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History of Colombo Pettah ! -By Sukumar Shan Source : Sri Lankan Planters (SLP) Official FB page  ‘Pitakotuwa’ in Sinhala  an Pura kottai in Tamil means ‘outside the fort’. That is obviously how the Sinhala term for Pettah was coined to distinguish the area outside Fort. Pettah is an Anglo-Indian word from the Tamil ‘pettai’ introduced by the British to the area, which was identified by the Dutch as the ‘oude stad’ or old town. During the Portuguese period, the roads in Pettah had been narrow and crooked. The Dutch had replaced these with straighter and broader thoroughfares. Main Street had been in existence even during the time of the Portuguese who had called it ‘Straight’. It had linked Fort with Pettah as it does today. The Dutch named it ‘King’s Street’. Pettah market was always a popular place where traders did business, even at the time of the Dutch. Here ...