History

Sri Lanka has more than 2,500 years of continuous written history by means of the Mahawansha, and was also mentioned in several ancient Indian texts. One of the most famous is the Ramayana, in which the island, which was referred to as Lanka, was the island fortress of the king Ravana, who captured the wife of Rama an incarnation of the Hindu God, Vishnu. Legend has it that Hanuman the monkey flew over to Lanka and destroyed the capital by setting it on fire, while Rama and his remaining troops later crossed over from the mainland by building a land bridge across the sea. There is however a school of thought, though largely unsupported, that Sita the wife of Rama, eloped with Ravana while Rama was away. It is argued by those who support this view that, this is why Rama subjected Sita to undergo an “agni pariksha” (test of fire) to prove her purity. Nevertheless, this theory is widely criticized by believers of Valmiki’s version of the episode. The Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th century BC, probably from northern India.Buddhism was introduced starting from the mid-3rd century BC, and a great civilization developed in cities like Anuradhapura (kingdom from c. 200BCE to c. 1000CE) and Polonnaruwa (c. 1070 to 1200). Other later notable kingdoms are the Dambadeniya,Yapahuwa, Gampola,Kandy and Jaffna Kingdoms. Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1796, and became a crown colony in 1802.As Ceylon, it became independent in 1948; its name was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972.