Kandy was originally known as Senkadagala pura after a hermit named Senkada who lived there. Many of Sinhalese people call it “Mahanuwara” meaning the "Great City” but the name Kandy was derived from the word Kanda, which means mountain. Due to its geographical location, Kandy was not an easy target for the foreign invaders who were successful in gaining control of coastal area of the island. Thus Kandyan culture was able to foster and maintain its own social structure and mode of living.

There were 12 rulers that ruled the city of Senkadagala from 1469 to 1815 A.D. During the period of Vimaladharmasuriya the 1st, the country was prosperous and peacefull. However, with the succession of King Senarath, a pious Buddhist lacking the acumen of a strong ruler, many internal problemsthere arose. The king retired to Meda Maha Nuwara “Central Great City “as Portuguese marched under General Azevado and destroyed the whole city.

His successor Rajasingha the 2nd was a strong warrior and during his time there were two Portuguese invasions: in 1630 led by Constantine de Sa and in 1638 led by General Diogo de Melo de Castro. The Portuguse were completely defeated in the famous Randeniwela battle in 1630 and the remarkable Gannoruwa battle in 1638. Sadly though, the Capital was set on fire by the enemy and once again the city was destroyed.

The kings of the Kandyan kingdom sought assistance from the Vadugas - Nanayakkars of India, from time to time, to fight against the invading Portuguese. Vimaladharmasuriya the 1st and King Senarath brought down Vadugas from Tanjore and Madura to fight the Portuguese. When King Rajasingha the 2nd fought the battle at Gannoruwa against the Portuguese there had been a thousand Vadugas with them. The Vadugas came to the island with their families and it was common for them to marry from amongst the Sinhala people. Even the kings took Indian wives to quell the power of rebellious chieftains who were vying for the throne. King Rajasingha the 2nd and his son Wimaladharmasuriya the 2nd married princesses from Madura.
 
According to the law of succession in ancient Sri Lanka, the crown was passed from father to son born of the King's chief queen, or from brother to brother, or the crown sometimes passed to the king’s sister’s son. However the royal status of both parents was considered important. King Narendrasingha selected the brother of his chief Madura Queen to succeed him under the name of Sri Vijaya Rajasingha following the rule of succession among the people in Southern India at that time. With this came the end of Sinhalese dynasty and king Narendrasingha was the last Sinhalese king to rule the country.

Desppite the lack of interest in religion among some of the Nanayakkar kings, a birth of a great Buddhist revival took place - the Venerable Velivita Saranankara, became a great scholar and a guardian of Buddhism. In 1747 Kirti Sri Rajasingha ascended the throne. In 1747 he too married a queen from Madura. He believed that without giving prominence to Buddhism, it would be impossible to rule the Kandyan Kingdon, and as such developed the city focusing on buddhist education which had suffered due to the influence of the Portuguese. He renovated and built religious monuments under the guidance of Ven. Velivita Saranankara. The Dalada Perahera or procession was once again conducted with great pomp along with the four Devala Peraheras. The King himself took part in the procession. It is said that he tried to follow in the footsteps of King Parakramabahu the Great of the Polonnaruwa Period. Kirti Sri Rajasingha's period of rule is considered a golden period of the history of Buddhism in the Kandyan period.

1760 heralded a series of battles between the Dutch and the Kandyans which went on for about six years. The Dutch attempted to capture the Kandyan Kingdom twice but failed. Even a peace treaty was forwarded to the King and he refused it. When the Dutch finally reached the city and destroyed it, the King took the tooth relic and vanished from the capital. Again the rulers of Kandy felt the necessity for foreign assistance to drive away the Dutch and sought the assistance of British.

Kirti Sri Rajasingha died in 1781 and his brother ascended the throne of Kandy as Rajadhi Rajasingha. The new king did not trust the British and sought the support of the French. The British captured the Trincomalee from Dutch in1798 and defeated them in the maritime provinces in 1798. Then the British realized that it would not be difficult to establish their power over the island.

King Rajadhi Rajasingha died in 1798 and during his period again the Kadyan Kingdom saw a decline in all areas. Rajadhi Rajasingha had no children and the prime minister at the time called “Pilimatalawe” nominated an eighteen years old “kannasami” who was a distant relation of the deceased king as the successor to the throne with a view to capture the throne once the opportunity arose. The brother of three queens of the King disliked the decision and sought refuge with the British. Kannasami ascended the throne in 1798 as Sri Vickrama Rajasingha. The British tried to capture Kandy in 1803 and failed. As there was apparent strife between the King and the Kandyan aristocracy, the British sought the support of the latter. Pilimatalawe too approached the British for help. The British tried very hard to capture Kandy and “John D’oyly” went on to learn the native language, associated with Sinhala scholars, composed poetry and studied the culture and beliefs of the people. That helped him to build up friendships with all the notable Kandyan chiefs of the time and to learn the insides of its political set up in the Kandyan Kingdom.

Sri Vickrama Rajasingha was a crafty ruler and did everything possible to make his ideas and plans a reality. He drew his Nanayakkar relatives closer and appointed new chiefs to high positions. The old chiefs like Ehalepola were left out and made redundant. He tried hard to win the hearts of the general public. The prices of essential goods were controlled and liquor was prohibited. He built a beautiful octagon in the Temple of the Tooth for the famed tooth relic of the Buddha and built the Kandy lake. Despite these moves, he made radical decisions that angered many. His decision to move out the four shrines dedicated to God Natha, Vishnu, Katharagama and Pattini was disliked by the Buddhist population. He had an uncontrollable temper and once ordered the execution of a son born to one of the sub queens. The enmity between Pilimatalawe and the King rose day by day and Pilimatalawe was dismissed from office in 1810. Pilimatalawe attempted to assassinate the king but failed, and the king ordered his execution with 7 others. The king then appointed Chief Ehelepola as the Prime Minister (Maha Adikaram) though he did not trust him. Ehelepola kept in touch with D'Oyle  and raised a rebellion against the throne. This failed and Ehalepola had to take shelter with the British.

The King’s actions thereafter were drastic and violent/ A large number of people including several Buddhist monks, some of whom were innocent, were condemned to death as traitors. The brutal death punishment carried out on the wife and four young children of Ehelepola Maha Adikaram shocked the entire Kandyan nation. It is said that for two days afer this act, the whole of Kandy, except the Kandyan court, was like a house of mourning. No fires were kindled and no food was served, and there was a general fast by the people. Both the people and their chiefs awaited the arrival of British to drive away the cruel king.

The British then declared war against the king of Senkadagalapura on the 10th of January 1815 with the advice and help of Ehelepola. The king fled to Dumbara with his consorts and a few attendants, but was soon captured. On 2nd March 1815, the representatives of the British and the Sinhalease met in the audience hall in Kandy to sign a pact with the British. Kandy was thus ceded to the British with certain conditions attaached.

Although the Kandyan chiefs, peasants and monks joined the British to get rid of the cruel king Sri Vikrama Rajasingha, they never expected the British to rule the country. They had only asked the British to help them drive away the king.  The Kandyans expected Ehelepola to be declared their king. THe people thus again lost their hopes as they had no king to rule or protect them and their religion. The people then got together under the leadership of Kandyan chieftans such as “ Madugalle” and “Keppitipola” to rebel against British rule. This faied and these chieftans were condemned to death.

From then on the British continued to rule the whole country until 1948 when Sri Lanka gained independance on 4th of February in 1948.