History of Sri Lanka
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The history of Sri Lanka is unique because its relevance and richness extend beyond the areas of South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. The early human remains which were found on the island of Sri Lanka date back to about 38,000 years ago (Balangoda Man).
The historical period roughly begins in the 3rd century CE, based on
The island was divided into numerous
In 1972, Sri Lanka assumed the status of a Republic. A
Prehistory
Evidence of human colonization in Sri Lanka appears at the site of Balangoda. Balangoda Man arrived on the island about 125,000 years ago and has been identified as Mesolithic hunter-gatherers who lived in caves. Several of these caves, including the well-known Batadombalena and the Fa Hien Cave, have yielded many artifacts from these people, who are currently the first known inhabitants of the island.
Balangoda Man probably created Horton Plains, in the central hills, by burning the trees in order to catch game. 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.[7]
Several minute granite tools (about 4 centimetres in length), earthenware, remnants of charred timber, and clay burial pots date to the Mesolithic. Human remains dating to 6000 BCE have been discovered during recent excavations around a cave at Warana Raja Maha Vihara and in the Kalatuwawa area.
Cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka and has been found in Ancient Egypt as early as 1500 BCE, suggesting early trade between Egypt and the island's inhabitants. It is possible that Biblical Tarshish was located on the island. James Emerson Tennent identified Tarshish with Galle.[8]
The protohistoric Early Iron Age appears to have established itself in South India by at least as early as 1200 BCE, if not earlier (Possehl 1990; Deraniyagala 1992:734). The earliest manifestation of this in Sri Lanka is radiocarbon-dated to c. 1000–800 BCE at Anuradhapura and Aligala shelter in Sigiriya (Deraniyagala 1992:709-29; Karunaratne and Adikari 1994:58; Mogren 1994:39; with the Anuradhapura dating corroborated by Coningham 1999). It is very likely that further investigations will push back the Sri Lankan lower boundary to match that of South India.[9]
During the protohistoric period (1000-500 BCE) Sri Lanka was culturally united with southern India.,
Archaeological evidence for the beginnings of the Iron Age in Sri Lanka is found at Anuradhapura, where a large city–settlement was founded before 900 BCE. The settlement was about 15 hectares in 900 BCE, but by 700 BCE it had expanded to 50 hectares.[15] A similar site from the same period has also been discovered near Aligala in Sigiriya.[16]
The hunter-gatherer people known as the
Later Indo Aryan migrants developed a unique
Early history recorded in Buddhist scriptures refers to three visits by the Buddha to the island to see the Naga Kings, snakes that can take the form of a human at will.[18]
The earliest surviving chronicles from the island, the
inhabited the island prior to the migration of Indo Aryans.Pre-Anuradhapura period (543–377 BCE)
Indo-Aryan syncretism
The Pali chronicles, the
The Mahavamsa, written around 400 CE by the monk Mahanama, using the Deepavamsa, the Attakatha and other written sources available to him, correlates well with Indian histories of the period. Indeed, Emperor
According to the Mahavamsa, Vijaya landed on Sri Lanka near Mahathitha (Manthota or Mannar[22]), and named[23] on the island of Tambaparni ("copper-colored sand"). This name is attested to in Ptolemy's map of the ancient world. The Mahavamsa also describes the Buddha visiting Sri Lanka three times. Firstly, to stop a war between a Naga king and his son in law who were fighting over a ruby chair. It is said that on his last visit he left his foot mark on Siri Pada ("Adam's Peak").
Tamirabharani is the old name for the second longest river in Sri Lanka (known as
Mahathir was an ancient port linking Sri Lanka to India and the Persian Gulf.[24]
The present day Sinhalese are a mixture of the Indo Aryans and the Indigenous[25] The Sinhalese are recognized as a distinct ethnic group from other groups in neighboring south India based on the Indo-Aryan language, culture, Theravada Buddhism, genetics and the physical anthropology.
Anuradhapura period (377 BCE–1017)
In the early ages of the
The Mauryan-Sanskrit text Arthashastra referred to the pearls and gems of Sri Lanka. A kind of pearl, kauleya (Sanskrit: कौलेय) was referred in that text and also mentioned it collected from Mayurgrām of Sinhala. Pārsamudra(पारसमुद्र), a gem, was also being collected from Sinhala.[26]
There was intense
It was in the first century AD where Saint Thomas the Apostle introduced Sri Lanka's first monotheistic religion, Christianity, according to a local Christian tradition[30]
During the reign of
- Decline
In 993, when
Polonnaruwa period (1056–1232)
The
- Decline
Transitional period (1232–1505)
Jaffna Kingdom
Also known as the Aryacakravarti dynasty, was a northern kingdom centred around the Jaffna Peninsula.[37]
In 1247, the Malay kingdom of
Kingdom of Dambadeniya
After defeating Kalinga Magha, King Parakramabahu established his Kingdom in Dambadeniya. He built the Temple of The Sacred Tooth Relic in Dambadeniya.
