Matale rebellion

Matale rebellion (මාතලේ කැරැල්ල)
	Part of the Kandyan Wars 1796-1818
Date	1848
Location	British Ceylon
Result	British victory
Belligerents
Kandyan rebels	United Kingdom British Ceylon;
Commanders and leaders
Veera Puran Appu Gongalegoda Banda	George Byng, 7th Viscount Torrington
Units involved
	Green Howards 19th Regiment of Foot Ceylon Rifle Regiment
Strength
4000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Matale rebellion, also known as the Rebellion of 1848, took place in

peasant revolt

.

Background

The

penury. In the 1830s, coffee was introduced into Ceylon, a crop which flourishes in high altitudes, and grown on the land taken from the peasants. The principal impetus to this development was the decline in coffee production in the West Indies, following the abolition of slavery

there.

However, the dispossessed peasantry were not employed on the plantations: The Kandyan villagers refused to abandon their traditional subsistence holdings and become wage-workers in the nightmarish conditions that prevailed on these new estates, despite all the pressure exerted by the colonial state. The British therefore had to draw on its

coolies

' from southern India into Sri Lanka for the coffee estates. These Tamils labourers died in tens of thousands both on the journey itself as well as on the plantations.

An economic depression in the United Kingdom had severely affected the local coffee and cinnamon industry. Planters and merchants clamoured for a reduction of export duties. Sir

Queen Victoria

to carry out these reforms.

On 1 July 1848, license fees were imposed on guns, dogs, carts, shops and labour was made compulsory on plantation roads, unless a special tax was paid. These taxes bore heavily not only on the purse but also on the traditions of the Kandyan peasant. A mass movement against the oppressive taxes was developing. The masses were without the leadership of their native King (deposed in 1815) or their chiefs (either crushed after the

ordinary people

.

Rebellion

On 26 July 1848, the leaders and the supporters entered the historic

Counties). Veera Puran Appu

was appointed prime minister and the sword bearer to Gongalegoda Banda and attended his consecration ceremony with 4000 others.

After the proclamation of the king, he with his army left Dambulla via Matale to capture Kandy from the British. They attacked government buildings including the Matale Kachcheri and destroyed some of the tax records. Simultaneously, Dingirirala instigated attacks in Kurunegala, where eight people were killed by the British. Governor Lord Torrington immediately declared martial law on 29 July 1848 in Kandy and on 31 July in Kurunegala.

Puran Appu was taken prisoner by the British troops and was executed on 8 August. Gongalegoda Banda and his younger brother Dines escaped and went into hiding. Gongalegoda Banda lived in a cave at Elkaduwa, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from Matale. Torrington issued a warrant for his arrest with a reward of £150 for information on his whereabouts. On 21 September, he was arrested by Malay soldiers — although he offered resistance before his arrest - and was brought from Matale to Kandy where he was kept a prisoner.

The trial of Gongalegoda Banda commenced on 27 November at the Supreme Court sessions in Kandy. He was charged with high treason for claiming to be King of Kandy and waging war against the British. He declared that he was guilty of all the charges. The Supreme Court condemned him to be hanged on 1 January 1849. Subsequently, a proclamation was issued to amend the death sentence to

flogging 100 times and deportation to Malacca

(Malaysia).

Leaders

The Matale Rebellion was led by leaders such as, Paranagama Nilame, Swarnapali Paranagama Kumarihami (daughter of Paranagama nilame ), Suriyabandara Nilame (King Of Mathale) (Son), Gongalegoda Banda, Dines, Dingi Rala and Puran Appu who were supported by the people and the village headmen of Matale. These were workers with links to the low country, with rather broader vision than the Kandyan peasants they led.

Gongalegoda Banda

King of Kandy. He had been employed by the police and came to reside at Gongalegoda, Udunuwara where he became a popular figure among the Kandyans. He was seen at the Temple of the Tooth just before the 1848 Rebellion broke out. Gongalegoda Banda led a protest march regarding unjustifiable taxes on 6 July 1848, near the Kandy Kachcheri

.

Veera Puran Appu

Weerahennedige Francisco Fernando alias Veera Puran Appu is one of the most colourful personalities in Sri Lanka's history. He was born in November 1812 in the coastal town of Moratuwa. He left Moratuwa at the age of 13 and stayed in Ratnapura with his uncle, who was the first Sinhalese proctor, and moved to the Uva Province. In early 1847, he met and married Bandaramenike, the daughter of Gunnepana Arachchi in Kandy.

Legacy

Memorial of the Matale Rebellion in Matale

The Matale Rebellion was the first transitional step towards abandoning the

Tom Paine who were at the heart of the American Revolution

. The old feudalists were crushed and powerless. No new class capable of leading the struggle and heading it towards power had yet arisen.

References

^ Ellman, A. O.; Ratnaweera, D. De S.; Silva, K.T.; Wickremasinghe, G. (January 1976). Land Settlement in Sri Lanka 1840-1975: A Review of the Major Writings on the Subject (PDF). Colombo, Sri Lanka: Agrarian Research and Training Institute. p. 16. Retrieved 20 December 2019.

Tyronne Fernando, Veera Puran Appu: stood up against the might of British Empire accessed 5 December 2005.
Dr. K. D. G. Wimalaratne, Director, National Archives, Gongale Goda Banda (1809-1849) : The leader of the 1848 rebellion accessed 5 December 2005.
Fred Halliday, The 1971 Ceylonese Insurrection accessed 5 December 2005.
Colvin R. de Silva, Hartal! accessed 5 December 2005.

External links

Matale rebellion remembered

[1] Ellman, A. O.; Ratnaweera, D. De S.; Silva, K.T.; Wickremasinghe, G. (January 1976). Land Settlement in Sri Lanka 1840-1975: A Review of the Major Writings on the Subject (PDF). Colombo, Sri Lanka: Agrarian Research and Training Institute. p. 16. Retrieved 20 December 2019.

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Domestic	Kotte conquest of the Jaffna Kingdom 1971 JVP insurrection 1987–1989 JVP insurrection Sri Lankan Civil War
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