British Ceylon

British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies (1802–1833) Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies (1833–1931) Island of Ceylon and its Dependencies (1931–1948)
1796–1948
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: God Save the King (1796–1837; 1901–1948) God Save the Queen (1837–1901)
British Ceylon map, published in Leipzig, c. 1914
Status	Company rule (1795/96 – 12 October 1798)[a] Crown & Company dual control (12 October 1798 – 1 January 1802)[b] Crown Colony of the United Kingdom (25 March 1802 – 4 February 1948)
Capital	Colombo
Common languages	English (official) Sinhala Tamil
Government	Monarchy
Monarch
• 1815–1820	George III (first)
• 1820–1830	George IV
• 1830–1837	William IV
• 1837–1901	Victoria
• 1901–1910	Edward VII
• 1910–1936	George V
• 1936	Edward VIII
• 1936–1948	George VI (last)
Governor
• 1798–1805	Frederick North (first)
• 1944–1948	Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore (last)
Prime Minister
• 1947–1948	Don Stephen Senanayake
Legislature	Legislative Council (1833–1931) State Council (1931–47) Parliament (1947–48)
Historical era	British Ceylon period
• Capture of Dutch Ceylon	5 March 1796
• Establishment of dual administration	12 October 1798
• Proclamation of the Crown Colony	25 March 1802
• Signing of Kandyan Convention	2 March 1815
• Independence	4 February 1948
Area
1946[1]	65,993 km2 (25,480 sq mi)
Population
• 1827[2]	889,584[c]
• 1901[2]	3,565,954
• 1946[2]	6,657,339
Currency	Ceylonese rixdollar (1815–28) British pound (1825–71) Ceylonese rupee (1872–1948)
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Kandy Dutch Ceylon Vanni chieftaincies Dominion of Ceylon
Today part of	Sri Lanka

Part of a series on the
Historical states of Sri Lanka
Sinhala kingdom Kingdom of Tambapanni 543–437 BCE Anuradhapura kingdom 437 BCE–1017 CE Anuradhapura from Rohana 1017–1055 Kingdom of Polonnaruwa 1055–1232 Kingdom of Dambadeniya 1232–1341 Kingdom of Gampola 1341–1371 Kingdom of Kotte 1371–1597
Transitional period Jaffna kingdom 1232–1620 Kingdom of Sitawaka 1521–1594
Kandyan period Kingdom of Kandy 1469–1815 Portuguese Ceylon 1597–1658 Dutch Ceylon 1658–1796
British Ceylon period British Ceylon 1815–1948
Sri Lanka since 1948 Dominion of Ceylon 1948–1972 Republic of Sri Lanka 1972–present
Sri Lanka portal Capital History Timeline
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British Ceylon (Sinhala: බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ලංකාව, romanized: Britānya Laṃkāva; Tamil: பிரித்தானிய இலங்கை, romanized: Biritthāṉiya Ilaṅkai), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833,^[3] then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931^[4] and finally the Island of Ceylon and its Dependencies from 1931 to 1948,^[5] was the British Crown colony of present-day Sri Lanka between 1796 and 4 February 1948. Initially, the area it covered did not include the Kingdom of Kandy, which was a protectorate,^{[citation needed]} but from 1817 to 1948 the British possessions included the whole island of Ceylon, now the nation of Sri Lanka.

The British Ceylon period is the history of Sri Lanka between 1815 and 1948. It follows the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom into the hands of the British Empire.^[6] It ended over 2300 years of Sinhalese monarchy rule on the island.^[7] The British rule on the island lasted until 1948 when the country regained independence following the Sri Lankan independence movement.

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