Great Rebellion of 1817–1818: Difference between revisions

| partof = the [[Kandyan Wars]] 1796-1818

[[File:King of Kandy.svg|25px]] [[Radala]] betrayers collaborators

| commander1 = [[Keppetipola Disawe]]<br/>[[Madugalle Nilame]]<br/>[[Ehelepola Nilame]]

| units2 = [[Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)]] [[73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot]]

'''Great Rebellion of 1817–1818''' ({{lang-si|ඌව වෙල්ලස්ස මහා කැරැල්ල}}), also known as the '''1818 Uva–Wellassa Rebellion ''' (after the two places it had started), was the third [[Kandyan Wars|Kandyan War]] in the Uva and Wellassa provinces of the former [[Kingdom of Kandy]], which is today the [[Uva (Sri Lanka)|Uva province]] of [[Sri Lanka]]. The rebellion started against the [[British Ceylon|British colonial government]] under [[British governors of Ceylon|Governor]] [[Robert Brownrigg]], three years after the [[Kandyan Convention]] ceded Kingdom of Kandy to the [[British Crown]].

The rebellion was initiated by disgruntled Kandyan chiefs who were disillusioned by the British colonial administration. It gained initial success with many Kandyan chiefs such as [[Keppetipola Disawe]] sent to suppress it joining the rebel forces. Major Sylvester Douglas Wilson, the [[Resident minister#British and dominion residents|Assistant Resident]] in Badulla was killed and the rebels soon gained much control over the region. A [[pretender]] to the throne of Kandy, Wilbawe was proclaimed king. Governor Brownrigg established his field headquarters at Kandy and directed military operations against the rebels, who had resorted to hit-and-run attacks, with the assistance of Kandyan chiefs who remained loyal which included [[Molligoda Nilame|Molligoda Maha Adikaram]] and [[Ratwatte Nilame|Ratwatte Adikaram]]. Brownrigg soon received reinforcements from [[British India]]. Following the capture of many rebel leaders, the rebellion eventually fizzled out as the last remaining rebel holdouts were killed or captured by the British.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/03/11/sri-lanka-revoke-british-governor%E2%80%99s-infamous-gazette-notification|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102192549/http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/03/11/sri-lanka-revoke-british-governor%E2%80%99s-infamous-gazette-notification|title=Sri Lanka is to revoke British Governor's infamous Gazette Notification|archive-date=2 January 2016|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref>

Following the annexation of the Kandyan Kingdom by the British under the terms of the [[Kandyan Convention]] in 1815, certain actions of the British antagonize the Kandyan Chiefs who now found them under their administration. The lack of respect shown by British of all ranks to high ranking Kandyan chiefs and priests further angered them. Two incidents are believed to have trigger the revolt. The first occurred in June 1816, when Madugalle Uda Gabada Nilame proposed to the chief priest the removal of the [[relic of the tooth of the Buddha]] from [[Kandy]] unknown to the [[Sir John D'Oyly, 1st Baronet, of Kandy|John D'Oyly]] the British [[Resident_ministerResident minister#British_and_dominion_residentsBritish and dominion residents|Resident]] in Kandy. This was followed in September 1816, when he publicly sent offerings to the deities at Bintenne and Kataragama to the overthrow of British and a return of a native king. Madugalle was tried by the British of treason, dismissed from office and exiled to Colombo. His walauwa (house) burnt and possessions were confiscated and sold with the proceededproceeds going to a pension fund for British officers. Another incident took place that angered the Kandyan Chiefs as it directly challenged their traditional rights that the British promised to protect under the Kandyan Convention. This was the appointment of Haji Marikkar Travala, a Moorman of Wellasse, as [[Muhandiram|Madige Muhandiram]] by the Governor on the recommendation of D'Oyly in September 1817. The post of Madige Muhandiram was traditionally held by families of Kandyan chiefs and it undermined the authority of the Millewa Dissawa. Local chiefs in [[Badulla]], Kivulegedara Mohottala, Kohu Kumbure Rate Rala, Butawe Rate Rala and Millawe Disawa organized local protests against the Madige Muhandiram's appointment.<ref>{{Cite webnews |date=11 December 2015 |url=httphttps://www.dailymirror.lk/opinionarticle/monarawila-keppetipola-maha nilame mahanilame-a-true - The Great Liberation War/172rebellion-99233.html|title=Monarawila Keppetipola MahaMahanilame nilame: A true Fighterrebellion |websitenewspaper=www.dailymirror.lk[[Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)]] }}</ref><ref name="Tennakoon">{{cite news |last1=Tennakoon |first1=Dr. Dharmadasa |title=The brave attempt to regain the Kandyan Kingdom |url=https://www.dailynews.lk/2018/11/26/features/169425/brave-attempt-regain-kandyan-kingdom |access-date=15 October 2021 |publisherwork=Daily News}}</ref>

