Memories of a resilient past

Once the audience hall of the kings of Kandy, the Magul Maduwa with its elaborate wood carvings, will forever be remembered as the location where the Kandyan Convention of 1815 was signed. The leaders of the Kandyan Kingdom transferred their rights to the land to the British after signing the agreement.

It is also at this very hall that the orders for the execution of both Monarawila Keppetipola Disawe as well as Madugalle Disawe, the heroic leaders of the Uva-Wellassa rebellion, were issued by the British rulers.

The Uva-Wellassa Rebellion of 1817 was the first attempt at freedom. It was an expression of the people’s anger against the failure of the British administration to safeguard and foster Buddhism, which had been promised in the Kandyan Convention. British troops were brought in from other colonies to suppress this struggle. Properties were confiscated and all the rebel leaders were executed. Monarawila Keppetipola Disawe was the hero, resilient, unafraid and unbowed up to the point of his beheading at the Bogambara Prison in Kandy.

Therefore, Keppetipola village in the Uva Province has been named in honour of Keppetipola Disawe. He had been originally sent by the colonisers to quell the uprising. Instead he joined his fellow countrymen. There is a statue of the national hero in Uva in the location believed to be where he joined the Sri Lankan rebellion. What is today known as Keppetipola Fort was in fact a British construction used as a stable.

Yet, another struggle for independence was the Matale Rebellion of 1848, led by Veera Puran Appu and Gongalegoda Banda. Angered by the unfair acquisition of land and the imposition of new taxes by the British, the rebellion started with an attack on a British military camp in Matale. The colonisers stopped the uprising, arrested the rebel leaders and ordered their execution.

A memorial built to remember the Matale Rebellion is set along the Kandy-Matale road. This had in fact been commissioned by William Bose, British Government Agent of Ceylon to remember the victory of Captain Lily who was instrumental in defeating the uprising.

Fort Macdowall was built by the British in Matale in 1803 as a garrison during battles against Kandy. It was named for General Macdowall, who led the missions against Kandy. This fort came under siege during the Matale Rebellion. It is unique because it is built inland. What remains today is the gateway and a few ramparts.