Kandy, Sinhalese Kingdom of

The Kingdom of Kandy is an important independent monarchy of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island.

It is founded in late fifteenth century and endures until the early nineteenth century.

Initially a client kingdom of the Kingdom of Kotte, Kandy gradually establishes itself as an independent force during the tumultuous 16th and 17th centuries, allying at various times with the Jaffna Kingdom, the Madurai Nayak Dynasty of South India, Sitawaka, the Portuguese and the Dutch to ensure its survival.

From the 1590s, it is the sole independent native polity on the island of Sri Lanka, and through a combination of hit-and-run tactics and diplomacy keeps European colonial forces - in particular the British - at bay, before finally succumbing to the third and last colonial ruler in 1818.

The kingdom is absorbed into the British Empire as a protectorate following the Kandyan Convention of 1815, and definitively loses its autonomy following the Uva Rebellion of 1817.

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