Abstract
This book deals with the Portuguese attempt to settle Sri Lanka in the period between 1580-1630. It analyses, at first, the origin of the colonization project which was a product of the transformation of the character of the Portuguese influence on the island in the transition of 16th and 17th centuries.
This character has been changed from commerce oriented on conquest-oriented. At second, it finds the causes of decisive failure of Portuguese and their evaluation.
It attempts to contextualize the events within the scope of Portuguese policy in Sri Lanka and within the overall context of the Portuguese expansion in the East, as well as in the world. The events outside of the island were immensely important for the development in Sri Lanka because they contribute to the formation of military and political concepts as well as to take of specific decisions.