Kandyan Crown

crown · Sri Lanka · South Asia

The Kandyan crown is the royal crown of the Kandyan kingdom of Sri Lanka, the last independent Sinhalese state, which fell to the British in 1815. The crown, of gold richly set with rubies, sapphires and other gems, was worn by the kings of Kandy at great coronation ceremonies and processions, and it carried the whole sovereignty of the kingdom, so that possession of the crown was taken to mean possession of the realm. When the Kandyan chiefs signed the Kandyan Convention of 1815, the regalia, including the crown and the throne, was handed to the British and sent to England, and tradition reco

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