On this 200th anniversary of the Sinhale – British 1815 pact (signed on 2 March 1815), it is not too late for the British to apologise to the direct descendants of the Sinahala Buddhist families that suffered from their brutal carnage. The atrocities committed were crimes against humanity of unimaginable proportions. It is not too late for the British to pay compensation to the direct descendants of their atrocities – a recommendation made by the Sinhala Commission in the early 2000s.
by Chanaka Bandarage
( June 27, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) By late 18th Century, the mighty British were ruiling pockets of Sri Lanka; despite strenuous attempts they were unsuccessful in taking over the whole country. During this time they had taken over the reins from the Dutch, yet, a major portion of the country was ruled and controlled by the Sinhala, Buddhist Kingdom from ‘Mahanuwera’. The Kingdom’s northern boundary extended to the current day, Elephant Pass.
True, the King, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, was not a native Sinhalese (a Tamil speaking Telugu from South India), but, he carried out his duties as a true Sinhala Buddhist. Being nephew of the King, Sri Rajadhi Rajasinghe (1782–1798), Prince, Kannasamy Nayaka (ascended to the throne as Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe) was raised in Sri Lanka and was brought up as a Sinhala, Buddhist. Upon the demise of his uncle, Kannasamy Nayaka was handpicked as the King of ‘Thun Sinhale’ by Sri Rajadhi Rajasinghe’s Prime Minister (‘Maha Adhikaram’), Pilimathalawe. It was Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe that gave further high prominence to ‘Dalada Perahera’; he modernised the Dalada Maligawa where among other things he built the magnificent ‘Paththiriuppuwa’, ‘Wahalkada’ and beautiful temple ponds. By way of ‘Nindagam’ he donated more land to the Dalada Maligawa. The work to construct the Kandy Lake to its tremendous glory, as seen today, was another achievement by the King.
The aristocratic Sinhala, Buddhist leaders of the Upcountry conspired with the British to bring the King’s downfall. Those who were in the forefront of the conspiracy such as Ehelepola (nephew of Pilimathalawe), Eknaligoda, Molligoda, Galagoda Adhikaram et al foolishly thought that after removing the King, the British would hand power to them, on a platter. The British always had other ideas. Though mightiest of all the then Empires – ruled under the iron fist of George III, Sri Lanka was one of the few places that it failed to capture wholesomely. For closer to 20 years, hundreds of British troops sacrificed their lives in several of their unsuccessful attempts to capture the Kandyan kingdom. Each of their attempts was unsuccessful. The wars waged by the Governors Frederick North, Thomas Maitland and Robert Brownrigg are noteworthy.
After the 1815 Sinhala-British pact was signed (the Kandyan Convention), the British did not respect/honour the document. One could say they regarded it useless than the paper it was written on.
When the Sinhalese realised the mistake and their foolish act, all was too late.
In the latter part of his kingdom, the King also did stupid things. In 1814, the King did the stupid act of killing Ehelapola’s wife and children (Ehelepola was rebelling against the King in Sabaragamuwa); this along with his other eccentric acts perpetrated under the influence of heavy alcohol – whiskey (introduced to him by the British, through Sinhala aristocrats), tainted the reputation the King had among his subjects. For majority of the reign (1798 – 1815), Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe was a reasonably good King, but, his rule was full of turbulence. Often he faced opposition from his aristocratic Sinhala Buddhist Ministers (Adhikarams). Upon realization that the Ministers were adamant in hounding him down and that he had no getaway, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe became ‘mad’ and eccentric. But, he never betrayed his nation and the religion. Throughout his reign, he kept the powerful British army away from the kingdom. This is a remarkable achievement.
If the Sinahala Buddhists wanted to overthrow Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, they should have conspired against him themselves, rather than conniving with the British.
They had not learnt a lesson from the previous similar pacts the Sinhala kings had with the Portuguese and the Dutch.
After the King fled to Hanguranketha in January 1815, the aristocrats, if smart, could have captured the kingdom themselves (true, the King held the custody of the sacred Tooth Relic). Instead, they (led by Ehelepola), foolishly decided to hand the country to the British, precisely, on 10 March 1815.
A regal act of the King was that he never bowed down to the British, even after his capture. When he was captured from his hideout in ‘Meda Mahanuwera’ , he refused to walk, but, demanded ‘dolawas’ for him and his wives (2). The British obeyed; though some Sinhala leaders like Eknaligoda insulted him. Before repatriation to India, the King made a powerful speech to the British officials in Colombo, asserting that he would not accept their annexation of his kingdom and that he was still the King of ‘Kanda Udarata’ (Thun Sinahale). At this meeting he also stated he did not order the pounding of Ehelepola’s infant son in a rice pounder (wangediya). He foolishly tried to justify the gruesome murders of Ehelepola’s wife, his daughters and the sister-in-law by drowning them in Kandy lake (a despicable crime); stating that he only carried out an ancient custom. He alleged Ehelepola was forewarned about the executions, and that Ehelepola purposely decided to remain in Sabaragamuwa.
The writer states it was a stupid act by the aristocrats to seek Britain’s help to overthrow the King. They did not seem to have the intelligence/wisdom to fathom that the British rule would be more torturous than that of the King’s. When they realised the real brutality of the British, happened more or less immediately after the pact; as stated before, all was too late. Hundreds and thousands of innocent Sinhala Buddhists , notably in Wellassa, were massacred by the British from 1815 to 1818. They even killed some of the aristocrats who helped them to capture power, including Weera Keppetipola, who was a signatory to the Kandyan Convention (Keppetipola, albeit too late, led a spectacular rebellion against the British in 1818 where he displayed exceptional heroism). Even the main aristocratic leader, Ehelepola was captured and imprisoned (in Mauritius).
On this 200th anniversary of the Sinhale – British 1815 pact (signed on 2 March 1815), it is not too late for the British to apologise to the direct descendants of the Sinahala Buddhist families that suffered from their brutal carnage. The atrocities committed were crimes against humanity of unimaginable proportions. It is not too late for the British to pay compensation to the direct descendants of their atrocities – a recommendation made by the Sinhala Commission in the early 2000s. On behalf of few Uva families (direct innocent descendants of the atrocities), Sri Lanka Support Group (Global) has decided to take up the issue of compensation with the British Government.
The writer is the President of Sri Lanka Support Group (Global)
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