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Part of a series on the
History of Sri Lanka
Chronicles
Dipavamsa Mahavamsa Cūḷavaṃsa Rajavaliya Pujavaliya
Periods
Prehistory Stone Age Bronze Age Iron Age 300,000 BP –543 BC Pre Anuradhapura Indo-Aryan settlement 543–377 BC Anuradhapura Arrival of Buddhism Dutthagamani's campaign Fall of Anuradhapura 377 BC–1017 Polonnaruwa Chola conquest Sinhalese Resistance Invasion of Kalinga Magha 1017–1232 Transitional Vijayabā Kollaya Wars of Kotte Succession Crisis of the Sixteenth Century 1232–1597 Kandy First Kandyan–Dutch war Second Kandyan–Dutch war Kandyan–British wars 1597–1815 British Ceylon Great rebellion Matale rebellion Buddhist revival World War II Independence 1815–1948 Sri Lanka Dominion Republic 1948–present
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Traditionally, the recorded History of Sri Lanka boasts of 25 chronicled centuries. However, the inhabitation of the country goes back much further, to the Balangoda People, about 32,000 - 3000 BCE. Most of Sri Lanka's History is based on the Book called Mahawansa.

Prehistory

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The earliest archaeological evidence of human colonization in Sri Lanka appears at the site of Balangoda. These Balangoda people arrived on the island about 34,000 years ago and are identified as Mesolithic hunter gatherers who lived in caves. Several of these caves including the well known Batadombalena and the Fa-Hien Rock cave) have yielded many artifacts from these people, currently the first known inhabitants of the island.

The Sandakelum people probably created Horton Plains, in the central hills, by burning the trees in order to catch game. However, the discovery of oats and barley on the plains at about 15,000 BC suggests that agriculture had already developed at this eary date.

Several minute granite tools, (about 4 centimetres in length), earthenware, remnants of charred timber, and clay burial pots date to the Mesolithic stone age. Human remains dating to 6000 BC have been discovered during recent excavations around a cave at Varana Raja Maha vihara and in Kalatuwawa area.

Cinnamon, which is native to Sri Lanka, has been found in Ancient Egypt as early as 1500 BC, suggesting early trade between Egypt and the island's inhabitants. It is possible that Biblical Tarshish was located on the island. (James Emerson Tennent identified Sri Lanka with Galle).

Archaeological evidence for the beginnings of the Iron age in Sri Lanka is found at Anuradhapura, where a large city–settlement was founded before 900 BC. The settlement was about 15 hectares in 900 BC, but by 700 BC it had expanded to 50 hectares. A similar site from the same period has also been discovered near Aligala in Sigiriya.

The hunter-gatherer people known as the Wanniyala-Aetto or Veddas, (who still live in the central, Uva and north-eastern parts of the island), are probably direct descendants of the first inhabitants (Balangoda man). They may have migrated to the island from the mainland around the time humans spread from Africa to the Indian subcontinent.

Around 500 BC, Sri Lankans (archaeological phase?, Cultural/Linguistic Identity?) developed a unique hydraulic civilization. Achievements include the construction of the largest reservoirs and dams of the ancient world as well as enormous pyramid-like Stupa (Dagoba) architecture. This phase of Sri Lankan culture was profoundly influenced by early Buddhism.

Around 400 BC, Indo-Aryan peoples emigrated from India, mixed with the Hela people and later Buddhism was established to create the Sinhalese culture in Sri Lanka. Buddhist scriptures note three visits by the Buddha to the island to see the Naga Kings, who are said to be snakes that can take the form of human at will. The kings are though to be symbolic and not based on historical fact.

More than 70% of the current Sinhalese populace identify themselves as Buddhist. By contrast most of the current Tamil populace identify themselves as Hindu.

The earliest surviving chronicles from the island, the Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa, say that tribes of Yakkhas (demon worshippers), Nagas (cobra worshippers) and devas (god worshippers) inhabited the island prior to the migration of Vijaya.

Pottery has been found at Anuradhapura, bearing Brahmi script and non-Brahmi writing, dating back to 600 BC – one of the oldest examples of the script.

Legendary and early history (500 - 250 BC)

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Pali Chronicles and the arrival of Vijaya

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The Pali chronicles, the Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa, Thupavamsa and the Chulavamsa as well as a large collection of stone inscriptions, the Indian Epigraphical records, the Burmese versions of the chronicles etc., provide an exceptional record for the history of Sri Lanka from about the 6th century B.C.

The Mahavamsa, written around 400 AD by the monk Nagasena, using the Deepavamsa, the Attakatha and other written sources available to him, correlates well with Indian histories of the period. Indeed Emperor Asoka's reign is recorded in the Mahavamsa. The Mahavamsa account of the period prior to Asoka's coronation, (218 years after the Buddha's death) seems to be part legend. History proper begins with the arrival of Vijaya and his 700 followers. Vijaya, is a Kalinga(ancient Orissa) prince, the eldest son of King Sinhabahu (-"Man with Lion arms") and his sister Queen Sinhasivali. Both these Sinhala leaders were born of a mythical union between a lion and a human princess. The Mahavamsa claims that Vijaya landed on the same day as the death of the Buddha (See Geiger's preface to Mahavamsa). The story of Vijaya and Kuveni (the local reigning queen) is reminiscent of Greek legend, and may have a common source in ancient Proto-Indo-European folk tales.

According to the Mahavamsa, Vijaya landed on Sri Lanka near Mahathitha (Manthota or Mannar), and named the Island "Thambaparni" ('copper-colored palms). This name is attested in Ptolemy's map of the ancient world.

Tamirabharani is the old name for the second longest river in Sri Lanka (known as Malwatu Oya in Sinhala and Aruvi Aru in Tamil). This river was a main supply route connecting the capital, Anuradhapura to Mahathitha (Mannar). The waterway was used by Greek and by Chinese ships travelling the southern Silk Route.

Mahathitha was an ancient port linking Sri Lanka to India and the Persian gulf, .

The present day Sihalese (and many modern Tamils) are a mixture of the indegenous people and of other peoples who came to the island from various parts of India. The Sinhalese recognize the Vijayan Indo-Aryan culture and Buddism (already in existence prior to the arrival of Vijaya), as distinct from other groups in neighbouring south India.

Kaboja or Kambojas

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"Several early Brahmi inscriptions in Ceylon refer to a community of people called Kambojas who then lived in various parts of Sri Lanka. An early Pali text refers to a Kambojagama in Rohana". .