Kingdom of Gampola
It was established by king Buwanekabahu IV, he is said to be the son of Sawulu Vijayabahu. During this time, a Muslim traveller and geographer named Ibn Battuta came to Sri Lanka and wrote a book about it. The Gadaladeniya Viharaya is the main building made in the Gampola Kingdom period. The Lankatilaka Viharaya is also a main building built in Gampola.
Kingdom of Kotte
After winning the battle, Parakramabahu VI sent an officer named Alagakkonar to check the new kingdom of Kotte.
Kingdom of Sitawaka
The kingdom of Sithawaka lasted for a short span of time during the Portuguese era.
Vannimai
Vannimai, also called Vanni Nadu, were feudal land divisions ruled by
Crisis of the Sixteenth Century (1505–1594)
Portuguese intervention
The first Europeans to visit Sri Lanka in modern times were the Portuguese: Lourenço de Almeida arrived in 1505 and found that the island, divided into seven warring kingdoms, was unable to fend off intruders. 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 inland city of Kandy, a location more secure against attack from invaders. Intermittent warfare continued through the 16th century.
Many lowland Sinhalese converted to Christianity due to missionary campaigns by the Portuguese while the coastal Moors were religiously persecuted and forced to retreat to the Central highlands. The Buddhist majority disliked the Portuguese occupation and its influences, welcoming any power who might rescue them. When the Dutch captain Joris van Spilbergen landed in 1602, the king of Kandy appealed to him for help.[42]
Dutch intervention
Kandyan period (1594–1815)
After the invasion of the Portuguese, Konappu Bandara (King Vimaladharmasuriya) intelligently won the battle and became the first king of the kingdom of Kandy. He built The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. The monarch ended with the death of the last king, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha in 1832.[43]
Colonial Sri Lanka (1815–1948)
During the
Following the suppression of the
The British colonial administration favoured the Eurasian Burghers, certain high-caste Sinhalese and the Tamils, who were mainly concentrated to the north of the country. Nevertheless, the British also introduced democratic elements to Sri Lanka for the first time in its history and the Burghers were given a degree of self-government as early as 1833. It was not until 1909 that constitutional development began, with a partly elected assembly, and not until 1920 that elected members outnumbered official appointees. Universal suffrage was introduced in 1931 over the protests of the Sinhalese, Tamil and Burgher elite who objected to the common people being allowed to vote.[45]
Independence movement
The
The close collaboration of the D. S. Senanayake government with the war-time British administration led to the support of Lord Louis Mountbatten. His dispatches and a telegram to the Colonial office supporting Independence for Ceylon have been cited by historians as having helped the Senanayake government to secure the independence of Sri Lanka. The shrewd cooperation with the British as well as diverting the needs of the war market to Ceylonese markets as a supply point, managed by Oliver Goonatilleke, also led to a very favourable fiscal situation for the newly independent government.[45]
The Second World War
Sri Lanka was a front-line British base against the Japanese during
Meanwhile, the Marxists, identifying the war as an imperialist sideshow and desiring a
The constitutionalists led by Senanayake succeeded in winning independence. The Soulbury constitution was essentially what Senanayake's board of ministers had drafted in 1944. The promise of Dominion status and independence itself had been given by the Colonial Office.
