Dutch–Portuguese War 1654
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 2 May 1654 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1654 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Sri Lanka | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Dutch–Portuguese War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Dutch Republic, Kingdom of Kandy, Portuguese Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 6.9520, 79.8050 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Dutch–Portuguese War was a global armed conflict involving Dutch forces, in the form of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), the Dutch West India Company (GWC), and their allies, against the Iberian Union, and after 1640, the Portuguese Empire. Beginning in 1598, the conflict primarily involved the Dutch companies and fleet invading Portuguese colonies in the Americas, Africa, and the East Indies.
The war can be thought of as an extension of the Eighty Years' War being fought in Europe at the time between Spain and the Netherlands, as Portugal was in a dynastic union with Spain after the War of the Portuguese Succession, for most of the conflict. However, the conflict had little to do with the war in Europe and served mainly as a way for the Dutch to gain an overseas empire and control trade at the cost of the Portuguese. Because of the commodity at the center of the conflict, this war would be nicknamed the Spice War.
Portugal repelled Dutch attempts to secure Brazil, Angola, and Mozambique, but the Dutch disrupted the Portuguese trading networks in Asia, where they captured the Malabar Coast, Ceylon, Malacca, and the Moluccas. In Africa, the Dutch conquered the Gold Coast, Arguin, and Goreé.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Dutch–Portuguese War (revision 1374150566), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Siege of Galle (1640) 1640 · 113 km
- Action of 9 July 1806 1806 · 218 km
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Other battles of the Dutch–Portuguese War
- Siege of Salvador (1638) 1638
- Siege of Salvador (1638) 1638
- Action of 12–17 January 1640 1640
- Siege of Malacca (1640–1641) 1640
- Second Battle of Guararapes 1649
All 12 battles of the Dutch–Portuguese War →
Browse more: battles in Sri Lanka · Asia · Early modern battles