This is an attempt to supply, to the best of my ability, what has been a "long felt want", viz., a connected and complete, yet concise, account of the Dutch occupation of Ceylon, which extended from A.D. 1640 to 1796 – a period of 156 years. During more than a century of the British rule in Ceylon numerous books have been written under the title of "histories", "accounts", or "descriptions" of the Island, from which the English reader has been able to obtain a considerable amount of information regarding its ancient inhabitants, the dominant races who, for several centuries, held sway over its mountain regions and lowlands; and also regarding those European peoples who came in succession and established themselves here, taking possession of parts of the Island. But we have yet much to learn about certain periods of this part history; and of such periods the Dutch occupation of the maritime parts of the Island will be found to have been very imperfectly treated. Information on the subject is only to be obtained from scattered and disconnected accounts by various writers, some of them of doubtful authority.
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