Transfer of Ceylon to Great Britain

Background. In the late 18th century the Dutch, weakened by their wars against Great Britain, were conquered by Napoleonic France, and their leaders became refugees in London. This collapse of Dutch state capacity left their colonial holdings vulnerable and set the stage for the transfer of their Ceylonese possessions.

Transfer of Rule. No longer able to govern their part of the island effectively, the Dutch transferred the rule of it to the British, although this was against the wishes of the Dutch residing there. From 1796 Ceylon was administered as a British Crown colony, a status it retained until 1948.

Aftermath and Scope of the Colony. The British possessions initially did not include the Kingdom of Kandy, which remained a protectorate; only from 1817 to 1948 did British rule cover the whole island. The multiracial population, including Portuguese and Dutch descendants of some 440 years of colonial history, was large enough to run a stable government.