First Kandyan War

01An empty capital

The last kings of Kandy came from the Nayak line of Madurai and ruled the hills from Senkadagala. A Kandyan minister, Pilimatalawe, plotting against his king, invited the British in. In early 1803 two columns marched up from Colombo and Trincomalee and entered Kandy in February to find the king gone and the palace burnt. They crowned a rival, Muttusami, and left a garrison under Major Davie.

02The garrison lost

Fever swept the garrison through the spring. In June 1803 Kandyan forces closed in, and Davie, his men sick and starving, agreed to withdraw towards Trincomalee. At the flooded Mahaweli river the column was stopped; the Malay and European soldiers were killed, and Muttusami was put to death. Davie himself was held captive in Kandy until he died years later. Raids and counter-raids went on until 1805, when both sides gave up.