A The fall of Columbo and the axis shift of Portuguese from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, 17th century
Abstract
This article aims to demonstrate the dispute over the city of Columbo, on the island of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), one of the main possessions of the Portuguese state of India in the 16th and 17th centuries, and its consequent fall for the Dutch power in 1656. Among the elements that corroborated this territorial loss, this study will show that in addition to the absence of men for war due to the displacement of soldiers and efforts to defend the borders of the State of Brazil, whose importance had grown for the kingdom of Portugal, internal corruption has emerged as a key element in the loss of that important foothold for the ocean circulation.