British Ruling (1796 AD -
1948 AD)
The arrival of British in 1796
resulted in expelling Dutch out of the country and in 1815 the
British who managed to conquer the kingdom of Kandy became the
first European power that ruled the entire island. Kandy was then
established as a capital of British Rule and the unified
administration for the island was set up in 1818. British not only
took over control of Sinhalese people but the change in property
laws in 1832 benefited British settlers to also take over most of
land ownerships from Sri Lankan. As well as in India, the British
changed the whole structure of the country and abolished the
slavery. Network of roads and railways were built to handle the
economic activities following the growth of the plantation
industry, together with modern communication systems and western
medical services. English became national language which leaded to
the enhancement of education system.
Coffee was the main crop and the
backbone of the country economy but the epidemic during 1870s that
affected the coffee crop forced the plantation owners to switch to
tea. At the same time, rubber was introduced as a main crop in the
island. The growth of plantation industry required British to
import Tamil labors from South India to substitute Sinhalese who
were unwilling to work for such low wages. As a result of the
increased Tamil migration, the hill-country Sinhalese lost their
land to the newcomers and this was the beginning of the continual
conflicts between Tamil and Sinhalese which leaded to occasional
outbreak of violence over a long period until today. |
