Vimaladharmasuriya II of Kandy

Vimaladharmasurya II (ruled 1687–1707) was a king of Kandy who succeeded his father, Rajasinghe II. He allowed Joseph Vaz to settle in his kingdom and allowed him to preach the Christian faith.

Brought up a bhikku for a long period in his childhood, King Vimaladharmasurya II was naturally of peaceful temperament. During his childhood though, a sufficient number of Buddhist priests were not able to conduct the higher ordination (upasampada) ceremony.

He invited 33 priests from Burma and established the higher ordination that helped protect Buddhism.

During the reign of King Vimaladharmasurya II, many attempts made by the Dutch to capture the Kandyan Kingdom had failed. However,the Dutch gained control of the Kandyan Kingdom's foreign trade.

In the year 1703, the Mughal commander at Coromandel, Daud Khan Panni spent 10,500 coins to purchase 30 to 50 War elephants from Ceylon. These purchases were acknowledged by Vimaladharmasurya II of Kandy.