A teardrop-shaped island cast adrift in the Indian Ocean, Sri lanka is filled with cultural and natural treasures. Indians, Portuguese, Dutch and British have all left their marks here, making for a delightful mix of ancient cities, monuments and grand colonial architecture.
At the same time, palm-fringed beaches are never far away and lush mountainous greenery beckons further inland. It’s clear why Marco Polo proclaimed Sri Lanka as one of the best islands in the world.
Sri Lanka is one of those places where history seems to fade into the realm of legend. Sri Lanka’s second highest mountain, Adam’s Peak is said to be the very place where Adam set foot on earth, having been banished from heaven. Meanwhile buddhists claim it is Lord Buddha’s footprint itself on Sri Pada which was placed in his final visit to the island. And isn’t Adam’s Bridge (the chain of islands linking Sri Lanka to India) the very series of stepping stones laid by the monkey god Hanuman in his mission to rescue Sita from the clutches of Rawana, the demon King of Lanka, in the epic Ramayana?
The first entries in the Mahavamsa or Great History date back to 543BC, which coincides with the arrival of Prince Vijaya in Sri Lanka. Some 300 years later, commenced the early Anuradhapura Period, with King Devanampiya Tissa as the first ruler.
The late Anuradhapura Period, which began in the year 459, saw the tyrannical reign of King Kasyapa, and the construction of Sigiriya. The Polonnaruwa period, witnessed the transfer of the capital from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa and, in 1505, the Portuguese landed, and occupied the island’s coastal regions.
History of Highlights
Introduction To Historical Records
Sri Lanka is a country with a unique and a proud historical record of a great civilization, a culture of achievements, spanning over a period of several centu-ries before and after the birth of Christ, which by comparison cannot be second to any contemporary civilization that existed in the world.
For the purpose of this publication, the History of Sri Lanka, spanning a period of over twenty five centuries, is divided into the following periods
Different Periods Of The History Of Sri Lanka
The Pre-Historic Period Beyond 1000 Bc
Pre Anuradhapura Period
Period of Rule from Vijaya 483 BC to Tissa 377 BC (Second son of Panduvasdeva)
Anuradhapura Period
Period of Rule from King Pandukhabaya 337 BC to King Kassapa VII 1055 AD
Polonnaruwa Period
Period of rule from Vijayabahu 1-1055 AD to MaghaKalinga A Prince of Kalinga 1232 AD
Dambadeniya Period
Period of rule from King Vijayabahu III 1232 AD to Parakrambahu III 1293 AD
Kurunegala Period
Period of rule from Buvanekabahu II 1293 AD to Vijayabahu V 1341 AD
Gampola Period
Period of rule from BuvanekaBahu IV 1341 AD to BuvanekaBahu V 1408 AD
Kotte Period
Period of Rule from Vijayabahu 1408 AD to Don Juan Dharmapala 1597 AD
Kandy Period
Period of Rule from Senasammatha Viraparakramabahu 1469 AD to Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe 1815 AD
The Colonial Period
1506 to 1658 AD -The period during which the Portuguese ruled the maritime Provinces of Sri Lanka, except the Kandyan Provinces
1658 to 1796 AD – The period during which the Dutch ruled the maritime Provinces of Sri Lanka, except the Kandyan Provinces
1796 to 1815 AD -The period during which the British ruled the maritime Provinces of Sri Lanka except the Kandyan Provinces
1815 to 4th February 1948 – AD The period during which the British ruled the whole of Sri Lanka after capturing the Kandyan Provinces in 1815
The Sources Of Sri Lankan History
Until recent times very little information was available regarding Sri Lanka’s Prehistoric period. It is due to the excavations, research and studies undertaken by Wilhelm G Solheim II, S. Deraniyagala and several other archaeologists from about the early 1970s that new information is being published. .
Comments