Kandyan Treaty of 1638


The Kandyan Treaty of 1638 was a treaty between the Kingdom of Kandy, in Dutch Republic signed by King Rajasinghe II for the Kingdom of Kandy and Adam Westerwold and William Jacobsz Coster, a commander and vice commander of the Dutch Naval Forces respectively, for the Dutch East India Company. The treaty was signed on 23 May, 1638 in Batticaloa. The treaty secured the terms under which the two nations would cooperate in defending the Kandyan Kingdom from the Portuguese.

The Key Points of the 1638 Treaty

- The Dutch agreeing to support the king of Kandy to drive the Portuguese from the country.
- The king agreeing to settle by way of providing the Dutch with commodities such as cinnamon, pepper and beeswax the amount that the dutch would spend on battles against the Portuguese.
-Granting the Dutch the monopoly of collecting commodities from the Kandyan areas except for elephants.
-Agreeing to deploy, if the king wished to do so, the Dutch army at the fortresses that would be captured from the Portuguese.