Rajasinghe II of Kandy

King Rajasinghe II, also known as Rajasingha II, was a Sinhalese King, reigned 1629 – 6 December 1687; seventh king of the Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka. Rajasingha requested aid from the newly formed Dutch East India Company to help expel the Portuguese from the island, which they successfully did in 1656. By this time however it had become clear to the Kandyans that the Dutch not only intended to expel the Portuguese but to replace them as the major colonial power on the island. This transfer of power is also believed to be where the Sinhala idiom / figure of speech “ඉඟුරු දී මිරිස් ගත්තා වාගේ” Inguru di miris gaththa wagay originated - in reference that the Dutch rule was much more of a menace to the king and cruel to the people in the island than the Portuguese's. From 1645 onwards Rajasingha was engaged in sporadic warfare with his erstwhile allies.