The man who set the ball rolling for the Independence of the country has been forgotten though he had paid twice for his bold stand.
He was the first to be sentenced to the fort of Jaffna for two years hard labour. That was two hundred and one years ago, on December 7, 1816- two years before the famous rebellion.
This fact has been forgotten by many.
The man was none other than Sri Wickramrajasinghe’s Udagabada Nilame Madugalle - the Dissava of Wellassa.
The British on March 4, 1815, re-appointed him as the Udagabada Nilame with the Title of Dissava of Wellassa as he was reputed and a highly respected warrior and the best swordsman in the Kandyan Kingdom.
Though there are various schools of thought, yet there has been no one to pinpoint, why Keppetipla Maha Dissava left his position at the uprising at Paranagama and fled to Anuradhapura, where he surrendered to the British.
I met Professor Vimalananda Tennakoon, at Kelaniya, surrounded with his film strips brought from the British archives, but he himself was questioning as to why he left delegating his leadership to Madugalle.
This has so far not been answered, though there are various schools of thought.
However, Madugalle was sentenced by an ad-hoc inquiry headed by Sir John D’Oyly.
This was spearheaded by Millewa Dissave and Ekeelligoda when they told D’Oyly that Madugalle was organizing a conspiracy to oust the British from Kandyan soil.
"The British also feared Madugalle, as a great warrior and a brilliant swordsman. Keppetipola Maha Dissava was a respected man."
It was said that Madugalle Dissava had gone to the Kovil at Bintenna to seek the blessings of God Kataragama to pray that the British be got rid of from the Kandyan Territory.
The second was that Madugalle Dissava had tried to spirit away the Icon of the Kandyan people, the Sacred Tooth Relic and that the Mahanayake of Malwatte had known about it.
On these two flimsy tales, Madugalle was summoned to the Magul Maduwa or the Audience Hall for an inquiry of a board composed of Kandyan Nilames and Army officers to hear what has to be said by Madugalle Dissava.
He accepted the first charge that he did send some persons to the Kovil at Binntenna to seek the help of the God for some valuables lost in his household, but denied that mission was for the purpose of sending the British away from the country.
The second charge was denied and he said he did not seek the blessings of the Mahanayake of Malwatte to remove the sacred relic from where it was placed.
D’Oyly was no fool and knew the ways of the Nilames, from the time of his days at Matara, where he was friendly with Koratota Thera and from where he was spying on the Kandy realm.
So, without his taking the total blame, he summoned the Nilames to conduct the inquiry, headed by him and with the aid of some officers of the Artillery.
D’Oyly questioned the Chiefs as to the punishment, should the suspect be found guilty.
Their answer was death and the confiscation of property. With this Madugalle Dissave was summoned and when Madugalle Dissava came before a stunned committee, he was served with those two charges.
The Nilames had doubts of his appearing before the Committee, but when he did, they thought of making a quick rift, if not they knew what would befall them.
He did accept the charge of the incident of sending people to the Kovil at Bintenna but denied a hand in suggesting the removal of the Sacred Tooth Relic.
"Without his taking the total blame, he summoned the Nilames to conduct the inquiry, headed by him and with the aid of some officers "
D’Oyly immediately summoned the Maha Gabada Nilame Madugalle and Venerable Ihalagama Ratnapala Thera before the Committee. On the second charge, which was denied by Madugalle D’Oyly sent the newly appointed Maha Gabada Nilame and Kodditukkukara Lekam to Malwatte Vihara to bring a written statement from the Mahanayake of Malwatte as for the veracity of the statement made by Madugalle Dissave. The Mahanayake of Malwatte denied his involvement and said that the Nilame suggested but had advised him to be cautious of such a move.
Armed with this document, D’Oyly moved the committee to make a judgment, which they did by announcing that Madugalle Dissava was guilty. The decision was then transferred to Colombo for the decision of Governor Sir Robert Brownrigg. He made an order that Madugalle Dissava - the Udagabada Nilame be sentenced two years to the Fort of Jaffna.
The British also feared Madugalle, as a great warrior and a brilliant swordsman. Keppetipola Maha Dissava was a respected man.
Udagabada Nilame now stripped off of his Titles and was sent to Colombo in a Palanquin and guarded. After the delivery of the sentence by Brownrigg, the Nilame was sent to Jaffna Fort through Negombo and Wattala.
The position Udagabada Nilame was filled by Dehigama Hannabaddea Nilame as Udagabada Nilame. Madugalle’s lands were confiscated. But the order of the Governor had specifically stated that his relatives would not be penalised as some of them were in the service of the British.
Though Madugalle Dissava was sentenced to two years, yet with the Birthday celebrations of Prince Regent who was to become George the Fourth, Madugalle was given a pardon. Madugalle came back and resided in Dumbara, his native village. While, at Dumbara he waited for a rebellion, which he thought would come some day and it did.
This was the time when a pretender was loitering around the Kandyan Realm calling himself a relative of the last King of Kandy.
But Madugalle waited for the rebellion to enter the Dumbara territory and then joined forces. But, he had a taste of Kandyan conspiracy around the Nilames.
Keppetipola led the rebellion with the murder of Government Agent Wilson and the arrival of Keppetipola Maha Dissava to quell the rebellion as ordered by the British and then Keppetipola joining the rebellion. Keppetipola later fled, leaving Madugalle to lead, but he could not go far with the rebels deserting the field, due to the addition of armed mercenary of the British drawn from India.
So in 1816, it was Madugalle who was tried for Treason by the British and the first to be tried on that charge. So he was convicted twice, in 1816 and 1818. After he was beheaded on the Banks of Bogambara wewa, his wife was sent to Kalutara and his four children and mother were sent to Colombo. They, in turn, held office in the Kandyan Kingdom
The widow of Madugalle married Kotuwegedera Lekam and thus ended the saga of Madugalle Dissave, the best swordsman of the Kandyan Kingdom.
