History

The recorded history of Trincomalee spans more than two and thousand years beginning with civilian settlement associated with the Koneshwaran temple pre-modern era. One of the oldest cities in Asia, it has served as a major maritime sea port in the international trading history of the island with South East Asia. In the ancient world, it was successively the capital of eastern kingdom of the Vanni country , developing under the Pallava Dynasty, Chola Dynasty, Pandyan Dynasty, the Vannimaichieftaincies and the Jaffna kingdom through the Koneshwaran's revenue.

Trincomalee's urbanization continued when made into  a fortified port town following the Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom, changing hands between the Danish in 1620, the Dutch, the French following a battle of the American Revolutionary War and British in 1795, being absorbed into the British Ceylon state in 1815.

The city's architecture shows some of the examples of interaction between native and European styles. Attacked by the Japanese as part of the Indian Ocean  raid during World War II in 1942, the city and district were affected after Sri Lanka gain independence in 1948, when the political relationship between Tamil and Sinhalese people deteriorated, erupting into civil War. It is home to major naval and air force bases at the Trincomalee Garrison. The city also has the largest Dutch fort on the island.....