History

Sri Lanka is one of those places where history seems to fade into the mists of legend. Is it buddha’s foot print on Sri Pada, visiting an island halfway to paradise? or is it Adam’s peak said to be the very place where Adam set foot on earth, having been cast out of heaven? And isn’t Adams Bridge (the chain of islands linking Sri Lanka to India) the very series of stepping stones that Rama, aided by his faithful ally, the monkey god Hanuman, skipped across his mission to rescue Sita from the clutches of the evil demon Rawana, king of Lanka, in the epic Ramayana?
It is probable that the story of Ramayana actually does have some frail basis in reality, for Sri Lanka’s history recounts many invasions from the south of India. Perhaps some early, punitive invasion provided the background for the story of Rama and his beautiful wife, a story that is recounted over and over again all around Asia. Whatever the legends, the reality points towards the first Sinhalese people – who probably originated in north India – arriving in Sri Lanka around the 5th or 6th century a BC, and gradually replacing the prior inhabitants, the Wanniiyala-atto, or Veddahs, only a few of whom linger on today.

The Rise & Fall of Anuradhapura

The Sinhalese kingdom of Anuradhapura developed in the dry, northern plain region of the island in the 4th century BC. Later other Sinhalese kingdoms arose in the south and west, but Anuradhapura remained the strongest. In the 3rd century BC when the great Buddhist emperor, Asoka, reigned in India, his son, Mahinda came to the island with a retinue of monks to spread the Buddha’s teachings. His son converted the Anuradhapura king and his followers to Buddhism, and his sister, Sangamitta, planted a sampling of the sacred bo tree (Ficus religiosa) under which the Buddha attained enlightenment in Bodhgaya in northern India. It can still be seen flourishing in Anuradhapura today. Buddhism went through a rejuvenation in Sri Lanka and it was here that the Theravada, also known as the Hinayana, ‘small vehicle’, school of Buddhism, developed, later spreading to other Buddhist countries. Even today, Buddhists of the Theravada school in Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and other countries look to Sri Lanka for spiritual leadership.
Buddhism gave the Sinhalese people a sense of national purpose and identity, and also inspired the development of their culture and literature – factors that were to be important in the tumultuous centuries that followed. Anuradhapura was the centre of Sinhalese kingdoms for almost 1500 years, from around the 4th century BC to the 10th century AD. But it suffered from its proximity to South India, where Hinduism continued to flourish. There were repeated invasions and takeovers of Anuradhapura by south Indian kingdoms, and self-defeating entanglements in South Indian affairs by Anuradhapura’s rulers.
A number of Sinhalese heroes arose to repel the invaders, two of the most famous being Dutugamunu (2nd century BC) and Vijayabahu (11th century AD). It was Vijayabahu I who finally decided to abandon Anuradhapura and make Polonnaruwa, farther south-east, his capital. Today, the majestic ruins of these two cities are not the only reminders of this period of Sri Lankan history. Scattered over the country are enormous ‘tanks’, artificial lakes developed for irrigation purposes in the dry regions of Sri Lanka. Even today they would be considered amazing engineering feats.

The Rise & Fall of Polonnaruwa

Polonnaruwa survived as a Sinhalese capital for over two centuries and provided two other great kings, apart from Vijayabahu I. his nephew Parakramabahu I (1153-86 AD), not content with Vijayabahu’s expulsion of South Indian Chola rulers from Sri Lanka. Carried the fight to South India and even made a raid on Burma. Internally he indulged in an orgy of building at his capital and constructed many new tanks around the country. But his warring and architectural extravagances wore the country out and probably shortened Polonnaruwa’s lifespan.
His successor, Nissanka Malla (1187-96), was the last great Polonnaruwa king. He was followed by a series of weak rulers and then once more a South Indian kingdom arose in the north of the island. Tanks were neglected or destroyed, malaria started to spread due to the decay of the irrigation system and finally, like Anuradhapura before it, Polonnaruwa was abandoned.

The Portuguese Period

The centre of Sinhalese power now shifted to the south-west of the island and between 1253 and 1400 AD there were five Sinhalese capitals. During this period Sri Lanka also suffered attacks by Chinese and Malayans as well as the periodic incursions from South India. Finally, the colonial European powers arrived in 1505.
At this time Sri Lanka had three main kingdoms – The Sinhalese kingdoms of Kandy in the central highlands and Kotte, the most powerful, in the south-west, and the Tamil kingdom of Jaffna in the North (which originated in South India). In 1505 the Portuguese Lorenzo de Almeida arrived in Colombo, established friendly relations with the King of Kotte and gained for Portugal a monopoly on the spice and cinnamon trade, which would soon become of enormous importance in Europe. Attempts by Kotte to utilize the strength and protection of Portuguese only resulted in Portugal taking over and ruling not only their regions but the rest of the island, apart from the central highlands around Kandy. Because the highlands were remote and inaccessible, the kings of Kandy were always able to defeat attempts by the Portuguese to annex them, and on a number of occasions drove the Portuguese right back down to the coast.

The Dutch Period

Portuguese rule was characterized by European greed, cruelty and intolerance at its worst, but attempts by Kandy to enlist Dutch help in expelling the Portuguese only resulted in the substitution of one European power for another. By 1658, 153 years after the first Portuguese contact, the Dutch had taken control over the coastal areas of the island. During their 140 years’ rule the Dutch, like the Portuguese, were involved in repeated unsuccessful attempts to bring Kandy under their control. The Dutch were much more interested in trade and profits than the Portuguese, who spent a lot of effort spreading their religion and extending their physical control.

The British Period

The French revolution resulted in a major shake-up among the European powers and in 1796 the Dutch were easily supplanted by the British, who in 1815 also managed to win control of the kingdom of Kandy, becoming the first European power to rule the whole island. Until 1802 the British administered Sri Lanka from Chennai (Madras) in India, but in that year Sri Lanka became a crown Colony and in 1818 a unified administration for the island was set up.
In 1832 sweeping changes in property laws opened the doors to British settlers – at the expense of the Sinhalese, who in British eyes did not have clear title to their land. Soon the country was dotted with coffee, cinnamon and coconut plantations and a network of roads and railways was built to handle this new economic acivity. English became the official language, and is still widely spoken today.
Coffee was the main cash crop and the backbone of the colonial economy, but a leaf blight virtually wiped it out in the 1870ss and the plantations quickly switched over to tea or rubber. Today Sri Lanka is the world’s second largest tea exporter.
The British were unable to persuade the Sinhalese to work cheaply and willingly on the plantations, so they imported large numbers of Tamil labourers from South India. Sinhalese pheasants in the hill country lost land to the estates.
Sri Lanka’s first government after independence deprived the hill country Tamils of citizenship; eventually deals in the 1960s and 1980s between Sri Lanka and India allowed some of them to be ‘repatriated’ to India while others were granted Sri Lankan citizenship.

Independence

Between WWI and WWII, political stirrings started to push Sri Lanka towards eventual independence from Britain – but in a considerably more peaceful and low-key manner than India. At the end of WWII it was evident that independence would come very soon, in the wake of independence for Sri Lanka’s larger neighbor.
In February 1948 Sri Lanka , or Ceylon as it was still known, became an independent member of British Commonwealth. The first independent government was formed by D S Senanayake and his United National Party (UNP). His main opponents were Tamil parties from the north of the country or from the tea plantations, and communists.