Kandy , important independent monarchy in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) at the end of the 15th and last century Sinhala Kingdom is to be subdued by a colonial power. Kandy survived the attacks of Ceylon's first two colonizers - the Portuguese and the Dutch - and succumbed finally the third and last colonial ruler, the British , 1818. While all other Sinhalese kingdoms had been wiped out by the Portuguese in the early 17th century, two more survived at Kandy Centuries of dogged persistence.
Read more about this topic Sri Lanka:Kandy and its struggle with the European powers Rajasinha occupied Kandy , a Sinhala kingdom in the central highlands, around 1580, and its ruler took refuge in the ... Under Portuguese rule, Kandy allied with the Dutch; Under Dutch rule, she sought support from the British. Since the British took over Ceylon in 1796, Kandy had to rely on its own resources. The British viewed the continued independence of Kandy as an obstacle to expanding their trade and communications network in Ceylon. The first British attack on Kandy in 1803 was a failure. By 1815, however, the Kandyan chiefs grew dissatisfied with their tyrannical king (of South Indian descent) and welcomed British intervention. In the ensuing agreement of 1815, the Kandyan convention , the Kandyan king was deposed and the Sovereignty was owned by the British Crown, but the rights of the Kandyan chiefs were largely preserved. The chiefs soon became dissatisfied with this arrangement and openly rebelled in 1817, but were decisively subdued by the British in 1818. This brought Ceylon under unified rule for the first time in many centuries.