British Ceylon refers to the imperial possessions of the United Kingdom in the island of Ceylon, present-day Sri Lanka, between 1796 and 4 February 1948. Initially, the area it covered did not include the Kingdom of Kandy, which was a protectorate, but from 1817 to 1948 the British possessions included the whole island. The British Ceylon period is the history of Sri Lanka between 1815 and 1948. It follows the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom into the hands of the British Empire, ending over 2300 years of Sinhalese monarchy. The British rule on the island lasted until 1948 when the country regained independence following the Sri Lankan independence movement.