{"id":86601,"date":"2019-03-20T16:31:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T23:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=86601"},"modified":"2019-03-20T16:31:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T23:31:00","slug":"myths-and-misinterpretations-of-the-kandyan-convention-of-1815-%ef%bb%bf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/03\/20\/myths-and-misinterpretations-of-the-kandyan-convention-of-1815-%ef%bb%bf\/","title":{"rendered":"Myths and Misinterpretations of the Kandyan Convention of 1815 \ufeff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ha<\/em>rindra Dunuwille<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

Much has been said and written\nabout the Kandyan Convention of 1815 whereby the Kandyan Kingdom was ceded to\nthe British. Historians and writers have over the years interpreted the events\nthat led to the signing and the cessation of what was the last bastion of\nSinhale\u201d. The document itself, its drafting, its local signatories and their very\nsignatures, whether it was actually signed on the 2nd<\/sup> of March 1815\nor on subsequent days, whether there were some who did not sign the convention\nare questions  yet being debated. It has been\ncalled a betrayal of what was left of the island. To me this is the biggest\nmyth in regard to the Kandyan Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 200 years since that historic event, this\narticle is an attempt to put in perspective the circumstances and the factors\nthat resulted in the signing of that treaty between the Lieutenant-General\nRobert Brownrigg, Governor and Commander in Chief in and over the British\nsettlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon, acting in the name and on\nbehalf of His Majesty George the Third, King and his Royal Highness George,\nPrince of Wales, Regent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on\nthe one part and the Adigars, Dissawas and other Principal Chiefs of the\nKandyan Provinces on behalf of the inhabitants, in the presence of the Mohottales,\nKorales, Vidanes and other sub ordinate Headmen from several Provinces and of\nthe people then and there assembled of the other part\u201d. It seeks also to refer briefly\nto the impact and ramifications of that agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kandyan kingdom was established in 1580 at a\ntime when the maritime areas of the island had been captured and were held by Western\ncolonial rulers. The Portugese came in 1505 and were followed by the Dutch in\n1648, and then by the English who took control of the costal maritime areas of Ceylon\n(Sri Lanka) by 1796.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1802 the Treaty of Amiens formally ceded the\nDutch occupied part of the island to the British, and thus the British colony\nof Ceylon was established. By the turn of the 19th<\/sup> century, of the 4\nkingdoms in Ceylon, the kingdoms of Sitawaka, Kotte and Jaffna had fallen into\nforeign hands leaving only the Kandyan Kingdom as the only independent\nSinhalese kingdom. This holding out, in the heat of continuous pressure, both\nmilitary and economic was by fortitude and tact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

British expansionism and colonising began in\nthe 16th<\/sup> century. By 1769, it had colonized America, Canada, and New\nZealand and also included colonies in Africa and the West Indies. With these\nconquests, it had established the vast Empire, where it was said that the sun\nnever set\u201d. Replacing the Dutch with its East India Company,Britainfirmly\nestablished trading posts in India, with the periodic annexation of parts of\nIndia, namely, Madras in 1639, Bombay in 1661 and Calcutta in 1690. In 1770 the\nBritish orchestrated a famine that killed one third of the Indian population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the successful repulsion of invading\ntroops for over 150 years by the Kandyans, the reality of the circumstances of\nthe early 1800s was that the British had already annexed and conquered India\nand had established its writ there as it had in many parts of the world.  British troop reinforcements were available\nat hand across the Palk straits should a sustained military campaign was needed\nto capture the Kandyan kingdom. From all accounts such an exercise was on the\ncards at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The saga of Kandy is a remarkable one. It is a record of\nhow a small landlocked kingdom, with about half a million impoverished souls,\npolitically disunited, not particularly warlike, economically strangled,\ncontinued a prolonged struggle for survival against three European foes at the\nheight of their prowess. The Kandyan military resistance is a chapter worth\nrecording\u201d \u2013 (Lorna Dewaraja- The Kandyan Kingdom of Sri Lanka)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It is a matter of record that the war tactics\nused included, what is now called guerilla warfare\u201d, a strategy of hit and\nrun, deliberate disengagement and withdrawal, employing\na scorched earth\u201d military strategy whilst inveigling the\nenemy in to unfamiliar and rough territory and lunching multi-pronged attacks, often\nfrom higher ground. The terrain, the adverse and unfamiliar weather conditions\nbringing