In the complex tapestry of Sri Lankan history, few chapters are as paradoxical as the story of the Nayakkar Dynasty—foreign-born rulers who became the last defenders of Sinhalese Buddhist civilization, Tamil-speaking kings who preserved and revitalized the island’s ancient Buddhist traditions, and Hindu princes who presided over one of the most remarkable Buddhist revivals in Sri Lankan history. From 1739 to 1815, four Nayakkar monarchs ruled the Kingdom of Kandy, bridging cultures and religions while attempting to preserve the independence of the last free kingdom on an island increasingly dominated by European colonial powers.
From Madurai to the Mountains: Origins of the Dynasty
The Nayakkar Dynasty’s roots lay not in the hill country of Kandy but in the Nayak kingdoms of South India, particularly the royal house of Madurai. Originally Telugu-speaking Balija warriors from present-day Andhra Pradesh, the Nayaks had risen to prominence in southern India during the 16th and 17th centuries. They were practitioners of Hindu traditions, primarily Vaishnavism and Shaivism, speaking Telugu and Tamil rather than Sinhala.
The connection between the Kandyan throne and the Madurai Nayaks began through marriage alliances. Kandyan kings, isolated in their mountain kingdom and seeking to strengthen their position against European colonial powers, had begun taking brides from South Indian royal houses. These matrimonial ties would ultimately determine the kingdom’s destiny in ways no one could have foreseen.
The transformation came in 1739, when King Vira Narendrasinha—the last king of the previous dynasty—died without producing an heir with his Sinhalese queens. On his deathbed, he nominated his wife’s brother, a prince from the Madurai royal family, to succeed him. Thus, the brother of the Madurai princess ascended the throne as Sri Vijaya Rajasinha, establishing what would become known as the Nayakkar Dynasty of Kandy.
The succession was far from universally accepted. A significant portion of the Kandyan nobility harbored deep reservations about a South Indian, Tamil-speaking Hindu occupying the sacred throne that had been held by Sinhalese Buddhist kings for centuries. Yet Narendrasinha’s deathbed wish, combined with the lack of viable Sinhalese alternatives and the pressing need for strong leadership against European threats, allowed the transition to proceed. The Nayakkar era had begun.
Sri Vijaya Rajasinha: The Foreign King Who Defended Independence
Sri Vijaya Rajasinha (1739-1747) faced the enormous challenge of legitimizing his rule in a kingdom where he was seen as an outsider. He was a Tamil-speaking Hindu ruling a predominantly Sinhala Buddhist kingdom—an apparent contradiction that could easily have led to his downfall. His solution was pragmatic and would set the pattern for his successors: he became a fervent patron of Buddhism.
Understanding that his legitimacy rested on being perceived as the protector of the Dharma and the sacred Tooth Relic, Sri Vijaya Rajasinha immersed himself in the role of Buddhist monarch. He supported the Sangha, maintained Buddhist festivals and rituals, and positioned himself as the defender of Sinhalese culture against colonial encroachment. His relatively brief eight-year reign established the fundamental principle that would allow the Nayakkar Dynasty to endure: personal religious identity mattered less than royal duty to protect the Buddhist kingdom and its traditions.
Kirti Sri Rajasinha: The Great Buddhist Revival
If Sri Vijaya Rajasinha established the dynasty’s legitimacy, his successor and brother, Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-1782), transformed it into an era of unprecedented cultural and religious renaissance. The king who would become known as the great reviver of Buddhism in Sri Lanka was himself a practicing Hindu who worshipped at Hindu temples—yet his contributions to Buddhism would earn him a place among the most significant Buddhist monarchs in Sri Lankan history.
When Kirti Sri Rajasinha ascended the throne in 1747, Buddhism on the island faced a crisis. The higher ordination lineage (Upasampada) had died out, meaning the island could no longer validly ordain new monks. This threatened the very continuity of the Buddhist monastic order that had existed since the time of Emperor Ashoka’s son Mahinda in the 3rd century BCE.
Working closely with the learned monk Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero, the king embarked on an ambitious plan to restore the ordination lineage. Through careful diplomacy that even involved cooperation with the Dutch colonial administration in the coastal areas, Kirti Sri Rajasinha successfully invited a delegation of Buddhist monks from Siam (Thailand) to come to Kandy. In 1753, in a historic ceremony at the Malwatte Monastery, Thai monk Upali Thera re-established the higher ordination in Sri Lanka, creating what became known as the Siam Nikaya. This single act revitalized Buddhism across the island, triggering a cascading renaissance in monastic education, Buddhist scholarship, and religious practice.
But Kirti Sri Rajasinha’s contributions extended far beyond this pivotal achievement. During his remarkable 35-year reign, he oversaw a golden age of Kandyan culture. He commissioned the construction of the current inner temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy, creating the architectural heart of what would become Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist site. He patronized the continuation of the Mahavamsa chronicle, ensuring that the historical record that had been maintained for over a millennium would not be lost.
