1.
Anuradhapura
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Anuradhapura is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka. Anuradhapura is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, famous for its ruins of an ancient Sri Lankan civilization. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Rajarata, following the kingdoms of Tambapanni. The city, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was the center of Theravada Buddhism for many centuries, the city lies 205 km north of the current capital Colombo in Sri Lankas North Central Province, on the banks of the historic Malvathu Oya. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and it is believed that from the fourth century BC until the beginning of the 11th century AD it was the capital of the Sinhalese. During this period it remained one of the most stable and durable centers of political power, the ancient city, considered sacred to the Buddhist world, is today surrounded by monasteries covering an area of over sixteen square miles. Protohistoric Iron Age Although according to records the city was founded in the 5th century BC. Very little evidence was available about the period before the 5th century BC, further excavations in Anuradhapura have uncovered information about the existence of a protohistoric habitation of humans in the citadel. The protohistoric Iron Age, which spans from 900 to 600 BC, marked the appearance of iron technology, pottery, in the time period 700 to 600 BC, the settlement in Anuradhapura had grown over an area of at least 50 hectares. The city was situated of major ports northwest and northeast. It was surrounded by irrigable and fertile land, the city was also buried deep in the jungle providing natural defence from invaders. Lower Early Historic period The Lower Early Historic period, spanning from 500 to 250 BC, is studied on the lines of the chronicles, during this time King Pandukabhaya formally planned the city, with gates, quarters for traders etc. The city at the time would have covered an area of 1 square kilometre makes it one of the largest in the continent at the time. A hermitage was made for many ascetics, eastward of that same cemetery and it is believed that King Pandukabhaya made it his capital in the 4th century BC, and that he also laid out the town and its suburbs according to a well-organized plan. He constructed a reservoir named Abhayavapi and he established shrines for yakkhas such as Kalawela and Cittaraja. He housed the Yaksini-Cetiya in the form of a mare within the royal precincts, the slaves or Candalas were assigned their duties, and a village was set apart for them. They build dwellings for Niganthas, for wandering ascetics and for Ajivakas and Brahmanas, the tradition that King Pandukabhaya made Anuradhapura the capital city of Sri Lanka as early as the 4th century BC had been very important
2.
Sinhalese language
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Sinhalese, known natively as Sinhala, is the native language of the Sinhalese people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, numbering about 16 million. Sinhalese is also spoken as a language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages, Sinhalese has its own writing system, the Sinhalese alphabet, which is one of the Brahmic scripts, a descendant of the ancient Indian Brahmi script closely related to the Kadamba alphabet. Sinhalese is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, Sinhalese, along with Pali, played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. The closest relative of Sinhalese is the language of the Maldives and Minicoy Island, Sinhala is a Sanskrit term, the corresponding Middle Indo-Aryan word is Sīhala. The name is a derivation from siṃha, the Sanskrit word for lion Siṃhāla is attested as a Sanskrit name of the island of in the Bhagavata Purana, the name is sometimes glossed as abode of lions, and attributed to a supposed former abundance of lions on the island. According to the chronicle Mahavamsa, written in Pali, Prince Vijaya, in the following centuries, there was substantial immigration from Eastern India which led to an admixture of features of Eastern Prakrits. An example of an Eastern feature is the ending -e for masculine nominative singular in Sinhalese Prakrit. There are several cases of vocabulary doublets, e. g. the words mässā and mäkkā, some of the differences can be explained by the substrate influence of the parent stock of the Vedda language. Sinhalese has many words that are found in Sinhalese, or shared between Sinhalese and Vedda and not etymologically derivable from Middle or Old Indo-Aryan. Common examples are kola for leaf in Sinhala and Vedda, dola for pig in Vedda, Other common words are rera for wild duck, and gala for stones. The author of the oldest Sinhalese grammar, Sidatsangarava, written in the 13th century CE, the grammar lists naramba and kolamba as belonging to an indigenous source. Kolamba is the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo, however, formal Sinhalese is more similar to Pali and medieval Sinhalese. g. I do not know whether it is new, as a result of centuries of colonial rule, modern Sinhalese contains some Portuguese, Dutch and English loanwords. It is now spoken by a few families in Macau and in the Macanese diaspora, Sinhalese shares many features common to other Indo-European languages. For native speakers all dialects are mutually intelligible, and they might not even realise that the differences are significant, the language of the Vedda people resembles Sinhala to a great extent, although it has a large number of words which cannot be traced to another language. The Rodiya use another dialect of Sinhalese, Rodiya used to be a caste in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka no longer recognizes castes, in Sinhalese there is distinctive diglossia, as in many languages of South Asia
3.
Tamil language
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Tamil is a Dravidian language predominantly spoken by the Tamil people of India and Sri Lanka, and also by the Tamil diaspora, Sri Lankan Moors, Burghers, Douglas, and Chindians. Tamil is a language of two countries, Singapore and Sri Lanka. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and it is also used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and it is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. Tamil is one of the classical languages in the world. Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions from 500 BC have been found on Adichanallur and 2 and it has been described as the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past. The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as one of the classical traditions. A recorded Tamil literature has been documented for over 2000 years, the earliest period of Tamil literature, Sangam literature, is dated from ca.300 BC – AD300. It has the oldest extant literature among other Dravidian languages, the earliest epigraphic records found on rock edicts and hero stones date from around the 3rd century BC. More than 55% of the inscriptions found by the Archaeological Survey of India are in the Tamil language. Tamil language inscriptions written in Brahmi script have been discovered in Sri Lanka, the two earliest manuscripts from India, acknowledged and registered by the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 1997 and 2005, were written in Tamil. In 1578, Portuguese Christian missionaries published a Tamil prayer book in old Tamil script named Thambiraan Vanakkam, the Tamil Lexicon, published by the University of Madras, was one of the earliest dictionaries published in the Indian languages. According to a 2001 survey, there were 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil, Tamil belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian languages, a family of around 26 languages native to the Indian subcontinent. It is also classified as being part of a Tamil language family, the closest major relative of Tamil is Malayalam, the two began diverging around the 9th century CE. According to linguists like Bhadriraju Krishnamurti, Tamil, as a Dravidian language, descends from Proto-Dravidian, linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the third millennium BC, possibly in the region around the lower Godavari river basin in peninsular India. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of the associated with the Neolithic complexes of South India. The next phase in the reconstructed proto-history of Tamil is Proto-South Dravidian, the linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-South Dravidian was spoken around the middle of the second millennium BC, and that proto-Tamil emerged around the 3rd century BC. The earliest epigraphic attestations of Tamil are generally taken to have been shortly thereafter
4.
Hinduism
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Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This Hindu synthesis started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE following the Vedic period, although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Shruti and Smriti and these texts discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, karma, samsara, and the various Yogas. Hindu practices include such as puja and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals. Some Hindus leave their world and material possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion, with over one billion followers or 15% of the global population, known as Hindus. The majority of Hindus reside in India, Nepal, Mauritius, the Caribbean, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit word Sindhu, the Indo-Aryan name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term, the Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people who live across the River Indus. This Arabic term was taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as an alternative name of India. It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism, then spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language in the 18th-century to denote the religious, philosophical, because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion defies our desire to define and categorize it, Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and a way of life. From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion, in India the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the western term religion. Hindu traditionalists prefer to call it Sanatana Dharma, the study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of Hinduism, has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism, Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents
5.
Monarchy
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The actual power of the monarch may vary from purely symbolic, to partial and restricted, to completely autocratic. Traditionally and in most cases, the monarchs post is inherited and lasts until death or abdication, occasionally this might create a situation of rival claimants whose legitimacy is subject to effective election. Finally, there have been cases where the term of a reign is either fixed in years or continues until certain goals are achieved. Thus there are widely divergent structures and traditions defining monarchy, Monarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer prevalent. Currently,47 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state,19 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia reign, the word monarch comes from the Greek language word μονάρχης, monárkhēs which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. In current usage the word usually refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule. Depending on the held by the monarch, a monarchy may be known as a kingdom, principality, duchy, grand duchy, empire, tsardom, emirate, sultanate, khaganate. The form of societal hierarchy known as chiefdom or tribal kingship is prehistoric, the Greek term monarchia is classical, used by Herodotus. The monarch in classical antiquity is often identified as king, the Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese monarchs continued to be considered living Gods into the modern period. Since antiquity, monarchy has contrasted with forms of democracy, where power is wielded by assemblies of free citizens. In antiquity, monarchies were abolished in favour of such assemblies in Rome, much of 19th century politics was characterised by the division between anti-monarchist Radicalism and monarchist Conservativism. Many countries abolished the monarchy in the 20th century and became republics, advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism. In the modern era, monarchies are more prevalent in small states than in large ones, most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the centre of the royal household and court. Growing up in a family, future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority. While most monarchs have been male, many female monarchs also have reigned in history, rule may be hereditary in practice without being considered a monarchy, such as that of family dictatorships or political families in many democracies. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the continuity of leadership
6.
Kingdom of Upatissa Nuwara
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The Kingdom of Upatissa Nuwara was the second administrative center in ancient Sri Lanka and Kingdom of Rajarata. It was established with the death of Vijaya by his prime minister Upatissa who became regent while Vijays heir to the throne and nephew Panduvasdeva came to the kingdom from North India. Upatissa Nuwara was seven or eight miles north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni, which was in a district near modern-day Mannar. It was named after the regent king Upatissa, who was the minister of Vijaya, and was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya. During the end of his reign Vijaya, who was having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, after his coronation which was held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it building another one bearing his own name. While his was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa Nuwara, when Vijayas letter arrived Sumitta had already succeeded his father as king of his country, and so he sent his son Panduvasdeva to rule Upatissa Nuwara. History of Sri Lanka List of Sri Lankan monarchs Short History of Ceylon By Humphrey William Codrington
7.
