Sri Lanka History is incident full. Being an important trade port and
oasis of Nature for sea farers of China, Arabia and Europe of the ancient
times. Sri Lanka has a fascinating documented history over 2500 years of
Civilization. The most valuable source of knowledge for the legends and
historical heritage of Sri Lanka is the Mahavamsa (Great Genealogy or Dynasty),
a chronicle compiled in Pali, in the sixth century.
oasis of Nature for sea farers of China, Arabia and Europe of the ancient
times. Sri Lanka has a fascinating documented history over 2500 years of
Civilization. The most valuable source of knowledge for the legends and
historical heritage of Sri Lanka is the Mahavamsa (Great Genealogy or Dynasty),
a chronicle compiled in Pali, in the sixth century.
Anuradhapura Era 437 BC- 1017 AD
Anuradhapura Kingdom was built by King Pandukabhya, son of Princess Unmada
chithtra. The city was the first of it's kind with well designed sanitary
system, Gardens, Irrigation and Water supply systems, Temples, cemeteries and
burial grounds, etc. The city was then became the capital city of Sri Lanka and
flourished under many subsequent Kings ruled for centuries.
Anuradhapura Kingdom was highly vulnerable to invasions from South India and
suffered usurp of throne several times, by invading Kings from south India.
Singhalese Kings have managed to defeat the invaders after reorganizing the
troops, although the invading kings ruled in the mean time. One such historic
battle held Between King Dutugamunu and South Indian King, Elara. In that, King
Elara was defeated and King Dutugamunu ruled the country in single sovereignty.
The Anuradhapura Kingdom was under constant threat from south Indian kingdoms.
The King Mahinda V ascended to throne in 982 A.C, and was the last Sinhalese king
to rule the country from Glorious city. At this time the South Indian realm
Chola, became very powerful under the Great Rajaraja (985- 1018 A.C) and
conquered Sri Lanka. The King Mahinda was captured and imprisoned in South
India.
The South Indians ruled the country for next 75 years. They shifted the Capital
city to Polonnaruwa due to strategic reasons after considering the vulnerably
for attacks from both native Sinhalese people and other south Indian Kingdoms.
Polonnaruwa Era 1017 - 1215
Polonnaruwa Era existed between AC 1065- 1120. The governing period of this time
was about 186 years and 19 rulers had sat on the throne in that period. During
the final period in the Anuradhapura era, the cholas shifted the
political power to Polonnaruwa, which was situated in the eastern side of
the dry zone. The main reason was security, as it was regarded as a strategic
location to guard against an invasion from Ruhuna, the refuge of the Sinhalese
liberation force.
Still the Cholas were unsuccessful in defending themselves against Vijayabahu?s
offensive riot against Polonnaruwa. They Surrendered in 1070 and left the island.
Polonnaruwa had its own fabulous Buddhist architecture and irrigational network
that had been built over the centauries by earlier sinhala rulers. (Ex- Minneria Tanks)
The First Sinhalese king to rule in this period was King Wijayabahu who ruled for
55 years after he defeated the cholas.(AC 1065-1120).
He restoered Buddhism to its former glory and was also responsible for economic regeneration.
The Next famous King to take over from Vijayabahu is King Parakramabahu (AC 1164-1197)
He unified the country under one rule and built a remarkable series
of irrigation work including the massive Parakrama Samudraya.
Nissanka Malla was also a king to take notice of, because he also stabilized
Sri Lanka during his period. But his death brought instability & a pirate named
Magha, who came from south India conquered Polonnaruwa & executed many years of
ruthless control over the island.
Yapahuva Era 1272 - 1300
Yapahuwa was considered as strategically important point since the Polonnaruwa era.
Prince Buwanekabahu, the son of great Parakramabahu who ruled in Dabadeniya,
was stationed at Yapahuwa to protect the kingdom against enemy attacks.
When the Dabadeniya kingdom fall after the King Wijayabahu the 4th,
The throne was taken by Prince Buwanekabahu, who ruled the kingdom from Yapahuwa.
The sacred tooth Relic was brought from Dambadeniya to Yapahuwa and kept in the
specially built palace. The ruins of this temple can be seen today and is
considered one of the best archeologically valuable sites on the Island.
Kurunagala Era - 1293 - 1341
Kurunagala - 1293 - 1341
Kurunagala was a royal capital starting from Buvenekabhahu II (1293-1302).
