Kandyan Chiefs Hand Their Kingdom to Britain

On 2 March 1815, British colonial authorities and prominent aristocratic leaders met inside the Royal Audience Hall of Kandy to finalize a legal accord that altered the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Known as the Kandyan Convention, the document formalized the deposition of King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha and transferred authority over his territory to the British Crown. The pact was signed on the British side by Sir Robert Brownrigg, then serving as governor of Ceylon, alongside leading indigenous nobles who controlled substantial administrative districts across the central highlands.

The diplomatic event unfolded following intense internal strain between the Kandyan monarch and his influential chieftains. Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, who was of South Indian ancestry, had encountered persistent resistance from Sinhalese aristocrats intent on circumscribing his royal prerogatives. The war of 1815 began after the king's ill treatment of traders who were British subjects, and many chiefs, including Ehelepola, supported the British advance. The king was captured on 18 February 1815 and, in 1816, was sent into exile at Vellore in southern India, where he died in 1832.