Delft Island Fort ( ta, நெடுந்தீவுக் கோட்டை, translit=Neṭuntīvuk Kōṭṭai; si, ඩෙල්ෆ් බලකොටුව , translit=Delf Balakotuwa, locally known as ''Neduntheevu fort'' and ''Meekaman fort'') are ruins of a fort located on the island of

Neduntheevu Neduntheevu or Nedunthivu ( ta, நெடுந்தீவு, translit=Neṭuntīvu; ) (also known by its Dutch name Delft) is an island in the Palk Strait, northern Sri Lanka. This island is named as Delft in the Admiralty Chart unlike the oth ...

in the

Palk Strait The Palk Strait ( ta, பாக்கு நீரிணை ''Pākku Nīriṇai'', si, පෝක් සමුද්‍ර සන්ධිය ''Pok Samudra Sandhiya'') is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna Distri ...

in northern Sri Lanka. Traditionally attributed to the

Karaiyar Karaiyar is a Sri Lankan Tamil caste found mainly on the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil diaspora. They are traditionally a seafaring community that is engaged in fishing, shipment and seaborne t ...

king ''Meekaman'', the fort was probably built by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. Later, it was taken over by

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, who built a barrack nearby. The island was known to the Portuguese as ''Ilha das Vacas'' ("Island of the Cows"), was renamed by the Dutch as ''Delft Island''. The fort was constructed out of limestone and coral. Though now in ruins, Ralph Henry Bassett describes the fort as a "very strongly fortified fort" in his book ''Romantic Ceylon: Its History, Legend, and Story''.

References

* {{Forts and fortresses of the Portuguese empire, state=collapsed Dutch forts in Sri Lanka Forts in Northern Province, Sri Lanka Neduntheevu Portuguese forts in Sri Lanka Archaeological protected monuments in Jaffna District