Kingdom of Polonnaruwa
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The Kingdom of Polonnaruwa was the kingdom from which Sri Lankan kings ruled the island from the 11th century until 1310 CE. Pollonnaruwa was the administrative center of Rajarata. The city is situated on the bank of River Mahaweli. Archeological evidence and accounts in chronicles suggests that the city is as old as Anuradhapura, the Vijithagama settlement made by Vijitha in 400 BCE is thought to be situated near the town. Name Pulathisipura is derived from the sage of the city Pulasthi there are several theories on the name Polonnaruwa. According to the most accepted one word is derived from conjunction of to words Pulun which means cotton in sinhala, Cholas shifted the capital to Polonnaruwa and ruled Sri Lanka for 52 years. Polonnaruwa was named as Jananathamangalam by the Cholas, king Vijayabahu I defeated Cholas and regained the Sinhalese lineage. Polonnaruwa had previously been an important settlement in the country, as it commanded the crossings of the Mahaweli Ganga towards Anuradhapura, some of the rulers of Polonnaruwa include Vijayabahu I and Parakramabahu I. Most of Polonnaruwa that remains today dates from after the 1150s, parakrama Pandyan II from Pandyan Kingdom invaded the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa in the thirteenth century and ruled from 1212 to 1215 CE. He was succeeded by Kalinga Magha the founder of the Jaffna kingdom, Kalinga Magha ruled 21 years until he was expelled from Polonnaruwa in 1236. The Kingdom of Polonnaruwa was abandoned in the 14th century, although many factors contributed to this, the leading cause of the abandonment of Polonnaruwa as the kingdom of Sri Lanka was its susceptibility to invasions from south India. The kings who ruled in Polonnaruwa engaged in foreign trade, during the period of king Parakramabahu I, Sri Lanka was self-sufficient in paddy and also had exported to many Southeast Asian countries as well as to India. The people of Polonnaruwa had many of their requirements fulfilled except salt, Buddhism continued to be the main religion in Polonnaruwa era. Before the Sinhala kings rule, there was an influence of Hinduism caused by Cholas. It is evident from the removal of cow shape in Polonnaruwa moonstone, after Chola rule a lot of vihars were renovated by Vijayabahu I and Parakramabahu I. Various divisions or Nikayas in Buddhism were united by Parakramabahu I, the kings who ruled during this period built Buddhist schools for monks which were known as the Pirivena. And also the Brahmins were the group which had the rights to have education. Pali and the Sanskrit were the official languages, Sri Lanka History of Sri Lanka List of rulers of Sri Lanka Paranavitana, Senarat, Nicholas, Cyril Wace
8.
Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia near south-east India. Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest, Sri Lankas documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lankas recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when the Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, in addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a semi-presidential system. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the capital and largest city. Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of the two countries in South Asia that are rated among high human development on the Human Development Index. In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names, according to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni, because his followers hands were reddened by the red soil of the area. In Hindu mythology, such as the Mahabharata, the island was referred to as Lankā, in Tamil, the island is referred to as Eelam. Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā or Taprobanē from the word Tambapanni, as a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon, it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. The country is known in Sinhalese as Śrī Laṃkā and in Tamil as Ilaṅkai, in 1972, its formal name was changed to Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. Later in 1978 it was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as the name Ceylon still appears in the names of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all those over which it has authority. The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years, the era spans the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala and it is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravanas airport, early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous people numbering approximately 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka. According to the Mahāvamsa, a written in Pāḷi, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and Nagas. Ancient cemeteries that were used before 600BC and other signs of advanced civilization has also discovered in Sri Lanka
9.
State (polity)
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A state is a type of polity that is an organized political community living under a single system of government. States may or may not be sovereign, for instance, federated states are members of a federal union, and may have only partial sovereignty, but are, nonetheless, states. Some states are subject to external sovereignty or hegemony, in which ultimate sovereignty lies in another state, States that are sovereign are known as sovereign states. The term state can also refer to the branches of government within a state, often as a manner of contrasting them with churches. Speakers of American English often use the state and government as synonyms. Many human societies have been governed by states for millennia, over time a variety of different forms developed, employing a variety of justifications of legitimacy for their existence. In the 21st century, the modern nation-state is the predominant form of state to which people are subjected, there is no academic consensus on the most appropriate definition of the state. The term state refers to a set of different, but interrelated and often overlapping, general categories of state institutions include administrative bureaucracies, legal systems, and military or religious organizations. Another commonly accepted definition of the state is the one given at the Montevideo Convention on Rights, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, a state is a. an organized political community under one government, a commonwealth, a nation. B. such a community forming part of a federal republic, confounding the definition problem is that state and government are often used as synonyms in common conversation and even some academic discourse. According to this schema, the states are nonphysical persons of international law. The relationship between a government and its state is one of representation and authorized agency, States may be classified as sovereign if they are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Other states are subject to external sovereignty or hegemony where ultimate sovereignty lies in another state, many states are federated states which participate in a federal union. A federated state is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation, such states differ from sovereign states in that they have transferred a portion of their sovereign powers to a federal government. One can commonly and sometimes readily classify states according to their apparent make-up or focus, the concept of the nation-state, theoretically or ideally co-terminous with a nation, became very popular by the 20th century in Europe, but occurred rarely elsewhere or at other times. Imperial states have sometimes promoted notions of racial superiority, the concept of temple states centred on religious shrines occurs in some discussions of the ancient world. To some extent, urban secession, the creation of a new city-state, a state can be distinguished from a government. The government is the group of people, the administrative bureaucracy that controls the state apparatus at a given time
10.
Kingdom of Tambapanni
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The Kingdom of Tambapanni, also referred to as Kingdom of Thambapanni, was the first kingdom in ancient Sri Lanka and the Kingdom of Rajarata. Its administrative centre was based at Tambapanni and it existed between 543 BC and 505 BC. The Kingdom of Tambapanni only had one king, Vijaya, a prince who was banished from India to Sri Lanka, Tambapanni is a name derived from Tāmraparṇī or Tāmravarṇī. This means the colour of copper or bronze because when Vijaya and his followers landed in Sri Lanka, therefore, the city founded on that spot was named Tambapanni. A derivative of this name is Taprobane, Tambapanni is a Pali version of the name Tamira Varni. Before the arrival of Vijaya in Sri Lanka, both Greek and Indian literature of the period made references to the island and considered it as a mythical land, occupied by Yakshas or non-human beings. The story of the Jataka, which calls the island Tambapanni and it is recorded that Vijaya made his landing on the day of Buddhas death. Vijaya claimed Tambapanni as his capital and soon the whole became known by this name. Tambapanni was originally inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, and their queen Kuveni, according to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni extended one hundred leagues. Legend has it that when Vijaya landed on the shores of the island he kissed the sand, called it ‘Thambapanni’, after landing in Tambapanni, Vijaya met Kuveni the queen of the Yakkhas, who was disguised as a beautiful woman but was really a yakkini named Sesapathi. History of Sri Lanka List of rulers of Sri Lanka Lankan place name in historical perspective Ancient Jaffna By M. C. Rasanayagam THE CONSECRATING OF VIJAYA King Vijaya and his successors King Vijaya 483 BC - Arrival of Aryans to Sri Lanka Was Vijayas arrival in Sri Lanka an accident
11.
Chola rule in Sri Lanka
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The period of Chola rule in the island of Sri Lanka began in the 2nd BCE with Manu Needhi Cholan who upon capturing the throne became king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom. In 993 AD, Raja Raja Chola sent a large Chola army which conquered the Anuradhapura Kingdom, in the north, the whole or most of the island was subsequently conquered and incorporated as a province of the vast Chola empire during the reign of his son Rajendra Chola. The Chola rule which lasted for eight decades in the island, the Cholas fought many subsequent wars and attempted to reconquer Anuradhapura as the Sinhalese monarchs were allies of their arch-enemies, the Pandyas. Manu Needhi Cholan, also known as Ellalan was according to the chronicle Mahavamsa described as A Damila of noble descent. Also mention in the Tamil epics Silappatikaram and Periya Puranam, he was referred to as a Just King and thus has his name been used as a metaphor for justice. Killing Asela of Anuradhapura, establishing himself as a ruler of Rajarata Losing the battle to Dutugamunu. The tirumagal inscription of Raja Raja Chola dated to 993 AD first mentions Anuradhapura among the kings conquests, the capital was at Polonnaruwa which was renamed Jananathamangalam. In the year A. D.1014 Rajaraja Chola died after twenty nine years of rule, the whole of Anuradhapura including the south-eastern province of Ruhuna were incorporated into the Chola Empire. Following the fall of Anuradhapura, the part of the island became a Chola province under the name Mummudi Chola Mandalam. The Cholas then founded a new capital at Janathamangalam to the south-east of Anuradhapura, the capital was the home to the Chola reign in the island that would last for close to a century and consequently would continue to thrive as the capital of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa. Several mercantile towns were established across the island, the village of Manhottam alias Manthai, the closest link to Chola warriors of the mainland was developed into an important seaport city with many highways. The Chola Officers also built a tank near Iluppaikkadavai known as Cholamandalakkulam. Rajaraja during his rule of north Anuradhapura issued gold coins with the legend Sri Rajaraja inscribed on them and these were equivalent to ten kalanju or units of gold. There were also issued in base metal having the same legend Rajaraja. He also issued a gold coin called the Madai. Rajendra during his rule of whole of Anuradhapura, issued gold coinage with the legend Yuddha Malla inscribed on them referring to him as a great warrior. Rajendra Chola appointed one of his sons as the viceroy in Anuradhapura with the title Ilangaiyarkku Iraivan who was known as Chola Ilangeswaren alias Sri Sangapanmar. The region in Polonnaruwa where he resided and ruled was known as Chola Samasthanam, during the period of their governance, the Chola officials as well as Tamil traders built many temples of worship of Siva, many in the Northern half of the island
12.
Jaffna Kingdom
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For a brief period, in the early to mid-14th 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 and it was less feudal than most of the other regional kingdoms on 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, many of its kings confronted and ultimately made peace with the Portuguese colonials. In 1617, Cankili II, a usurper to the throne, confronted the Portuguese but was defeated, although rebels like Migapulle Arachchi with help of Thanjavur Nayak kingdom tried to recover the kingdom, they were eventually defeated. Nallur, a suburb of Jaffna town, served as its capital, the origin of the Jaffna kingdom is obscure and still the subject of controversy among historians. Among mainstream historians, such as K. M. de Silva, during this period, a Malay chieftain from Tambralinga in modern Thailand named Chandrabhanu invaded the politically fragmented island. Although King Parakramabahu II from Dambadeniya was able to repulse the attack, Chandrabhanu moved north, sadayavarman Sundara Pandyan I invaded Sri Lanka in the 13th century and defeated Chandrabhanu the usurper of the Jaffna Kingdom in northern Sri Lanka. Sadayavarman Sundara Pandyan I forced Chandrabhanu to submit to the Pandyan rule, Sri Lanka was invaded for the 3rd time by the Pandyan Dynasty under the leadership of Arya Cakravarti who established the Jaffna kingdom. When the Pandyan Empire became weak due to Muslim invasions, successive Aryacakravarti rulers made the Jaffna kingdom independent, politically, the dynasty was an expanding power in the 13th and 14th century with all regional kingdoms paying tribute to it. However, it met with simultaneous confrontations with the Vijayanagar empire that ruled from Vijayanagara, southern India, and this led to the kingdom becoming a vassal of the Vijyanagar Empire as well as briefly losing its independence under the Kotte kingdom from 1450 to 1467. The kingdom was re-established with the disintegration of Kotte kingdom and the fragmentation of Viyanagar Empire and it maintained very close commercial and political relationships with the Thanjavur Nayakar kingdom in southern India as well as the Kandyan and segments of the Kotte kingdom. This period saw the building of Hindu temples and a flourishing of literature, the Kotte conquest of the Jaffna Kingdom was led by king Parakramabahu VIs adopted son, Prince Sapumal. This battle took place in many stages, firstly, the tributaries to the Jaffna Kingdom in the Vanni area, namely the Vanniar chieftains of the Vannimai were neutralised. This was followed by two successive conquests, the first war of conquest did not succeed in capturing the kingdom. It was the second conquest dated to 1450 that eventually was successful, apparently connected with this war of conquest was an expedition to Adriampet in modern South India, occasioned according to Valentyn by the seizure of a Lankan ship laden with cinnamon. The Tenkasi inscription of Arikesari Parakrama Pandya of Tinnevelly who saw the backs of kings at Singai, Anurai, Kanakasooriya Cinkaiariyan the Aryacakravarti king fled to South India with his family. After the departure of Sapumal Kumara to Kotte, Kanakasooriya Cinkaiarian re-took the kingdom in 1467, further, due to its strategic location, it was feared that the Jaffna kingdom may become a beachhead for the Dutch landings. It was king Cankili I who resisted contacts with the Portuguese and these Catholics were brought from India to Mannar to take over the lucrative pearl fisheries from the Jaffna kings
13.