The king encouraged the translation of Buddhist texts from Pali and Sanskrit into Sinhala, making sacred literature accessible to ordinary people for the first time. Traditional Kandyan dance and music flourished under his generous patronage. The distinctive architectural style of the Kandyan period—characterized by intricate wooden carvings, decorative elements, and harmonious proportions—was refined and developed during his reign. He also built the Gangarama Raja Maha Vihara and restored numerous other temples throughout the kingdom.
The irony was not lost on contemporary observers: a Hindu king from South India had achieved what Sinhalese Buddhist monarchs had failed to accomplish for generations. Under Kirti Sri Rajasinha’s enlightened rule, Kandy became a beacon of Buddhist learning and culture precisely when European colonialism was extinguishing traditional kingdoms across the rest of the island.
Rajadhi Rajasinha and the Gathering Storm
Kirti Sri Rajasinha’s successor, Rajadhi Rajasinha (1782-1798), inherited a prosperous kingdom but faced increasing pressure from European powers. His sixteen-year reign saw continued patronage of Buddhism and culture, but the geopolitical situation was deteriorating. The Dutch controlled the coastal areas, while the British were expanding their influence in the Indian Ocean. The Kandyan Kingdom’s mountain fortress was increasingly surrounded by hostile colonial forces.
Sri Vikrama Rajasinha: Tragedy of the Last King
The fourth and final Nayakkar monarch, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha (1798-1815), presided over the kingdom’s tragic end. Young and inexperienced when he took the throne, he faced insurmountable challenges. The British had replaced the Dutch as the dominant colonial power in coastal Sri Lanka and were determined to complete their conquest of the island.
Sri Vikrama Rajasinha’s reign was marked by conflict—both with external enemies and internal opposition. Accusations of tyranny, whether justified or exaggerated, provided his enemies with ammunition. A powerful nobleman, Ehelepola Adigar, fled to British-controlled territory and actively encouraged British intervention, painting the king as a cruel tyrant whose removal would benefit his people.
The king responded harshly to what he perceived as treason, ordering the execution of Ehelepola’s family—an act that outraged the Kandyan nobility and undermined his support base. When British forces detained several British merchants on suspicion of espionage and subjected them to torture, killing several, the British had their pretext for invasion.
In February 1815, British forces advanced on Kandy. Unlike previous attempts that had ended in disaster for European forces in the treacherous mountain terrain, this invasion met little resistance. The Kandyan nobility, alienated from their foreign-born king and seeing the British as potential liberators rather than conquerors, offered no meaningful opposition. On February 18, 1815, a group led by Kandyan chiefs and supported by British troops arrested the king.
On March 2, 1815, the Kandyan Convention was signed, formally ceding the kingdom to the British Crown. The document, signed by Kandyan nobles who believed they were negotiating limited British oversight rather than absolute conquest, marked the end of over 2,300 years of independent monarchy in Sri Lanka.
Sri Vikrama Rajasinha was taken as a prisoner to Vellore Fort in southern India, where he would spend the remaining seventeen years of his life in exile. He died of dropsy on January 30, 1832, at the age of 52, still considering himself the rightful King of Kandy. With his death, the Nayakkar Dynasty—and Sri Lankan monarchy itself—came to an end.
A Paradoxical Legacy
The Nayakkar Dynasty’s legacy defies simple categorization. They were foreign rulers who preserved indigenous culture, Hindu kings who revitalized Buddhism, Tamil speakers who patronized Sinhala literature. Their 76-year reign produced one of the most significant Buddhist revivals in Sri Lankan history, preserved Kandyan independence during an era of European colonial expansion, and created enduring cultural and architectural monuments.
Yet they also remained, in some ways, outsiders. The ease with which the Kandyan nobility betrayed Sri Vikrama Rajasinha suggests the dynasty never fully overcame its foreign origins. The very qualities that made them acceptable to the nobility in 1739—their external connections and perceived neutrality in local factional politics—may have ultimately weakened the bonds of loyalty that might have saved the kingdom in 1815.
Today, the Nayakkar Dynasty’s greatest monument remains visible in Kandy: the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, whose inner shrine was built by Kirti Sri Rajasinha and which continues to be the spiritual heart of Sinhala Buddhism. The revival of Buddhist ordination they sponsored continues in the Siam Nikaya. The cultural renaissance they fostered shaped the distinctive character of Kandyan arts that survive to this day.
The Nayakkar Dynasty proves that cultural identity and political legitimacy are more complex than simple ethnic or religious categories might suggest. Foreign-born rulers became defenders of local tradition. Hindu kings preserved Buddhist heritage. In their paradoxical reign, we see both the flexibility and the fragility of traditional kingdoms facing the modern world—capable of remarkable cultural achievements, yet ultimately unable to withstand the overwhelming force of colonial empire backed by industrial-age military technology and the betrayal of their own nobility.