This was about half of century which is now clarified by ruins.
among these ruins there are parts of temple of tooth relic. One of the caves discovered by modern
archeologists, the cave hermitage of Arankele, indicates that ancient times in
Kurunegala, in addition to buddhist monks there has been forest dwelling
(called Thapowana) hermitages called Brahmi. In the area the inscriptions of
ancient brahmi donatives has been found. In the Ridigama Vihara, a temple near
to the cave hermitage of Arankele, there had been a silver orc which
belongs to the time of King Dutugemunu.
In the temple a reclining Buddha statue is seated, which belongs to the 18 century.
The temple is attracted by a door frame with ivory carvings and alters
tilled with Dutch tiles and an artificial lake under the shadow of the hill
Gampola Era 1341- 1415
Gampola was made as the capital city of the Island by the King Buwanekabahu the
fourth, who ruled for 4 years in mid fourteenth century. The last king of
Gampola was King Buwanekabahu the fifth. He ruled the Island for 29 years.
A separate city was build in Kotte during this time by a noble known as
Alagakkonara.
Among the remnants of Gampola era, the most famous temples are Lankathilaka,
Gadaladeniya and Ambekka Dewalaya. The ancient stone scripts (Shila Lekhana)
of Lankathilaka temple helps to reveal a considerable amount of vital
information regarding the Gampola era. The statue of Buddha of the temple
indicates style of south Indian arts. The Ambekka Dewalaya possess a large
collection of wood carvings, where no other temple in Sri Lanka owns such a
collection.
Kotte Era 1415 - 1514
Sri Lanka remained in a instable situation during the 14th & the 15th centauries.
King Parakramabahu vi (1415-1467), the last Sinhalese King managed
to reestablish rule over the island. His power base was in Kotte.
In the later stages of his rule, Gampola was challenged and he appointed a prince
of Gampola royal house as its administrator.
After the death of Parakramabahu, the island again plunged in to divisive struggle.
Jaffna declared itself an independent Tamil kingdom under
Pararajasekaram. (1497-1579)
The Dutch came to Sri Lanka in 1505, during the times of King Parakramabahu IX.
The King made a pact with the Dutch as they were a powerful army than of the
King's. The King grant permission to Dutch to build a small fortress in
Colombo. The Dutch began it's missionary service in Sri Lanka and many some of
the citizens were converted in to Catholicism.
Kandyan Era 1514 - 1815
After the death of King Parakramabahu the vi, Kandyans asserted their independence
from Kotte.Portuguese arrived in the early 16th centaury, signifying the
arrival of the Europeans.
They established a trading settlement in Colombo. By the year 1600, they converted
some of the Sinhala royalty to Catholicism, and had a major control over the
southwest coastal region.
By then Senarath (1604-1635), had established the kingdom of Kandy. His
relationship with the Portuguese deteriorated in 1617 & his son Rajasinghe II
also opposed the Portuguese, forming an alliance with the Dutch.
The Dutch alliance also broke down & they captured the eastern ports of the
Kandyans.
The Dutch captured the forts, Colombo, Galle & Negombo. By then they had most of
the regions of Sri Lanka under their rule. But Kandy maintained their independents.
The first British conquest took place during 1795-1796. They drove the Dutch out of
the country & seized all the major ports. The Kandians grip of their own
empire were weakening. They managed to beat back the first resistance by the
British in 1803.
But eventually the British captured the hill country in 1815. The last of the Sri
Lankan Kings were captured & in 1816 he was sent to be imprisoned in Wellor, India.
Portugease Times 1505
European ambitions arrived with the Portuguese during the early 16th century.
The newcomers sought to establish a trading settlement in the growing port city of
Colombo on the southwest coast. By then, the Sinhalese kingdom of Kotte had
completely collapsed into petty partitions among three separate rulers.
The Portuguese were more interested in controlling the island's commerce than in
absorbing its territory. In the process, they began to intrude in the affairs
of the coastal regions. By the year 1600, after converting some of
the Sinhalese royalty to Catholicism and breaking a strong bid for dominance by
the rulers of the rebel state of Sitawaka, the Portuguese had effectively controlled
the southwest coastal region and managed to snuff out the last Tamil
kingdom ever to rule Jaffna as an independent state.
It was the attempt to bring the Kandyan kingdom under control that proved more
troublesome, and eventually led to the demise of Portugal's power in ceilao,
as they knew the country. Senarath (1604-1635) reestablished the kingdom of kandy
following a short-lived conquest by Sitawaka. He entered into a treaty with the
Portuguese in 1617 but relations began to sour after Portuguese incursions
into the Kandyan ports of Batticalos and Trincomalee. Senarath's son, Rajasinha
2, conducted a vigorous campaign against Portugal, forming an
alliance with the Dutch.