Around this time in September 1817, Major Sylvester Douglas Wilson, the Assistant Resident and Agent of the British Government in [[Badulla]] received word that a person of [[Malabar Coast|Malabar]] origin had been gathering a following in the Uva Wellasse region with claims to the throne of Kandy. It was said that this person claimed to be Wilbawe Mudiyanse Doresami, a former priest who claimed to be a relative of the former king and member of the [[Nayaks of Kandy|Nayak dynasty]]. Wilson dispatched the newly appointed Haji Marikkar Travala Mohandiram with a detachment native soldiers to inquire into the suspected Malabar. Having reached Dankumbura in Bintenne, the Haji Marikkar gained information that Wilbawe along with some priests were at Kehelwella with the [[Vedda]]s. On his way to Kehelwella, he was captured by Bootawe Rate Rala in Wellassa and was killed on Wilbawe's orders on 26 September 1817. After Major Wilson received information of Haji Marikkar's death, he set out from Badulla with a contingent of Malay soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Newman to Wellasse on 14 October 1817. He attempted negotiations with the rebels, but on 16 October 1817, while detached from the rest of the group at a stream close to Bibile with only two servants, Major Wilson and one of his servants were killed by arrows fired by MeegahapitiyaHitihami Mudiyanselage Rate Rala and his men. Lieutenant Newman was unable to recover Wilson's body and it was later claimed to have been decapitated.<ref name="Tennakoon"/>

==The 'Great Liberation War'==

The Uwa-Wellassa Uprising was launched by [[Keppetipola Disawe]]. With the exceptions of Molligoda and Ekneligoda, many chiefs joined the uprising. The fighters captured [[Matale]] and [[Kandy]] before Keppetipola fell ill and was captured and beheaded by the British. His skull was abnormal — as it was wider than usual — and was sent to [[Great Britain|Britain]] for testing. It was returned to Sri Lanka after independence and now rests in the Kandyan Museum. The uprising failed due to a number of reasons. It was not well-planned by the leaders. The areas controlled by some pro-British chiefs provided easy transport routes for British supplies. Wilbawe, who was said to have a claim to the Sinhalese throne, was found not to have any relation.<ref>[http://www.lankalibrary.com/geo/keppetipola2.htm Keppetipola and the Uva The Great Liberation War] Virtual Library Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2007-10-01.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lankalibrary.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2910|title=Uva Wellassa The Great Liberation War - 1817 -1818|access-date=23 October 2014|archive-date=26 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026025955/http://www.lankalibrary.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2910|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.southasianmedia.net/cnn.cfm?id=599218&category=Politics&Country=SRI%20LANKA |title=Wellassa riots in 1818 |access-date=2009-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107164855/http://www.southasianmedia.net/cnn.cfm?id=599218&category=Politics&Country=SRI%20LANKA |archive-date=2017-11-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sundaytimes.lk/080203/KandyTimes/kandytimes_0027.html|title=Torture tree of the British Army|access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://srilankatoday.com/content/view/3171/52/|title=1818 Uva Wellassa The Great Liberation War}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yesusurped }}</ref>

The rebellion led to the British colonial government to adopt a [[scorched earth]] policy in order to suppress it. This included the killing of [[cattle]] and other livestock, the destruction of private property (including homes and stocks of [[salt]]) and the burning of rice paddies. In addition to the scorched earth policies, the colonial government also confiscated properties owned by insurgents.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|title=Sri Lanka is to revoke British Governor’sGovernor's infamous Gazette Notification|url=http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/03/11/sri-lanka-revoke-british-governor%E2%80%99s-infamous-gazette-notification|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102192549/http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/03/11/sri-lanka-revoke-british-governor%E2%80%99s-infamous-gazette-notification|archive-date=2 January 2016|access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref>

The rebellion also lead the British to eventually enact mass land confiscations from the Kandyan peasantry via the Crown Lands (Encroachments) Ordinance No. 12 of 1840 (sometimes called the Crown Lands Ordinance or the Waste Lands Ordinance),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ellman |first1=A. O. |last2=Ratnaweera |first2=D. De S. |last3=Silva |first3=K.T. |last4=Wickremasinghe |first4=G. |title=Land Settlement in Sri Lanka 1840-1975: A Review of the Major Writings on the Subject |date=January 1976 |publisher=Agrarian Research and Training Institute |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka |page=16 |url=http://dl.nsf.ac.lk/ohs/harti/22796.pdf |access-date=20 December 2019 |archive-date=27 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827160412/http://dl.nsf.ac.lk/ohs/harti/22796.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> a form of [[enclosure]]; the Kandyan peasantry were reduced to penury. The British found that the uplands of Sri Lanka were very suited to [[coffee]], [[tea]] and [[rubber]] cultivation, and by the mid-19th century, Ceylon tea had become a staple of the British market, bringing great wealth to a small class of European tea planters. To work the estates, the planters imported large numbers of Tamil workers as [[Indentured servitude|indentured labourer]]s from south India, who soon made up 10% of the island's population. These workers were living in harsh conditions and to live in [[line rooms]], not very different from cattle sheds.{{factcitation needed|date=March 2022}}

* [[KandyanMatale Warsrebellion]]

* [https://books.google.com/books?id=ppHNLqowf1cC&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=First+Kandyan+War&sourcepg=bl&ots=JQoiHywI9n&sig=QU19h8B-64lmHArOI_4AiRN0avg&hl=en&ei=0wUUSsDPNMmJkQX90eCLDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#v=onepage&q=First%20Kandyan%20War&f=falsePA16 Ceylon under the British By G.C. Mendis]

[[Category:British19th Ceyloncentury periodin Ceylon]]

[[Category:British19th-century Ceylonrebellions]]

[[Category:19thMilitary centuryhistory inof CeylonSri Lanka]]