Kingdom of Dambadeniya
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The Kingdom of Dambadeniya was a medieval kingdom in what is present day Sri Lanka. The kingdoms rulers reigned from 1220–1345, the first king to choose Dambadeniya as his capital was Vijayabahu III. King Parakramabahu II was the king who inherited the throne after King Vijayabahu and he was considered a genius, who was a great poet and a prolific writer. Among the books he wrote are Kausilumina, which is considered a piece of literature. Unifying the three kingdoms that existed within Sri Lanka at that point of time is regarded as greatest achievement, King Bosath Vijayabahu, as the eldest son of King Parakramabahu the second was crowned in 1270. He was well known for his modest behaviour and for his religious activities and he was killed in the second year of his reign by a minister called Miththa. After the demise of his elder brother Vijayabahu, Bhuvanekabahu I, as the next in line to the throne and he followed his fathers footsteps as a writer and continued with the religious activities started by his brother Vijayabahu IV. After the assassination of Vijayabahu IV his brother became king after a series of conflicts with several dissident generals thus became Bhuvanekabahu I and he considered Dambadeniya as insecure so he made Yapahuwa a rock fortress his permanent residence. Yapahuwa served as the capital of Sri Lanka in the part of the 13th century. Built on a huge,90 meter high rock boulder in the style of the Sigiriya rock fortress, Yapahuwa was a palace, the palace and fortress were built by King Buvanekabahu I in the year 1273. Many traces of ancient battle defences can still be seen, while an ornamental stairway, is its biggest show piece, there are several caves at the base of the rock. In one of there is a shrine with Buddha images. One cave has a Brahmi script inscription, at the southern base of the rock there is a fortification with two moats and ramparts. In this enclosure there are the remains of a number of buildings including a Buddhist shrine, there is also a Buddhist temple called Yapawwa Rajamaha Vihara built during the Kandyan period. The Tooth Relic was brought from Dambadeniya and kept in the Tooth Temple built for the purpose at the top of the third staircase. The relics were carried away from the temple here to South India by the Pandyas, and then recovered in 1288 by Parakkramabahu III, Yapahuwa was one of the ephemeral capitals of medieval Sri Lanka. The citadel of Yapahuwa lying midway between MATARA and GALLE was built around a granite rock rising abruptly almost a hundred meters above the surrounding lowlands. In 1272, King Bhuvenakabahu transferred the capital from Polonnaruwa to Yapahuwa in the face of Dravidian invasions from South India, following the death of King Bhuvenakabahu in 1284, the Pandyans of South India invaded Sri Lanka once again, and succeeded in capturing Sacred Tooth Relic
14.
Kingdom of Gampola
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Gampola is a town located near Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was made the city of the island by King Buwanekabahu IV. King Buwanekabahu IV ascended to the throne after his father and shifted the capital from Kurunegala to Gampola, after his death, his brother, King Parakramabahu V, who used to reign from Dedigama ascended the throne and moved to Gampola. He was dethroned by King Buwanekabahu IVs son, King Vikramabahu III, King Vikramabahu III conveyed the tooth relic to Gampola and held a festival in honor of this sacred relic. He built a shrine at Niyamgampaya in Gampola, the rock temple Gadaladeniya Viharaya was constructed by king Vikramabahu III. Meanwhile, generation called Alagakkonara became more powerful than the king as they helped to defeat Araya Chakravarthi, there are many Buddhist temples belonging to the Gampola era like Lankathilaka and Ambekke dewalaya. The last king of Gampola was King Buwanekabahu V and he ruled the island for 29 years. At the same, time King Weerabahu II ruled Raigama, King Vijayabahu VI, who is from the Alagakkonara family, grabbed the throne from king Weerabahu II. The Chinese ambassador Zheng He, who was unhappy with the change of hands, the next kingdom was the Kotte kingdom. A separate city was built in Kotte during this time by a known as Alagakkonara
15.
Kingdom of Kotte
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The Kingdom of Kotte, centered on Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, was a kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century. The term Kotte is said to have derived from the Malayalam word Kōttei which means fortress. The word Kotte was introduced by Nissankamalla Alagakkonara and they were believed to be from the city of Vanchi, identified with Kanchipuram of Tamil Nadu. The Alagakkonara family have also identified to be of Malayali ancestry. It was well protected by the swamp which surrounded the area. Parakramabahu VI first became the king of Raigama in 1412, then in 1415 he made Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte his capital, the King upgraded the existing citadel and built a new royal palace. Parakramabahu VI waited until ties between the Vijayanagara Empire and Jaffna kingdom were severed, first he captured the Vanni and made its leaders loyal to him. Prince Sapumal was the commander of the Kotte army at the time, in 1450, Parakramabahu VI had, with his conquest of the Jaffna kingdom in northern Sri Lanka, unified all of Sri Lanka. At its height, the Kingdom oversaw one of greatest eras of the Sinhalese literature, notable poets at the time were Buddhist monks such as Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera, Weedagama Maihree thero, and Karagala Wanarathana thero. By 1477, however,10 years after the death of Parakramabahu VI, most notably a new Kingdom was founded in central hill-country of the island by Senasammatha Wickremabahu who successfully led a rebellion against the Kotte Kingdom in 1469. Parakramabahu IX of Kotte moved the capital to Kelaniya in 1509, the Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka in 1505, landing in Galle Harbour. Once they learnt that they had arrived in Sri Lanka, they sailed to Colombo and they were taken by a tortuous route to the capital, Kotte, which was actually quite close by. This was done in order to create the impression that the kingdom was too far inland to make invasion from the harbour feasible. This plan was, however, spoilt by the fact that the Portuguese who remained with the ship fired the ships cannon repeatedly, which sound was heard by the Portuguese party being taken to Kotte. This incident gave rise to the local saying Parangiya Kotte Giya Vage, however, during this meeting Portuguese managed to secure a trade agreement with the Kotte king. Kotte Kingdoms downfall began with an event in 1521 which became known as the Wijayaba Kollaya, the Kotte king Vijayabahu VIIs three sons mutinied and killed their father dividing the kingdom among themselves. This gave rise to three kingdoms, Kotte, Sitawaka and Principality of Raigama. The divided Kingdom of Sitawaka became more powerful with local popular support, the king of Kotte after Wijayabe Kollaya, Buvenekabahu VII, got assistance from the Portuguese in order to defeat his brother, Mayadunne. He also allowed his daughters son, Prince Dharmapala, to be baptized as a Catholic by the Portuguese, after Buvenekabahu had named Dharmapala as his heir, he was shot - supposedly by accident - by a Portuguese soldier
16.
Kingdom of Sitawaka
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The Kingdom of Sitawaka was a kingdom located in south-central Sri Lanka. It emerged from the division of the kingdom of Kotte following the Spoiling of Vijayabahu in 1521, Sitawaka also offered fierce resistance to the Portuguese, who had arrived on the island in 1505. Sitawaka disintegrated soon after the death of its last king Rajasimha I in 1593, by 1467, however, the Jaffna Kingdom to the north had asserted its independence. In 1505 the first Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka, by 1518 a large fleet of Portuguese ships had landed at Colombo, to the east, the client kingdom of Kandy was by this time operating with a considerable degree of independence as well. The kingdom of Kandy was effectively outside of the control of any of three successor states. The kingdom of Sitawaka initially covered a small area including Kosgama, Ruwanwella, Yatiyanthota, Hanwella, Padukka, Ehaliyagoda, Kuruwita. The terrain was hilly, bordered to the east by Kandy, the capital city—modern Avissawella—was situated on a steep hill at the base of bluff hills rising around 1,000 feet above the surrounding jungle cover. Soon after his ascent to the throne, Bhuvanekabahu began to strengthen his ties with the Portuguese in order to secure his throne from any challenge from Sitawaka. Two further invasions of Kotte followed in the five years. The first, beginning in 1539, failed following resistance organised by the new Portuguese Captain-General in Colombo, Portuguese involvement in the internal politics of Kotte increased with the arrival in 1550 of viceroy Afonso de Noronha and a contingent of some 500 Portuguese soldiers. The Portuguese sacked Sitawaka later that year, but failed to retain the city, once the invaders had left the capital, the kings forces would then harass them along the route down to the Kelani river. In 1551 Bhuvanekabahu was assassinated and succeeded by Dharmapala, who relied heavily on his European allies to maintain his hold over the kingdom. A new Portuguese fortress was constructed in Colombo in 1554, King Dharmapala himself converted to Catholicism in 1557 and adopted the name Dom João Pereira Bandara. Large numbers of Buddhist clergy and commoners fled the kingdom fearing persecution amidst rumours of forced conversions, Portuguese claims to have burnt the relic further inflamed the resentment of the populace. A Sitawakan invasion that year was repulsed by Captain-General Dom Afonso Pereira de Lacerda, Kotte counter-attacked in 1562, with Lacerda leading a substantial force from Colombo along the banks of the river Kelani. The victory was a psychological boost for the Sitawakans, reflected in Tikiri Bandas acquisition of the moniker Rajasinha—king of the lions. Pressing their advantage, Mayadunne and Tikiri Bandara launched an attack on Kotte in 1564. Portuguese forces were forced to retreat from Kotte with Dharmapala, leaving Sitawaka in control of much of the kingdom, major Sitawakan garrisons were established at Wattala, Nagalagama and Mapane
17.
