The Dutch become involved in the politics of the Indian Ocean in the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Headquartered at Batavia in modern Indonesia, the Dutch move to wrest control of the highly profitable spice trade from the Portuguese.

The Dutch begin negotiations with King Rajasinha II of Kandy in 1638.

A treaty assures the king assistance in his war against the Portuguese in exchange for a monopoly of the island's major trade goods, particularly cinnamon.

Rajasinha also promises to pay the Dutch war-related expenses.

The Portuguese fiercely resist the Dutch and the Kandyans and are expelled only gradually from their strongholds.

The Dutch capture the eastern ports of Trincomalee and Batticaloa in 1639 and restore them to the Sinhalese, but when the southwestern and western ports of Galle and Negombo fall in 1640, the Dutch refuse to turn them over to the king of Kandy.

The Dutch claim that Rajasinha has not reimbursed them for their vastly inflated claims for military expenditures.

This pretext allows the Dutch to control the island's richest cinnamon lands.

The Dutch ultimately present the king of Kandy with such a large bill for help against the Portuguese that the king can never hope to repay it.

After extensive fighting, the Portuguese surrender Colombo in 1656 and Jaffna, their last stronghold, in 1658.

Superior economic resources and greater naval power enable the Dutch to dominate the Indian Ocean.

They attack Portuguese positions throughout South Asia and in the end allow their adversaries to keep only their settlement at Goa.