Portuguese Colonial rule (1580–1658)

The Portugal Colonial rule of Ceylon lasted from 1580 to 1658, during which the Portuguese ruled several parts of the costal areas of the island.

General Captains

• Pedro Lopos de Sousa 1594
• D. Jeronimo de Azevedo 1594-1613
• D. Francisco de Meneses 1613-1614
• Manuel Mascarenhas Homem 1614-1616
• Nuno Alvares Pereira 1616-1618
• Constantino de Sa e Noronha 1618-1622
• Philippe III 1621-1640
• Jorge do Albuquerque 1622-1623
• Constantino de Sa e Noronha 1623-1630
• D. Philippe Mascarenhas 1630-1631
• D. Jorge de Almeida 1631-1633
• Diego de Mello de Castro 1633-1635
• D. Jorge de Almeida 1635-1636
• Diogo de Mello de Castro 1636-1638
• D. Antonio Mascarenhas 1638-1640
• John IV of Braganza 1640-1645
• D. Philippe Mascarenhas 1640-1645
• Manuel Mascarenhas Homem 1645-1653
• Francisco de Mello de Castro 1653-1655
• Antonio de Sousa Coutinho 1655-1656
• Antonio de Amaral de Menezes 1656-1658, Jaffna

Dutch Colonial rule

The Dutch Colonial rule of Ceylon lasted from 1640 to 1796. This began with the capture of Portuguese areas, during the Dutch rule the enter coast of the Island was occupied by the Dutch, leaving only the Kingdom of Kandy.

Dutch governors of Zeylan (1640–1796)

British Colonial rule

In 1796 British gained control of the coastal areas from the Dutch and in 1815 the entire island. The Kandyan Convention of 1815 recognized the King of England as the King of Kandy, hence the British Monarchs from 1796 to 1948 was the Monarchs of Ceylon.

British Governors of Ceylon (1796–1948)

Between 1796, when British forces first arrived on the island and the appointing of the first Governor of Ceylon in 1798, Ceylon was governed by the Governor of Madras.

• Frederick North, 12 October 1798–19 July 1805
• Thomas Maitland 19 July 1805–19 March 1811
• Robert Brownrigg, 11 March 1812–1 February 1820
• Edward Paget, 2 February 1822–6 November 1822
• Edward Barnes, 18 January 1824–13 October 1831
• Robert Wilmot-Horton, 23 October 1831–7 November 1837
• James Alexander Stewart-Mackenzie, 7 November 1837–15 April 1841
• Colin Campbell, 15 April 1841–19 April 1847
• The Viscount Torrington, 29 May 1847–18 October 1850
• Sir George William Anderson, 27 November 1850–18 January 1855
• Henry George Ward, 11 May 1855–30 June 1860
• Charles Justin MacCarthy, 22 October 1860–1 December 1863
• Sir Hercules Robinson, 21 March 1865–4 January 1872, acting to 16 May 1865
• William Henry Gregory, 4 March 1872–4 September 1877
• Sir James Robert Longdon, 4 September 1877–10 July 1883
• Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 3 December 1883–28 May 1890
• Arthur Elibank Havelock, 28 May 1890–24 October 1895
• Joseph West Ridgeway, 10 February 1896–19 November 1903
• Sir Henry Arthur Blake, 3 December 1903–11 July 1907
• Sir Henry Edward McCallum, 24 August 1907–24 January 1913
• Robert Chalmers, 18 October 1913–4 December 1915
• Sir John Anderson, 15 April 1916–24 March 1918
• Sir William Henry Manning, 10 September 1918–1 April 1925
• Sir Hugh Clifford, 30 November 1925–1927
• Sir Herbert Stanley, 20 August 1928–11 February 1931
• Sir Graeme Thompson, 11 April 1931–20 September 1933
• Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs, 23 December 1933–30 June 1937
• Sir Andrew Caldecott, 16 October 1937–19 September 1944
• Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore, 19 September 1944–4 February 1948

Acting Governors

• John Wilson, 19 March 1811–11 March 1812, acting, first time
• Edward Barnes, 1 February 1820–2 February 1822
• James Campbell, 6 November 1822–18 January 1824
• John Wilson, 13 October 1831–23 October 1831, acting, second time
• James Emerson Tennent, 19 April 1847–29 May 1847
• Charles Justin MacCarthy, 18 October 1850–27 November 1850, acting, first time
• Charles Justin MacCarthy, 18 January 1855–11 May 1855, second time
• Henry Frederick Lockyer, 30 June 1860–30 July 1860
• Charles Edmund Wilkinson, 30 July 1860–22 October 1860
• Terence O'Brien, 1 December 1863–21 March 1865
• Sir Hercules Robinson, 21 March 1865–4 January 1872, acting to 16 May 1865
• Henry Turner Irving, 4 January 1872–4 March 1872
• John Douglas, 10 July 1883–3 December 1883
• Edward Noël Walker, 24 October 1895–10 February 1896
• Everard F. im Thurn, 19 November 1903–3 December 1903
• Hugh Clifford, 11 July 1907–24 August 1907
• Reginald Edward Stubbs, 24 January 1913–18 October 1913, acting, first time
• Reginald Edward Stubbs, 4 December 1915–15 April 1916, acting, second time
• Reginald Edward Stubbs, 24 March 1918–10 September 1918, acting, third time
• Cecil Clementi, 1 April 1925–18 October 1925
• Edward Bruce Alexander, 18 October 1925–30 November 1925
• Bernard Henry Bourdillon, 11 February 1931–11 April 1931
• Francis Graeme Tyrrell, 20 September 1933–23 December 1933
• Maxwell MacLagan Wedderburn, 30 June 1937–16 October 1937

Governor-Generals of Ceylon (1948–1972)

In 1948, Sri Lanka achieved independence from the United Kingdom as a Dominon within the Commonwealth, and the British monarch remained the head of state. The Governor was replaced with a Governor-General, responsible not to London, but the local parliament.

• Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore (4 February 1948 - 6 July 1949)
• Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury (6 July 1949 - 17 July 1954)
• Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke (17 July 1954 - 2 March 1962)
• William Gopallawa (2 March 1962 - 22 May 1972)

The Governor-General of Ceylon was the representative of the King of Ceylon (1948-1952) and the Queen of Ceylon (1952-1972) from 1948 when the country became independent as a Dominion until the country became the republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. It must be said that this system of a Governor-General was only established in Ceylon, nether India nor anyother had.