Sri Lanka, March 17 -- The age of modern empires started with the advanced technological upheavals in the West that elevated the first European powers such as Portugal and Spain to subdue the African and Asian cultures.

But, the West's encounter with the South Asian nations met with a vehement resistance arose from the native communities who showed an indomitable spirit. The case of Sri Lanka provided a remarkable precedent for all the colonised nations in the 16th and 17th centuries as the Sinhalese forces fought tooth and nail against the Western conquerors regardless of their technological superiority.

Dambadeni Asna

Sinhalese forces were not accustomed to the fire-armed technology until the arrival of the Portuguese in 1505. Portug...