Captain General Pigera
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After the establishment of the Administrative Council in Colombo, the Portuguese appointed Pigera de Serpe, as the new Captain General. His father was a Portuguese national and the mother was a Sinhalese lady. However, he went as a Portuguese, going by his father’s name. He was a brave soldier of the Portuguese army.
He was a popular figure among the Portuguese soldiers. As soon as he accepted the appointment, he decided to gather all the army contingents to Colombo. In the meantime, King Rajasinghe, who had heard about the disunity among the Portuguese, tried to attract the Portguese who created trouble, on his side.
If they were to come to his side and support him, he promised them a lot of privileges. He said he would make these soldiers join his army or to give them land to settle down wherever they pleased. He also promised to give them the power to travel wherever they wished. But, he should have known that these soldiers were creating trouble not against their nation, but were acting only against the General.
As a result, these soldiers did not accept the king’s invitation. After this the king started obstructing them. But, Pigera succeeded in bringing the entire army to Colombo. They camped in Nakalagama. After a while, they crossed the river and captured Lunupokuna.
Whilst these things were happening, the people in Colombo and the religious leaders, showed their displeasure about bringing the army to Colombo. Yet, they argued that it was unfair to go against General Pigera.
The General on the other hand, who did not give ear to any of these things, worked to get the entire army to Colombo.
By Halaliye Karunathilake,
Edited and translated by Kamala Silva
Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila