The Portuguese rule in Ceylon was rather brief (1597-1658), it never encompassed the whole territory, and it was always highly conditioned by a backdrop of permanent warfare and political vulnerability. Nevertheless, Ceylon proved to be the most comprehensive and complex experience of territorialisation in the Portuguese eastern empire. A mix of economic, financial and political goals would bring land and property issues to the forefront of the Portuguese colonial policies in Ceylon. On the one hand, both the most valued economic resources and the main sources of state revenue derived from the agricultural sector; on the other, land was the main asset to be manipulated, both to attract Portuguese settlers and soldiers, and to win the support of native authorities and populations. However, when comparing what was projected for Ceylon in terms of property rights, land occupation and agricultural development with what in fact turned out to be, there are some important differences. That deviation, although partly explained by the political and military context in which the Portuguese rule took place, was mainly due to the way policies regarding the land were actually appropriated by the social actors, both native and Portuguese. Not only was there a process of mutual accommodation between the innovations set up by the colonial rulers and the native traditions, but also that process was shaped by the unpredictable social and political dynamics of the colonisation project itself.

--