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THE LAST TELUGU KING OF SRI LANKA

Sri Vikrama Rajasinha (1780 – January 30, 1832, born Kannasamy Nayaka) was the last of four Kings to rule the last Sinhalese monarchy of the Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka. The Nayaka Kings were of Telugu origin and practiced Shaivite Hinduism and were patrons of Theravada Buddhism. The Nayaka rulers played a huge role in reviving Buddhism in the island. They spoke Telugu and Tamil, and used Tamil as the court language in Kandy alongside Sinhala.

On March 2, 1815, the Kingdom was ceded to Britain under the terms of the Kandyan Convention and Sri Vikrama Rajasinha was deposed and taken as a royal prisoner by the British to Vellore Fort in southern India. He lived on a small allowance given to him with his two queens by the British colonial administration. He died of dropsy on January 30, 1832, aged 52 years.

His death anniversary has been commemorated as Guru Pooja by descendants at Muthu Mandabam, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India, since 2011.

The Nayaka rulers of Madurai were descended from governors appointed by the Vijayanagara kingdom. After the defeat of Vijayanagara by the Deccan confederation of Persian rulers at Talikota, Tirumala Nayaka, the governor of Madurai became an independent ruler and extended his domain to the old dominions of the Cholas, which included Sri Lanka.

The Nayakas of South India started as governors of Vijayanagara Empire ruling parts of Tamil Nadu during the 14th and 15th centuries. After the Vijayanagara Empire collapsed in the mid-16th century some of these governors declared independence and established their own kingdoms in Gingee, Thanjavur, Madurai and Chandragiri.

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