Great Rebellion of 1817–1818

The Great Rebellion of 1817–1818 (Sinhala: ඌව වෙල්ලස්ස මහා කැරැල්ල), also known as the 1818 Uva-Wellassa Rebellion (after the two places where it had started), was the third Kandyan War in the Uva and Wellassa provinces of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which is today the Uva province of Sri Lanka. The rebellion started against the British colonial government under Governor Robert Brownrigg, three years after the Kandyan Convention ceded the Kingdom of Kandy to the British Crown.

The rebellion was initiated by disgruntled Kandyan chiefs who did not like the British for appointing Hadji Marikar as Madige Dissawe. This position had sometimes been held by Muslims. Even as of today Madige villages in Kandy are Muslims villages. The Kandyan Sinhalese were disillusioned by the British colonial administration for not giving them all positions of authority. They murdered Hadji Marikar, gouging his eyes. This then forced the British to take action.

The rebellion gained initial success, and many Kandyan chiefs who were sent to suppress it, such as Keppetipola Disawe, later joined the rebel forces. Major Sylvester Douglas Wilson, the Assistant Resident in Badulla, was killed and the rebels soon gained much control over the region. A pretender to the throne of Kandy, Wilbawe, was then proclaimed king.

Governor Brownrigg established his field headquarters at Kandy and directed military operations against the rebels, who had resorted to hit-and-run attacks, with the assistance of Kandyan chiefs who remained loyal to Britain, including Molligoda Maha Adikaram and Ratwatte Adikaram. Brownrigg soon received reinforcements from British India. Following the capture of many rebel leaders, the rebellion eventually fizzled out as the last remaining rebel holdouts were killed or captured by the British.