Traversing through the 18th Century Colombo-Kandy Trail

Abstract

Colombo was linked with Kandy by a land route in the 18th century as the Kandyan and the Dutch authorities needed each other for mutual existence. The entire Colombo-Kandy route can be divided into two main sectors, firstly from Colombo to Sitavaka and secondly from Sitavaka to Kandy. The first sector ran through the Kelany Valley. Depending on the type of journey, the resting place was decided either at Hanwella or at Sitavaka. If the Governor leaves on an inspection tour, it was Hanwella and for an embassy with its retinue leaving for Kandy it was Sitavaka. The objective of the present paper is to examine this route through archival sources.