Kandian Wars refers to the campaigns of the British expeditionary forces against the Kingdom of Kandy in Ceylon 1803 and 1815.
The First Kandian War in 1803: a British force under Major-General Hay Macdowall and Colonel Barbut captured Kandy and installed a puppet king in February 1803, but were plagued by disease and lost the city as the Sinhalese army counterattacked and massacred the entire British force in June 1803. The British commanders were beheaded. Only 4 soldiers survived. However, the Sinhalese failed to develop their offensive towards Colombo and retreated to Kandy. One more unsuccessful attempt to capture Kandy was undertaken by Captain Arthur Johnson in 1804. In 1805, the Kandyans captured Katuwana, a frontier town.
The Second Kandian War in 1815: After the Kandyan king’s assault on the English garrison of Sitawaka, the British marched to support the revolt of local nobles against the last King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe . The Kingdom of Kandy couldn’t survive the British attack this time and fell on February 10, 1815. The Kandian chiefs had to sign the so-called Kandian Convention with British governer Sir Robert Brownrigg. The treaty decreed that the Kandyan provinces be brought under British sovereignty and that all the traditional privileges of the chiefs and Buddhist law and institutions be maintained.
A popular uprising and guerilla war in 1817-1818 is known as the Third Kandian War. After suppression of the rebellion, British enhanced their power over the country.