The Kaboja (also Kamboja or Kambodin) are mentioned in eight Brahmi texts. The Dameda are referenced in five texts. The Mileka are mentioned twice. The Muridi, Meraya and Jhavaka are mentioned only once. The Kambojas living in Rohana are mentioned in the (?th) chapter of the Sihalavatthu, a Pali text from about 300 AD. An Elder named Maleyya was residing in Kamboja-gama, in the province (Janapada) of Rohana on the Island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka), according to chapter 3, Metteyya-vatthu, of the Sihalavatthu. Further, the Mahavamsa asserts the Yonas or Yavanas (Greeks), neighbors to the Kambojas in the north-west, also had a settlement in Pandukabhaya in Anuradhapura . Eight epigraphic and one literary sources attest that the Kambojas had settled in various parts of Ceylon including Hambantoa district and Aparai districts of Rohana province, in Kurunagala district Southwest of Anuradhapura, in Polonnaruva district in eastern Ceylon as well as in Anuradhapura city. A Kambojagama is attested in the Southeast in Rohana province.

Ancient inscriptions reveal that the Kambojas were actively involved in trade, referencing one "Grand Trade Guild of the Kambojas" (Kabojhiya-mahapugiyana) in Aparai district in Rohana and one "Sangha of the Kambojas" (Gota-Kabojhi(ya]na) in Kurunagala district in Southwest Anuradhapura. Epigraphers date these inscriptions to at least 200 BC, or even earlier.

The Indo-Aryan speakers of Sri Lanka may be descended from these north-western Kambojas Another portion of this Aryan population originated among the Sakas and the Yavanas. These Kambojas inhabited a region bordering the upper Indus in a country near Sind, from whence they, and the Yavanas, finally reached Ceylon in pre-Christian times.

Dameda (Damela) or Tamils

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The Dameda are the second most mentioned ethnic group in the epigraphy of Ceylon, with mention in five cave inscriptions. "Dameda" in these inscriptions stands for Damela (=Tamil) According to another view, Dameda is a Sanskrit equivalent of Dravida . These inscriptions reference the Tamil merchant (Vishaka) , the Tamil householder Samana (residing) in Ilubharata and a Tamil navika (or sailor) Karava . These Tamil inscriptions are further corroborated by a reference in the Mahavamsa which contains the expression "Damilas Assandviks" i.e those (Tamils) who brought horses in water-craft . Early Buddhist literature from north India refers to the Uttarapatha (comprising the Kambojas, Kashmiras, and Gandharas) as horse traders attesting that horses were brought for sale to various parts of the subcontinent. By early mediaeval times, the Kambojas had adopted Islam and were still trading all along the west-coast of India from the Persian Gulf to Ceylon and probably further-east . Kamboja traders from the north-west and Tamil merchants from southern India had probably been involved in trade and settlement in Sri Lanka. Two of the five ancient inscriptions referring to the Damedas (Tamils) are in Periya Pullyakulam in the Vayuniya District, one is in Seruvavila district in Trincomalee district, one is in Kuduvil in Amprai district and one in the ancient city of Anuradhapura . These were isolated settlements however and a significant Tamil settlement wasn't established in the island till much later.

Mileka, Muridi, Merya and Jhavaka

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Other ethnic terms like Mileka, Muridi , Meraya and Jhavaka are also mentioned in the ancient texts. Milaka, occurring twice in the sources, may be Mlechcha, an aboriginal population of Vedda people. Muridi may be Murunda (Saka Murunda) Merya may be Maurya. Jhavaka identity is not clear. Each of the last three of these terms occur only once in the record.

Ancient Sri Lanka (250 BC-1000 AD)

Anuradhapura dynasty

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Devanampiya Tissa (250-210 BC), a Sinhalese King of the Mauriya clan. His links with Emperor Asoka led to the introduction of Buddhism by Mahinda (son of Asoka) in 247? BC. Sangamitta, (sister of Mahinda) brought a Bodhi sapling via Jambukola (Sambiliturei). There is no evidence in the history of King Ashoka about his having had a son by the name of Mahinda (or by any other name) or a daughter by the name of Sangamitta (or by any other name). This king's reign was crucial to Theravada Buddhism, and for Sri Lanka.

Elara (205-161 BC), a South Indian Tamil invader who ruled "Pihiti Rata", i.e., Sri Lanka north of the mahaweli, after killing King Asela. During Elara's time, Kelani Tissa was a sub-king of Maya Rata (south-west) and Kavan Tissa was a regional sub-king of Ruhuna (South-east). Kavan Tissa built Tissa Maha Vihara, Dighavapi Tank and many shrines in Seruvila. Dutugemunu (161-137 BC) – Eldest son of King Kavan Tissa, who was a young man 25 years of age, defeated the South Indian Tamil Invader Elara (over 64 years of age) in single combat, described in the Mahavamsa. Dutugemunu is depicted as a Sinhala "Asoka". The Ruwanwelisaya, built by this king is a dagaba of pyramid-like proportions. It was an engineering marvel.

Pulahatta (or Pulahatha) deposed by Bahiya, was deposed by Panaya Mara, deposed by Pilaya Mara, murdered by Dathiya 88 BC – deposed by Valagambahu, ending Tamil rule. Valagambahu I (89-77) BC – restored the Dutugamunu dynasty. The Mahavihara Theravada - Abhayagiri (pro-Mahayana) doctrinal disputes arose at this time. The Tripitaka was written in Pali at Aluvihara, Matale. Chora Naga (Mahanaga) (63-51) BC; poisoned by his consort Anula. Queen Anula (48-44 BC) – Widow of Chora Naga and Kuda Tissa, was the first Queen of Lanka. She had many lovers who were poisoned by her. She was finally killed by: Kuttakanna Tissa. Vasabha (67-111 AD) – Vallipuram gold plate; he fortified Anuradhapura and built eleven tanks; many edicts. Gajabahu I (114-136) – invaded the Chola kingdom and brought back captives. He recovered the tooth relic of the Buddha.

Mahasena (274-301) – The Theravada (Maha Vihara) was persecuted and Mahayana surfaced. Later the King returned to the Maha Vihara. Pandu (429) - first of seven Pandiyan rulers, ending with Pithya, 455; Dhatusena (459-477), his uncle, Mahanama wrote the Mahavamsa, he built "Kalaweva". His son Kashyapa (477-495), built the famous sigiriya rock palace. Some 700 rock graffiti give a glimpse of ancient Sinhala.

Lambakanna

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Manavamma (684-718) – seized the throne with Pallava help. Manavamma introduced Pallava patronage for three centuries. By the 9th century, with the Pandyan ascendancy in southern India, Anuradhapura was sacked. However, the Sinhalese invaded Pandya using a rival prince, and Madurai itself was sacked. Mahinda V (982-1029) – was the last Sinhala monarch of Anuradhapura. He fled to Ruhuna, where, in 1017, the Chola took him to prison and he died in India.

Feudal Sri Lanka (1000-1600 AD)

Chola empire

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The great Raja Raja Chola I, and his great son Rajendra Chola I, defeated all of the Sinhalese kings and sub-kings who ruled over Sinhlala kingdoms on the island and brought the entire island under South Indian Tamil control. The Sinhala king Mahinda V and his family were captured and taken to Chola Naadu. Tamils ruled the entire island for the next 37 years (1018-1055).

