Kandy is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city is situated in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is both an administrative and religious city and the capital of the Central Province. Kandy is the home of the Temple of the Tooth Relic, one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. Historically the local Buddhist rulers resisted Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial expansion and occupation.
The Kandyan Wars refers generally to the period of warfare between the British colonial forces and the Kingdom of Kandy, on the island of what is now Sri Lanka, between 1796 and 1818. More specifically it is used to describe the expeditionary campaigns of the British Army in the Kingdom of Kandy in 1803 and 1815.
Matale is a major city in Central Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative capital and largest urbanised city of Matale District. Matale is also the second largest urbanised and populated city in Central Province. It is located at the heart of the Central Highlands of the island and lies in a broad, green fertile valley at an elevation of 364 m (1,194 ft) above sea level. Surrounding the city are the Knuckles Mountain Range, the foothills were called Wiltshire by the British. They have also called this place as Matelle.
Great Rebellion of 1817–1818, also known as the 1818 Uva–Wellassa Rebellion , was the third Kandyan War in the Uva and Wellassa provinces of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which is today the Uva province of Sri Lanka. The rebellion started against the British colonial government under Governor Robert Brownrigg, three years after the Kandyan Convention ceded Kingdom of Kandy to the British Crown.
Radala refers to a small minority group in Sri Lanka in the former provinces of the Kingdom of Kandy, who are either descendants of chiefs and courtiers of the King of Kandy of Nayaks of Kandy or descendants of native headmen appointed by the British colonial administration following the Uva Rebellion in 1818.
Weerahannadige Francisco Fernando alias Puran Appu is one of the notable personalities in Sri Lanka's history. He was born on 7 November 1812 in the coastal town of Moratuwa. He left Moratuwa at the age of 13 and stayed in Ratnapura with his uncle, who was the first Sinhalese proctor, and moved to the Uva province. In early 1847, he met and married Bandara Menike, the daughter of Gunnepana Arachchi in Kandy. He was captured by the British after the failure of Matale Rebellion along with Gongalegoda Banda and Ven. Kudapola Thera. He was executed by a firing squad on August 8, 1848. His body was buried in Matale.
The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the island of Sri 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.
Diyawadana Nilame is the office of the chief lay custodian of the Temple of the Tooth, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Formerly an office of the royal household, at present it is the trustee for the Temple of the Tooth as defined by the Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance of 1931. A ceremonial position, enriched with over two thousand years of history to protect and carry out ancient rituals for the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. The Diyawadana Nilame recognised as a states man has the responsibility of overseeing of all aspects of the Sri Dalada Maligawa. He has the traditional duty of organizing the annual pageant, the Kandy Esala Perahera. The current Diyawadana Nilame is Pradeep Nilanga Dela.
Wansapurna Dewage David alias Gongalegoda Banda was the leader of the Matale rebellion in 1848, pretender to the throne of Kandy and a national hero of Sri Lanka.
National Hero is a status an individual can receive in Sri Lanka for those who are considered to have played a major role in fighting for the freedom of the country. The status is conferred by the President of Sri Lanka. The recipients of the award are celebrated on a Sri Lankan national holiday, National Heroes’ Day, held annually on 22 May. Every year, the President and general public pay tribute by observing a two minutes silence in their memory. The individuals are also celebrated on Sri Lanka Independence Day, held on 4 February. In this, the President or Prime Minister will typically address the nation with a speech honouring the National Heroes. The award has only been awarded to Sri Lankan citizens, but is not limited to this group.
The Mahâ Dissâvas was a Great Officer in the Amātya Mandalaya, or Sinhalese Council of State, in the Sinhalese Kingdoms of monarchical Sri Lanka. Like many of the existing high offices at the time it had combined legislative and judicial powers and functioned primarily equivalent to that of a Provincial governor. The office of Dissava was retained under the successive European colonial powers, namely the Portuguese Empire, the Dutch East India Company and the British Empire. A Dissava was the governor a province known as a Disavanies. With his province, the Dissava held both executive and judicial authority.
Barnes Ratwatte was a Ceylonese colonial-era legislator and a headman. He was a member of the State Council and the Senate of Ceylon. He was appointed to the posts of Rate Mahatmaya of Balangoda and Dissawa by the British. He was the father of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the first female Prime Minister in the world.
Ehelapola Wijesundara Wickramasinghe Chandrasekara Seneviratna Jayatillake Ekanayaka Amarakone Wahala Panditha Mudiyanse, commonly known as Ehelapola Nilame, was a courtier of the Kingdom of Kandy. He was the Pallegampahe Adigar, and held the honorary title of Maha Nilame from 1811 to 1814 under the reign of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha of Kandy. Ehelapola joined a revolt against King Rajasinha in Sabaragamuva province after he was sent to conquer it, and his entire family was executed. He helped the British launch an invasion against the Kandy Kingdom, overthrow Rajasinha, and subjugate Kandy to the British monarchy under the Kandyan Convention. Various records of Sri Lankan history suggest that he aided the British with the plan to later overthrow them. He was later convicted of treason by the British following the Great Rebellion of 1817–18, and was exiled to Mauritius.
Loku Nilame Adikaram Ratwatte was a courtier of the Kingdom of Kandy. He was the 2nd Adigar (Adigaram) from 1825 to 1827 during the British rule. He was one of the signatories of the Kandyan Convention which made the Kandyan Kingdom part of the British Empire.
Dewa people were one of the four main tribes of ancient Sri Lanka who predated the coalition of Sinhalese nationality. Sinhalese people are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group of the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela people, Ceylonese islanders, and Sinhalese islanders. They constitute about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number greater than 16.2 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, cultural genetic heritage and nationality. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity and other religions.
Fort MacDowall was located in Matale. It was a fortified outpost during the Kandyan Wars, named after Major General Hay MacDowall, the 6th Commander of British Troops in Ceylon. The fort was one of the few inland forts constructed by the British and was completed in 1803.
Veera Puran Appu is a 1978 Sri Lankan Sinhala epic biographical film directed by Lester James Peries and produced by former cabinet minister Tyronne Fernando for Shalanka Films. It stars Ravindra Randeniya and Joe Abeywickrama in lead roles along with Malani Fonseka and Tissa Abeysekara. Music composed by Premasiri Khemadasa. It is the 399th Sri Lankan film in the Sinhala cinema.
The Kandyan period covers the history of Sri Lanka from 1597–1815. After the fall of the Kingdom of Kotte, the Kandyan Kingdom was the last Independent monarchy of Sri Lanka. The Kingdom played a major role throughout the history of Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1476. The kingdom located in the central part of Sri Lanka managed to remain independent from both the Portuguese and Dutch rule who controlled coastal parts of Sri Lanka; however, it was colonised by the British in 1815.
Madugalle Udagabada Nilame, more widely known as Madugalle Nilame was a Nilame, an official under the rule of King Sri Wikrama Rajasinghe and later under the British Administration in Sri Lanka. He was a leader of the Uva rebellion of 1818. He joined the rebels whom the British sent him to suppress. The rebellion was defeated by the British, and Madugalle along with several other leaders of the rebellion were convicted of insurrection.
Kandyan rebels
Sri Lankaportal 
