Dutch Ceyoln was an entity that existed from 1640 to 1796. It is called in Sinhala. In the early 17th century, Sri Laka (which was called Ceylon at the time), was divided between the Portugese, and several local kingdoms. The kingdoms were fighting agains each other very often. Although the Portuguese were not winning the war, their rule was rather burdensome to the people of those areas controlled by them. At some point, the king of Kandy asked the Durch for help. The Dutch East India Company ran the country. Even though they managed to control large aras near the coast, they did not countrol the mountain areas and the Kandxan kingdom in the center of the iland. The Durch inteerest in Ceylon was to have a stornghold against the Iberians (Spanish and Portugese) at the time.