Polonnaruwa rule

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Vijayabahu I (1055-1110), recaptured the whole Island, and established Polonnaruwa as the new capital. King Vijayabahu married from the Kalinga (Orissa) Royal Family a second queen, and had a son Vikramabâhu I and a daughter Ratnavali. His sister, Mitta, married a Pandya Prince who had three sons, the eldest being Manabharana. He married Ratnavali. Their son was Parākramabāhu I (1153-1186) Grandson of Vijayabahu I, Prince of Sinhala-Pandyan-Kalinga descent, son of Manabharana and Vijayabahu’s sister, Mitta. He was a very powerful king, noted for his engineering, naval power, art, culture, many Sinhala inscriptions, and even a Tamil edict in Uruthota (Kayts). The Chulavamsa was written by Dharmakirthi, updating the Mahavamsa to include Parakramabahu. It was a great age since the epic Anradhapura period.

Dambadeniya kingdom

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Dambadeniya is an ancient capital of Sri Lanka. Four kings ruled from here, Vijayabâhu III (1220-1236), Parâkkamabâhu II (1236-1270), Vijayabâhu IV (1270-1272), Bhuvanaikabâhu I(1272-1283).

The first king to choose Dambadeniya as his capital was Vijayabâhu III. He was able to bring about the unity among the sangha that had fled in various directions due to the hostile activities of the invader Kalinga magha & succeeded in holding a Buddhist convention in 1226 to bring about peace among the Buddhist clergy. king Parâkkamabâhu II inherited the throne from king Vijayabâhu. He is considered a genius who was a great poet & prolific writer. Among the books he wrote are Kausilumina, which is considered a great piece of literature. Unifying the three kingdoms that existed within Sri Lanka at that point of time is regarded as greatest achievement.

King Bosath Vijayabâhu, as the eldest son of king Parâkkamabâhu II, was crowned in 1270. He was well known for his modest behaviour & for his religious activities. He was killed in the second year of his reign by a minister called Miththa.

After the demise of his elder brother Vijayabâhu, king Bhuvanaikabâhu I, as the next in line to the throne, shifted the capital to Yapahuwa for reasons of security. He followed his father's footsteps as a writer & continued with the religious activities started by his brother Vijayabâhu.

The literature of Dambadeniya era

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The Dambadeniya period is considered as the golden era of Sinhala literature. Several books in Sinhala, Pali & Sanskrit were written in this time. Among them are books of poetry such as Kausilumina, Muwadewdawatha, Sidath sangarawa, Buthsarana, Saddharma Rathnawaliya. The stone inscriptions in this period include keulgama mavilipitiya, Narambadde Ududumbara Lipiya, Rambukana Dewala Lipiya, Aluthnuwara Dewala Lipiya, Galapatha Viharaya Shila Lipiya.

Pali books of Dambadeniya Era

• Rupasiddiya
• Mahawansaya
• Thupawansaya
• Rsawahini

Jaffna kingdom

The Jaffna kingdom (Template:Lang-ta) (1215-1619 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryacakravarti came into existence after the invasion of Magha, who is said to have been from Kalinga, in South India. It eventually became a tribute paying feudatory of the Pandyan Empire in modern South India in 1250, but later become independent with the fragmentation of the Pandyan control. For a brief period, in the early to middle fourteenth century, it was an ascendant power in the island of Sri Lanka when all regional kingdoms accepted subordination. However, the kingdom was eventually overpowered by the rival Kotte Kingdom, around 1450.

It was freed of Kotte control in 1467; its subsequent rulers directed their energies towards consolidating its economic potential by maximising revenue from pearls and elephant exports and land revenue. It was less feudal than most of other regional kingdoms in the island of Sri Lanka of the same period. During this period, important local Tamil literature was produced and Hindu temples were built including an academy for language advancement.

The arrival of the Portuguese colonial power to the island of Sri Lanka in 1505, and its strategic location in the Palk Strait connecting all interior Sinhalese kingdoms to South India, created political problems. Many of its kings confronted and ultimately made peace with the Portuguese colonials. In 1617, Cankili II, an usurper to the throne, confronted the Portuguese but was defeated, thus bringing the kingdom’s independent existence to an end in 1619.

Colonial era (1505-1948)

Portuguese era

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The first Europeans to visit Sri Lanka in modern times were the Portuguese: Francisco de Almeida arrived in 1505, finding the island divided into seven warring kingdoms and unable to fend off intruders. The Portuguese founded a fort at the port city of Colombo in 1517 and gradually extended their control over the coastal areas. In 1592 the Sinhalese moved their capital to the inland city of Kandy, a location more secure against attack from invaders. Intermittent warfare continued through the 16th century.

Many lowland Sinhalese were forced to convert to Christianity while the coastal Moors were religiously persecuted and forced to retreat to the Central highlands. The Buddhist majority disliked Portuguese occupation and its influences and welcomed any power who might rescue them. In 1602, therefore, when the Dutch captain Joris van Spilbergen landed, the king of Kandy appealed to him for help.

Dutch era

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It was in 1638 that the Dutch attacked in earnest but ended with an agreement(which was disrespected by both parties), and not until 1656 that Colombo fell. By 1660 the Dutch controlled the whole island except the kingdom of Kandy. The Dutch(who were Protestants) persecuted the Catholics(the left over Portuguese setlers) but left the Buddhists, Hindus and Moslems alone. However, they taxed the people far more heavily than the Portuguese had done. A mixed Dutch-Sinhalese people known as Burgher peoples are the legacy of Dutch rule.

In 1659, the British sea captain Robert Knox landed by chance on Sri Lanka and was captured by the king of Kandy. He escaped 19 years later and wrote an account of his stay. This helped to bring the island to the attention of the British.

British rule

During the Napoleonic Wars the United Kingdom, fearing that French control of the Netherlands might deliver Sri Lanka to the French, occupied the coastal areas of the island (which they called Ceylon) with little difficulty in 1796. In 1802 by the Treaty of Amiens the Dutch part of the island was formally ceded to Britain, and became a crown colony. In 1803 the British invaded the Kingdom of Kandy in the 1st Kandyan War, but were bloodily repulsed. In 1815 Kandy was occupied in the 2nd Kandyan War, finally ending Sri Lankan independence. Following the bloody suppression of the Uva Rebellion or 3rd Kandyan War in 1817–1818, a treaty in 1818 preserved the Kandyan monarchy (Nayaks of Kandy) as a British dependency.

The Kandyan peasantry were stripped of their lands by the Wastelands Ordinance, a modern enclosure movement and reduced to penury. The British found that the uplands of Sri Lanka were very suited to coffee, tea and rubber cultivation, and by the mid 19th century Ceylon tea had become a staple of the British market, bringing great wealth to a small class of white tea planters. To work the estates, the planters imported large numbers of Tamil workers as indentured labourers from south India, who soon made up 10% of the island's population. These workers had to work in slave-like conditions and to live in line rooms, not very different from cattle sheds.