Independence
The Sinhalese leader Don Stephen Senanayake left the CNC on the issue of independence, disagreeing with the revised aim of 'the achieving of freedom', although his real reasons were more subtle.[51] He subsequently formed the United National Party (UNP) in 1946,[52] when a new constitution was agreed on, based on the behind-the-curtain lobbying of the Soulbury commission. At the elections of 1947, the UNP won a minority of seats in parliament, but cobbled together a coalition with the Sinhala Maha Sabha party of Solomon Bandaranaike and the Tamil Congress of G.G. Ponnambalam. The successful inclusions of the Tamil-communalist leader Ponnambalam, and his Sinhalese counterpart Bandaranaike were a remarkable political balancing act by Senanayake. The vacuum in Tamil Nationalist politics, created by Ponnamblam's transition to a moderate, opened the field for the Tamil Arasu Kachchi ("Federal party"), a Tamil sovereignty party led by S. J. V. Chelvanaykam who was the lawyer son of a Christian minister.[45]
Sri Lanka (1948–present)
Dominion
Dominion status followed on 4 February 1948 with military treaties with Britain, as the upper ranks of the armed forces were initially British, and British air and sea bases remaining intact. This was later raised to independence itself and Senanayake became the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. In 1949, with the concurrence of the leaders of the
In 1956, Sinhala was established as the official language, with Tamil as a second language. Appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London were abolished and plantations were nationalised to fulfil the election pledges of the Marxist program and to "prevent the ongoing dis-investment by the owning companies". In 1956, the Sinhala Only Act came into being. This established Sinhala as the first and preferred language in commerce and education. The Act took effect immediately. As a consequence vast numbers of people, mostly Burghers, left the country to live abroad as they felt discriminated against. In 1958, the first major riots between Sinhalese and Tamils flared up in Colombo as a direct result of the government's language policy.[45]
- 1971 Uprising
The leftist Sinhalese Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna drew worldwide attention when it launched an insurrection against the Bandaranayake government in April 1971. Although the insurgents were young, poorly armed, and inadequately trained, they succeeded in seizing and holding major areas in Southern and Central provinces before they were defeated by the security forces. Their attempt to seize power created a major crisis for the government and forced a fundamental reassessment of the nation's security needs.[45]
The movement was started in the late 1960s by Rohana Wijeweera, who became a Maoist and participated in the pro-Beijing branch of the Ceylon Communist Party, He was increasingly at odds with party leaders and impatient with its lack of revolutionary purpose. His success in working with youth groups and his popularity as a public speaker led him to organize his own movement in 1967. Initially identified simply as the New Left, this group drew on students and unemployed youths from rural areas, most of them in the sixteen-to-twenty-five-age-group. Many of these new recruits were members of minority so called 'lower' castes (Karava and Durava) who felt that their economic interests had been neglected by the nation's leftist coalitions. The standard program of indoctrination, the so-called Five Lectures, included discussions of Indian imperialism, the growing economic crisis, the failure of the island's communist and socialist parties, and the need for a sudden, violent seizure of power. Between 1967 and 1970, the group expanded rapidly, gaining control of the student socialist movement at a number of major university campuses and winning recruits and sympathizers within the armed forces. Some of these latter supporters actually provided sketches of police stations, airports, and military facilities that were important to the initial success of the revolt. In order to draw the newer members more tightly into the organization and to prepare them for a coming confrontation, Wijeweera opened "education camps" in several remote areas along the south and southwestern coasts. These camps provided training in Marxism–Leninism and in basic military skills.[55]
While developing secret cells and regional commands, Wijeweera's group also began to take a more public role during the elections of 1970. His cadres campaigned openly for the United Front of Sirimavo R. D. Bandaranaike, but at the same time they distributed posters and pamphlets promising violent rebellion if Bandaranaike did not address the interests of the proletariat. In a manifesto issued during this period, the group used the name Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna for the first time. Because of the subversive tone of these publications, the United National Party government had Wijeweera detained during the elections, but the victorious Bandaranaike ordered his release in July 1970. In the politically tolerant atmosphere of the next few months, as the new government attempted to win over a wide variety of unorthodox leftist groups, the JVP intensified both the public campaign and the private preparations for a revolt. Although their group was relatively small, the members hoped to immobilize the government by selective kidnapping and sudden, simultaneous strikes against the security forces throughout the island. Some of the necessary weapons had been bought with funds supplied by the members. For the most part, however, they relied on raids against police stations and army camps to secure weapons, and they manufactured their own bombs. Wijeweera was arrested and sent to Jaffna Prison, where he remained throughout the revolt. In response to his arrest and the growing pressure of police investigations, other JVP leaders decided to act immediately, and they agreed to begin the uprising at 11:00 P.M. on 5 April 1971. Rebel groups armed with shotguns, bombs, and Molotov cocktails launched simultaneous attacks against seventy- four police stations around the island and cut power to major urban areas. The attacks were most successful in the south. By 10 April, the rebels had taken control of Matara District and the city of Ambalangoda in Galle District and came close to capturing the remaining areas of Southern Province.