with it leeches, mosquitos added to the misery of the invaders who often\nfell sick, ran out of food and ammunition. \nThere was a time when the retreating armies were chased far beyond the borders\nof the kingdom even up to Sitawaka in the in the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\nduring these times of conflict, there was contact with the foreigners for purposes\nof trade and security. King Senerat entered in to a treaty with the Dutch in\n1612 followed by what is called the first Kandyan Treaty of 1638 signed by King\nRajasinha II with the Commander of the Dutch East India Company at Batticaloa\nto secure the defense of the kingdom from the Portugese. A fresh agreement was\nsigned by the King with the Dutch in 1649. In 1766 another treaty was signed by\nKing Keerthi Sri Rajasinha and the Dutch Governor of Colombo again at\nBatticaloa on 14th<\/sup> February 1766. By this agreement the \u2018king conceded the\nDutch possessions of Colombo, Matara, Galle, Kalpitiya, Trincomalee, Mannar and\nBatticaloa with a cost line of 4 miles inland. At this time the Dutch were an\neconomic power with their cinnamon industry and trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reign of the last King of Kandy, Sri Wickrema Rajasinha,\nthe last of the four Indian Nayakkar kings, was a matter of consternation not\nonly to his Ministers and Chiefs but to the Buddhist clergy led by the two\nOfficial custodians of the sacred Tooth relict of the Lord Buddha enshrined and\nhoused at the Temple of the Tooth, namely, the High Priests of the Asgiriya and\nMalwatta monasteries (temples). The Nayakkar kings were never fully accepted.\nThere was a general aversion to their foreign ancestry. Furthermore, there were\ndoubts cast on the royal ancestry of the Nayakkar kings and their regal legitimacy.\nThe combination of a doubtful royal ancestry and the foreignness of the Nayakkars\njustified the opposition of the nobles against their alien king  (Lorna Dewaraja- The Kandyan Kingdom).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the three preceding Nayakkar\nkings, who took advice from their Prime ministers in governing the country, Sri\nWickrema Rajasinha, on the other hand, partly because of his autocratic nature\nand partly because of the strong influence of his Nayakkar relatives, was not\ninclined to follow his predecessors. When Pilimatalawe complained to him that\nhe did not take his advice, the king rebuffed him by replying I am not to be\ndirected by the Chiefs, but the Chiefs were are to take orders from me\u2019 When\nPilimatalawe objected to  numerous public\nworks undertaken by the king as to imposed great hardship on the people, the\nKing removed him from his position\u2019 He continued his policy of undermining the\npower of the Chiefs by splitting the Dissawas (Provinces), shuffling the\nofficers, appointing persons to high offices from outside the established\nruling families, raising the fees payable by the Chiefs, revival of death duty\non their properties. He punished Chiefs ruthlessly on the slightest pretext and\noften without trial; thus he executed many of them such as Arawwawala,\nDangamuwa, Lewke, Puswella, Ratwatte, Kandepola and Mampitiya Bandara. Local\nChiefs who protested at the forced labour in the construction of the Kandy Lake\nwere impaled on the lake bed itself. Almost every ruling family had lost one or\nmore of their members during this programme, some went into hiding or left the\ncity. There were at least three unsuccessful attempts to assassinate him\u201d. The\nKing also antoganised the Buddhist Clergy not only by his halfhearted support\nof Buddhism but also by his attempts to shift the Malwatta Temple to enlarge\nthe lake and to shift the Natha devale to build a new Palace for himself on its\nsite. He imprisoned several monks and executed two Anunayakes, namely Ven.\nSooriyagoda and Ven. Paranathala\u2013( The Last days of the Kandyan Kingdom \u2013 Dr.\nJ.B.Kelegama (1993))<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Costal islanders, having survived the jack boot authority of\nthe Portugese and the Dutch weary of another invading foreign force, the\nBritish, choose to leave their native places of abode and seek the sanctuary of\nthe last Sinhala outpost in the hills known as the Sinhale\u2019. These outsiders\u2019\ndid not, at first, assimilate with the Kandyan inhabitants, and this marked the\nUp-country and Low-country Sinhalese divide. Of these some had stealthily woven\ntheir way in to the confidence of King Sri Wickrema Rajasinha. They introduced\nBritish Officers to the King, encouraging the establishment of trading\narrangements. This was also the time when Muslim traders made their way into\nthe Kandyan provinces.  A gradual\ncultural and social shift was creeping into the hitherto pristine Sinhala\nBuddhist way in the Kingdom that the nobles and the peasants had jealously\nnurtured and preserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notwithstanding the conversion to Buddhism by these Nayakkar\nkings and building of temples by them, it has also been argued that with a\ngrowing ethnic consciousness of the Sinhala people in that part of the country,\nit triggered the rise of a Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardy mountaineers of the interior, preserved their\nindependence enabling us to form an estimate of Sinhalese as a live and\nindividual people, with a national character and a national art, an\nindividuality and art which is more difficult and often impossible to trace in\nthe low country districts, long subject to western influence.