The British colonialists favoured the semi-European Burghers, certain high-caste Sinhalese and the Tamils who were mainly concentrated to the north of the country, exacerbating divisions and enmities which have survived ever since. Nevertheless, the British also introduced democratic elements to Sri Lanka for the first time in its history. The Burghers were given some degree of self-government as early as 1833. It was not until 1909 that constitutional development began with a partly-elected assembly, and not until 1920 that elected members outnumbered official appointees. Universal suffrage was introduced in 1931, over the protests of the Sinhalese, Tamil and Burgher elite who objected to the common people being allowed to vote , .

Independence movement (1935 to 1970)

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Ceylon National Congress (CNC) was founded to agitate for greater autonomy. The party soon split along ethnic and caste lines. Prof. K. M. de Silva, the famous Peradeniya historian has pointed out that the refusal of the Ceylon Tamils to accept minority status to be one of the main causes which broke up the Ceylon National congress. The CNC did not seek independence or "Swaraj". What may be called the independence movement broke into two streams, viz., the "constitutionalists", who sought independence by gradual modification of the status of Ceylon, and the more radical groups associated with the Colombo Youth League, Labour movement of Goonasinghe, and the Jaffna Youth Congress. These organizations were the first to raise the cry of Swaraj, or outright independence, following the Indian example, when Nehru, Sarojini Naidu and other Indian leaders visited Ceylon in 1926. The efforts of the constitutionalists led to the arrival of the Donoughmore Commission reforms (1931) and the Soulbury Commission recommendations, which essentially upheld the 1944 draft constitution of the Board of ministers headed by D. S. Senanayake. The Marxist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), which grew out of the Youth Leagues in 1935, made the demand for outright independence a corner stone of their policy Its deputies in the State Council, N.M. Perera and Philip Gunawardena, were aided in this struggle by other less radical members like Natesa Iyer and Don Alwin Rajapaksa. They also demanded the replacement of English as the official language by Sinhala and Tamil. The Marxist groups were a tiny minority and yet their movement was viewed with grave suspicion by the British administration. The heroic (but ineffctive) attempts to rouse the public against the British Raj in revolt would have led to certain bloodshed and a delay in independence. British state papers released in the 1950s show that the Marxist movement had a very negative impact on the policy makers at the Colonial office.

The Soulbury Commission was the most important result of the agitation for constitutional reform in the 1930s. The Tamil leadership had by then fallen into the hands of G. G. Ponnambalam who had rejected the "Ceylonese identity". Ponnamblam had declared himself a "proud Dravidian", and attempted to establish an independent identity for the Tamils. Ponnamblam was a politician who attacked the Sinhalese, and their historical chronicle known as the Mahavamsa. One such inflamed attack in Navalapitiya led to the first Sinhala-Tamil riot in 1939. Ponnambalam opposed universal franchise, supported the caste system, and claimed that the protection of Tamil rights requires the Tamils (15% of the population in 1931) having an equal number of seats in parliament to that of the Sinhalese (~72% of the population). This "50-50" or "balanced representation" policy became the hall mark of Tamil politics of the time. Ponnambalam also accused the British of having established colonization in "traditional Tamil areas", and having favoured the Buddhists by the buddhist temporalities act. The Soulbury Commission rejected these submissions by Ponnambalam, and even noted their unacceptable communal character. Sinhalese writers pointed out the large immigration of Tamils to the southern urban centers, especially after the opening of the Jaffna-Colombo railway. Meanwhile, Senanayake, Baron Jayatilleke, Oliver Gunatilleke and others lobbied the Soulbury Commission without confronting them officially. The unoffcial submissions contained what was to later become the draft constitution of 1944.

The close collaboration of the D. S. Senanayake government with the war-time British administration led to the support of Lord Louis Mountbatten. His dispatches and a telegram to the Colonial office supporting Independence for Ceylon have been cited by historians as having helped the Senanayake government to secure the independence of Sri Lanka. The shrewd cooperation with the British as well as diverting the needs of the war market to Ceylonese markets as a supply point, managed by Oliver Goonatilleke, also led to a very favourable fiscal situation for the newly independent government.

Second World War

During World War II, Sri Lanka was a front-line British base against the Japanese. Opposition to the war in Sri Lanka was orchestrated by Marxist organizations. The leaders of the LSSP pro-independence agitation were arrested by the Colonial authorities. On 5 April 1942, The Japanese Navy bombed Colombo, which led to the flight of Indian merchants, dominant in the Colombo commercial sector. This flight removed a major political problem faceing the Senanayake government. Marxist leaders also escaped, to India, where they participated in the independence struggle there. The movement in Ceylon was minuscule, limited to the English educated intelligentsia and trade unions, mainly in the urban centers. These groups were led by Robert Gunawardena, Philip's brother. In stark contrast to this "heroic" but ineffective approach to the war, the Senanayake government took advantage of the war to further its rapport with the commanding elite. Ceylon became crucial to the British Empire in the war, with Lord Louis Mountbatten using Colombo as his headquarters for the Eastern Theater. Oliver Goonatilleka successfully exploited the markets for the country's rubber and other agricultural products to replenish the treasury. Nonetheless, Sinhalese continued to agitate for independence and Sinhalese sovereignty, using the opportunities offered by the war to establish a special relationship with Britain.

Meanwhile, the Marxists, identifiying the war as an imperialist sideshow and desiring a proletarian revolution, chose a path of agitation disproportionate to their negligible combat strength, and diametrically opposed to the "constitutionalist" approach of Senanayake and other Ethnic Sinhalese leaders. A small garrison on the Cocos Islands, manned by Ceylonese, asttempted to cast off the British yoke. It has been claimed that the LSSP had some hand in the action, though this is far from clear. Three of the participants were the only British Subject Peoples to be shot for "mutiny" during the World War II. Two members of the Governing Party, Junius Richard Jayawardene and Dudley Senanayake held discussions with the Japanese to collaborate in liberating the island from British colonialism.

Sri Lankans in Singapore and Malaysia formed the 'Lanka Regiment' of the (pro/anti Colonial?) Indian National Army.

The constitutionalists, led by D. S. Senanayake, succeeded in winning independence. The Soulbury constitution was essentially what Senanayake's board of ministers had drafted in 1944. The promise of Dominion status, and independence itself, had been given by the Colonial office.

