COLONIAL HERITAGE OF SRI LANKA

From the 10^th century, trading posts sprung up for Arab and Chinese traders 

attracted by gems and spices such as pepper, cinnamon and cloves in Sri Lanka. By the time the Portuguese arrived in the 1500s to colonize Sri Lanka, Colombo and Galle were important ports. The Portuguese legacy lives on in their descendants and in traditions such as “Baila” dancing, lace – making and the Catholic faith. Fort Fredrick built by the Portuguese in Trincomalee, which is in the North East of Sri Lanka, contains many interesting colonial buildings. The Dutch East India Company took over many of the settlements in the 1650s and had built some impressive coastal fortified towns in Sri Lanka by the time they ceded to the British in 1976. Kandy was the last of the Central Kingdoms to surrender to the British in 1815 and the Empire took full control of the renamed “Ceylon”, until Sri Lanka obtained independence in 1948. The “British Era” saw the arrival of British-style planters’ bungalows, landscaped gardens, Cricket, Strawberries and the recreational hill resort of Nuwara Eliya. A legacy of large scale plantations, railways, roads, government offices and palatial hotels were left behind. For Sri Lanka, the most important legacy of British rule is undoubtedly Ceylon tea (although some will say it is cricket!). For a taste of colonial times of Sri Lanka, stay at Amangalla Hotel in Galle, St. Andrews in Nuwara Eliya, Mahaweli Reach in Kandy or Regency at the Galle Face in Colombo.