posted June 08, 2000 03:59 PM            

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In 1815 Kandyan Kingdom was captured by the British. It was the last of the three kingdoms to fall. The 50th Independence day celebrations were arranged in Kandy because of the fact that it was the capital of the last Sinhalese Kingdom. Is there is truth in it?

The last king of the Kandyan Kingdom Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe II is not a Sinhalese but a Tamil. People who want to distort the history for political reasons claim him as a Sinhalese. In south India, the Vijayanagar Empire (Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh) was established by Krishna Devarayar. The dynasty had its control over whole of south India including Madurai. Madurai was ruled by a Nayakar from the dynasty. They are Tamil speaking Telungu people. In culture they were Dravidian Tamils . Vai Gopalasamy, Arkattu Verrasamy second in command in DMK and E.V Ramasamy Nayakar (Periar) are all descendents of this Nayakar dynasty. The great warrior Veera Pandia Kattaboman from Panchalm Kuruchi in Thirunelvelli too a descendent from the Nayakar dynasty.

The name Bandara (Pandara) Nayake too signifies the relationship with the Nayaker dynasty. The last king of Kandy Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe II too was from Nayaker dynasty. Before he became the king his name was Kannusamy. Even the person who contested him for the throne too was Tamil named Muthusamy.

Rajasinghe II married a Tamil princess from Madurai. Tamil was the official language in the Kandyan kingdom when he was the king. In 1818 the surrender document was written in Tamil and English only. It was signed by the King in Tamil only and could be seen in the Colombo Museum unless they have altered it for political reasons. 11 Kandyan Lords also signed the document and out of them five lords signed in Tamil. Ratwatte Disawa a forefather of Bandaranayake and Ratwatte family signed it in Tamil.

The king was captured by the British kept in a confinement in a location near Cylinco house opposite the Central Bank and when he died his body was sent to Vellore , in Tamil Nadu. The last Kandyan King's monument is still there in Vellore. This is the story of the Tamil blood that flows in the veins of Bandaranayke (Nayakar) dynasty. But due to political reasons and to be in power they claim themselves Kandyan Sinhala Buddhists. SWRD Bandaranayake too changed religion from Buddhism to Christianity for the sake of personal benefits. How could people trust such a Political dynasty who are turncoats?

Source: Eelanadu

posted June 10, 2000 08:59 PM            

Most historians agree that he last king was from South India. However, during the Kandyan kingdom, it did not matter what race the king belonged to, so long as the king protected Buddhism and the Dalada Maligawa. That is the simple reason why the Sinhalese accepted him as their king, and why the British won when they took over the Maligawa.