History
Colonial times
The Portuguese began as spice and cinnamon traders and eventually succeeded in taking control of the whole island except the central highlands, which remained under the Kandyan Sinhalese kings. The Dutch dislodged the Portuguese in 1656 and controlled the coastal areas for 140 years restricting themselves to trade unlike the Portuguese who also spent considerable effort in spreading religion and extending territorial control. The Dutch gave way to the British and the subjugation of Kandy in 1815 signalled the end of Sinhala resistance to colonial rule and the absorption of the whole island as one entity into the vast British Empire. Under the British the country developed as a typical colonial territory, first coffee and then tea and rubber becoming the mainstay of the economy. Universal adult franchise was introduced in 1931 and it was in 1948 that independence finally came and the first Sri Lankan government under Prime Minister D.S Senanayake was established.
This page: http://www.cockatoo.com/english/srilanka/srilanka_history_colonial.htm
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