Dutch Times 1796
The Primary interest of the Dutch, as in the East Indies and parts of Southeast
Asia, was spices. They received a promise of a monopoly over the island's spice
trade in return for help in driving out the Portuguese. But the Kandyan compact with
the Dutch proved as ill-fated as the earlier alliance with the Portuguese.
The Dutch recaptured the eastern ports for the kandyans. But when they regained
Galle and Negombo in 1641, they decided to keep these ports for themselves.
The Hollanders also seized the Portuguese fort of Colombo in 1656 and drove the
last of the Iberians from Ceylon, as it was now known, in the year 1658 with
the capture of jaffna. In defiance of their pact with the kandyan rulers,
the Dutch held onto most of this captured terriory.
Sri Lanka had merely exchanged the rule of one European power for another. Through it all, the
kandyan kingdom stubbornly maintained its independence. In the course of time,
Kandy's survival as an independent Sinhalese Kingdom led to the emergence
of a dichotomy among the Sinhalese themselves - a distinction between
the low country coastal people and the Kandyans of the interior.
British Rule 1815 - 1948
When the British came to control the whole island after 1815 they established a
quite distinctive imprint on the island's society and economy. this was most
obvious in the introduction of plantation agriculture. during the British
period coffee took over from cinnamon, but by the beginning of the 20th
century, even though coffee had largely been wiped out by disease, plantation
agriculture was the dominant pillar of the cash economy. Rice production
stagnated and then declined, and Sri Lanka became dependent on the export of
cash crops and the import of food. In 1948 it was only producing about 35% of
its rice need.
The colonial period also saw major social changes take place. Under the Portuguese
and then the Dutch the development of commercial activity in the
coastal lowlands encouraged many "low country" Sinhalese to became involved in
the newly emerging economic activity. In a process which continued in the early
British colonial period, the low country Sinhalese became increasingly
westernized, with the widespread adoption of an English education and the rise
of an urban middle class, while the kandyan Sinhalese retained far stronger links with traditional and rural social customs. Despite British reforms in 1833
which introduced a uniform administrative system across the whole of Ceylon,
wiping out the distinctive Kandyan political system, a contrast between Kandyan
and low country Sinhalese persisted into the modern period.
However , an even more significant change took place in the 19th century. British
commercial interests saw the opportunities presented for the cultivation of
cash crops. cinnamon and coconuts had been planted by the Dutch and became
particularly important, but the after 1815 coffee production was spread to the
kandyan Hills. Despite ups and downs production increased dramatically
until 1875, when a catastrophic attack of a fungus disease wiped out almost the
entire crops. It was replaced, particularly in the higher regions by tea.
Labour had already begun to prove a problam on the coffee plantations, and as tea
spread the shortage became acute. Farmer has shown how private labour
contractors were recruited to persuade labourers to come to Ceylon from the
Tamil country of South India. between 1843-1859 over 900,000 men woman and
children migrated to work as indetureed labour.
The cost of their transport was ducated from their wages after they had arrived,
and they could not leave until they had repaid their debt. Immigration
on the scale created a massive change in the ethnic mix of the Highlands, with
a qarticularly significant effect on the kandyan farmers, whose land was
increasingly hemmed in by the spread of estaes. the indian timals however
remained entirely separate frome the Sinhalease, returning to south India
whenever possibel and sending cash remittances home
Arabian Traders in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka was called as taprobane and serandib as Arabian Travelers. Arabian
traders have visited Sri Lanka mainly for gems, spice and on other main reason.
IBAN BATUTA a famous traveler has visited Sri Lanka simply to climb Adams Peak
which they believed as the Holy Foot print of Adam. Many arabian traders
arrived in beruwala and made pilgrimages to Adams peak via Ratnapura where they
traded Gems.
With the portugese taking control of the west coast the Arabian Traders reach the
country through Baticaloa. The Traders sold Horses, Silk and Gold Jewelry.
Many traders got married to local women and some even served the King of Kandy.
The Ancient Mosque by the sea at Beruwala was established by Arabian Traders many
centuries ago.
Many Sri Lankans believe that Sinbad the sailor was here in Sri Lanka and he
traveled to Ratnapura for Gems and Climbed the Sacred mountain Sri Pada as a
Pilgrimage worship Adams Foot Print.
