Seal and coat of arms of the king of Kandy

Joris van Spilbergen’s 1601-1604 expedition reached Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon to Europeans in May 1602. In July 1602, Van Spilbergen undertook a voyage to the interior to Ceylon to meet the king of Kandy. He persuaded the king that he was an enemy of the Portuguese and the king of Kandy made him his ambassador to the Dutch States General to negotiate an alliance against the Portuguese. This image shows the king of Kandy, here styled the ‘king of Ceylon’. He holds up a sword in one hand. The title says this shows the coat of arms and seal of the king of Ceylon.