However clever Veediya Bandara was as a warrior, he could be deceived by the whites. Gradually he had become friendly with the Portuguese. This resulted in a situation where he was prepared to enter into a peace agreement with the Portuguese. The Portuguese on their part accepted Veediya Bandara as the sole ruler of Kotte. It was confirmed by the Portuguese Viceroy as well. So once again
inter-action between the Palace of Kotte and the Fort of Colombo resumed.
With this, the
harassment meted out to the Christians stopped for some time. Commander Veediya Bandara, went to the extent of agreeing to pay compensation. An
agreement regarding the payment of compensation
was signed by Migel Kutinno and Veediya Bandara.
The things taken from Kotte were returned to King Dharmapala by the Portuguese. Those happened to be the things that the viceroy had not sold so far. He paid money to cover the value of the things that he had sold.
But that was a
very low estimate of only 20,000 ‘pardhas’. After attending to these matters, the viceroy returned. A few days passed. There came a change in Veediya Bandara. He entertained a queer enmity towards the Christians. So once again the Christians were harassed. The Christian priests were greatly angered over the turn of events and they reported matters to the King of Portugal.
The king acted
immediately by appointing an officer to inquire into the matter. He was the person who was tipped to be the next viceroy. Meanwhile the Portuguese had decided on building a fortress in Colombo. The captain-in-charge of this project was Arthe de Eka. A huge army was sent with this officer to
Sri Lanka. As soon as they arrived here, they
commenced work.
This fortress was to be erected where the former fortress was. It was at the starting point of the breakwater. They built the fortress in double quick time. They also put up a wall, stretching from the bay area, York Street and ending at the street named Canal Row. This worried Veediya Bandara. He was greatly angered. But he had to be quiet as the strength of the Portuguese army was great.
To avenge his anger, he began to
ill-treat the Christians more and more. He also went to the extent of insulting the Captain in Colombo. Amidst all this, a rumour spread in the country to the effect that Commander Veediya Bandara was trying to rob King Dharmapala of his
kingship. When the Viceroy in Goa got this news, he became furious.
He sent an order to arrest and imprison Veediya Bandara. To King Dharmapala, he sent a message
asking him to continue kingship and carry on the task of ruling the country. But it was not easy to put these orders into effect. Commander Veediya Bandara was very strong and wielded a lot of power in the country. But a Portuguese youth undertook the task of carrying out this order.
He was Diego de Mallo. He selected 10 soldiers who were well armed. They took a pledge to the effect – “We shall either
capture Veediya Bandara or get killed by him.” With this
promise they left Colombo. They marched and entered the Palace of Kotte. Mallo was crafty enough to show a fake friendship to Commander Veediya Bandara.
Veediya Bandara was badly deceived. |
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