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people of the interior became the saviors of culture and\nhistory, the preservation of names, dresses and legal systems that derived much\nfrom their ancient heritage. Thus, it shall be to the eternal credit of the\nKandyans that the Buddhist religion, the customs and culture including the arts,\ndances and rituals, unpolluted by foreign influence, subsists to this day, much\nof which is aped in the all parts of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a time when those living in the maritime areas had\nsuccumbed to the invaders and capitulated, jettisoning whatever religion,\nculture and indigenous culture that they might have had. These people succeeded\nin repulsing all foreign invasions for over three hundred years and preserved\ntheir ancient line of monarchy and their unique culture for the posterity\u201d \u2013 (Ananda\nCoomaraswamy (1912) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historians have argued and differed on the tyrannical and oppressive\ncharacter of the last King. Conversely he has been portrayed as a sympathetic\nand humane man by his captors. The brutal execution of the wife and small\nchildren of the renegade Ehelepola Adikaram who had defected to the British is\ndescribed, as follows: After having first incarcerated the wife aged 34 years and\n3 minor children, including an infant, on 1st<\/sup> May 1814 at a spot\nbetween the Natha devale (temple) and the Vishnu devale, a drunken king ordered\nand watched the execution of the entire family. \nA distraught Kandyan populace, it is said did not cook any meals in\ntheir houses for a whole week. The wooden mortar used to crush the infant is\nsaid to have been in the possession of Dr. J.W.Attygalle as at 1929.  (Lesser Known Stories of the Kandyan Kingdom \u2013Chamikara\nPilapitiya, 2018.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wanton\ndestruction of human life comprises or implies the existence of general\noppression. In conjunction with that, no other proofs of the exercise of\ntyranny require to be specified; and one single instance, of no distant date,\nwill be acknowledged to include every tiling which is barbarous and\nunprincipled in public rule, and to portray the last stage of individual\ndepravity and wickedness, the obliteration of every trace of conscience, and\nthe complete extinction of human feeling. Coupled with their growing resentment\nto the dilution of their cherished, indigenous religious and social norms and\nvalues and the danger thereto, the Kandyan chiefs looked to secure those norms\nand values. Undoubtedly two other strong motivating factors were the removal of\nan unreliable King and the diminishing of the influence that they hitherto\nenjoyed. Attempts to install a Sinhala king, in the form of the Pretender,\nMuttusamy had already ended in failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nCulavamsa (Part II) describes the King`s tyranny as follows: He had the chief\ncouncillors, the great dignitaries and many other officials gathered together\nand destroyed his subject like the devil. He had the people, many hundreds in\nnumber brought to different spots and had them impaled, merciless in death.\nMuch wealth that had come to the people by inheritance, the king confiscated\nlike a thief that robs villages\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr.\nColvin R de Silva`s assessment of Pilimatalawe is as follows: If the Adigar`s\nmethods were disloyal, his motives did not lack a semblance of patriotism.\nThat, he a Sinhalese of royal descent, should long to depose a foreign dynasty\nis as understandable as his intention to implement that consummation to forward\nhis personal ambitions was natural. At the same time there can be little doubt\nthat, though he offered to become in some fashion a British tributary, he had\nno real intention to surrender Kandy. His policy was simply in line with a\nfateful Kandyan tradition \u2013 calling in a foreigner to settle domestic disputes\nbut discarding him on attaining that object\u201d \u2013 (Ceylon under the British\nOccupation \u2013 Vol I).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nchiefs had invited the British to depose of their despotic King, not to take\nover their kingdom. The unequivocal assurances of D`Oyly that the British had\nno plans of conquest and aggrandizement. \nMarshall describes the feeling of the Kandyan chiefs thus: You have now\ndeposed of the King and nothing more is required. You may leave us\u201d They had\nbeen lulled into a false sense of security by D`Oyly and naively believed the\nBritish expressions of good intentions and sympathy with their plight allowing\nthemselves to be duped.  It was Ehelepola\nwho persuaded the Chiefs to support the British. It can be surmised that it was\na reason for his brother-in-law, Keppetipola Dissawa to the patriotic freedom\nuprising three years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A precursor to the signing of the Kandyan Convention was the\nOfficial declaration of the Settlement of the Kandyan Provinces, the\nProclamation of 10th<\/sup> January 1815 which stated that it is not\nagainst the Kandyan Nation that the arms of His Majesty are directed. His\nExcellency proclaims hostility against that tyrannical power alone, which has\nprovoked aggravated outrages and indignities which has cut off the most ancient\nand noblest families deluged the land with blood and by the violation of every\nreligious and moral law became an object of abhorrence to mankind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The role of the\nChief Priests of the 2 Buddhist Temples, as the chief custodians of the sacred\ntooth relic of Lord Buddha, – recognised as the symbol of Buddhism, was\nsignificant as was the role of the Kandyan chiefs. The sacred relic had been\ntaken from place to place during turbulent times of invasions and war, for it is\nthe belief to this day that whoever rules should do so where the sacred relic\nis enshrined. Of the two, the Mahanayake \u2013 the Chief of the Malwatta Temple, Ven.\nKobbekaduwa Thero who was an educated and knowledgeable person, made his own\nassessment of the British vis a vis the Dutch and the Portugese. In his view,\nthe British were more qualified not only to administer the country but he perceived\nthem as a more educated and a more reasonable and reliable people. The\nnegotiations of the treaty were led by the MilleweDissawa, acting as\nspokesperson of the nobles where their concerns and questions were raised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The role of John D`Oyly\nis very significant. This was a British Civil officer, who had been described an\nintelligence man, a mole, a master-spy, a manipulator, a shrewd and wily negotiator\namong other descriptions. Having learnt Sinhala, he befriended both the clergy\nand the King and his Ministers and Chiefs. Much of the drafting of the\nConvention is attributed to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the initial discussions had with D\u2019Oyly, thenobles\nandthe religious potentates of Kandy were adamant in including clause 5\nconcerning the protection of Buddhism. Later at the meeting with the governor,\nthe heads of the two Buddhist monasteries of Asgiriya and Malwatta extracted a\nguarantee that Buddhism would not be compromised\u201d \u2013 (The Kandyan Convention at\nthe Audience Hall \u2013 Rootsweb.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British Governor Brownrigg promised, in the name\nof His Majesty the King of Great Britain, to the Kandyan chiefs, the\ncontinuance of their respective ranks and dignities; to the people, relief from\nall arbitrary severities and oppressions, with the fullest protection of their\npersons and property; and to all classes, the inviolate maintenance of their\nreligion and the preservation of their ancient laws and institutions, with the\nextension of the blessings resulting from the establishment of justice,\nsecurity and peace, which are enjoyed by the most favoured nations living under\nthe safeguard of the British crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the capture of the last King of Kandy by the British\nin 1815, the indigenous ruling nobility of the Kandyan Kingdom entered into a\nsolemn Convention with the British Colonial Government of that time with the\nfervent hope and expectation that, its conditions would be respected and\nhonoured by the rulers of the British Empire. \nThe objective of this bi lateral international agreement, unprecedented\nas it was, was entered into whereby the people of the subject nation  were guaranteed rights, privileges and safe\nguards, specifically preserving the\ncultural and religious heritage if its people, a document which was to receive\nthe endorsement of the British Parliament.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nquestions that begs consideration is whether the Religious Leaders and the\nChiefs negotiated from a position of strength or weakness? Why did the British\nnegotiate if they were in an unassailable position, and why enter in to a\ntreaty with guarantees to the conquered\u201d? In such a situation, can the signing\nof this negotiated convention be said to be a betrayal?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kandyan Convention was a Treaty\nofficially recognised as having been signed on the 2nd<\/sup> of March 1815,\nbut it is said that some signatures were subsequently placed after further\ndiscussion among the Kandyan Chiefs. It marked the end of 2358 years of\nself-rule on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nthis day the 2nd<\/sup> of March 1815, it is recorded by Captain L.D.Bush,\nan English General, that governor Brownrigg arrived early at the Audience Hall.\nHe had beengreetedby Molligoda Adigar and others and a discussion ensured. Thereafter,\nthe Governor had called on the Chief High priest Ven. Kobbekaduwa at the\nMalwatta Temple. After lengthy discussion, attended by other senior priests and\nthe Kandyan nobles, agreement had been reached, especially with regards to that\npart of the Convention which relates to Buddhism, its temples and places of\nworship.  It is reported that the High\nPriest addressed the Governor thus: We have heard of your virtues, of your\npiety and of your charity; and the great revolutions which have been affected\namong us, have had their source, not less in the admiration of your character\nand government, than the evils we have suffered\u201d. This original transcript is\nsaid to be in the Library of the Malwatta temple. Thereafter the Governor left\nfor the Audience Hall once again. He had been followed by the Kandyan chiefs\nand joined by the Mahanayake and his retinue. The signing of the Kandyan\nConvention is said to have taken place late on the night of the 2nd<\/sup>\nMarch 1815. (Chamikara Pilapitiya \u2013 Lesser Known Stories of the Kandyan kingdom\n\u2013 Vol II (2018)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhala translation of the Convention\nclearly says it was an agreement between the Kingdom of Britain and Sinhale,\nwhich meant the whole Island and its maritime territories and the ocean around.\nThis historic Convention had only 12 clauses and it was issued in Kandy as a\nRoyal Proclamation of the 2nd of March 1815.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned previously,\nGovernor Robert\nBrownrigg<\/a>,\nsigned for the British Crown with John D\u2019Oyly, designated as the chief Translator and another high ranking Official, James Sutherlandaswitnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kandyan Chiefs who signed the convention were:-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ehelepola Nilame<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molligoda<\/a> Snr. – Maha\nAdigar<\/a> & Dissawa\nof the Sath Korales<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PilimaTalawuwe<\/a> Snr. alias Kapuwatte<\/a> – 2nd\nAdigar<\/a> & Dissawa of\nSabaragamuwa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PilimaTalawuwe<\/a> Jnr. – Dissawa of Hathra\nKorales<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monarawila<\/a> – Dissawa of Uva<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ratwatte<\/a> – Dissawa of Matale<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molligoda<\/a> Jnr. – Dissawa of Thun\nKorales<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dullewe<\/a> – Dissawa of Walapane<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millewe<\/a> – Dissawa\nof Wellassa & Bintenna<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galagama<\/a> – Dissawa of\nTamankaduwa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galagoda<\/a> – Dissawa\nof Nuwara Kalawiya<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nclauses in the agreement were, briefly;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. ‘Sri Wickrema Rajasinha’,\nthe ‘Malabari<\/a>‘ king, to forfeit\nall claims to the throne of Kandy.<\/li>
  2. The king is declared fallen\nand deposed and the hereditary claim of his dynasty, abolished and\nextinguished.<\/li>
  3. All his male relatives are\nbanished from the island.<\/li>
  4. The dominion is vested in\nthe sovereign of the British Empire, to be exercised through colonial\ngovernors, except in the case of the Adikarams, Dissawas, Mohottalas, Korales,\nVidanes and other subordinate officers reserving the rights, privileges and\npowers within their respective ranks.<\/li>
  5. The religion of Buddhism is\ndeclared inviolable and its rights to be maintained and protected.<\/li>
  6. All forms of physical\ntorture and mutilations are abolished.<\/li>
  7. The governor alone can\nsentence a person to death and all capital punishments to take place in the\npresence of accredited agents of the government.<\/li>
  8. All civil and criminal\njustice over Kandyan to be administered according to the established norms and\ncustoms of the country, the government reserving to itself the rights of\ninterposition when and where necessary.<\/li>
  9. Other non-Kandyan positions\nto remain according to British law.<\/li>
  10. The proclamation annexing\nthe Three and Four Korales and Sabaragamuwa is repealed.<\/li>
  11. The dues and revenues to be\ncollected for the King of England as well as for the maintenance of internal\nestablishments in the island.<\/li>
  12. The Governor alone can\nfacilitate trade and commerce.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Of thesethe following clauses are of significance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4th<\/sup>\nClause<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The dominion of the Kandyan\nprovinces is vested in the Sovereign of the British empire and to be exercised\nthrough the Governors or Lieutenant Governors of Ceylon for the time being, and\ntheir accredited Agents, saving to the\nAdigars, Dissawas, Mohottalas, Korales, \nVidanes and all other chief and subordinate native Headmen lawfully\nappointed by authority of the British government, the rights, privileges and\npowers of their respective offices and to all classes of people the safety of\ntheir persons and property, with their civil rights and immunities, according\nto the laws, institutions and customs established and in force amongst them. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5th<\/sup>Clause<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The\nreligion of Boodho (Buddha), professed by the Chiefs and inhabitants of these\nprovinces, is declared inviolable, and its rites, ministers, and places of\nworship are to be maintained and protected. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    8th<\/sup> Clause. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Subject to these conditions, the administration of civil and criminal justice and police over the\nKandian inhabitants of the said provinces is to be exercised according to\nestablished forms, and by the ordinary authorities<\/strong>; saving always the\ninherent right of government to redress grievances and reform abuses in all in\nstances whatever, particular or general,and where such interposition shall\nbecome necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At the\ntime and to my knowledge even to date, never has a mighty, powerful invading\nforeign country entered in to an agreement with the subjugated State with guarantees\nand safe guards including provisions for the continued use of religious and\nadministrative practices and saving unto the Chiefs and other state\nfunctionaries the powers of office with guarantees of the safety of person and\nproperty with civil rights and immunities. Surely, this cannot by any stretch\nof imagination be termed a betrayal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Subsequently, there was a period of relative peace and\ntranquility during the first three years of British rule (1815-1818). However,\nthe indigenous leaders increasingly witnessed an erosion and violation of the legally binding terms and<\/strong> conditions\nlaid down in the Kandyan Convention, by the lawfully appointed authority of the British government. The rights,\nprivileges and powers of their respective offices were usurped<\/strong> creating dissension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A dispatch by Lord Bathurst from\nLondon on 30th<\/sup> August 1815 to Governor Brownrigg stated: His Royal\nHighness has commanded to signify to you his general approbation of the\nprinciples of liberal policy by which you have been guided in acceding to the\nconvention for the annexation of the Kingdom of Kandy. I cannot conceal from\nyou that  the satisfaction of His Royal\nHighness would have been more complete if the 5th<\/sup> Article of the\nConvention, which relates to the superstition of Boodho, had been couched in\nterms less liable to misconstruction\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.. The term inviolable\u2019 in the\nArticle 5, as I do not conceive it can have been, understood as precluding\ntheir efforts which are making to disseminate Christianity in Ceylon, by the\npropagation of the scriptures, or by the fair and discreet preaching of its ministers,\nit would be very much in variance with the principles upon which his Majesty`s\nGovernment have uniformly acted for guarding against so great an evil\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There appeared re-appropriation and a resistance to the British\nrule. A very intrinsic part of the Kandyan politics and power was the critical\nrelationship between the Buddhist clergy and the nobles of the time. A\ndefinitive usurpation of this was becoming evident. Colonial dispatches to\nLondon refer to many episodes of that time in religious ceremonies. Kandyan\ncustoms, legal practices and traditions were re-appropriated as a means of\nresistance. The Kandyan Sinhalese were described in these dispatches asa\nrebellious people with a subversive national culture\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A British Parliamentary\nreport in 1849 stated that there are periodical manifestations of one abiding\nand continuous feeling in the minds of the Kandyan people to restore a Kandyan sovereign\nand an impatience with British supremacy which turned to outrage at the\nunilateral abrogation of the Convention and in blatant violation of its\nundertakings, paving the way for the historic uprising, the first freedom\nstruggle for independence of 1818, which the British termed a rebellion \u2013 (The\nHistorical Journal – James Wilson \u2013 Cambridge University Press)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Governor Brownrigg unilaterally abrogated this\nConvention by a Royal Proclamation in 1818. It declared the supremacy the\nBritish Crown, exercised through the Governor and his Agents and to which\nobedience of all citizens is due. The Board of Commissioners and the resident\nAgents of the Government were vested with the sole power over the affairs of\nthe territory. This was issued on the wake of the so-called rebellion of 1818.\nThe last section (56) stated “He (Governor) also reserves full power to\nalter the present provisions as may appear hereafter necessary and expedient:\nand he requires, in his Majesty\u2019s name, all officers civil and military, all\nAdigars, Dissawas and other chiefs, and all other His Majesty\u2019s subjects, to be\nobedient, aiding, and assisting in the execution of these or other his orders,\nas they shall answer the contrary at their peril”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The reasons that led to the above state of affairs are\nnarrated by different historians. Some of the more perceptive British rulers of\nthe time detected the signs of the gathering storm well in advance. Without paying due heed to such prognoses, high\ncolonial authorities continued their blatant display of the ‘right of\nconquest’. