The Kandy Conventions and the Land Laws That Shattered Ceylon

We trace the precise moment the British East India Company moved from diplomatic containment to outright annexation in Sri Lanka. While earlier episodes covered the Uva Rebellion and the death of Keppetipola Disawe, this episode focuses on the legal machinery behind the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom. We examine the Waste Lands Ordinance of 1840, a policy that redefined ownership and dismantled the Rajakariya system. The conversation explores how colonial administrators like Robert Brownrigg and John D'Oyly used treaty violations as pretexts for war. We look at the final days of King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha and the role of the Nayakkar Dynasty in navigating an impossible political landscape. Listeners will learn how the concept of 'waste land' was weaponized against Sinhalese peasants, erasing centuries of communal tenure. This is a story about bureaucracy as a weapon of conquest, and the quiet, administrative end of an independent monarchy.

#SriLankaHistory #KandyanKingdom #WasteLandsOrdinance #RobertBrownrigg #JohnDOyly #RajakariyaSystem #NayakkarDynasty #SriVikramaRajasinha #BritishCeylon #ColonialLaw #LandTenure #UvaRebellion #KeppetipolaDisawe #EhelepolaMahaNilame #DaladaMaligawa #SouthAsianHistory #FexingoHistory #History

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