From Lorenzo de Almeida to 2007

by Jayantha Sri Nissanka

Portuguese fleet which was caught up in a storm was forced by lasty winds and tidal waves ashore to the island nation Ceylon in 1505. Captain of the fleet Don Lorenzo de Almeida tossed to Galle when Ceylon was politically divided into seven kingdoms, unable to fend off intruders. The major three kingdoms of the seven were Kotte, Kandy and Jaffna.

When the Portuguese Captain learnt that he had landed the far famed island of Ceylon, he coasted to the capital of Ceylon, Colombo. After an understanding with the King of Kotte Veera Parakrama Bahu (1484-1509), the Captain assigned Payo de Souza to negotiate a Treaty with the king. Later, the two parties signed the treaty and the King agreed to give a tribute of four hundred bahars of cinnamon every year. In return Portuguese agreed to defend and protect the ports of the King.

After the death of the aged king Veera Parakkarama Bahu, the two elder sons, Dharma Parakrama Bahu and Vijaya Bahu fought over the monarchy and Dharma Parakrama Bahu sought help from the Portuguese troops to intimidate his brother.

Gradually the Portuguese consolidated themselves due to the disunity among Sinhala rulers and built a Fort in Colombo in 1517 and extended their control over the coastal areas. As a result, Sinhalese in 1592 moved their capital to Kandy as it was a more secure location against attack from invaders.

During this period, many lowland Sinhalese converted to Christianity for perks and various benefits. But Buddhist majority searched ways and means to chase out Portuguese from the Country. When the Dutch Captain Joris Spilberg landed in Ceylon in 1602, the Kandyan king appealed for help.

Slowly, Dutch troops were able to consolidate themselves to take the control over the entire island except the kingdom of Kandy in 1660.

British troops started occupying coastal areas of Ceylon since 1796 with resistance from Dutch invaders fearing that French controlled Netherlands might hand over Ceylon to France.

It was in 1802 by the Treaty of Amiens, Dutch control areas of the island were formally ceded to Britain and Ceylon became a crown colony of Grate Britain.

Unlike the previous two colonial powers, British wanted to take over the entire island. Therefore, in 1803 British soldiers invaded the Kingdom of Kandy but it was repulsed.

Thereafter, Governor Robert Brownrigg on January,15, 1815 declared war against Kandyan Kingdom.

The Sinhala monarchs who continued without a break from the time it started with Prince Vijaya in about 543B.C came to an end with the capturing of King Sri Wikrama Rajasinghe while hiding in a house at Meda Mahanuwara on February 18, 1815. The deposed king was exiled with his harem to Vellore, India where he died 17 years later.

His son and potential heir died childless in 1842.

The single most important event following the arrival of British forces in Senkadagala was the signing of the Kandian Convention ending the Sinhala monarchy. It was agreed to in March 1815 after negotiations between John d'Oyly and the nobles of Kandy. The central points of the agreement were:

1. 'Sri Wickrema Rajasinha', the 'Malabari' king is to forfeit all claims to the throne of Kandy.

2. The King is declared fallen and deposed and the hereditary claim of his dynasty abolished and extinguished.

3. All his male relatives to be banish from the island.

4. The dominion is vested in the sovereign of the British Empire, to be exercised through colonial governors, except in the case of the Adikarams, Disawes, Mohottalas, Korales, Vidanes and other subordinate officers reserving the rights, privileges and powers within their respective ranks.

5. The religion of the Buddha ['superstition of Boodhoo'] is declared inviolable and its rights to be maintained and protected.

6. All forms of physical torture and mutilations are abolished.

7. The governor alone can sentence a person to death and all capital punishments to take place in the presence of accredited agents of the government.

8. All civil and criminal justice over Kandyan to be administered according to the established norms and customs of the country, the government reserving to itself the rights of interposition when and where necessary.

9. Other non-Kandyan's position is to remain as privileged as previously according to British Law.

10. The proclamation annexing the three and Four Korales and Sabaragamuwa is repealed.

11. The dues and revenues to be collected for the King of England as well as for the maintenance of internal establishments in the island.

12. The Governor alone can facilitate trade and commerce.

The signatories of the Treaty were Governor Brownrigg, Ehelepola and the Dissawes Molligoda, Pilimatalawe the Elder, Pilimatalawa the Younger, Monerawila, Molligoda the Younger, Dullewe, Ratwatte, Millawa, Galgama and Galegoda.

The convention was purely a voluntary transfer of authority in Kandy to the British. Kandyan nobility did hope that they were simply replacing one malleable master (the Nayakkar monarchy) with another (the British).

The Sri Dalada Maligawa, in Kandy is the home to the sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha. Though, the Kandyan Convention guaranteed to protect Buddhism, British started constructing a church within the sacred precinct. Later in 1815 the Heads of the Buddhist monasteries of Malwatte and Asgiriya met Governor Brownrigg and extracted guarantee that Buddhism would not be compromised. This included a ban on proselytizing and mission schools.

Two years after British conquering the power in Ceylon, rebels who were grouping in Uva area, it is well known as "Uva Revolution in 1817-1818" tried to over throw the British imperialists.

Sinhala leaders Keppetipola Disawe and Madugalle Dissawe who were involved in the revolution were beheaded. Ehelepola Adigar who was the main local leader who helped the British to capture the Kandyan kingdom was arrested on suspicion that he had aided and abetted the rebels and was brought to Colombo and later deported to Mauritius islands.

The British colonialists using the divide and rule theory set one ethnic group against the others. They favoured the semi-European Burghers and high cast locals, fostering divisions and enmities which have survived ever since.

Meanwhile, Sinhala-Muslim clashes erupted in Kandy in 1915 and spread to all other provinces except the North and East. The Government thought that the clash is an anti English rebel movement and imposed Martial Law.

Using the Martial Law, Government arrested prominent figures in the Temperance Movement including D.B.Jayatilake, F.R.Senanayake, D.S.Senanayake, W. A. De Silva, C.Batuwantudawa and Edmund Hewavitharana.

The Government claimed that 69 persons were shot dead under the martial law and Edward Henry Pedris was also among them. But actual figures were very high according to some historians.

Meanwhile, The Ceylon National Congress (CNC) was founded 1919 to fight for greater autonomy. But the Congress split along ethnic and caste lines forgetting the major task of achieving independence. The Marxist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) which grew out of the Youth Leagues in 1935 as the first party to demand independence. Prominent leaders in the LSSP who led the struggle for freedom were Dr.N.M.Perera and Philip Gunawardane.

Sri Lanka was a major British base against the Japanese during the World War II. The LSSP leaders of the pro-independence agitation were arrested by the Colonial authorities. When the Japanese on April, 5, 1942 bombed Colombo, LSSP leaders were able to escape. Several of them fled to India and participated in the Indian struggle for freedom.

Member of the Ceylon National Congress Don Stephan Senanayake left the CNC over a dispute on independence and subsequently formed the United National Party in 1946.

Senanayake elected as the first Prime Minister of the First Parliament on September 20, 1947 and formed a Government with Tamil Congress of G.G.Ponnambalam and Sinhala Maha Sabaha of S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike.

On February 4, 1948, Ceylon became a free nation ending 443 years imperialists rule. But the power was passed to local elite whose one foot was with Anglicized colonial masters and other one in the feudal power structure.

With the influence of the leftist' parties in Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike's Government, the country became a republic in 1972, totally free sovereign Independent Republic of Sri Lanka ending the last remaining ties with United Kingdom.

The Senate was abolished. In 1978, the constitution was replaced by the Executive President which is still in existence.

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