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The history of Sri Lanka begins around 30,000 years ago when the island was first inhabited. Chronicles,

including the Mahawansa , the Dipavamsa , the Culavamsa and the Rajaveliya , record event s [1][2] from the

beginnings of the Sinhalese monarchy in the 6th century BC, the Tamil Elara (monarch) in the 2nd century

BC ;[3] through the arrival of European Colonialists in the 16th century; and to the disestablishment of the

monarchy in 1815. Some mentions of the country are found in the Ramayana , the Mahabharata andthe Lankavatara Sutra Mahayana Buddhism texts of Gautama Buddha 's teachings. Buddhism was

introduced in the 3rd century BC by Arhath Mahinda (son of the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great ).

From the 16th century, some coastal areas of the country were ruled by the Portuguese , Dutch and British .

Sri Lanka was ruled by 181 Kings and Queens from the Anuradhapura to Kandy periods. [4] After 1815 the

entire nation was under British colonial rule and armed uprisings against the British took place in the

1818 Uva Rebellion and the 1848 Matale Rebellion . Independence was finally granted in 1948 but the

country remained a Dominion of the British Empire.

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

youth uprising in 1987 1989, with the 25 year-long civil war ending in 2009.

History of Sri LankaSri Lankas history is a source of great pride to both Sinhalese and Tamils, the countrys two largest ethnic groups. Theonly problem is, they have two completely different versions. Every historical site, religious structure, even village nameseems to have conflicting stories about its origin, and those stories are, in turn, blended over time with contrastingreligious myths and local legends. The end results are often used as evidence that the island is one groups exclusivehomeland; each claims first dibs.In fact, the islands location its position along hundreds of ancient trade routes and its proximity to India has resultedin a potpourri of visitors, immigrants, invaders, missionaries, traders and travellers, mostly from India , but also fromEast Asia and the Middle East . Many stayed on, and over the generations they assimilated and intermarried, convertedand converted back again. The islands history, like that of its ethnicities, is one of constant flux and shifting dominance. Nonetheless, the contemporary Sri Lankan take on history is deeply political and marked by deep ethnic divides divides that may be totally artificial.

Legend and history

Prehistory & Early Arrivals Legend and history are deeply intertwined in the early accounts of Sri Lanka. Did the Buddha leave his footprinton Adams Peak (Sri Pada) while visiting the island that lay halfway to paradise? Or was it Adam who left his footprintembedded in the rock while taking a last look at Eden? Was the chain of islands linking Sri Lanka to India the samechain that Rama crossed to rescue his wife Sita from the clutches of Rawana, demon king of Lanka, in the epicRamayana?

Whatever the legends, the reality is that Sri Lankas original inhabitants, the Veddahs (Wanniyala -aetto, called Yakshasin the Pali chronicles), were hunter- gatherers who subsisted on the islands natural bounty. Much abou t their origins isunclear, but anthropologists generally believe that they are descended from people who migrated from India , andpossibly Southeast Asia, and existed on the island as far back as 32,000 BC. Its also l ikely that rising waterssubmerged a land bridge between India and Sri Lanka in around 5000 BC.Historians and archaeologists have differing interpretations of its origins, but a megalithic culture emerged in thecenturies around 900 BC with striking similarities to the South Indian cultures of that time. Also during this Early Iron

Age, Anuradhapura began to grow as a population centre.Objects inscribed with Brahmi (an ancient parent script to most South Asian scripts) have been found from the 3rdcentury BC; parallels to both North Indian and South Indian Brahmi styles have been made, though Tamil words areused in many of those found in the north and east of the island. Sri Lankan historians debate these details fiercely, asdo many Sri Lankans, but rather than there being two distinct ethnic histories, i t is more likely that migrations from West,East and South India all happened during this time and that those new arrivals all mixed with the indigenous people.

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Anuradhapura The 5th-century- AD Pali epic, the Mahavamsa, is the countrys primary historical source. But although it is a somewhatfaithful record of kingdoms and Sinhalese political power from around the 3rd century BC, its historical accuracy is muchshakier and indeed full of beautiful myths before this time. Nonetheless, many Sinhalese claim that they aredescended from Vijaya, an immoral 6th-century-BC North Indian prince who, according to the epic, had a lion for agrandfather and a father with lion paws who married his own sister. Vijaya was banished for bad behaviour, with a

contingent of 700 men, on dilapidated ships from the subcontinent.Rather than drowning, they landed near present-day Mannar , supposedly on the day that the Buddha attainedenlightenment. Vijaya and his crew settled around Anuradhapura , and soon encountered Kuveni, a Yaksha (probablyVeddah) who is alternately described as a vicious queen and a seductress who assumed the form of a 16-year-oldmaiden to snag Vijaya. She handed Vijaya the crown, joined him in slaying her own people and had two children withhim before he kicked her out and ordered a princess along with wives for his men from South India s Tamil Pandyakingdom. (That, by this account, the forefathers of the Sinhalese race all married Tamils is overlooked by most SriLankans.) His rule formed the basis of the Anuradhapura kingdom, which developed there in the 4th century BC.Buddhism arrived from India in the 3rd century BC, transforming Anuradhapura and possibly creating what is nowknown as Sinhalese culture. Today the mountain at Mihintale marks the spot where King Devanampiya Tissa is said tohave first received the Buddhas teaching.

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