Portuguese Ceylon
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Portuguese Ceylon refers to the control of the Kingdom of Kotte by the Portuguese Empire, in present-day Sri Lanka, after the countrys Crisis of the Sixteenth Century and into the Kandyan period. Portuguese presence in the island lasted from 1505 to 1658 and their arrival was largely accidental, seeking control of commerce over territorial conquest. The Portuguese used these internal divisions to their advantage during the Sinhalese–Portuguese War and this allowed the Portuguese sufficient claim to the Kingdom of Kotte upon Dharmapalas death in 1597. Portuguese rule began with much resistance by the local population, eventually, the Kingdom of Kandy sought help from the Dutch Empire in their efforts to rid the island of the Portuguese. The Dutch Empire initially entered into agreement with the Kingdom of Kandy, after the collapse of the Iberian economy in 1627, the Dutch–Portuguese War saw the Dutch conquest of most of Portugals Asian colonies. Eventually, Portugals Ceylonese territories were ceded to the Netherlands, nevertheless, there remain elements of Portuguese culture in Sri Lanka today from this colonial period. First contact between Sri Lanka and the Portuguese happened in 1505-6 and it was largely accidental and it wasnt until 12 years later that the Portuguese sought to establish a fortified trading settlement. Direct Portuguese rule began after the death of Dharmapala of Kotte who bequeathed the Kingdom of Kotte to the Portuguese monarch, by 1600 the Portuguese had consolidated the main centers of rebellion, the Kelani and Kalu ganga basins, leaving the border regions left to Sinhalese resistance. Gaston Pereira, Kandy fights the Portuguese, Sri Lanka, Vijitha Yapa Publications, July 2007. ISBN 978-955-1266-77-6 Channa Wicremasekera, Kandy at War, Sri Lanka, Vijitha Yapa Publications,2004. ISBN 955-8095-52-4 Michael Roberts, Sinhala Consciousness in the Kandyan Period, Sri Lanka, Vijitha Yapa Publications,2004. Johor Bahru, Dynasty of Jaffna King’s Historical Society, senaka Weeraratna, Repression of Buddhism in Sri Lanka by the Portuguese Ceylon and the Portuguese, 1505-1658. Author, Pieris, P. E. 1874-, Naish, Richard Bryant, 1891- Subject, Sri Lanka -- History Portuguese History in Ceylon
18.
Kingdom of Kandy
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Kingdom of Kandy was an independent monarchy of the island of Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century, the kingdom was absorbed into the British Empire as a protectorate following the Kandyan Convention of 1815, and definitively lost its autonomy following the Uva Rebellion of 1817. Over the years, the Kingdom of Kandy has been known by many names, routes to the city were kept secret, and spreading information concerning them could often result in death. Many routes into the country became impassable during the annual monsoon. Though the kingdom had intermittent access to the port of Batticaloa it had no forces and could not prevent the Portuguese. The city of Senkadagalapura may have been founded as early as the century during the reign of Vikramabahu III of Gampola. Following the Spoiling of Vijayabahu in 1521, the kingdom of Kotte split into three competing states – Sitawaka, Raigama, and Bhuvanekabahu VIIs kingdom of Kotte, of these Sitawaka, under the dynamic leadership of Mayadunne, posed the greatest threat to the autonomy of the other states. In 1522, the Kandyans secured Portuguese protection against Sitawaka, but any potential for alliance ended in 1546 when Portuguese, Kandy subsequently lent aid to the Jaffna Kingdom against the Portuguese in 1560. Kandy territory was invaded twice in the 1570s and 1580s, first in 1574, both eventually fell under Portuguese warship, converted to Christianity, and adopted the names Dona Catherina and Don Phillip respectively. In the meanwhile the Portuguese also laid claim to the Kandyan realm, Wirasundara Mudiyanse, Rajasinhas viceroy in the area, rebelled soon after the initial conquest, though his uprising was crushed another occurred in 1588. Resistance eventually coalesced around Konnappu Bandara, son of Wirasundara, who had fled to Portuguese lands following his fathers murder by agents of Rajasinha, between 1591 and 1594, he returned to the area, seized the Kandyan throne under the name Vimaladharmasuriya I and married Dona Catherina. Victories over the Sitawakans and the Portuguese secured his position, the strategic situation in Sri Lanka changed dramatically during Vimaladharmasuryas rise to power. To the north, the Portuguese deposed the king Puviraja Pandaram of the Jaffna Kingdom in 1591, in 1594, Rajasinha I died and the kingdom of Sitawaka disintegrated. Kandy remained the sole native polity outside of European dominance, hostilities between the Portuguese and the Kandyans continued throughout the rest of Vimaladharmasuryas reign. The Kandyans lent aid to a rebellion led by Domingos Correa and later Simao Correa, Sinhala subjects of Dharmapala, a Portuguese incursion in 1604 saw them capture Balane, but dissent amongst their Lascarin troops forced a withdrawal back to the coast. Relations between the Dutch Republic and the Kandyans were initiated on the 2 June 1602 when Dutch explorer Joris van Spilbergen arrived at Santhamuruthu on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. Later that year the Dutch East India Company despatched Sebald de Weert to Kandy in an attempt to negotiate a treaty. The visit ended in disaster when the visitors offended their Kandyan hosts with their behaviour and in the ensuing fracas de Weert and a several of his entourage were killed
19.
Vanni Nadu
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The Vannimai, or Vanni chieftaincies, were feudal land divisions ruled by chiefs south of the Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka. These chieftaincies arose in the 12th century, with the rise of the medieval Tamil kingdoms golden age, the chieftaincies developed in sparsely settled areas, and were ruled by Vanniars. An extension of the Jaffna kingdoms territory, the chiefs of the Vannimais were, for most of their existence, at 1621, the Jaffna Kingdom was conquered by the Portuguese and the Vanni chiefs became tributaries of the Portuguese Ceylon. The Portuguese colony in Sri Lanka was later taken over by the Dutch, during the Dutch rule it came to Vannian resistances against the colonial rule, one of these was the rebellion of Pandara Vanniyan. Allied with the Kingdom of Kandy, Pandara Vanniyan fought with guerrilla tactics against the Dutch, at 1803, he was defeated by Lt. von Driberg and Vanni fell into hands of the British. Vanni had been reincorporated with Jaffna Peninsula to form the Malabar Coylot Vanni country which became the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Vanniar or Vannia was a used by tribute-paying feudal chiefs in medieval Sri Lanka. It was also recorded as the name of a caste amongst Sri Lankan Tamils in the Vanni District of northern Sri Lanka during the early 1900s, the Vannimai ruling class arose from a multi-ethnic and multi-caste background. According to primary sources such as the Yalpana Vaipava Malai, some were descended from Vanniar caste immigrants from modern Tamil Nadu, there were also number of Vannia chiefs of Sinhalese ancestry. Kankan visited the Munneswaram temple on the west coast of Sri Lanka, according to the chronicles, he extensively renovated and expanded the shrine, he was crowned with the ephitet Kulakottan, meaning Builder of Tank and Temple. As a result of his policies, the Vanni region flourished, the Vanniar claim descent from this chief. Others cite poetic and inscriptional evidence to date his renovations to as early as 1589 BC and these petty chefs paid tribute to the Jaffna Kingdom. Sometimes they were independent of any control, or were subdued by the southern kingdoms for strategic advantages. Many kings and chiefs with titles such as Vannian or Vannia ruled in areas of modern Sri Lanka during the Jaffna era. Some of the Vanni chieftains were immigrants from southern India, the Vanni chieftains ruled following local custom, supported by a coterie of local officials. Their rule had a influence on the language of the local populace. Hence Vannimais just south of the Jaffna peninsula and in the eastern Trincomalee district usually paid a tribute to the northern kingdom instead of taxes. The tribute was in cash, grains, honey, elephants, the annual tribute system was enforced due to the greater distance from Jaffna
20.
Dutch Ceylon
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Dutch Ceylon was a governorate established in present-day Sri Lanka by the Dutch East India Company. It existed from 1640 until 1796, in the early 17th century, Sri Lanka was partly ruled by the Portuguese and Sri Lankan kingdoms, who were constantly battling each other. Although the Portuguese were not winning the war, their rule was burdensome to the people of those areas controlled by them. While the Dutch were engaged in a war of independence from Spanish rule. The Dutch interest in Ceylon was to have a battle front against the Iberians at that time. The Dutch were invited by the Sri Lankans to liberate the country from the Portuguese and they signed the Kandyan Treaty of 1638 with Rajasinghe II and soon embarked on a war against their common enemy. As such the Dutch were appointed as a protector of the country, meanwhile, however, Rajasinghe II approached the French and offered them the Trincomalee fort as a check against Dutch power. The Dutch captured Trinco from the French and controlled all the provinces of the island. Rajasinghe and the Dutch were both playing a game trying to outwit each other, and the treaty of 1638 was never implemented. The Dutch ruled all the Tamil provinces and brought Tanjore Tamil slaves to work in the Cinnamon gardens in the Western Province, the capital of Dutch Coromandel was in Pulicat and they brought needed manpower from the Indian colonies. Portuguese rule was always in the provinces and the people whom they converted were the coastal folk. They were the backbone of their power, many of the Princes they converted had either died or were no longer Catholic. The rest of the Ceylon remained in the Buddhist-Hindu religion, the Dutch were used by the Sinhala king to take revenge on the Portuguese who wanted to expand their rule. The war with Portugal was against their ruler the King of Spain, once Portugal obtained its freedom from Spain the Netherlands settled for peace with Portugal. Then they divided the areas of Ceylon amicably under a treaty signed in Goa. Slowly, the Dutch became the rulers of coastal and outer areas of Ceylon and Indonesia, and the Portuguese were left with smaller pieces of territory than those of the Dutch and the English. In the east, Portugal held territories not only in Ceylon but in India, in the Persian Gulf, from 1580 to 1640, the throne of Portugal was held by the Habsburg kings of Spain resulting in the biggest colonial empire until then. The Azores were the last part of Portugal to resist Philips reign over Portugal, the Netherlands meanwhile were in open revolt against their Habsburg overlord and declared themselves a Republic in 1581
21.
History of British Ceylon
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The History of British Ceylon is the history of Sri Lanka dated from the start of British rule, in 1815, until Sri Lanka achieved independence in 1948. British presence in Sri Lanka began in 1796, while earlier Europeans in Sri Lanka date back to 1505, 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 city of Kandy. Intermittent warfare continued through the 16th century, many lowland Sri Lankans 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. It was in 1669 that the Dutch attacked in earnest but ended with an agreement, by 1660 the Dutch controlled the whole island except the kingdom of Kandy. The Dutch persecuted the Catholics but left the Buddhists, Hindus, however, they taxed the people far more heavily than the Portuguese had done. A mixed Dutch-Sri Lankan people known as Burgher peoples are the legacy of Dutch rule, in 1669, 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 and this helped to bring the island to the attention of the British. In 1802 by the Treaty of Amiens the Dutch part of the island was ceded to Britain, 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, ending Sri Lankan independence, following the bloody suppression of the Uva Rebellion, the Kandyan peasantry were stripped of their lands by the Wastelands Ordinance, a modern enclosure movement and reduced to penury. To work the estates, the planters imported large numbers of Tamil workers as indentured labourers from south India and these workers had to work in slave-like conditions and to live in line rooms, not very different from cattle sheds. Nevertheless, the British also introduced elements to Sri Lanka for the first time in its history. The Burghers were given degree of self-government as early as 1833. It was not until 1909 that constitutional development began with an elected assembly. Universal suffrage was introduced in 1931, over the protests of the Sinhalese, Tamil, the Ceylon National Congress 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 CNC. The CNC did not seek independence or Swaraj, what may be called the independence movement broke into two streams, viz. S. Senanayake
22.
