CChronica Maps

Colombo: History, Former Names & Timeline

Port on Sri Lanka's west coast, run in turn by the Portuguese, Dutch and British as a centre of the spice and later the tea trade.

Map showing Colombo in 1783Colombo
Border map for 1783. See the world in 1783.

Explore Colombo in the interactive map

Former names of Colombo

FromNameNote
1505Colombo

Timeline of Colombo

YearEvent
1505The Portuguese reach Colombo
1656The Dutch take Colombo
1796Britain occupies coastal Ceylon
1948Ceylon becomes independent

Who ruled Colombo

Derived from the border maps; each row runs until the next recorded border change.

PeriodState
500 BC–799Simhala
800–899Sinhalese kingdoms
900–999Lambakannas
1000–1099Chola Empire
1100–1199Cholas
1200–1299Chola Empire
1300–1491Sinhalese kingdom
1492–1599Sinhalese kingdoms
1600–1649Saylan
1650–1814Ceylon (Dutch)
1815–1944Ceylon
1945–todaySri Lanka