Sitawaka Rajasinghe turned his attention to the Kingdom of Kandy, ruled by King Karaliyadde Bandara, whose daughter was married to Dom João Dharmapala. In 1582 Rajasinghe defeated the Kandyan army at Balana, with the assistance of a Kandyan chieftain, Virasundara Mudiyanse of Peradeniya. The Kandyan king, with his queen, son, infant daughter Kusumasana Devi, and nephew Yamasinghe Bandara, fled to Trincomalee under the protection of the Portuguese.