3740303 Portuguese prisoners of war build a fort near Kandy (engraving) by Baldaeus, Philip (1632-1672); Private Collection; (add.info.: A True and Exact Description of the most celebrated East-India Coasts of Malabar and Coromandel and also of the Isle of Ceylon; Father Philippus Baldaeus, Baelde or Philip Balde was a missionary and representative of the Dutch East India Company in Ceylon for 10 years In 1505 the Portuguese gained a monopoly in the spice and cinnamon trade in Ceylon. The ruler Vimala Dharma Suriya defeated them in 1592 and deployed the prisoners to build a fort. The Dutch were invited by the Sri Lankans to help fight the Portuguese who they finally ousted. ).