Colombo History

The history of Colombo dates back to over 2000 years as it was very famous amongst different Chinese, Arab, and Roman traders as the city of Colombo had its own natural harbor. This island was called as Kalanpu in 14th century when the famous traveler named lbn Batuta visited it. It was in the 8th century when various Arabian Muslims started to enter this city with the prime target of making money by performing business via the harbor of this city. The port of this city proved to be the bridge between the world and the Sinhalese rulers who were ruling this region during those years.

It was the year 1638 when the Dutch Army defeated the already ruling Portuguese army of this region. The Dutch were able to capture the city and port of Colombo by the year 1656 after fighting a severe war against the Portuguese Army. Around 90 Portuguese survivors were the only ones who didn’t die in this war.

It was the year 1796 when the British successfully captured the city of Colombo and overthrew the Dutch Empire from this city. The city of Colombo acted as the capital city for this newly crowned British Empire.

Although the earlier two empires namely Portuguese and Dutch were keenly interested in doing business while they had control of this city later on the British Empire started to build various houses and colonies when the city came under their control. It was this British Empire which actually gave rise to today’s city of Colombo.

It was the year 1948 when the British Rule ended in the city of Colombo and the country of Sri Lanka gained independence. This independence had a severe impact on the inhabitants of the country as well as of the city thus bringing some drastic changes to the atmosphere of the city. The complete culture for this city of Colombo changed when the regime changed. The changes in culture of this city brought in the different changes in the economy of the city which actually started to strengthen post independence.

Although time passed, you will surely observe some touches of Portugal, Dutch, and British Empires in this city of Colombo.