colony · South Asia
British Ceylon
Origins
British forces from the Madras Presidency took the Dutch coastal provinces of Dutch Ceylon in 1795 to 1796, and they became a Crown Colony in 1802. In 1815 the British, exploiting discontent among Kandyan chiefs, took over the Kingdom of Kandy, bringing the whole island under one rule for the first time.
Rule and society
The Colebrooke-Cameron reforms of 1833 centralised administration. Coffee plantations spread in the hills until blight in the 1870s, after which tea, rubber and coconut dominated, worked by Tamil labourers from India. English education created a new elite, and a Buddhist revival led by Anagarika Dharmapala grew. The Donoughmore Constitution of 1931 introduced universal suffrage.
Decline and legacy
Ceylon contributed to the Allied effort in the Second World War, and the Soulbury Constitution prepared self-government. It gained independence peacefully in 1948 as the Dominion of Ceylon, with D. S. Senanayake as first prime minister.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (3)
- British Ceylon was a colony of British Empire1796 CE – 1948 CE
- Vanni chieftaincies was conquered by British Ceylon1803 CE
- Sultanate of the Maldives was a protectorate of British Ceylon1887 CE – 1948 CE
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). British Ceylon. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-ceylon
- MLA
- “British Ceylon.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-ceylon. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “British Ceylon.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-ceylon.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘British Ceylon’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-ceylon (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