British Ceylon
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British Ceylon, known contemporaneously as Ceylon, was a British Crown colony between 1802 and 1948. The island attracted the attention of the newly formed Dutch Republic when they were invited by the Sinhalese King to fight the Portuguese, Dutch rule over much of the island was soon imposed. In the late 18th century the Dutch, weakened by their wars against Great Britain, were conquered by Napoleonic France, and their leaders became refugees in London. No longer able to govern their part of the island effectively, although the previous Dutch administration had not been powerful enough to threaten the reign of the Kandyan Kings, the British were much more powerful. The Kandyan refusal to accept a protectorate led eventually to war, the rule of the king Sri Vikrama Rajasinha was not favoured by his chieftains. The king, who was of South Indian ancestry, faced powerful chieftains, a successful coup was organised by the Sinhala chiefs in which they accepted the British Crown as their new sovereign. This ended the line of the kingdom of Kandy and King Rajasinhe was taken as a prisoner, the Kandyan treaty which was signed in 1815 was called the Kandyan Convention and stated the terms under which the Kandyans would live as a British protectorate. The Buddhist religion was to be given protection by the Crown, the Kandyan Convention is an important legal document because it specifies the conditions which the British promised for the Kandyan territory. It took the ruling families of Kandy less than two years to realise that the authority of the British government was a different one to that of the Nayakkar dynasty. Soon the Kandyans rebelled against the British and waged a guerrilla war, müller, the British rulers killed everyone from the Uva-Wellassa region. The main cause of the rebellion was the British authorities failure to protect and uphold the customary Buddhist traditions, Sivasundaram argues that the British used geographical knowledge to defeat the Kandyan holdouts in the mountainous and jungle areas in the center of Ceylon. They used local informants and British surveyors to map the island and this made possible export production of plantation agriculture, as well as tighter military control. The laying of the railway was carried out during the Governorship of Sir Henry Ward, unlike the previous rulers, the British embarked on a plantation programme which initially brought coffee plantations to the island. These were later wiped out by coffee rust, Coffee plants were replaced by tea and rubber plantations. This made Ceylon one of the richest countries in Asia, the British also brought a million Tamils from British India and made them indentured labourers in the Hill Country. This was in addition to the hundred thousand Tamils already living in the Maritime provinces. Thus the seed of discord was sown in the British era. The linguistically bipolar island needed a link language and English became universal in Ceylon, Censuses in Ceylon began in 1871 and continued every ten years
23.
Dominion of Ceylon
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In 1948, the British Colony of Ceylon was granted independence as Ceylon. In 1972, the became a republic within the Commonwealth. It is a country in South Asia, located about 31 kilometres off the southern coast of India. The country was a centre of the Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times as well as having a strong Hindu presence, during World War II, Ceylon served as an important base for the Allied forces in the fight against the Japanese Empire. Following World War II, public pressure for independence increased, the British Colony of Ceylon achieved independence on 4 February 1948, with an amended constitution taking effect on the same date. Independence was granted under the Ceylon Independence Act 1947, military treaties with the United Kingdom preserved intact British air and sea bases in the country, British officers also continued to fill most of the upper ranks of the Army. Don Senanayake became the first Prime Minister of Ceylon, later in 1948, when Ceylon applied for United Nations membership, the Soviet Union vetoed the application. In 1949, with the concurrence of the leaders of the Sri Lankan Tamils, in 1950, Ceylon became one of the original members of the Colombo Plan, and remains a member as Sri Lanka. Don Senanayake died in 1952 after a stroke and he was succeeded by his son Dudley, however, in 1953 – following a massive general strike or Hartal by the leftist parties against the UNP – Dudley Senanayake resigned. He was followed by John Kotelawala, a politician and an uncle of Dudley. Kotelawala did not have the prestige or the political acumen of D. S. Senanayake. He brought to the fore the issue of national languages that D. S. Senanayake had suspended, the Queen of Ceylon, Elizabeth II, toured the island in 1954 from 10–21 April. Bandaranaike was a politician who had fostered the Sinhala nationalist lobby since the 1930s and he replaced English with Sinhalese as the official language. He was the chief Sinhalese spokesmen who attempted to counter the communal politics unleashed by G. G. Ponnambalam, the bill was known as the Sinhala Only Bill, and also made Sinhalese the language taught in schools and universities. This caused Tamil riots, as they spoke the Tamil language and these riots culminated in the assassination of the prime minister, Bandaranaike. His widow, Sirimavo, succeeded her husband as leader of the SLFP and was elected as the worlds first female prime minister, 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, elections in July saw Sirimavo Bandaranaike become the worlds first elected female head of government. Her government avoided further confrontations with the Tamils, but the anti-communist policies of the United States Government led to a cut-off of United States aid and a growing economic crisis
24.
History of Sri Lanka
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The earliest human remains found on the island of Sri Lanka date to about 35,000 years ago. The proto-historical period begins roughly in the 3rd century, based on chronicles like the Mahavamsa, Dipavamsa, Silappatikaram, Manimekalai, the earliest documents of settlement in the Island are found in these chronicles. These chronicles cover the period since the establishment of the Kingdom of Tambapanni in the 6th century BCE, the first Sri Lankan ruler of the Anuradhapura Kingdom, Pandukabhaya, is recorded for the 4th century BCE. Buddhism was introduced in the 3rd century BCE by Arhath Mahinda, the first Tamil ruler of the Anuradhapura Kingdom, Elara, an invader, is recorded for the 2nd century BCE. The island was divided into numerous kingdoms over the following centuries, Sri Lanka was ruled by 181 monarchs from the Anuradhapura to Kandy periods. From the 16th century, some areas of the country were also controlled by the Portuguese, Dutch. Between 1597 and 1658, a part of the island was under Portuguese rule. The Portuguese lost their possessions in Ceylon due to Dutch intervention in the Eighty Years War, following the Kandyan Wars, the island was united under British rule in 1815. Armed uprisings against the British took place in the 1818 Uva Rebellion, independence was finally granted in 1948 but the country remained a Dominion of the British Empire until 1972. In 1972 Sri Lanka assumed the status of a Republic, a constitution was introduced in 1978 which made the Executive President the head of state. The Sri Lankan Civil War began in 1983, including an armed uprising in 1987–1989. Evidence of human colonization in Sri Lanka appears at the site of Balangoda, Balangoda Man arrived on the island about 34,000 years ago and have been 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 artifacts from these people who are currently the first known inhabitants of the island. Balangoda Man probably created Horton Plains, in the central hills, however, the discovery of oats and barley on the plains at about 15,000 BCE suggests that agriculture had already developed at this early date. Several minute granite tools, earthenware, remnants of charred timber, human remains dating to 6000 BCE have been discovered during recent excavations around a cave at Varana Raja Maha vihara and in the Kalatuwawa area. Cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka and has found in Ancient Egypt as early as 1500 BCE. It is possible that Biblical Tarshish was located on the island, james Emerson Tennent identified Tarshish with Galle. The protohistoric Early Iron Age appears to have established itself in South India by at least as early as 1200 BCE, the earliest manifestation of this in Sri Lanka is radiocarbon-dated to c
25.
Sinhala Kingdom
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The Sinhala Kingdom or Sinhalese Kingdom refers to the one and or all of the successive Sinhalese kingdoms that existed in what is today Sri Lanka. Founded in 543 BC, the Sinhala Kingdom existed as successive kingdoms known by the city at which its centre was located. These are in order, the kingdoms of Tambapanni, Upatissa Nuwara, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Gampola, Kotte, Sitawaka. The Sinhala Kingdom ceased to exist by 1815, during the period in which the Sinhala Kingdom existed, other political entities also existed in Sri Lanka, including the Jaffna kingdom, Vanni chieftaincies and the Portuguese and Dutch colonies. However, these entities were not part of the Sinhala Kingdom. In the ancient Indian literature, the cow is a symbol of earth or land, thus the myth mentioned above can be interpreted to mean that the tribes listed in the quote gathered to protect the sage Vasisthas land, against the army of king Viswamitra. The king of the Singhalas gave those best of sea-born gems called the lapis lazuli, and heaps of pearls also, and hundreds of coverlets for elephants
26.
Brahmic scripts
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The Brahmic scripts are a family of abugida or alphabet writing systems. They are used throughout the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and parts of East Asia, and were used in Japan. They are used by languages of several families, Indo-European, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, Mongolic, Austroasiatic, Austronesian. They were also the source of the order of Japanese kana. Brahmic scripts descended from the Brahmi script, the most reliable of these were short Brahmi inscriptions dated to the 4th century BC and published by Coningham et al. Northern Brahmi gave rise to the Gupta script during the Gupta period, the Siddhaṃ script was especially important in Buddhism, as many sutras were written in it. The art of Siddham calligraphy survives today in Japan, the syllabic nature and dictionary order of the modern kana system of Japanese writing is believed to be descended from the Indic scripts, most likely through the spread of Buddhism. Southern Brahmi evolved into Old-Kannada, Pallava and Vatteluttu scripts, which in turn diversified into other scripts of South India, Bhattiprolu was a great centre of Buddhism during 3rd century BCE and from where Buddhism spread to east Asia. The present Telugu script is derived from Bhattiprolu Script or Kannada-Telugu script or Kadamba script, also known as old Telugu script, owing to its similarity to the same. Initially, minor changes were made which is now called Tamil Brahmi which has far fewer letters than some of the other Indic scripts as it has no separate aspirated or voiced consonants. Some characteristics, which are present in most but not all the scripts, are, other vowels are written by adding to the character. A mark, known in Sanskrit as a virama/halant can be used to indicate the absence of an inherent vowel, Each vowel has two forms, an independent form when not part of a consonant, and a dependent form, when attached to a consonant. Depending on the script, the dependent forms can be placed to the left of, to the right of, above, below. Consonants can be combined in ligatures, special marks are added to denote the combination of r with another consonant. Nasalization and aspiration of a dependent vowel is also noted by separate signs. The alphabetical order is, vowels, velar consonants, palatal consonants, retroflex consonants, dental consonants, bilabial consonants, approximants, sibilants, Each consonant grouping had four stops, and a nasal consonant. Below are comparison charts of several of the major Indic scripts, accordingly, The charts are not comprehensive. Glyphs may be unrepresented if they dont derive from any Brahmi character, the pronunciations of glyphs in the same column may not be identical
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Mojibake
