Matara Star Fort
The Star Fort or Redoubt van Eck (Sinhala: මාතර තාරකා කොටුව; Tamil: விண்மீன் கோட்டை) is a Dutch fort situated in Matara District, Sri Lanka. Built on the western bank of the Nilwala Ganga River , the fort is located about 400 m from the entrance of the Matara Fort . It is the last major defensive work built by the Dutch in Sri Lanka (Abeyawardana, 2004; De Silva, 1988).
. History
The Dutch who occupied several coastal parts of Sri Lanka after expelling the Portuguese gained control of the Matara Fort by the 17th century. In 1760 a rebellion took place at Matara mainly due to the Dutch endeavour to register peasants' holding of lands and either to dispossess or tax them if they couldn't prove title (De Silva, 1988). Sinhalese forces backed by the Kandyan Kingdom captured the Matara Fort in March 1761 and held it for a period of nearly one year (De Silva, 1988; Wikramaratne, 2015). The Dutch retook the fort in February 1762 and decided to erect the Star Fort on the western bank o…
