Survival of Kandy before Three European Nations

Abstract

This paper intends to trace the secret of survival of Knadyan kingdom till it fell down to the British in 1815. The innovational methods used by Kandyan since the day Kandy was attacked by Portuguese in later part of 16th century till the British period and more importantly how Kandyans adopted themselves to the novel aspects of gun powder and other military technology of the west would be deeply examined in this research paper. As Prof. Lorna Devaraja pointed out in her most notable paper “Survival of Kandyan Kingdom and its secret “ to Royal Asiatic Society, there were few crucial factors that made impacts on the survival of Kandyan kingdom. This paper examines how traditional knowledge factors and the intrinsic ability of surviving in Kandy with its geography caused to sustain its territory from any debacle. Furthermore this paper will trace the strategic actions laid down by Sinhalese soldiers in Kandyan kingdom against European invaders and how western technology was assimilated into the practice of native military as method of resistance will be questioned in this paper. The historical narratives written by European soldiers during the invasion and other historiographical literature will be used as the research method to carry out this paper work and this paper is based on a doctrinal research methodology to the research question.