The Many Faces of the Kandyan Kingdom, 1591-1765: Lessons for Our Time

by Gananath Obeyesekere

Surrounded by magnificent mountains, the city of Kandy, home of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth and the Royal Palace, was the capital of Lanka for about three hundred years. Gananath Obeysekere paints a vivid portrait of the kings of these great green highlands of Kandy, revealing a complex and advanced society every bit as violent as any other civilization. Focusing on kings Vimaladharmasuriya I, Rajasinha II, Sri Vijaya Rajasinha and Kirti Sri Rajasinha, he brings the Kandyan monarchy to life, depicting them not as mythic figures but as real flesh and blood, larger than life characters who ruled over the last citadel of Lankan aristocracy

195 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Gananath Obeyesekere was a Sri Lankan anthropologist who was emeritus professor of anthropology at Princeton University and had done much work in his home country of Sri Lanka. His research focused on psychoanalysis and anthropology and the ways in which personal symbolism is related to religious experience, in addition to the European exploration of Polynesia in the 18th century and after, and the implications of these voyages for the development of ethnography. His books include Land Tenure in Village Ceylon, Medusa's Hair, The Cult of the Goddess Pattini, Buddhism Transformed (coauthor), The Work of Culture, The Apotheosis of Captain Cook: European Mythmaking in the Pacific, and Making Karma.

Reviews

[Dash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books about Sri Lanka's history, without Sinhala Buddhist bias, written well in English, is some of the rarest literature around.

Obeysekere is a gem. Everything he writes is pure magic!

[Thilini Kasthuri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

“A powerful retelling that challenges everything we thought we knew about our last king.”

Doomed King by Prof. Gananath Obeyesekere is not just a historical account—it’s a bold, scholarly deconstruction of colonial narratives that have long distorted Sri Lankan history. With piercing insight and meticulous research, Obeyesekere dives into the reign of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, questioning the British portrayal of him as a despotic ruler.

This book brilliantly exposes how colonial powers reshaped the king’s image to justify their own political agenda and conquest. Particularly gripping is the re-examination of the infamous execution of the Ehelepola family—an event that has been romanticized and manipulated for generations.

The Sinhala translation Nerapu Raja makes this essential work more accessible to local readers, ensuring that this critical reinterpretation reaches the people whose history it seeks to correct.

If you’re a reader who enjoys historical revisionism, academic rigor, or simply the thrill of seeing familiar stories through a new lens, Doomed King is a must-read.

Highly recommended for:
• History lovers
• Readers interested in post-colonial studies
• Anyone who believes history deserves to be questioned

[N R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good plural perspective on identity.