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sir A.C. Lawrie, the District Judge of Kandy, writing a few years after the Rebellion\nhad this to say: The story of British rule in the Kandyan country during the\nrebellion of 1818 cannot be related without shame\u2026.. By 1819, hardly a member\nof the leading families remained alive\u2026\u2026 those whom the sword and the gun had\nspared, cholera and small pox and privations had slain by the hundreds\u2026.. any\nsubsequent effort by the Government to develop Kandyan areas were only attempts\nbegun and abandoned\u2026. (Lawrie\u2019s Gazetteer, 203p.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In 1844 the British reneged on the commitment to safeguard\nBuddhism. The ferocity with which a betrayed people rose and fought was such\nthat the armed struggle claimed many British lives until they were put down\nwith brutish force. Governor Torrington`s response was the imposition of\nmartial law and a brutish quelling of the uprising with troops brought from\nIndia. The leaders, and members of the Kandyan hierarchy were executed,\nincluding Buddhist Priests as stated in the debate in the House of Commons in\ntheir full robes\u2019.  Torrington was\nrecalled and a motion of censure on the colonial government in Ceylon was narrowly\ndefeated by 282 to 202 in May 1851<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Proclamation has tightened the grip of the\nBritish authority over the Island and set the process of gradual erosion of\npower of the priests and the local aristocrats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It took a hundred years and more for the country\nto achieve independence in 1948 with a constitution drafted and enacted by the\nBritish Parliament, referred to as the Soulbury constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The 1972 Republican Constitution repealed the\n1948 Soulbury Constitution and enshrined a provision for the protection and\nfostering of Buddhism, which was copied in to current constitution in 1978.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Kandyan Convention finds a place in the Legislative\nEnactments of Ceylon and Brownrigg\u2019s Proclamation ratified by the British Parliament\nalso appears in the Sri Lankan statutes under the title Declaration of British\nSovereignty, although it is in direct conflict and in contradiction with\nKandyan Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The question whether the unilateral abrogation of the\nConvention solemnly entered into by and between two states is valid remains an\nunanswered legal question. Rules of natural justice would undoubtedly say\notherwise. Almost a hundred years later, the British Privy Council \u2013 the\nhighest Appellate Court in the Commonwealth \u2013 was called upon to make a\ndecision based upon the Kandyan Convention. It was the famous Gampola\nWallahagoda Devale case, arising from an objection taken in 1879 to the\nconduct of an annual Perahera (Religious Procession)by the Buddhists. The\nDistrict Judge of Kandy, Paul E. Peiris (later Sir Paul) held that the\nguarantees in the Convention allowed the Buddhists to conduct its religious\nrites.  The Supreme Court over turned\nthat judgment and an appeal was preferred to the Privy Council in London.  At that time, the Governor Sir John Anderson\nintervened and settled the dispute allowing the conduct of the procession along\nthe streets of Gampola. It can be safely assumed that the British Authorities\ngot the Governor to do what he did, and thereby saving face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Even now, it is open to the British to repent its violation\nof the treaty and the brutality that they unleashed and make reparation.The\nKandyan peasantry and their descendants wait reparation by the way of the\nreturn of the land of their ancestors snatched \nby  the fa\u00e7ade of the Waste Lands\nOrdinance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Kandyan Convention as much as the subsequent struggles\nensured the preservation not only ofthe pristine Theravada doctrine of Buddhism,\nbut as importantly, the unpolluted indigenous Kandyan arts, culture and\ntraditions which prevail to this day and are proudly displayed in all parts of\nthe country by all Sri Lankans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This\nis an English version of the Sinhala speech delivered by Harindra Dunuwille, on\nSaturday 9th<\/sup> March 2019 at the Arts Faculty Auditorium of the\nUniversity of Peradeniya at the Public seminar under the theme The Kandyan\nConvention and the future of Sri Lanka\u201d . Dunuwille is a Senior Attorney at\nLaw  He \nis a   former State Minister and\nMayor of Kandy  and is  presently \nChairman of the Central Provincial Public Service Commission. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Harindra Dunuwille Much has been said and written about the Kandyan Convention of 1815 whereby the Kandyan Kingdom was ceded to the British. Historians and writers have over the years interpreted the events that led to the signing and the cessation of what was the last bastion of Sinhale\u201d. The document itself, its drafting, its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[138],"class_list":["post-86601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","tag-kandyan-convention"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}