British Ruling (1796 AD - 1948 AD) of SriLanka

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