The war also had consequences abroad, as the European powers extended their rivalry via naval power to overseas colonies. In 1630, a Dutch fleet of 70 ships
had taken the rich sugar-exporting areas of Pernambuco (Brazil) from the Portuguese, though it would lose them by 1654. Fighting also took place in Africa and Asia.
Ceylon was a case in point. The Portuguese
conquered the
Jaffna kingdom in the north of the island and
kingdom of Kotte in the south. In the process, they caused widespread destruction, including that of the
Koneswaram temple of
Trincomalee in 1624 and
Ketheeswaram temple, accompanied by an extensive campaign of destruction of 500 Hindu shrines, the Saraswathi Mahal Library, many Buddhist temples and libraries, and forced conversion of Hindus and Buddhists to Roman Catholicism. Thus, the rivalries of the Thirty Years' War and general hostilities of the Eighty Years' War were played out here.
Phillip II and
III of Portugal used forts built from the destroyed temples, including
Fort Fredrick in Trincomalee, and others in southern Ceylon, such as Colombo and
Galle Fort, to fight sea battles with the Dutch, Danish, French, and English. This was the beginning of the island's loss of sovereignty. Later the Dutch and English succeeded the Portuguese as colonial rulers of the island.
