Kingdom of Kandy

The Kingdom of Kandy is a nation located in the former British Ceylon that is a Puppet State of the Indo-Persian Empire.

## History

### Origin

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 Dutch Republic when they were invited by the Sinhalese King to fight the Portuguese. Dutch rule over much of the island was soon imposed.

In the late 18th century the Dutch, weakened by their wars against Great Britain, were conquered by Napoleonic France, and their leaders became refugees in London. No longer able to govern their part of the island effectively, the Dutch transferred the rule of it to the British, although this was against the wishes of the Dutch residing there. The capture of the island immediately yielded £300,000 of money in goods, as well as the acquisition of the cinnamon plantations, making this a valuable venture.

As soon as Great Britain gained the European-controlled parts of Ceylon from the Dutch, they wanted to expand their new sphere of influence by making the native Kingdom of Kandy a protectorate, an offer initially refused by the King of Kandy. Although the previous Dutch administration had not been powerful enough to threaten the reign of the Kandyan Kings, the British were much more powerful. The Kandyan refusal to accept a protectorate led eventually to war, which ended with the capitulation of the Kandyans.

The rule of the king Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe was not favoured by his chieftains. The king, who was of South Indian ancestry, faced powerful chieftains and sought cruel measures to repress their popularity with the people. A successful coup was organised by the Sinhala chiefs in which they accepted the British Crown as their new sovereign. This ended the line of the kingdom of Kandy and King Rajasinghe was taken as a prisoner, ending his hope that the British would allow him to retain power. The Kandyan treaty which was signed in 1815 was called the Kandyan Convention and stated the terms under which the Kandyans would live as a British protectorate. The Buddhist religion was to be given protection by the Crown, and Christianity would not be imposed on the population, as had happened during Portuguese and Dutch rule. The Kandyan Convention is an important legal document because it specifies the conditions which the British promised for the Kandyan territory.

It took the ruling families of Kandy less than two years to realise that the authority of the British government was a fundamentally different one to that of the (deposed) Nayakkar dynasty. Soon the Kandyans rebelled against the British and waged a guerrilla war. Discontent with British activities soon boiled over into open rebellion, commencing in the duchy of Uva in 1817, so called the Uva Rebellion, also known as the Third Kandyan War, when, according to a dissertation written by J. B. Müller, the British rulers killed everyone from the Uva-Wellassa region. The main cause of the rebellion was the British authorities' failure to protect and uphold the customary Buddhist traditions, which were viewed by the islanders as an integral part of their lives.

The rebellion, which soon developed into a guerrilla war of the kind the Kandyans had fought against European powers for centuries, was centred on the Kandyan nobility and their unhappiness with developments under British rule since 1815. However it was the last uprising of this kind and Britain's brutal response massacred the rebels, as a warning to the rest of the Sri Lankan community and annexed the Kingdom of Kandy to British Ceylon in 1817.

### Creation

After Reza Shah conquered India he conquered Ceylon as the last British outpost. After the War he declared Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar the King of Kandy. Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar ruled until his death in 1925 when his son Ahmad Shah Qajar, the predecessor of Reza Shah became the new king.

### Kandy Krisis

During the Al Jinna Dictatorship, Mohammad Ali Shah had given his support for Al Jinna which resulted in his assassination by Buddhist Insurrectionists. This resulted in his son Ahmad Shah Qajar taking the throne. Sadly Ahmad was unable to put down Insurrections caused by Buddhist Nationalist Groups who were furious about his father's alliance with the discriminatory dictator, due to the fact he was in bad health. The Ahmad Shah had a stroke as his brother Mohammad Hassan Mirza took over the country as regent. Mirza's family with his older brother's wife and children retreated to Bombay as Mirza felt that it was not safe for them to remain in Ceylon as he, Satrap Amir Abdollah Tahmasebi and Prime Minister Sir John Lionel Kotelawala were dealing with Buddhist Rebels. The crisis still continues even After the Jinnah dictatorship.

## Government

The Government of Kandy is a Constitutional Monarchy ruled by a King who is a constitutional monarch. The King rules with a Satrap who reports to the Emperor of India who appoints him into power. The Satrap appoints all the people into parliament as they elect a Prime Minister appointed by the King. The Prime Minister after being appointed will appoint cabinet members.

## Military

The Military is only 12 Infantry Divisions with 12 Artillery Pieces with 6 Submarines.

## Foreign Relations

* Colonial Relations with the Indo-Persian Empire.
* Great Relations with the Maharajahnate of Travancore and Maharajahnate of Madras
* Bad Relations with the Kingdom of Burma and Kingdom of Siam.