Mahendra of Nepal vs Sri Vikrama Rajasinha

Mahendra became King of Nepal upon the death of his father, King Tribhuvan. He inherited a constitutional monarchy with a democratically elected government, a system he would later dismantle.

King Mahendra dismissed the elected government of Prime Minister B.P. Koirala, arrested political leaders, and assumed direct executive power. He accused the government of corruption and inefficiency, ending Nepal's first democratic experiment.

King Mahendra pursued a foreign policy of non-alignment, establishing diplomatic and aid relations with both China and India. He secured significant economic and military assistance from multiple countries, including the US, USSR, and China, to reduce dependence on India.

King Mahendra promulgated a new constitution establishing the Panchayat system, a party-less, guided democracy. This system concentrated power in the monarchy, banned political parties, and created a hierarchical council structure from village to national level.

Sri Vikrama Rajasinha became the last king of the Kandyan Kingdom at age 18, succeeding his uncle Rajadhi Rajasinha. His reign was marked by internal factionalism and growing British influence in the coastal regions of Ceylon.

Sri Vikrama Rajasinha executed his chief minister Pilimatalawe, who had conspired with the British. This act intensified internal dissent and alienated powerful Kandyan nobles, weakening the kingdom's unity.

British forces invaded the Kandyan Kingdom in January 1815. Sri Vikrama Rajasinha's army was defeated due to internal betrayal by Kandyan nobles who signed the Kandyan Convention with the British, ending the kingdom's independence.

Sri Vikrama Rajasinha was deposed by the British and exiled to Vellore, India, along with his family. This marked the end of the Nayakkar dynasty and the Kandyan Kingdom, as Ceylon became a unified British colony.