The Background

The Batavian government was more popular among the Dutch population than was the
prince of Orange. This was apparent during the British-Russian invasion of 1799.

As a French vassal state, the Batavian Republic was an ally of France in its wars against
Great Britain. This led to the loss of most of the Dutch colonial empire and a defeat of the
Dutch fleet in the Battle of Camperdown (Camperduin) in 1797. The collapse of Dutch
trade caused a series of economic crises. Only in the second half of the 19th century
would Dutch wealth be restored to its previous level.

Soon after Napoleon captured the Netherlands the Prince of Orange became a refugee in
London and he wrote off some colonies to the safe custody of Britain. In fact, the French
Revolution had a lot of admirers in the rest of the Europe and the Dutch were no
exception. The Dutch in Ceylon wanted a republic and they did not want English rule
over any of their colonies. The British forced their way into Ceylon without much
resistance.

Kandyan Convention

The rule of the king Sri Vikrama Rajasinha was not favored by his chieftains. The king
who was of Tamil ancestry faced powerful chieftains and sought cruel measures to
repress their popularity with the people. A successful coup was organized by the Sinhala
and Tamil chieftains alike in which they accepted the British crown as their new king.
This ended the line of the kingdom of Kandy and King Rajasinhe was taken as a prisoner.
thought that the English will hand over the power to him.

But the English annexed Ceylon with Madras Presidency for economical and strategical
reasons. The Kandyan treaty which was signed after the annexation of Kandy was called
Kandyan Convention and consists of the terms under which the Kandyans will live under
British rule.

The Buddhist religion was given protection by the Crown and Christianity would not be
imposed on the unwilling masses as it happened during Portuguese and Dutch rule. It
spelt the end of a most cruel tyrant who tortured Sinhala aristocracy at will in one of the
most cruel ways. Kandyan Convention is an important document as some of the
chieftains have signed in Tamil showing their Tamil ancestry.

Soon the Kandyans rebelled against the English and waged a guerilla war. It was called
the Uva Rebellion and the British carried out the massacre of the 19th Century by wiping
out the all able bodied Sinhalese men from the Hill country. Main causes of the rebellion
seems to be the loss of power of the Kandyan chieftains.
Uva Rebellion

It took the ruling families of Kandy less than two years to realise that the authority of the
British government was a fundamentally different beast to that of the (deposed) Nayakkar
monarchy. Discontent with British activities soon boiled over into open rebellion,
commencing in the duchy of Uva in 1817. Generally called the 'Uva Rebellion', it is also
known as the Third Kandyan War. In many ways the third name is more appropriate, as
the rebellion (which soon developed into a guerilla war of the kind the Kandyans had
fought against European powers for some time) was centred on the Kandyan nobility and
their unhappiness with developments under British rule since 1815. However it is the last
uprising of this kind and Britain's response essentially liquidated the old aristocracy and
ensured future rebellions would take on a much more subaltern character.