The Dutch in Ceylon: Cinnamon, Elephants, and Empire

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Dutch East India Company's brutal and efficient takeover of Ceylon's cinnamon trade. They follow Rijckloff van Goens' military campaigns against the Portuguese and the Kandyan kingdom, the introduction of the thombo land registry system, and the forced cultivation of cinnamon that turned a spice into a tool of colonial control. They also discuss the little-known story of the Ceylonese elephant trade with Mughal India—how elephants captured in the island's forests were shipped to the mainland as living tribute. Along the way, they touch on the resistance of Rajasinha II, who allied with the Dutch only to be betrayed, and the cultural impact of Dutch rule on Sri Lanka's coastal communities, including the legacy of burgher communities and Dutch legal codes that persisted for centuries. #VOC #Ceylon #SriLanka #DutchEastIndiaCompany #RijckloffvanGoens #RajasinhaII #cinnamon #elephants #thombo #Kandy #Colombo #Galle #Jaffna #MughalEmpire #spicetrade #colonialhistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo