On the road from Wellawaya to Ella about nine Kilometers from Wellawaya junction, lying on the right side of the road is a monument, commemorating the place of defeat of the Portuguese army under the command of Constantin De Saa. This battle was fought on 25 August 1630
“The Viceroy expressed strong disapproval of the
policy of temporising which de Sa
had been compelled to adopt, and the latter, the
second Portuguese officer in the East, was sharply
reminded that he had been sent to Ceylon to
supervise the war and not to superintend the trade.
De Sa took the matter deeply to heart, and in spite
of the remonstrances of his most experienced
officers, determined to invade forthwith the Sinhalese
Kingdom.
Seven hundred Portuguese and 13,000 Lascarins
were soon in the field. Toiling up the steep mountain
ranges they moved slowly but unopposed till they
reached Badulla, where two days were spent in sacking
and burning the-; town. On the third morning the
Sinhalese banners were seen flashing among the
neighbouring hills. Skirmishing began at once, but
the Sinhalese would not come to close quarters, and
the Portuguese, seeing that they were gradually
being encircled, prepared for the conflict which could
no longer be avoided. Having set fire to their
surplus stores and made confession, they began
early in the morning to retire. The Lascarins of
the disaffected Mudaliyars led the van, the remainder
of the native troops forming a ring around the
Portuguese. The army had not advanced far on the
road before it found itself confronted by the
Atapattu Guard, the pick of the King's forces. The
Portuguese were already straggling, and Dom Cosme,
a member of the conspiracy, seized the opportunity
to run his sword through one of them, whereupon
placing the head on a pike covered with white
cloth, he immediately deserted accompained by his
banner to the Sinhalese, and was followed by the
bulk of the Lascarins.
And now the real struggle began. The Atapattu
Guard charged from the front, while the rest of
the Sinhalese, protected by the forest, poured into
the ranks of the Portuguese their clouds of arrows
and hail of musket-balls. For three days, losing
heavily and without rest, the latter broke their
way through the roughly constructed works of the
Sinhalese. By the third day the pressure on the
rear had become so severe that it was no more
than a disorganised rabble, terror-stricken and cut
off from the main body. Luiz Teixeira, the Disawa
of the Seven Korales, and the Sergeant Major, with
all of their officers and men who had not been
shot down, were captured as they attempted to
conceal themselves in the forest, for the King's
orders were that the Portuguese were to be taken
alive. At length on reaching the level tract of
Randeni Wela the Portuguese found themselves
completely surrounded. Some, however, of the
Lascarins succeeded in breaking away and fleeing
to Colombo, and de Sa was able to despatch a messenger
to inform the city of his desperate plight.
There on the plain of Wellawaya the Portu-
guese spent that awful night. The Lascarins rapidly
melted away, till not more than five hundred were
left to share the fate of their white companions in
arms, and it was im.possible to erect any protection
against the arrows and bullets that came whizzing past
throughout the hours of darkness. The General himself
exchanged his usual, dress for a doublet and trousers,
arming himself with a sword and a small shield, as there
was heavy work to be done the next day. For none
was there any sleep that night. The very elements
indeed seem to have conspired to punish the Portu-
guese for the horrors to which they had subjected
that unhappy country. A terrific downpour of rain
lasting several hours drenched the army and rendered
the firearms of the Portuguese useless. Their
swords too were of littte avail against opponents so
agile as the Sinhalese; though the attempt to capture
them alive resulted in a terrible w^aste of life.
Gradually however the circle narrowed round the
doomed men. By two o'clock in the afternoon two
hundred of the Portuguese were stretched in death.
The fight was thickest round the General, whom
two servants kept supplied wifh loaded arquebusses.
It was said indeed that he killed sixty men of those that
hemmed him in with his own hand. At last orders were received
to shoot him down. His servants
were soon dead by his side, and as he drew his
sword and rushed on the Sinhalese two arrows pierced
him and he sank on his knees to the ground.
Another arrow ended his Hfe, and though round his
corpse the struggle redoubled itself in fury, it was
not for long, and with wild shouts of triumph the
head of the brave da Sa was at last severed from
his body.
A pyramid of Portuguese heads was raised on
the field of battle, that of the General being laid at
the feet cf the aged and triumphant but com-
passionate King, who apostrophised it with
these bitter words: "How often have I prayed you
not to make war on me and destroy my realm, but
to let me live in psacB, while you kept the best
part of Lanka : but if your successors follow in your
footsteps, you v/iii not be the last.'"
It is hardly possible to exaggerate the gravity
of the disaster which had overtaken the Portuguese,
and once again if the Sinhalese had but had the
means of blockading Colombo by sea, the complete
destruction of their power in Ceylon would have
been assured. Twenty-six days after its great victory
the Sinhalese army, which had captured en route
the fort of Siparagamuwa with the whole of its
garrison, appeared before Colombo and laid it under
close siege. Two fierce assaults were delivered and
were repulsed with desperate courage ; but such was
the scarcity of provisions within the town, that
cannibalism was freely practiced, and hundreds of
starving wretches had to be driven outside the walls.
These refugees were kindly treated by Maha Asthana,
though a number of them with base ingratitude
attempted to set fire to his camp".
(from Ceylon and the Portuguese by Paul E Peiris)
A good account of the battle is given in the following web-link :-
The
Battle of Randeniwela is the fist mass scale defeat of the Portuguese
equipped with superior firepower. The total army Portuguese army was
wiped out by the Sinhalese Forces expec
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