British Ceylon, known contemporaneously as Ceylon, was a British Crown colony between 1815 and 1948. The area it covered is now the island nation of Sri Lanka.
Before the beginning of the Dutch governance, the island of Ceylon was divided between the Portuguese Empire and the Kingdom of Kandy, who were in the midst of a war for control of the island as a whole. The island attracted the attention of the newly formed Batavian Republic when they wer...
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British Ceylon, known contemporaneously as Ceylon, was a British Crown colony between 1815 and 1948. The area it covered is now the island nation of Sri Lanka.
Before the beginning of the Dutch governance, the island of Ceylon was divided between the Portuguese Empire and the Kingdom of Kandy, who were in the midst of a war for control of the island as a whole. The island attracted the attention of the newly formed Batavian Republic when they were invited by the Sinhalese King to fight the Portuguese, and Dutch rule was soon imposed.
The Dutch, weakened by their wars against Great Britain, were eventually conquered by Napoleon and their leaders became refugees in London. No longer able to effectively govern the island the Dutch transferred the rule of Ceylon to the British against the will of the Dutch residing there.
As soon as Britain gained Ceylon from the Dutch they wanted to expand it by making the native (Kingdom of Kandy) a protectorate, an offer refused by the King of Kandy....
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