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Mojibake, from the Japanese 文字 character + 化け transform, is the garbled text that is the result of text being decoded using an unintended character encoding. The result is a replacement of symbols with completely unrelated ones. This display may include the replacement character � in places where the binary representation is considered invalid. A replacement can also involve multiple consecutive symbols, as viewed in one encoding and this is either because of differing constant length encoding, or the use of variable length encodings. Failed rendering of glyphs due to either missing fonts or missing glyphs in a font is a different issue that is not to be confused with mojibake, symptoms of this failed rendering include blocks with the codepoint displayed in hexadecimal or using the generic replacement character �. Importantly, these replacements are valid and are the result of error handling by the software. To correctly reproduce the text that was encoded, the correspondence between the encoded data and the notion of its encoding must be preserved. As mojibake is the instance of incompliance between these, it can be achieved by manipulating the data itself, or just relabeling it. Mojibake is often seen with text data that have been tagged with an encoding, it may not even be tagged at all. A major source of trouble are communication protocols that rely on settings on each computer rather than sending or storing metadata together with the data. Whereas Linux distributions mostly switched to UTF-8 for all uses of text, Microsoft Windows still uses codepages for text files, for some writing systems, an example being Japanese, several encodings have historically been employed, causing users to see mojibake relatively often. If the encoding is not specified, it is up to the software to decide it by other means, depending on type of software, the typical solution is either configuration or charset detection heuristics. Both are prone to mispredict in not-so-uncommon scenarios, the encoding of text files is usually governed by the OS-level setting, which depends on brand of operating system and possibly the users language. Therefore, the encoding is systematically wrong for files that come from a computer with a different setting. One solution is to use a byte order mark, but for source code and other machine readable text, another is storing the encoding as metadata in the filesystem. Filesystems that support extended file attributes can store this as user. charset and this also requires support in software that wants to take advantage of it, but does not disturb other software. While a few encodings are easy to detect, in particular UTF-8, Mojibake also occurs when the encoding is wrongly specified. This often happens between encodings that are similar, for example, the Eudora email client for Windows was known to send emails labelled as ISO-8859-1 that were in reality Windows-1252
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Sinhala language
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Sinhalese, known natively as Sinhala, is the native language of the Sinhalese people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, numbering about 16 million. Sinhalese is also spoken as a language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages, Sinhalese has its own writing system, the Sinhalese alphabet, which is one of the Brahmic scripts, a descendant of the ancient Indian Brahmi script closely related to the Kadamba alphabet. Sinhalese is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, Sinhalese, along with Pali, played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. The closest relative of Sinhalese is the language of the Maldives and Minicoy Island, Sinhala is a Sanskrit term, the corresponding Middle Indo-Aryan word is Sīhala. The name is a derivation from siṃha, the Sanskrit word for lion Siṃhāla is attested as a Sanskrit name of the island of in the Bhagavata Purana, the name is sometimes glossed as abode of lions, and attributed to a supposed former abundance of lions on the island. According to the chronicle Mahavamsa, written in Pali, Prince Vijaya, in the following centuries, there was substantial immigration from Eastern India which led to an admixture of features of Eastern Prakrits. An example of an Eastern feature is the ending -e for masculine nominative singular in Sinhalese Prakrit. There are several cases of vocabulary doublets, e. g. the words mässā and mäkkā, some of the differences can be explained by the substrate influence of the parent stock of the Vedda language. Sinhalese has many words that are found in Sinhalese, or shared between Sinhalese and Vedda and not etymologically derivable from Middle or Old Indo-Aryan. Common examples are kola for leaf in Sinhala and Vedda, dola for pig in Vedda, Other common words are rera for wild duck, and gala for stones. The author of the oldest Sinhalese grammar, Sidatsangarava, written in the 13th century CE, the grammar lists naramba and kolamba as belonging to an indigenous source. Kolamba is the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo, however, formal Sinhalese is more similar to Pali and medieval Sinhalese. g. I do not know whether it is new, as a result of centuries of colonial rule, modern Sinhalese contains some Portuguese, Dutch and English loanwords. It is now spoken by a few families in Macau and in the Macanese diaspora, Sinhalese shares many features common to other Indo-European languages. For native speakers all dialects are mutually intelligible, and they might not even realise that the differences are significant, the language of the Vedda people resembles Sinhala to a great extent, although it has a large number of words which cannot be traced to another language. The Rodiya use another dialect of Sinhalese, Rodiya used to be a caste in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka no longer recognizes castes, in Sinhalese there is distinctive diglossia, as in many languages of South Asia
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Sinhalese people
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The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They constitute 75% of the Sri Lankan population and a greater than 15 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on language, historical heritage and religion, the Sinhalese people speak the Sinhalese language, an Indo-Aryan language, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a small percentage of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity. The Sinhalese are mostly found in North central, Central, South, from the Sanskrit word Simhala, meaning literally of lions. Other Sanskrit meaning is Sinha + la, the Mahavamsa records the origin of the Sinhalese people and related historical events. It traces the origin of the Sinhalese people back to the first king of Sri Lanka, Vijaya, who is the grandson of Sinhabahu (Sanskrit meaning Sinha + bahu. King Vijaya, lineage of Sinhabahu, according to the Mahavamsa and other sources, arrived to the island of Tambapanni. The story of the arrival of Prince Vijaya to Sri Lanka, the folklore of the Sinhalese people also speaks of many royal dynasties prior to the Sinhala royal dynasties, Manu, Tharaka, Ravana Mahabalietc. Early recorded history of the Sinhalese is chronicled in two documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli around the 4th century CE, and the much later Culavamsa. These are ancient sources which cover the histories of the powerful ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura, the Mahavamsa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well-developed agrarian society. Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers left Suppāraka, landed on the island at a site believed to be in the district of Chilaw, near modern-day Mannar and it is recorded the Vijaya made his landing on the day of Buddhas death. Vijaya claimed Tambapanni his capital and soon the whole island come under this name, Tambapanni was originally inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, having their capital at Sirīsavatthu and their queen Kuveni. According to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni was one hundred leagues in extent, after landing in Tambapanni Vijaya met Kuveni the queen of the Yakkhas, who was disguised as a beautiful woman but was really a yakkini named Sesapathi. At the end of his reign, Vijaya, having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. After his coronation, which was held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it, building another one, while he was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa, in which the kingdom was moved to from the Kingdom of Tambapanni. When Vijayas letter arrived, Sumitta had already succeeded his father as king of his country, Upatissa Nuwara was seven or eight miles further north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni. It was named after the regent king Upatissa, who was the minister of Vijaya, and was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya. In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya moved the capital to Anuradhapura, Anuradhapura was named after the minister who first established the village and after a grandfather of Pandukabhaya who lived there
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Buddhism
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Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
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Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura
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Tissa, later Devanampiya Tissa was one of the earliest kings of Sri Lanka based at the ancient capital of Anuradhapura from 307 BC to 267 BC. His reign was notable for the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka under the aegis of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, the primary source for his reign is the Mahavamsa, which in turn is based on the more ancient Dipavamsa. Tissa was the son of Mutasiva of Anuradhapura. The Mahavamsa describes him as being foremost among all his brothers in virtue, the Mahavamsa mentions an early friendship with Ashoka. The king does not appear to have done this at the time, instead adopting the name Devānaṃpiya Beloved of the Gods, Devanampiyatissa is traditionally said to have been succeeded by his younger brothers Uttiya and Mahasiva. His other brother Mahanaga, Prince of Ruhuna was the founder of the Principality of Ruhuna. Emperor Ashoka took a keen interest in the propagation of Buddhism across the known world, the events surrounding Mahindas arrival and meeting with the king form one of the most important legends of Sri Lankan history. According to the Mahavamsa king Devanampiyatissa was out enjoying a hunt with some 40,000 of his soldiers near a mountain called Mihintale, the date for this is traditionally associated with the full moon day of the month of Poson. However, Thera Mahinda declared that Recluses we are, O great King, Devanampiyatissa recalled the news from his friend Ashoka and realised that these are missionaries sent from India. Thera Mahinda went on to preach to the company and preside over the kings conversion to Buddhism. Establishment of Buddhism in Sri Lanka due to the arrival of Thera Mahinda, planting of the Sacred Maha Bodhi and the establishment of the Bhikkuni Sasana due to the arrival of Theri Sangamitta and her group. Offering of the Mahamegavana to the Buddhist monks where the Maha Vihara monastery was built, construction of Thuparama, the first historical dagaba which enshrined the right collar bone of the Buddha. For example, whilst there are references to a Tissamahavihara and various other temples constructed by the king, what is fairly certain however is that the site of his initial meeting with Thera Mahinda is one of Sri Lankas most sacred sites today, going by the name Mihintale. The other major site associated with Devanampiyatissas reign is the planting of the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, the tree was yet another of Emperor Ashokas gifts to the island and was planted within the precincts of Anuradhapura, and is regarded as the oldest tree in the world. Devanampiyatissa built Tissa Wewa, which covers 550 acres, the embankment alone is 2 miles long and 25 feet high. It is an irrigation tank even today and is an essential resource for farmers in Anuradhapura. Later monarchs were to back to Devanampiyatissas conversion as one of the cornerstones of the Anuradhapuran polity. The city itself remained capital of a kingdom until the early Middle Ages
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Relic of the tooth of the Buddha
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The Sacred Relic of the tooth of Buddha is venerated in Sri Lanka as a cetiya relic of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Khema then gave it to King Brahmadatte for veneration and it became a royal possession in Brahmadattes country and was kept in the city of Dantapuri. A belief grew that whoever possessed the tooth relic had a right to rule that land. The Dāṭhāvaṃsa recounts the tale of a war fought over the relic 800 years later between Guhasiva of the republic of Kalinga and a king named Pandu. Legend states the Abhayagiri vihāra was first appointed custodianship of the relic when it was brought to the island after the conflict in Kalinga, upon each change of capital, a new palace was built to enshrine the relic. Finally, it was brought to Kandy where it is at present, the relic came to be regarded as a symbolic representation of the living Buddha and it is on this basis that there grew up a series of offerings, rituals, and ceremonies. These are conducted under the supervision of the two Mahanayakas of Malwatte, Asgiriya chapters, and Diyawadana Nilame of the Maligawa and these have a hierarchy of officials and temple functionaries to perform the services and rituals. Aside from the relic in Sri Lanka, several relics in other countries are also reputed to have a tooth-relic of the Buddha, lingguang Temple of the Badachu Park in Beijing, China. Buddha Memorial Center of the Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Kaohsiung, Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum in Chinatown, Singapore. Lu Mountain Temple in Rosemead, California Nagarjunakonda, museum on the situated in the Nagarjunasagar Lake
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Dutugamunu
