Mullaitivu was a remote VOC outpost on the northern coast of Ceylon, situated on the Bay of Bengal. The Company built a simple fort here, of which no trace remains. The primary function of this settlement was to combat the smuggling trade between Kandy and southern India. The smugglers concentrated on the export of elephants and the import of cotton to Ceylon. Around 1775 a fort was built at Mullaitivu that was subsequently captured by the British.