KANDY, in lat. 7° 17' N., long. 80° 49' E., one of the principal towns in the interior of Ceylon. Bellungallee village, S.W. of Kandy, is 2259 feet; Matina patin, S. of Kandy, is 3201 feet ; Peredenia is 1650 feet. Kandy is a table-land with a chief town of (same name, and was con quered by the British after the battle of Meyda Malta Nowera, 18th February 1815, where the sovereign Vikrama Raja Singa was taken prisoner and removed to Vellore, where he died. The British entered the Kandyan country, 11th January 1815.
The Kandyan race are mountaineers, and, until the middle of the 19th century, followed poly andry. They are inhabitants of the hill country, and are a hardy, robust race, never till recently intermingling with the low countrymen. Their language is made up of three component parts, Elu (or Singhalese pure), the Pali, and the Sanskrit. They possess an extensive literature, and their religion is Buddhism. The low country Singhalese are either Buddhists, Roman Catholics, or Protestants. Among the Kandyans, polyandry was prevalent till declared illegal in 1856, and the wife had the possession of all the brothers.
The children call the eldest brother father. A man could bring in another, not a relation, to have joint marital rights with himself ; indeed, the first husband can so introduce as many as the wife will consent to receive as husbands. In the Beena marriage, the husband went to reside in the wife's house, and the woman shared the family inherit ance with her brothers. The husband, in this marriage, could be dismissed stunmarily by the family of the wife. In the Deega, a more respect able marriage, the wife leaves her own house for that of her husband, forfeiting all claim on the property of her parents, but acquiring some claim on that of her husband ; and the wife can not obtain divorce, unless with the full consent of the husband. Divorces were constantly sought for by women on trivial pretences. A child born within nine months of the divorce must be main tained by the husband. The Kandyans are a larger race of men than the Singhalese of the coast provinces, but are exceedingly indolent and thriftless.