Post war

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The Sinhalese leader Don Stephen Senanayake left the CNC on the issue of independence, disagreeing with the revised aim of 'the achieving of freedom', although his real reasons were more subtle . He subsequently formed the United National Party (UNP) in 1946, when a new constitution was agreed on, based on the behind-the -curtain lobbying of the Soulbury commission. At the elections of 1947, the UNP won a minority of the seats in Parliament, but cobbled together a coalition with the Sinhala Maha Sabha of Solomon Bandaranaike and the Tamil Congress of G.G. Ponnambalam. The successful inclusions of the Tamil-communalist leader Ponnambalam, and his Sinhala counterpart Bandaranaike were a remarkable political balancing act by Senanayake. However, the vacuum in Tamil Nationalist politics created by Ponnamblam's transition to a moderate opened the field for the Tamil Arasu Kachchi, a Tamil soverignist party (renderd into English as the "Federal" party) led by S. J. V. Chelvanaykam, the lawyer son of a Christian minister.

Independence

Dominion status, raised to independence itself followed on 4 February 1948, with military treaties with Britain (the upper ranks of the armed forces were initially British) and British air and sea bases remaining intact. Senanayake became the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. In 1949, with the concurrence of the leaders of the Ceylon Tamils, the UNP government disenfranchised the Indian Tamil plantation workers. This was the price that Senanayake had to pay, to obtain the support of the Kandyan Sinhalese who felt threatened by the demographics of the tea estates, where the inclusion of the "Indian Tamils" would have meant electoral defeat for the Kandyan leaders. Senanayke died in 1952 after falling from a horse. He was succeeded by his son Dudley Senanayake, the minister of Agriculture. However, in 1953 - following a massive general strike or 'Hartal' by the Left parties against the UNP, Dudley Senanayake resigned. He was followed by John Kotelawala, a senior politician and an uncle of Dudley. Kotelawala did not have the enormous personal prestige or the adroit political acumen of D. S. Senanayake . He brought to the fore, the issue of national languages that D. S. Senanayake had adroitly kept on the back burner. He antagonized the Tamils and the Sinhalese by stating conflicting policies with regard to the status of Sinhala and Tamil as official languages. He also antagonized the Buddhist lobby by attacking politically active Buddhist Monks who were Bandaranaike's supporters.

In 1956 the UNP was defeated at elections (being reduced to 8 seats in Parliament) by the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, which included the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by Solomon Bandaranaike and the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party of Philip Gunawardena. Bandaranaike was a politician who had nursed the Sinhala nationalist lobby since the 1930s. He replaced English with Sinahala Only as the official language. He was the chief Sinhalese spokesmen who attempted to counter the communal politics unleashed by G. G. Ponnambalam. In 1957 British bases were removed and Sri Lanka officially became a non-aligned country. The Paddy Lands Act, the brainchild of Philip Gunawardena was passed, giving those working the land greater rights vis-a-vis absentee landlords.

Bandaraike entered into a pact with Chelvanayagam of the Tamil-based Tamil Arasu Kachchi to secure more rights for the Tamils, but this was opposed by G. G. Ponnambalam and by JR Jayawardene of the UNP. The latter organised a "March to Kandy" in protest. This triggered hostility from the Tamil minority which soon led to disturbances, culminating in serious riots in 1958.

Philip Gunawardena, while in government, continued to organize strikes in the Colombo port. He was removed from office by the strengthened right-wing of the governing coalition. The right-wing forces also conspired against the government proper. Bandaranaike was assassinated in September 1959. His successor Wijayananda Dahanayake, an ex-LSSP member from Galle, was unable to hold the government together, and elections in March 1960 brought the UNP under Dudley Senanayake back to office, but without a working parliamentary majority.

Fresh elections in July saw Bandaranaike's widow, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, lead the SLFP to power to become the world's first elected female head of government. Her government avoided further confrontations with the Tamils, but the anti-Socialist policies of the Republican Party led to a cut-off of United States aid and a growing economic crisis. After an attempted coup-d'etat, by mainly non-buddhist right-wing Army and Police officers intent on bringing the UNP back to power, Bandaranaike nationalised the oil companies. This led to a boycott of the country by the oil cartels, which was broken with aid from the Kansas oil producers co-operative. In 1964 she formed a coalition government with the LSSP, a Trotskyist party with Dr N.M. Perera as Minister of Finance.

Dissatisfaction with the economic situation brought the UNP under Senanayake back to office in 1965, but this government fared no better. The underlying causes of Sri Lanka's problems were the declining market and the exploding population, resulting from advanced health services and social welfare. Sri Lanka's traditional commodity exports, tea, coffee and rubber could not match the costs of importing food and maintaining a welfare economy. In 1968 Bandaranaike formed a coalition, the United Front with the LSSP and the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, which swept the 1970 polls on a platform of socialism.

Republic (1970 to 2009)

Under Bandaranaike the country became a republic, the Free Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka, the Senate was abolished and Sinhala was established as the official language (with Tamil as a second language). Full independence came as the last remaining ties of subjection to the UK were broken (e.g. the Privy Council was no longer a body of appeal above the Supreme Court). Clonial plantations were nationalised to fulfil the election pledges of the Marxist program and to "prevent the ongoing dis-investment by the owning companies".

An attempt was made at economic independence, with a five-year plan to achieve industrial development. However, this was stymied by a shortage of foreign exchange, a very expensive welfare program, and the oil crisis of 1974. These, combined with an unprecedented drought severely affected the harvest of rice, the staple food of the people. Strides were made in the fields of heavy industry, automotive parts and electronics. The strongly centralized economy, functioning via a set of state corporations, grew very sluggishly.

In 1971 a group variously labelled Maoist or Guevarist, the People's Liberation Front (JVP) launched a rebellion. It was led by Rohana Wijeweera, a marxist who had his education at the Lumumba University in the Soviet Union. This movement was not connected with the traditional Sri Lankan Marxist parties which were then in power. Most of the "insurgents" were unemployed literate youth who were the product of the post-independence population explosion. Although the JVP rebellion was brutally suppressed, the JVP found a place in Sri Lankan politics as a voice of leftist Sinhalese nationalism, along with the right-wing movement in the UNP associated with Cyril Matthew. Militant Tamil Chauvinist movements, e.g., the Pulip Padai, had been launched in Trincomalee in 1965. The Jaffna university was "ethnically cleansed" of non-Tamils in 1976, and the city itself began to be subject to similar "ethnic cleansing", eliminating Muslim and Sinhala residents.

The extreme-Tamil groups rejected and physically eliminated the main Colombo-Tamil leadership of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). Tamil public servants or members of parliament working with the government were harassed. The mayor of Jaffna was assassinated in 1975. The militants claimed their independence, their rights, and their "traditional homeland", and formed armed separatist groups such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ('Tamil Tigers'), demanding an independent Tamil state called Eelam. Much of this had the implicit and material support of politicians in India.

New constitution

By 1977 the voters were tired of Bandaranaike's socialist policies and elections returned the UNP to power under Junius Jayewardene on a manifesto pledging a market economy and "a free ration of 8 seers (kilograms) of cereals". The SLFP and the left-wing parties were virtually wiped out in Parliament (although they garnered 40% of the popular vote), leaving the Tamil United Liberation Front, led by Appapillai Amirthalingam, as the official opposition. This created a dangerous ethnic cleavage in Sri Lankan politics.

