Editing Colombo (section)

===Portuguese era===
[[Portugal|Portuguese]] explorers led by Dom [[Lourenço de Almeida]] first arrived in Sri Lanka in 1505. During their initial visit they made a treaty with the King of [[Kingdom of Kotte|Kotte]], [[Parakramabahu VIII]] (1484–1518), which enabled them to trade in the island's crop of [[cinnamon]], which lay along with the coastal areas of the island, including in Colombo.<ref name="cs1"/> As part of the treaty, the Portuguese were given full authority over the coastline in exchange for the promise of guarding the coast against invaders. They were allowed to establish a [[trading post]] in Colombo.<ref name="cs1"/> Within a short time, however, they expelled the [[Sri Lankan Moors|Muslim]] inhabitants of Colombo and began to build a [[fort]] in 1517.

The Portuguese soon realised that control of Sri Lanka was necessary for the protection of their coastal establishments in India, and they began to manipulate the rulers of the Kotte kingdom to gain control of the area. After skilfully exploiting rivalries within the royal family, they took control of a large area of the kingdom and the Sinhalese King Mayadunne established a new kingdom at Sitawaka, a domain in the Kotte kingdom.<ref name="cs1"/> Before long he annexed much of the Kotte kingdom and forced the Portuguese to retreat to Colombo, which was repeatedly besieged by Mayadunne and the later kings of Sitawaka, forcing them to seek reinforcement from their major base in [[Goa]], India. Following the fall of the kingdom in 1593, the Portuguese were able to establish complete control over the coastal area, with Colombo as their capital.<ref name="cs1">{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/sri-lanka/8.htm |title=European Encroachment and Dominance:The Portuguese |access-date=2006-12-02 |work=Sri Lanka: A Country Study |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005225344/http://countrystudies.us/sri-lanka/8.htm |archive-date=2006-10-05 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cs2">
{{cite book
| last =Ross
| first = Russell R.
|author2=Savada, Andrea Matles
| title = Sri Lanka: A Country Study
| publisher = Defence Dept., Army
| date = 1990
| pages = 360
| isbn = 978-0-16-024055-3}}</ref>
This part of Colombo is still known as [[Fort (Colombo)|Fort]] and houses the presidential palace and the majority of Colombo's [[hotel rating|five star]] hotels. The area immediately outside Fort is known as [[Pettah, Sri Lanka|Pettah]] ({{langx|si|පිට කොටුව}},{{langx|ta|புறக் கோட்டை}} ''piṭa koṭuva'', "outer fort") and is a commercial hub.