort1776Elephant Pass, Northern ProvinceDestroyed-Defence[N 9]
Galle fort1588-Galle, Southern ProvinceGoodGovernment of Sri LankaDefence[N 10]
Haldummulla fort1630Haldummulla, UvaRuinsGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Fort Hammenheil1618Jaffna Peninsula, Northern ProvinceDestroyedGovernment of Sri LankaDefence[N 11]
Jaffna fort1618Jaffna, Northern ProvinceDestroyedGovernment of Sri LankaStar fort[N 12]
Kalutara fort1655Kalutara, Western ProvinceRuinsGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Kayts Island fort1629Kayts, Northern ProvinceRuinsGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Kotugodella fort1630Ettampitiya, Uva ProvinceRuinsDefence
Mannar fort1560Mannar, Northern ProvinceDestroyedGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Matara fort1550Matara, Southern ProvinceGoodGovernment of Sri LankaDefence[N 13]
Menikkadawara fort1599Kegalle, Sabaragamuwa ProvinceDestroyedGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Negombo fort1672Negombo, Western ProvinceRuinsGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Pooneryn fort16??Pooneryn, Northern ProvinceRuinsGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Ratnapura fort1618, 1620Ratnapura, Sabaragamuwa ProvinceDestroyedGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Ruwanwella fort1590sRuwanwella, Sabaragamuwa ProvinceDestroyedGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Hanwella fort1597Hanwella, Western ProvinceDestroyedGovernment of Sri LankaDefence

Dutch forts
ImageNameFoundedAbandonedLocationConditionControlled byTypeNotes
Fort Hammenheil1618-Jaffna Peninsula, Northern ProvinceGoodGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Koddiyar fort1622Muttur, Eastern ProvinceDestroyedDefence
Katuwana Fort1646-Katuwana, Southern ProvinceGoodGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Kalpitiya fort1667–76-Kalpitiya, North Western ProvinceGoodGovernment of Sri LankaDefence[N 14]
Mullaitivu fort1715Mullaitivu, Northern ProvinceRuinsDefence[N 15]
Star fort1763–65-Matara, Southern ProvinceGoodGovernment of Sri LankaStar fort
Fort BeschutterElephant Pass, Northern ProvinceDestroyedGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Fort OstenburgTrincomalee, Eastern ProvinceRuinsGovernment of Sri LankaDefence[N 16]
Fort PylElephant Pass, Northern ProvinceRuinsGovernment of Sri LankaDefence
Point Pedro fortPoint Pedro, Northern ProvinceDestroyedDefence[N 17]
Tangalle fortTangalle, Southern ProvinceGoodGovernment of Sri LankaDefence[N 18]

British forts
ImageNameFoundedAbandonedLocationConditionControlled byTypeNotes
Martello tower1801-03Hambantota, Southern ProvinceGoodGovernment of Sri LankaDefence tower
Fort MacDowall1803Matale Central Province[N 19]

Notes
  1. It was the site of a major battle between the forces of Ellalan and Dutthagamani
  2. Royal Palace. Briefly used as an outpost of the Kingdom of Kandy in the 16th and 17th centuries.
  3. 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.
  4. Later controlled by the Dutch and then the British
  5. Captured by the Dutch in 1638
  6. Captured by the Dutch in 1665
  7. Handed over to the Dutch in 1658
  8. Later controlled by the Dutch
  9. Later controlled by the Dutch
  10. Captured and rebuilt by the Dutch from 1640
  11. Rebuilt by the Dutch in 1680
  12. Captured and rebuilt by the Dutch in 1658
  13. Rebuilt by the Dutch after 1640
  14. In 1795 the fort was surrendered to the British
  15. Rebuilt by British during their occupation of the country in 1795
  16. Later surrendered to the British 1795
  17. Later surrendered to the British 1795
  18. The fort is still being used as a prison by the Department of Prisons.
  19. Outpost during the Kandyan Wars
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References
  1. 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.
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