Bandaranaike had her civic rights removed by an act of Parliament. In 1978 Jayewardene introduced a new constitution making Sri Lanka a presidential 'Democratic Socialist' republic, with himself as executive President . In 1980 he crushed a general strike by the trade-union movement, jailing its leaders. When the UNP member for the parliamentary constituency of Kalawana was removed on an election petition by his Communist opponent, Jayawardene allowed him to continue sitting in the house.

In 1977, Colombo abandoned state controlled economic policies and its import substitution trade policy for market-oriented policies and export-oriented trade. This included the opening of free-trade zones with a heavy emphasis on exports of garments from these zones.

Elections to District Councils in 1981 were marred by the open theft of ballot boxes in Jaffna. The Jaffna Library, the repository of thousands of valuable documents was burned down by thugs alleged to be linked with the government.

President Jayawardene had the constitution amended (one of 13 amendments during his 10 years in office) to allow presidential elections to be held early, in 1982. The main opposition candidate, Hector Kobbekaduwa was garlanded with onions by the farmers of the Jaffna peninsular, impoverished by the policy of unrestricted imports.

The Presidential election, held amidst widespread acts of electoral malpractice (Hector Kobbekaduwa arrived at the polling station only to find his vote had already been cast) resulted in Jayawardene's re-election. He followed this with an infamous plebiscite on postponing parliamentary elections for six years. Associates of Kobbekaduwa, such as TB Ilangaratne and Vijaya Kumaratunga, were jailed as 'Naxalites', a political creed unheard of in Sri Lanka, before or since. The Commissioner of Elections, in his report on the referendum, reported that it was flawed.

In 1983 following a demonstration against the US establishment of a military base in Diego Garcia, former MP Vivienne Goonewardena was physically assaulted at a police station. Her fundamental rights application in this matter was upheld by the Supreme Court in an act of judicial independence . Following this, thugs stoned the houses of the Supreme Court judges who had made the ruling and the police officer who had been convicted had his fine paid by the government and received a promotion.

Civil war (1983 to 2009)

This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page. (March 2009)

In July 1983 communal riots took place due to the ambush and killing of 13 Sri Lankan Army soldiers by the Tamil Tigers. Using the voters list which contained the exact addresses of Tamils, the Tamil community faced a backlash from Sinhalese rioters including the destruction of shops, homes and savage beatings. However, quite a few Sinhalese kept Tamil neighbours in their homes to protect them from the rioters. During these riots the government did nothing to control the mob. Conservative government estimates put the death toll at 400, while the real death toll is believed to be around 3000. Also around 18,000 Tamil homes and 5,000 homes were destroyed, with 150,000 leaving the country resulting in a Tamil Diaspora in Canada, UK, Australia and other western countries.

Jayewardene held office until 1989, ruling as a virtual dictator under emergency powers. In 1987, following an army offensive in the Vadamarachchi peninsular, India started getting deeply involved in the ethnic conflict. A convoy sent by India was stopped in Sri Lankan waters by the Sri Lankan Navy and the Indian Air Force retaliated with an air drop of supplies onto the Jaffna peninsula. While the UNP organised street protests against India, Jayawardene declared that he would defend the country's independence to the last bullet.

However, the air drop also caused Jayawardene to reconsider his position and he then accepted the offer of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of a Peace Accord. Rajiv Gandhi's offer to send troops into Sri Lanka was deeply unpopular with the Sinhalese and, although initially popular with the Tamils, led to an outbreak of hostilities between the Tamil Tigers and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) - Eelam War II.

In 1989 Jayewardene was succeeded by his own choice as President, Ranasinghe Premadasa, who asked for the Indian troops to be withdrawn - which was later done by Indian Prime Minister V.P. Singh. Premadasa was assassinated by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber in 1993. Rajiv Gandhi had already met a similar fate (assassinated by a Tamil Tiger ) in 1991.

Premadasa was succeeded by Dingiri Banda Wijetunga, with Ranil Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister. In August 1994 the People's Alliance under Bandaranaike's daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga won legislative elections on a platform of concessions to the Tamils and a 'balanced economy'. Kumaratunga became Prime Minister and in November she was elected President, appointing her 78-year-old (but still active) mother Prime Minister. A ceasefire ensued, which broke down by the Tamil tigers after several months - the beginning of Eelam War III. Under the Bandaranaikes the war dragged on, with the military unable to defeat the separatists and the government opposed to negotiations. By 2000 an estimated 65,000 people had been killed in the conflict.

At Presidential elections in 1999, former Prime Minister Wickremesinghe of the UNP contested on a platform of no concessions to the Tamils, but was defeated by Kumaratunga. A 180-degree turn in UNP policy occurred and in December 2001 the UNP returned to office on a policy of a negotiated settlement with the Tigers, with Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister. A cease fire began, the first long cessation of hostilities since the beginning of the conflict. But the 1978 constitution left the Prime Minister with little power against a hostile President. In March 2004 she dismissed Wickremesinghe and called fresh elections, which returned the SLFP to office under Mahinda Rajapakse.

By 2005 there had been no further progress towards either a military or political solution. The assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August 2005, by the LTTE (although they denied responsibility), further hardened attitudes. His successor was Anura Bandaranaike, the President's brother and putative political heir. Twenty years of civil conflict had done immense damage to Sri Lankan society and the economy, which has fallen behind other Asian economies, although it remains the second most prosperous nation in South Asia.

In elections held on 17 November 2005, Mahinda Rajapakse, the son of Don Alwin Rajapaksa, was elected President, defeating Wickremasinghe. He appointed Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Prime Minister and Mangala Samaraweera Foreign Minister. Negotiations with the LTTE stalled and low-intensity conflict began. The violence dipped off after talks in February, but escalated in April and the conflict continued until the military defeat of the LTTE in May 2009.

Defeat of the LTTE

The Sri Lankan government declared total victory on Monday, 18th of May 2009. On 19 May 2009, the Sri Lankan military effectively concluded its 26 year operation against the LTTE.Its military forces recaptured all remaining LTTE controlled territories in the Northern Province, including notably Killinochchi (2 January), the Elephant Pass (9 January) and the ultimately the entire district of Mullaitivu.

The 58 Division of the Sri Lankan Army led by Brig. Shavendra Silva, 59 Division led by Brig. Prasanna de Silva and the 53 Division commanded by Gen. Kamal Gunaratne, after having boxed in the remaining LTTE cadres into a small area of territory near Nandhikkadal lagoon, linked up and eliminated the remaining cadres. This final battle claimed the lives of several top LTTE leaders and Velupillai Prabhakaran who was reported to have attempted to flee. On the morning of the 19th, soldiers of the 4th Vijayabahu infantry regiment led by Lt. Col Rohitha Aluvihare claimed to have found the body of Prabhakaran, and so militarily ending a separatist war that had defined Sri Lanka's history for three decades.

