The Great Rebellion of 1817−1818 was initiated in the Uva and Wellassa Provinces, which were among the main provinces of the Kandyan kingdom. This freedom movement was also known as the ‘Uva –Wellassa Uprising of Ceylonese of 1817–1818’. This was the third war against the British colonial government by Kandyan Sinhalese since 1796. The Kingdom of Kandy was a territory of independent regime of the Udarata [Up Country], until it fell under the control of the British in 1815.
Two years after the handing over of the rule of the Upcountry kingdom under the terms of the Kandyan Convention in 1815, the British colonial rulers began to neglect the terms of the Convention and gradually antagonised the Upcountry chiefs who signed the Convention.
Despite promises, the British breached the rights of the Kandyan chiefs and to retain their traditional privileges, they introduced the British administrative system over their customary powers. On the recommendation of John D’Oyly, Governor Brownrigg appointed Hajji Marikkar Muhandiram, Malay moor, [in September 1817] as Travala Madige Muhandiram of Wellassa, replacing the rights of Millawe Dissawa who fired the unrest of Kandyan nobles against to the British rule. In August and September 1817, Kivulegedara Mohottala, Kohu Kumbure Rate Rala, Butawe Rate Rala and Millawe Disawa organised a riot against this decision, in Badulla. Kivulegedara Mohottala [Weera Vanni Bandara Kivulegedara, Aluth Punchi Bandara Mohottala Disawa] who was involved in the riot is admired for taking responsibility to organise people at the initial stage.
On the one hand, the appointment of a Moor as Disawa with traditional administrative and military powers was conceived by Upcountry natives as a threat to their conventional legacy. On the other hand, the grudge and suspicion conceived by the British administration upon senior Disawas, i.e., Ehelepola, Pilima Talauve, Madugalle and Keppetipola, upset the Buddhist clergy and native leaders. Annoyance amongst most Sinhala nobles, Buddhist monks, and local leaders was growing since the Treaty of 1815 was signed by the by high-ranking British officials and by the Kandyan nobles.
This anxiety of the future of Kandyan Sinhalese [Kandyan natives] was growing even among Buddhist leaders in Kandy, Malwatta and Usgiriya. This anxiety turned into a rebellion from September 26, 1817, with Hajji Mohandiram’s troops’ attempting to enter Badulla. The second attempt was made by Major Sylvester Wilson on October 16. He was killed by the rebels. The rebel movement was demonstrated strongly in September and October 1817. At the end of October, when the British sent massive troops to Uva–Wellassa under Keppetipola Nilame, the rebel leaders had high morale to attack them before entering Uva. Keppetipola Nilame had several negotiations with rebel leaders, and finally decided to join the rebels and lead the battle.
The rebel leaders had prepared to plunder the guns and ammunition of the enemy, but they later changed their minds. Keppetipola Nilame turned back all British military which were under his command, with their all arms and ammunition. Since then, many Kandyan nobles, Disawas, and Mohottalas began to join the rebels with their local followers. From March to September, the riot was well organised and received the support of the masses. By October 1817, the uprising was growing in many Disawas [regions] in Matale, Uva and Wellassa, and Governor Robert Brownrigg remained in Kandy to organise the war to suppress the rebellion.
On recommendation of D’Oyly, the Governor sent a battalion of 500 British soldiers with 2,000 Sinhala [lascoreyns], Malay and Indian soldiers to Uva under the command of Keppetipola Disawa on October 26, 1817, to quell the uprising, but with Keppetipola Disawa joining the rebellion at Alupotha in Uva as the leader, the British were disadvantaged.
The other leaders in charge of regional battalions who supported this uprising from the beginning of 1817, such as Gode Gedara Adikaram, King Wilbawe alias Doraisamy (a Nayakkar of Royal blood), Madulle Nilame, Megaskumbura Nilame, Kandepola Nilame, Dunuwila Nilame, Iriyagama Nilame, Thanne Adikarama, II Pilima Talauve Adikaram, Kohu Kumbure Rate Rala, Dimbulana Disawe, Kivulegedara Mohottala [Kiulegedara Mohottala was the Dissawa of Walapana and a royal poet in the Court of King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe], Madugalle Disawe, Butewe Rate Rala, Galagoda Mohottala, Galagedara Mohottala, Meegahapitiya Rate Rala, Dambawinna Disawe and Kurundu Kumbure Mohottala reinforced their troops under the direction of Keppetipola Nilame.
Keppetipola Nilame ordered the British troops to turn back and returned all arms and ammunition of the British with them, perhaps to prove our cultural discipline to the foreign invaders. In April 1818, Ven. Wariyapola Sumangala Thera of Asgiriya, with help of Madugalle Nilame, fled with the relics casket to Hanguranketa, which resulted in increasing the confidence of the leaders of the rebellion.
During the rebellion, Kohu Kumbure Rate Rala and his supporters were caught by native Lieut. Anna in April 1818. Between May and August, many local leaders and followers of the rebellion were caught by the British army, or surrendered. By September 1818, the British army captured a few regional leaders and chief rebels, including Ellepola who was the Dissawa of Viyaluwa and a brother of Maha Adikaram Ehelepola, and beheaded them in Bogambara on October 27, 1818.
The rebellion was in progress in many districts with random setbacks until the end of August 1818, led by Monarawila Keppetipola Disawe and other leading nobles, and they could have captured Matale and the northern part of Kandy, but Keppetipola fell ill with jungle fever. It was evident that the rebellion failed due to a number of reasons. Since the inception, it was not well planned by the leaders. The territories for crossing were controlled by some chieftains and they helped the British, allowing routes to be used by the military and for British supplies. There has been disagreement of the status of King Wilbawe alias Doraisamy, who claimed hereditary legacy to the Sinhalese throne, among Sinhalese nobles and the common people, as he was of Nayakkar origin.
Lack of weapons, ammunitions and gunpowder was the serious problem faced by rebels at the final stage in October 1818. The rebels fought in small dispersed groups. The Sinhalese rebel army led by Keppetipola and other leaders faced the British army which attacked them on three fronts.
At the defeat in the third week of September 1818, the principal leaders of the rebellion retreated with their retinues to certain secured places in the outer periphery of Uva and Wellassa. There has been some disappointment with the leadership of Keppetipola during the defeat. Keppetipola Nilame and his rebels retreated through Bibile to Mahiyangana.
Keppetipola Nilame and Ehelepola Nilame both aspired to become the Governing Chief of the Kandyan Kingdom under the British Empire, but that condition was not included in the Treaty [Convention] of 1815, which was signed and attested by the principal Adigars of Kandy and by the Governor and high-ranking British administrators. This hidden intrinsic antagonism, and the unfair military power, rules and regulations of the British caused the uprising of the people, at the cost of lives and property of the natives [Ceylonese].
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