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Dutugamunu, also known as Dutthagamani duṭṭhagāmaṇī and Gāmaṇī Abhaya, was a Sinhalese king of Sri Lanka who reigned from 161 BC to 137 BC. He is renowned for defeating and overthrowing Elara, the usurping Tamil prince from the Chola Kingdom, Dutugamunu also expanded and beautified the city of Anuradhapura and projected the power of his native Rajarata region across the island of Sri Lanka. Due to his significance as one of the most potent symbols of Sinhalese historical power, Dutugemunus story is swathed in myth and legend. However, many aspects of the accounts of his life have been verified by inscriptions. Dutugemunus given name was Gamini or Gamani as the first name, a traditional Buddhist name still popular in Sri Lanka today, the prince stated that If father were a man he would not speak thus and sent him a piece of womens jewellery. The resulting fury of the king caused many of his friends to flee to Malaya region, after his death, he was referred to as Dharma Gamini, but it is as Duttha Gamini or Dutugemunu that he is known to posterity. The Mahavamsa constitutes the source on Dutugemunus reign and dedicates some six chapters to his tale. In chapter 22 he is described as being descended from the ancient royal family of Rajarata through Devanampiyatissas brother Mahanaga, Kavantissa is portrayed in the Mahamvamsa as devoutly believing in the three gems, he provided the brotherhood continually with. needful things. Dutugemunus mother was Viharamahadevi, daughter of Tissa, king of Kalyani, legend has it that as punishment for Tissa slaying a Buddhist monk, Kalyani had been subject to a series of deluges from the sea. To placate it Tissa placed his daughter Devi in a boat with the words A Kings Daughter written on the side. Miraculously the princess washed ashore, alive and well, in Ruhuna, during her pregnancy with Dutugemunu, Viharamahadevi had a series of peculiar cravings, including the urge to sleep on a pillow made of honeycombs. Viharamahadevi gave birth to a son named Gamani Abhaya some time later, and after that to another child, around the time of Gamanis birth, an elephant of the six-tusked race brought his young one thither and left him here and went his way. Named Kandula, he went on to become Gamanis mount and accompanied him through much of the princes adventures, Dutugemunus sister Recent archaeological studies have found evidence proving that King Kavantissa had a daughter who was a sister to King Dutu Gemunu. New evidence to this appeared in The Island of March 27,2017, by the age of 16 Gamani was vigorous, renowned, intelligent and a hero in majesty and might, if a little wayward. Determined to expel the king of Rajarata, Gamani levied an army from around Rohana. Kavantissa is known as a brilliant strategist who recognized early that he needed to make his kingdom powerful before waging a war against the invaders. He assembled armies and gave made his kingdom prosperous in rice, the legendary ten great giants - men who had great strength - are brought into the army at this time. Kavantissa repeatedly makes Dutugemunu and Tissa swear that they would never fight one another and he also makes the ten giants swear never to pick sides in a war between the brothers
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Valagamba of Anuradhapura
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Valagamba, also known as Vattagamani Abhaya and Valagambahu, was a king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom of Sri Lanka. Five months after becoming king, he was overthrown by a rebellion and an invasion from South India and he is also known for the construction of the Abhayagiri Dagaba. Valagamba was the son of King Saddha Tissa, the brother of Dutthagamani. His three elder brothers Thulatthana, Lanja Tissa and Khallata Naga ruled the country before him, a general of the army named Kammaharattaka killed Khallatanaga, the last of them and seized power. Valagamba in turn killed Kammaharattaka and took the throne himself in 103 BCE and he kept Mahaculika, the son of Khallatanaga, as his own son, and took Anuladevi, Mahaculikas mother, as his queen. He also had another queen named Somadevi, five months after his coronation as king, a Brahmin in Rohana named Tissa rebelled against him. At the same time, an army from South India led by seven Tamil leaders landed in Mahatittha. Tissa and the seven Tamil leaders all sent messages to Valagamba, Valagamba informed the Brahmin Tissa that the kingdom will be his and told him to defeat the invading army. Accepting this, Tissa tried to fight but was defeated by the Tamils, after this, the seven Tamil leaders waged war against Valagamba, and defeated him after a battle at Kolambalaka. While the king was fleeing in a chariot, a nirgrantha (Jain named Giri shouted that the king was fleeing, Valagamba resolved to build a temple there, and later built the Abhayagiriya after he regained the throne. When the pursuers were gaining on them, Queen Somadevi got down from the chariot to lighten it and give the king a chance to escape, the Pathra Dathu was also taken to India. The five Dravidians namely Pulahatta, Bahiya, Panya Mara, Pilaya Mara, Valagamba fled to Malayarata for safety and a monk named Kuppikkala Mahatissa helped him while he was in hiding. The king organized an army in order to attack Anuradhapura. However, a rift between him and his ministers resulted in leaving him and thus weakening the army. However, the sangha brought about a reconciliation and Valagamba resumed his preparations for attacking Anuradhapura. In c.89 BCE, Valagamba regained the throne after defeating Dathika, the last of the invading Tamil leaders and he sent for Somadevi and restored her as queen, and built a temple named Somarama in her honour. The king built Abhayagiri Dagaba and a stupa, which has a height of about 70 metres, the Abhayagiri temple became one of the three main Buddhist institutions in the country. He converted the caves he was hiding in to a temple and this temple is known as the Dambulla Rock Temple
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Dhatusena of Anuradhapura
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Dhatusena was a king of Sri Lanka who ruled from 455 to 473. He was the first king of the Moriyan dynasty of Sri Lanka, in some records, he is also identified as Dasenkeli. Dhatusena reunited the country under his rule after twenty six years, Dhatusena made eighteen irrigation tanks, a large irrigation canal known as Yodha Ela, and the Avukana statue, a large statue of Lord Buddha. The Cūḷavaṃsa, the ancient chronicle of Sri Lanka, tells us that he was of royal lineage whose ancestors had fled the capital about three hundred years earlier. The country was invaded in 433 by six Tamil leaders from South India and they overthrew the Sri Lankan monarch and ruled the country for twenty six years, from 433 to 459. During this time, Sinhalese leaders abandoned Rajarata and fled to the Ruhuna principality in the south of the country, Ruhuna was used as the base for resistance against the invading rulers. Dhatusena was raised by his uncle, a Buddhist monk named Mahanama, the Pandyan invaders were searching for Dhatusena, and his uncle ordained him as a Buddhist monk to disguise him. Dhatusena later organised a movement against the Tamil invaders and led a rebellion against them. Dhatusena claimed the kingship of the country in 455, by the time Dhatusena started the rebellion, three of the six Pandayn invaders were already dead, and in the battles that occurred during the rebellion, two more were killed. The final battle took place in 459, where the last king, having successfully defeated the Pandyan invaders, Dhatusena was crowned as the king of Sri Lanka in 459 A. D, taking Anuradhapura as his capital. Dhatusena built eighteen irrigation tanks in order to develop agriculture in the country, among these tanks are the Kalavewa and Balaluwewa, which are interconnected and cover an area of 6,380 acres. He also constructed the Yodha Ela, also known as Jayaganga, yoda Ela descends 95 milimeters at each kilometer. This is regarded as a technological achievement. The Avukana statue, a 13-metre high statue of Lord Buddha, is also a creation of Dhatusena, Dhatusena had two sons, Kasyapa I and Moggallana I. Moggallana was the son of the consort and the rightful heir to the throne. Dhatusena’s daughter was married to his sister’s son and the general of his army, following an argument between his daughter and sister, Dhatusena ordered his sister to be killed. In reprisal, Migara encouraged and assisted Kasyapa to overthrow the king, Kasyapa eventually rebelled against Dhatusena and overthrew him. Dhatusena was imprisoned and Kasyapa became the king of the country in 473, Migara led Kasyapa to believe that Dhatusena had hidden treasures of great wealth and persuaded him to find these
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Pandyan dynasty
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The Pandyan or Pandiyan or Pandian dynasty was an ancient Tamil dynasty, one of the three Tamil dynasties, the other two being the Chola and the Chera. The Pandya King, along with Chera King and Chola King, were referred to as the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam, the dynasty ruled parts of South India from around 600 BCE to first half of 17th century CE. They initially ruled their country Pandya Nadu from Korkai, a seaport on the southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, fish being their flag, Pandyas were experts in water management, agriculture and fisheries and they were eminent sailors and sea traders too. Pandyan was well known since ancient times, with contacts, even diplomatic, the Pandyan empire was home to temples including Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai, and Nellaiappar Temple built on the bank of the river Thamirabarani in Tirunelveli. The Pandya kings were called either Jatavarman or Maravarman Pandyan, from being Jains in their early ages, they became Shaivaites after some centuries of rule. Strabo states that an Indian king called Pandion sent Augustus Caesar presents and gifts of honour, the country of the Pandyas, Pandi Mandala, was described as Pandyan Mediterranea in the Periplus and Modura Regia Pandyan by Ptolemy. The early Pandyan Dynasty of the Sangam Literature faded into obscurity upon the invasion of the Kalabhras, the dynasty revived under Kadungon in the early 6th century, pushed the Kalabhras out of the Tamil country and ruled from Madurai. They again went into decline with the rise of the Cholas in the 9th century and were in constant conflict with them. The Pandyas allied themselves with the Sinhalese and the Cheras in harassing the Chola empire until they found an opportunity for reviving their fortunes during the late 13th century and they also had extensive trade links with the Southeast Asian maritime empires of Srivijaya and their successors. The Pandyas excelled in trade and literature. They controlled the fisheries along the South Indian coast, between Sri Lanka and India, which produced some of the finest pearls in the known ancient world. Traditionally, the legendary Sangams were held in Madurai under their patronage, during their history, the Pandyas were repeatedly in conflict with the Pallavas, Cholas, Hoysalas and finally the Muslim invaders from the Delhi Sultanate. The Islamic invasion led to the end of Pandyan supremacy in South India,1323, Jaffna Kingdom in Sri Lanka declared its independence from the crumbling Pandyan Empire. The Pandyans lost their capital city Madurai to Madurai Sultanate in 1335, however they shifted their capital to Tenkasi and continued to rule the Tirulnelveli, Tuticorin, Ramanad, Sivagangai regions. Meanwhile, Madurai sultanate was replaced by Nayaka governors of Vijayanagara in 1378, in 1529 Nayaka governors declared independence and established Madurai Nayak dynasty. The word Pandya is derived from the Tamil word Pandu meaning very old, another theory is that the word Pandya is derived from the Tamil word Pandi meaning bull. Ancient Tamils, considered the bull as a sign of masculinity, the earliest Pandyans, probably used the bull as its emblem. Another theory suggests that in Sangam Tamil lexicon the word Pandya means old country in contrast with Chola meaning new country, Chera meaning hill country, the Chera, Chola and Pandya are the traditional Tamil siblings and together with the Pallavas are the major Kings that ruled ancient Tamilakam
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Mahasena of Anuradhapura
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Mahasena, also known in some records as Mahasen, was a king of Sri Lanka who ruled the country from 277 to 304 AD. He started the construction of tanks or reservoirs in Sri Lanka. The Jethavana stupa was built by Mahasen. His countrymen regarded him as a god or deity after the construction of the Minneriya tank, Mahasen was the younger son of King Gotabaya, who ruled the country from 253 to 266. His elder brother and predecessor to the throne was King Jetthatissa, Mahasen and Jetthatissa were educated by a Buddhist monk named Sanghamitta, who was a follower of the Vaitulya doctrine. Mahasen also became a follower of this doctrine, which was associated with Mahayana Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism was traditionally the official religion of the country. However when Mahasen acquired the throne, he ordered the Bhikkhus of Mahavihara, when they refused, Mahasen prohibited his countrymen from providing food to the Theravada Bhikkhus, and established a fine for violating this. As a result, the Buddhist monks abandoned Anuradhapura and went to the Ruhuna municipality in the South of the country, Mahasen destroyed the Mahavihara, and the materials obtained from there were used for building the Jethavanaramaya. Lovamahapaya, which belonged to the Mahavihara, was also destroyed, after this incident, the king’s chief minister and friend, Meghavannabaya, rebelled and raised an army in Ruhuna against him. The king came with his army to defeat Meghavannabaya and camped opposite the rebel camp, on the night before the battle was to be fought, Meghavannabaya managed to enter Mahasen’s camp and convinced him to stop the violence against Theravada Buddhists. Mahasen agreed to stop the violence and made peace with Meghavannabaya, the Jethavana stupa was built by Mahasen in the land belonging to Mahavihara. This is the highest stupa in Sri Lanka, and is among the tallest in the world and it is also the largest brick building ever built. He also built other temples such as Gokanna, Minneriya and Kalandaka, the Mahavamsa, chronicle of Sri Lanka, states that Mahasen constructed sixteen large tanks and two irrigation canals. The largest among these is the Minneriya tank, which covers an area of 4,670 acres, the tank has a circumference of 21 miles, and its 44-foot high bund is 1.25 miles long. The Minneriya tank provides water for an area, and its water supply is maintained by the Elahara canal. Some of these tanks have been identified, and the present names of the ones that have identified are given in brackets. During Mahasen’s anti-Theravada campaign, his countrymen turned against him and this even led to rebellions against him. Even the Commander of his army Meghavarnabaya turned against him and these led to the killing of several royal officials, including the monk Sanghamitta, the teacher of the king who led him to this campaign