On 22 May 2009, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa confirmed that 6,261 personnel of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces had lost their lives and 29,551 were wounded during Eelam War IV since July 2006. Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara added that approximately 22,000 LTTE cadres had died during this time. Later the LTTE admitted Prabhakaran's death and accepted defeat.

During this final phase of the conflict many non-governmental organizations expressed serious concerns about the ultra-aggressive government and LTTE tactics. Many claims have been made of the gross negligence of human rights at the internment camps for refugees. During the conflict, makeshift hospitals and refugee areas were shelled and destroyed althought it was not entirely clear who was responsible for the shelling.

UN officials and Media representatives from other countries were sent to undertake investigations into the conflict.

The Times newspaper of the UK accused the government of a massacre on the coastline of a refugee camp caught between the fire. This raised the estimate of deaths to 20, 000, many times that of the official figures released by the government. Furthermore it was uncovered that the Sri Lankan Government was receiving arms and munitions as well as several fighter planes from the Chinese government in exchange for a Chinese naval base to be built on the Sri Lankan coast. This is a move by Bejing to cement a stronger position in the geopolitical struggle for power over the energy trade routes along the Indian ocean.

Post LTTE Sri Lanka

See also

• Prehistory of Sri Lanka
• Mahawamsa
• Irrigation works of ancient Sri Lanka
• Ancient Constructions of Sri Lanka
• Architecture of ancient Sri Lanka

References

1. Ranwella, K (05 - 18 June 2000). "THE SO-CALLED TAMIL KINGDOM OF JAFFNA". Retrieved 07-28-2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
2. Pichumani, K (05 - 18 June 2004). "Prehistoric basis for the rise of civilisation in Sri Lanka and southern India". Frontline. 21 (12). Retrieved 09-08-2008. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
3. Geiger-Bode translation of the Mahavamsa
4. Paranavithana Epigraphics Zeylanica
5. Indo-European Folk-Tales and Greek Legend by W. R. Halliday
6. see place names
7. S. Kiribamuna, "The role of the Port city of Mahathathitha in the Trade networks of the Indian Ocean", in "Reflections on a Heritage", Part I 2000
8. A Concise History of Ceylon: From the Earliest Times to the Arrival of the Portuguese in 1505, 1961, p 25, Cyril Wace Nicholas, Senarat Paranavitana - Sri Lanka; Sinhalese and Other Island Languages in South Asia: By M.W.S. de Silva, 1979, p 15, M. W. Sugathapala De Silva.
9. Inscriptions of Ceylon, 1970, p xc, Senarat Paranavitana - Inscriptions; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 341-42, 347, Dr J. L. Kamboj
10. Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean, 2002, pp 108-109, David Parkin and Ruth Barnes; Epigraphia Zeylanica: Being Lithic and Other Inscriptions of Ceylon, 1984, p 53, Don M. de Z. Wickremasinghe, Ceylon Archeological Dept, Archaeological Dept - Inscriptions, Sinhalese; The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia (Cambridge World Archaeology) 2003, p 206, Himanshu Prabha Ray, Norman Yoffee, Susan Alcock, Tom Dillehay, Stephen Shennan, and Carla Sinopoli (14 August, 2003) - Cambridge University Press; Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions, Steven Collins....See APPENDIX 4, Selections from the Story of the Elder Máleyya i.e. Maleyyadevattheravatthu).
11. Mahavamsa X.90, XII.5, XII.37-39; Dipavamsa. VIII.9; Samantapasadika, (P.T.B.)..I.67; See: History of Ceylon, Vol I, Part I, pp 88-91, Dr S Parnavitana
12. Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean, 2002, pp 108-109, David Parkin and Ruth Barnes; The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia (Cambridge World Archaeology) 2003, p 206, Himanshu Prabha Ray, Norman Yoffee, Susan Alcock, Tom Dillehay, Stephen Shennan, and Carla Sinopoli (14 August, 2003) - Cambridge University Press; The Beginnings of Civilization in South India, Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 29, No. 3 (May, 1970), pp. 603-616, Clarence Maloney)
13. ' "It is believed that the people who arrived in Lanka from time to time came from the region of Ancient Kamboja. These people may have come from the Indus Vally Civilization or related southern Indian groups. Evidence of such origens may be seen in the bathing ponds and drainage system at Anuradhapura city. Symbols and signs (eg. Swastika) found in caves, on pottery and on coins may have been introduced by these yet unknown arrivals (from Kamboja)" (See: Heritage of Sri Lanka, 1984, p 14, Nandadeva Wijesekera - Sri Lanka.
14. Cf: Proceedings of the Pakistan History Conference, 1968, p 14/15, Pakistan Historical Society - Pakistan.
15. • IMPORTANT NOTE: While referring to Simhala country, which is referred to in the Book III, Chapter VII of Saktisangama Tantra, , Dr D. C. Sircar, a front rankinng Indologist observes:
    The great country called Simhala, the best of all countries, is placed to the east of Maru-desa and to the south of the Kama-dra. This Simhala of the Saktisangama Tantra can not be identified with Ceylon as such. It is evidently in the Punjab... and reminds us of the kingdom of Sinhapura, mentioned by Hiuen Tsang. The capital of this kingdom has been identified with Khetas, or Katas in the Jhellum District (See: Saktisangama Tantra III. 83, 4 and 205) which is next to the Javalamukhi, the most frequented place of pilgrimage in the Punjab. Tantric literature locates Shambhala (i.e Simhala) and Lankapuri in the SWAT-KASHMIR region (SeeL Studies in Tantras, pp 39-40, Dr P. C. Bagchi; Geography of Ancient India and Medieval India, 1971, pp 108/110, Dr D. C. Sircar). Kama or Kama-giri is also referred to in the Saktisangama Tantra and is located to the north of Maru-desa and also to the north of Huna country (in Punjab and called the land of Heroes) (See: Geography of Ancient India and Medieval India, 1971, pp 108, 110, Dr D. C. Sircar).
    • Here Kama or Kama-giri obviously refers to Kama/Kamma valley/ region in the north-east Afghanistan. Kata is the name of a people and their language, located north of the Kabul river and south of the Hindu Kush. These people are also called Katirs/Kamtoz and are considered descendants of ancient Kambojas. The Saktisangama Tantra attests one Simhala and also one Lankapuri, in the Swat valley to the north of Kabul and the west of the Indus in present day northern-eastern Afghanistan. This location corresponds precisely with the land of the Ancient Kambojas. Thus the Aryan speaking Sinhalese migration to Ceylon, must have started/originated from this Swat/Kashmir region of north-west India.
16. History of Ceylon, 1959, p 91, Ceylon University, University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, Hem Chandra Ray, K. M. De Silva - Sri Lanka.
17. Buddhism Among Tamils in Pre-colonial Tamilakam and Ilam, 2002, p 349, Peter Schalk, A. Veluppillai - Tamil (Indic people); Buddhism Among Tamils in Pre-colonial Tamilakam and Ilam, 2002, p 349, Peter Schalk, A. Veluppillai - Tamil (Indic people); The Dravidian Languages, 2003, p 2, Bhadriraju Krishnamurti - Language Arts & Disciplines; Inscriptions of Ceylon, 1970, p xc, Senarat Paranavitana - Inscriptions; Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict, 1990, p 46,Jonathan Spencer; Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean, 2002, pp 101, 121, 122, Ruth Barnes, David Parkin; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 341-42, 347, Dr J. L. Kamboj.
18. Sanskrit: Dramida or Dravida; Pali: Damila, Sinhali: Damela, and Tamil: Tamil (Mahāvaṃsa, the Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka: Chapters One to Thirty-seven : an Annotated New Translation with Prolegomena, p 283, Mahānāma, Ananda W. P. Guruge).
19. Island Interlude , 1971, p 29, Esmée Rankine; The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia: The Formative Period, 2003, p 205, Himanshu Prabha Ray, Social Science.
20. Dameda vanija gahapati Vishaka.
21. Ilu bhartechi Dameda karite Dameda gahapatikana.
22. Dameda navika karava.
23. "Two Damilas (SENA and GUTTIKA), sons of a freighter who brought horses hither" (via water-craft (See: Mahavamsa XXI, v 10-12.
24. Dictionary of Pali Proper Names: Pali-English, 2003 (edition), p 363, G. P. Malalasekera - Reference.
25. Vinaya Pitaka, III, 6; Játaka, Vol II, 287, Fausboll; Samantapāsādikā (P.T.S), Vol I, p 175.
26. Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, XV, 1915, p. 171, E. Muller, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; Pracina Kamboja, Jana aura Janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, Jiya Lal Kamboj, Satyavrat Shastri; Epigraphia Zeylanica: Being Lithic and Other Inscriptions of Ceylon, Vol-2, 1928, p 75, Inscriptions, Sinhalese.
27. Narsiṁhapriyā (prof. A.V.N. Murthy Felicitation Volume): Essays on Indian Archaeology, Epigraphy, Numismatics, Art, Architecture, Iconography, and Cultural History, 2000, p 77, Inguva Karthikeya Sarma, D. V. Devaraj, Ram Gopal, A. V. Narasimha Murthy.
28. de Silva, K. M. (prof. Peredeniya University): A History of Sri Lanka, 2005, p 13
29. Muridi-Utaraha sheni = Trans: "The flight of the steps of Uttara--the Murnidiya".
30. Since the epithet 'Muridi' is prefixed to the name '-Utara' (Skt. Uttara), Dr S. Paranavitana believed that Muridi is a derivative of Muruda, which is the same as Murunda in the compound Saka-Murunda that occurs in the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta. Dr S. Konow (1929: XX), referring to the same inscription argued that Murunda is almost certainly a Saka word meaning 'master', 'lord', and he argued that the word murunda has become synonymome with Saka, when applied to royalty.
31. A Concise History of Ceylon: From the Earliest Times to the Arrival of the Portuguese in 1505, 1961, p 25, Cyril Wace Nicholas, Senarat Paranavitana - Sri Lanka; Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean, 2002, p 109, Ruth Barnes, David Parkin; THE PEOPLE OF THE LION ETHNIC IDENTITY, IDEOLOGY AND HISTORICAL REVISIONISM IN CONTEMPORARY SRI LANKA: K. N. O. DHARMADASA; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 341-42, 347, Dr J. L. Kamboj.
32. R. L. Broheir, Ancient Irrigation Works in Ceylon, 3 Vols., 1937
33. ^ K. M. de Silva, University of Ceylon History of Ceylon, p. 225
34. ^ Dr. Jane Russell, Communal Politics under the Donoughmore constitution. Tsiisara Prakasakyo, Dehivala, 1982
35. Hansard 1935
36. Hindu Organ, November 1, 1939
37. Welcome to UTHR, Sri Lanka
38. K. M. de Silva, History of Sri Lanka, Penguin 1995, ch. 37
39. K.M. de Silva, Conflict and Violence in South Asia, p.384 ICES, 2004
40. R. Gunaratna, International Regional Security Implications of the Sri Lankan Tamil Insurgency, 1997
41. M. R. Singer, Asian Survey 32, part II, p 168 1991
42. Civilians 'die in Lanka shelling'- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7845311.stm
43. The hidden massacre: Sri Lanka’s final offensive against Tamil Tigers - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6383449.ece
44. Sri Lanka's crucial role in Indian Ocean power struggle - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6401262.ece

