Dutch Ceylon is a governorate established in present-day Sri Lanka by the Dutch East India Company.

It exists from 1640 until 1796.

In the early seventeenth century, Sri Lanka wis partly ruled by the Portuguese and Sri Lankan kingdoms, who are constantly battling each other.

Although the Portuguese are not winning the war, their rule is rather burdensome to the people of those areas controlled by them.

While the Dutch are engaged in a long war of independence from Spanish rule, the Sinhalese king (the king of Kandy) invites the Dutch to help defeat the Portuguese.

The Dutch interest in Ceylon is to have a united battle front against the Iberians at this time.