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Sigiriya
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Sigiriya or Sinhagiri is an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District near the town of Dambulla in the Central Province, Sri Lanka. The name refers to a site of historical and archaeological significance that is dominated by a column of rock nearly 200 metres high. According to the ancient Sri Lankan chronicle the Culavamsa, this site was selected by King Kasyapa for his new capital and he built his palace on the top of this rock and decorated its sides with colourful frescoes. On a small plateau about halfway up the side of rock he built a gateway in the form of an enormous lion. The name of place is derived from this structure —Sīhāgiri. The capital and the palace was abandoned after the kings death. It was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century, Sigiriya today is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site. It is one of the best preserved examples of ancient urban planning, the environment around the Sigiriya may have been inhabited since prehistoric times. There is clear evidence that the rock shelters and caves in the vicinity were occupied by Buddhist monks. Buddhist monastic settlements were established during the 3rd century BCE in the western and northern slopes of the hills surrounding the Sigiriya rock. Several rock shelters or caves were created during this period and these shelters were made under large boulders, with carved drip ledges around the cave mouths. Rock inscriptions are carved near the ledges on many of the shelters. These were made in the period between the 3rd century BCE and the 1st century CE, in 477 CE, Kashyapa, the king’s son by a non-royal consort, seized the throne from King Dathusena, following a coup assisted by Migara, the King’s nephew and army commander. The rightful heir, Moggallana, fearing for his life, fled to South India, afraid of an attack by Moggallana, Kashyapa moved the capital and his residence from the traditional capital of Anuradhapura to the more secure Sigiriya. During King Kashyapa’s reign, Sigiriya was developed into a complex city, most of the elaborate constructions on the rock summit and around it, including defensive structures, palaces, and gardens, date from this period. The Culavamsa describes King Kashyapa as the son of King Dhatusena, Kashyapa murdered his father by walling him up alive and then usurping the throne which rightfully belonged to his brother Moggallana, Dhatusenas son by the true queen. Moggallana fled to India to escape being assassinated by Kashyapa, in India he raised an army with the intention of returning and retaking the throne of Sri Lanka, which he considered to be rightfully his. Expecting the inevitable return of Moggallana, Kashyapa is said to have built his palace on the summit of Sigiriya as a fortress, Moggallana finally arrived, declared war, and defeated Kashyapa in 495 CE
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Ruwanwelisaya
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The Ruwanwelisaya is a stupa in Sri Lanka, considered a marvel for its architectural qualities and sacred to many Buddhists all over the world. It was built by King Dutugemunu c.140 B. C. who became lord of all Sri Lanka after a war in which the Chola King Elara, was defeated and it is also known as Mahathupa, Swarnamali Chaitya, Suvarnamali Mahaceti and Rathnamali Dagaba. This is one of the Solosmasthana and the Atamasthana, the stupa is one of the worlds tallest monuments, standing at 103 m and with a circumference of 290 m. The Kaunghmudaw Pagoda in Sagaing, Myanmar is modeled after this stupa, the stupa was an ancient ruin in the 19th century. After fundraising efforts by Sinhalese bhikkhu, the stupa was renovated in the early 20th century, the Ruwanveli Seya Restoration Society was founded in 1902 and the final crowning of the stupa took place on 17 June 1940. The largest Stupa after Ruwanwelisaya was build in was the Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya and this stupa took 33 years and 3 months to complete. King Dutugemunu began the work of building the stupa during Vesak, on the day of the month of Vesakha. Then he had mercury, resin of the wood-apple, and fine clay mixed together, had spread over the slabs of stones. He had arsenic and sesame oil mixed together, had spread over the bronze sheets. When the king had built and completed the foundation of the Great Stupa. He then had Anuradhapura decorated like a city along with the terrace of the Great Stupa. The Arahant Indagutta arranged that it should thus happen, when Arahant Siddhattha saw the minister walking thus around the relic-chamber and measuring too large dimensions, he ordered him to measure moderate ones. He then had eight large water pots of gold and eight of silver placed in the midst of the Great Stupa and he had, likewise, eight bricks of gold placed in eight corners and a hundred and eight bricks of silver around each of the bricks of gold. Arahant Cittasena placed a lump of fragrant resin in the east side upon the line drawn around the Great Stūpa. It is said that, the earth, all of two hundred seventy thousand yojanas, roared and quaked at that time and he had through his sons, similarly, placed bricks of gold in the other seven sides of the Great Stupa. Having heard it, forty thousand people became Arahants, forty thousand were established in the fruit of stream-entry, a thousand became once-returners, eighteen thousand monks and fourteen thousand nuns became Arahants. After The Buddhas Parinibbāna, His relics were enshrined and worshipped in stupas by Princes of eight countries two quarts in each country. The two quarts of relics that were enshrined in the village Rāmagāma were, according to The Buddhas determination, destined to be enshrined in the Great Stūpa Ruvanveli
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Jetavanaramaya
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The Jetavanaramaya is a stupa located in the ruins of Jetavana in the sacred world heritage city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Mahasena of Anuradhapura initiated the construction of the following the destruction of the mahavihara. His son Maghavanna I completed the construction of the stupa, a part of a sash or belt tied by the Buddha is believed to be the relic that is enshrined here. The structure is no longer the tallest, but it is still the largest, approximately 93.3 million baked bricks were used in its construction, the engineering ingenuity behind the construction of the structure is a significant development in the history of the island. This stupa belongs to the Sagalika sect, the compound covers approximately 5.6 hectares and is estimated to have housed 10,000 Buddhist monks. One side of the stupa is 576 ft long, and the flights of stairs at each of the four sides of it are 28 ft wide, the doorpost to the shrine, which is situated in the courtyard, is 27 ft high. The stupa has a 8.5 m deep foundation, stone inscriptions in the courtyard give the names of people who donated to the building effort. The differences between the Theravadins and Mahayanins escalated to an extent to which a penalty was established to any person providing alms to monks dwelling in the mahavihara. The Mahavamsa quotes Sanghamitta, The dwellers in the Mahavihara do not teach the vinaya, we are those who teach the vinaya, O king. The monks dwelling at the premises moved to Malaya Rata and Ruhuna, the pillaging prompted a rebellion by minister Meghavannabhaya, the minister raised an army from Malaya and set camp by the Duratissaka tank. The dakkinagiri monks were then entrusted with the premises of Jetavana Vihara, as the largest ancient stupa constructed and one of the tallest ancient structures in the world, the structural ingenuity and engineering skills employed for the construction are significant. The foundations of the structure were 8. 5m deep and the size of the structure required bricks which could withstand loads of up to 166 kg. The Mahavamsa describes the foundation laying, where fissures were filled with stones, finely crushed dolomite lime stone, sieved sand and clay provided the bonding material for the bricks. The clay employed was pliable and thus accommodates movement within the structure, one of the sides of the brick was roughened to trap the bonding slurry thus limiting lateral movement. The stupa was covered with lime plaster, the plaster used contained seashells, sugar syrup, egg whites, coconut water, glues, oils, plant resin, sand, clay. The plaster also provided waterproofing for the structure, the Mahavamsa also mentions the use of copper sheets over the foundation and arsenic dissolved in sesame oil to prevent insect and plant intrusions inside the stupa. It is estimated that Jetavanaramaya took 15 years to complete and would have required a workforce of hundreds, including brickyard workers and bricklayers. The Jetavanaramaya was under the monks of the Sagalika sect, the Sagalica sect was closely linked with the Abhyagiri viharaya
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Stupa
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A stupa is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics that is used as a place of meditation. Stupas originated as pre-Buddhist tumuli in which śramaṇas were buried in a position called chaitya. After the parinirvana of the Buddha, his remains were cremated, the earliest archaeological evidence for the presence of Buddhist stupas dates to the late 4th century BCE in India. Buddhist scriptures claim that stupas were built at least a century earlier, however, some later stupas, such as at Sarnath and Sanchi, seem to be embellishments of earlier mounds. The earliest evidence of monastic stupas dates back to the 2nd century BCE and these are stupas that were built within Buddhist monastic complexes and they replicate in stone older stupas made of baked bricks and timber. Sanchi, Sarnath, Amaravati and Bharhut are examples of stupas that were shaped in stone imitating previously existing wooden parts, the stupa was elaborated as Buddhism spread to other Asian countries, becoming, for example, the chörten of Tibet and the pagoda in East Asia. The pagoda has varied forms that also include bell-shaped and pyramidal styles, in the Western context, there is no clear distinction between a stupa and a pagoda. Stupas were built in Sri Lanka soon after Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura converted to Buddhism, the first stupa to be built was the Thuparamaya. Later, many more were built over the years, some like the Jetavanaramaya in Anuradhapura being one of the tallest ancient structures in the world, the earliest archaeological evidence for the presence of Buddhist stupas dates to the late 4th century BCE. In India, Sanchi, Sarnath, Amaravati and Bharhut are among the oldest known stupas, the tallest is the Phra Pathommachedi in Nakhon Pathom Province, Thailand, at a height of 127 metres. The Swat Valley hosts a well-preserved stupa at Shingardar near Ghalegay, another stupa is located near Barikot, in Sri Lanka, the ancient city of Anuradhapura includes some of the tallest, most ancient and best preserved stupas in the world, such as Ruwanwelisaya. The most elaborate stupa is the 8th century Borobudur monument in Java, the upper rounded terrace with rows of bell-shaped stupas contained Buddha images symbolizing Arūpajhāna, the sphere of formlessness. The main stupa itself is empty, symbolizing complete perfection of enlightenment, borobudurs unique and significant architecture has been acknowledged by UNESCO as the largest buddhist monument in the world. It is also the world’s largest Buddhist temple, as well as one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. Object stupa, in which the items interred are objects belonged to the Buddha or his disciples, such as a bowl or robe. Commemorative stupa, built to commemorate events in the lives of Buddha or his disciples, symbolic stupa, to symbolise aspects of Buddhist theology, for example, Borobudur is considered to be the symbol of the Three Worlds and the spiritual stages in a Mahayana bodhisattvas character. Votive stupa, constructed to commemorate visits or to gain spiritual benefits, the shape of the stupa represents the Buddha, crowned and sitting in meditation posture on a lion throne. His crown is the top of the spire, his head is the square at the base, his body is the vase shape, his legs are the four steps of the lower terrace
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