Kingdom of Kandy

Kingdom of Kandy
මහනුවර රාජධානිය (Sinhalese) Mahanuwara Rajadhaniya கண்டி இராச்சியம் (Tamil)
1469–1815
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Sri Lanka in the 1520s
Capital		Kandy
Languages		Sinhala, Tamil
Religion		Theravada Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam
Government		Monarchy
King of Kandy
•	1473–1511	Sena Sammatha Wickramabahu (first)
•	1798–1815	Sri Vikrama Rajasinha (last)
History
•	Foundation of Senkadagalapura	1469
•	Conquest by Sitawaka	1581
•	Rebellion of Vimaladharmasuriya I	1593
•	Kandyan Convention	2-18 March 1815
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Sitawaka British Ceylon

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Kingdom of Kandy was an independent monarchy of the island of Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom of the Kingdom of Kotte, Kandy gradually established itself as an independent force during the tumultuous 16th and 17th centuries, allying at various times with the Jaffna Kingdom, the Madurai Nayak Dynasty of South India, Sitawaka, the Portuguese and the Dutch to ensure its survival. From the 1590s, it was the sole independent native polity on the island of Sri Lanka, and through a combination of hit-and-run tactics and diplomacy kept European colonial forces at bay, before finally succumbing to final, British colonial rule in 1818. The kingdom was absorbed into the British Empire as a protectorate following the Kandyan Convention of 1815, and definitively lost its autonomy following the Uva Rebellion of 1817.

Over the years, the Kingdom of Kandy has been known by many names. These include:

Much of the Kandy Kingdom's territory was located in Sri Lanka's mountainous and thickly forested interior, with mountain passes to the capital providing plenty of opportunities for defenders to stage ambushes. Routes to the city were kept secret, and spreading information concerning them could often result in death. Many routes into the hill country became impassable during the annual monsoon, and malaria was rife. Throughout its existence Kandyan forces used the land to their advantage, engaging in guerrilla warfare against invading forces, and evacuating major urban centres when enemy forces drew near – a tactic used with particular effect during the Kandyan Wars. Though the kingdom had intermittent access to the port of Batticaloa it had no naval forces and could not prevent the Portuguese and Dutch maintaining a strong presence in lowland areas.