Books and magazines

• Arsecularatne, S. N, Sinhalese immigrants in Malaysia & Singapore, 1860-1990: History through recollections, Colombo, KVG de Silva & Sons, 1991
• Brohier, R. L, The Golden Age of Military Adventure in Ceylon: an account of the Uva Rebellion 1817-1818. Colombo: 1933
• Crusz, Noel, The Cocos Islands Mutiny. Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Fremantle, WA, 2001
• Deraniyagala, Siran, The Prehistory of Sri Lanka; an ecological perspective. (revised ed.), Colombo: Archaeological Survey Department of Sri Lanka, 1992
• Liyanagamage, Amaradasa, The decline of Polonnaruwa and the rise of Dambadeniya. Department of Cultural Affairs, Government Press, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 1968.
• Pieris, Paulus Edward, Ceylon and Hollanders 1658-1796. American Ceylon Mission Press, 1918.
• Pieris, Paulus Edward, Ceylon and the Portuguese 1505-1658. American Ceylon Mission Press, 1920.
• William Adair Nelson and R. Kumar de Silva, The Dutch Forts of Sri Lanka. Reprint: Sri Lanka - Netherlands Association, Colombo, 2004 (First ed. in 1984)
• R. Kumar de Silva and Willemina G. M. Beumer, Illustrations and Views of Dutch Ceylon, 1602-1796. Serendib Publications, London, 1988.

External links

• Nearly 1200 links on Sri Lanka
• The Virtual Motherland of Sri Lankans
• Sri Lanka in 1942 - World War II Movie Clip
• Library of Congress Country Study: Sri Lanka
• The Netherlands - Ceylon Heritage
• Colombo in Dutch Times
• Jacob Haafner. Travels Through The Island of Ceylon in 1783
• The Dutch in Ceylon glimpse of their life and times
• The Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon
• A Baptism of Fire: The Van Goens Mission to Ceylon and India, 1653-54
• 1694 Census in Jaffnapatnam City and Castle
• Dutch and Portuguese Buildings in Sri Lanka
• Tourist Board of Sri Lanka
• hWeb - Sri Lanka’s recent history of ethnic conflict originates from its colonial legacy
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• Peace and Conflict Timeline (PACT) - interactive timeline of the Sri Lankan conflict

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