The following is a list of Portuguese captain-major

Captain-major

Captain-major is the English rendering of the Portuguese title Capitão-mor for colonial officers, put in charge of a capitania, Portuguese possession deemed not important enough to have its own colonial Governor.Due to the impossibility of exercising direct control and sovereignty over islands,...

s of Ceilão. The Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 arrived in the Kingdom of Kotte

Kingdom of Kotte

The Kingdom of Kotte , centred on Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte was a kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century. Its king was the last native sovereign to unify all of Sri Lanka under one rule. -Etymology:The term Kotte means fortress in Sinhalese...

 in 1505. By 1551 they had appointed a Captains-major to control the Portuguese occupied territory called Ceilão

Portuguese period in Ceylon

Portuguese Ceylon was a Portuguese territory in present-day Sri Lanka, representing a period in Sri Lankan history from 1505–1658. The Portuguese first encountered the Ceylonese kingdom of Kotte, with whom they signed a treaty. Portuguese Ceylon was established through the occupation of Kotte and...

 on the island of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

. In that time, there were numerous Captains-major until 1594. The post of Captains-major was preceded by that of the Captain in 1518. In 1594 the Captains-major was replaced with a Governor.

List of Captain-majors

Portrait	Name	Birth	Death	Captain-major From	Captain-major Until	Sovereign
|align="center"|João Henriques	-	-	1551	1552	John III John III of Portugal John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile...
|align="center"|Diogo de Melo Coutinho (1st time)	-	-	1552	1552	John III John III of Portugal John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile...
|align="center"|Duarte de Eça	1480	15??	1552	1553	John III John III of Portugal John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile...
|align="center"|Fernão Carvalho	-	-	1553	1555	John III John III of Portugal John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile...
|align="center"|Afonso Pereira de Lacerda	-	-	1555	1559	John III John III of Portugal John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile... Sebastian Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
|align="center"|Jorge de Meneses Baroche	-	-	1559	1560	Sebastian Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
|align="center"|Baltasar Guedes de Sousa	-	-	1560	1564	Sebastian Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
|align="center"|Pedro de Ataíde Inferno	-	-	1564	1565	Sebastian Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
|align="center"|Diogo de Melo	-	-	1565	1568	Sebastian Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
|align="center"|Fernando de Monroy	-	-	1568	1570	Sebastian Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
|align="center"|Diogo de Melo Coutinho (2nd time)	-	-	1570	1572	Sebastian Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
|align="center"|Antonio de Noronha	-	-	1572	1575	Sebastian Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
|align="center"|Fernando de Albuquerque	-	-	1575	1578	Sebastian Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain...
|align="center"|Manuel de Sousa Coutinho	1540	-	1578	1583	Sebastian Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian "the Desired" was the 16th king of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife, Joan of Spain... Henry Anthony Filipe I Philip II of Spain Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
|align="center"|João de Correia de Brito	-	-	1583	1590	Filipe I Philip II of Spain Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
|align="center"|Simão de Brito	-	-	1590	1591	Filipe I Philip II of Spain Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
|align="center"|Pedro Homem Pereira	-	-	1591	1594	Filipe I Philip II of Spain Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

See also

• List of monarchs of Sri Lanka
• List of Captains of Ceilão
• List of Governors of Ceilão
• History of Sri Lanka
  History of Sri Lanka
  The History of Sri Lanka begins around 30,000 years ago when the island was first inhabited. Chronicles, including the Mahawansa, the Dipavamsa, the Culavamsa and the Rajaveliya, record events from the beginnings of the Sinhalese monarchy in the 6th century BC; through the arrival of European...