The new government was ill-prepared for the crisis that confronted it. Bandaranaike was caught off guard by the scale of the uprising and was forced to call on India to provide basic security functions. Indian frigates patrolled the coast and Indian troops guarded Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayaka while Indian Air Force helicopters assisted the counteroffensive. Sri Lanka's all-volunteer army had no combat experience since World War II and no training in counterinsurgency warfare. Although the police were able to defend some areas unassisted, in many places the government deployed personnel from all three services in a ground force capacity. Royal Ceylon Air Force helicopters delivered relief supplies to beleaguered police stations while combined service patrols drove the insurgents out of urban areas and into the countryside. After two weeks of fighting, the government regained control of all but a few remote areas. In both human and political terms, the cost of the victory was high: an estimated 10,000 insurgents—many of them in their teens—died in the conflict, and the army was widely perceived to have used excessive force. In order to win over an alienated population and to prevent a prolonged conflict, Bandaranaike offered amnesties in May and June 1971, and only the top leaders were actually imprisoned. Wijeweera, who was already in detention at the time of the uprising, was given a twenty-year sentence and the JVP was proscribed.
Under the six years of emergency rule that followed the uprising, the JVP remained dormant. After the victory of the United National Party in the 1977 elections, however, the new government attempted to broaden its mandate with a period of political tolerance. Wijeweera was freed, the ban was lifted, and the JVP entered the arena of legal political competition. As a candidate in the 1982 presidential elections, Wijeweera finished fourth, with more than 250,000 votes (as compared with Jayewardene's 3.2 million). During this period, and especially as the Tamil conflict to the north became more intense, there was a marked shift in the ideology and goals of the JVP. Initially Marxist in orientation, and claiming to represent the oppressed of both the Tamil and Sinhalese communities, the group emerged increasingly as a Sinhalese nationalist organization opposing any compromise with the Tamil insurgency. This new orientation became explicit in the anti-Tamil riots of July 1983. Because of its role in inciting violence, the JVP was once again banned and its leadership went underground.
The group's activities intensified in the second half of 1987 in the wake of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord. The prospect of Tamil autonomy in the north together with the presence of Indian troops stirred up a wave of Sinhalese nationalism and a sudden growth of antigovernment violence. During 1987 a new group emerged that was an offshoot of the JVP—the Patriotic Liberation Organization (Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya—DJV). The DJV claimed responsibility for the August 1987 assassination attempts against the president and prime minister. In addition, the group launched a campaign of intimidation against the ruling party, killing more than seventy members of Parliament between July and November.
Along with the group's renewed violence came a renewed fear of infiltration of the armed forces. Following the successful raid of the Pallekelle army camp in May 1987, the government conducted an investigation that resulted in the discharge of thirty-seven soldiers suspected of having links with the JVP. In order to prevent a repetition of the 1971 uprising, the government considered lifting the ban on the JVP in early 1988 and permitting the group to participate again in the political arena. With Wijeweera still underground, however, the JVP had no clear leadership at the time, and it was uncertain whether it had the cohesion to mount any coordinated offensive, either military or political, against the government.
Republic
The Democratic Socialist republic of Sri Lanka was established on 22 May 1972. By 1977, the voters were tired of Bandaranaike's socialist policies and elections returned the UNP to power under
After coming to power, Jayewardene directed the rewriting of the constitution. The document that was produced, the new Constitution of 1978, drastically altered the nature of governance in Sri Lanka. It replaced the previous Westminster style, parliamentary government with a new presidential system modeled after France, with a powerful chief executive. The president was to be elected by direct suffrage for a six-year term and was empowered to appoint, with parliamentary approval, the prime minister and to preside over cabinet meetings. Jayewardene became the first president under the new Constitution and assumed direct control of the government machinery and party.[56]
The new regime ushered in an era that did not augur well for the SLFP. Jayewardene's UNP government accused former prime minister Bandaranaike of abusing her power while in office from 1970 to 1977. In October 1980, Bandaranaike's privilege to engage in politics was removed for a period of seven years, and the SLFP was forced to seek a new leader. After a long and divisive battle, the party chose her son, Anura. Anura Bandaranaike was soon thrust into the role of the keeper of his father's legacy, but he inherited a political party torn apart by factionalism and reduced to a minimal role in the Parliament.[citation needed]
The 1978 Constitution included substantial concessions to Tamil sensitivities. Although TULF did not participate in framing the Constitution, it continued to sit in Parliament in the hope of negotiating a settlement to the Tamil problem. TULF also agreed to Jayewardene's proposal of an all-party conference to resolve the island's ethnic problems. Jayewardene's UNP offered other concessions in a bid to secure peace. Sinhala remained the official language and the language of administration throughout Sri Lanka, but Tamil was given a new "national language" status. Tamil was to be used in a number of administrative and educational circumstances. Jayewardene also eliminated a major Tamil grievance by abrogating the "standardization" policy of the United Front government, which had made university admission criteria for Tamils more difficult. In addition, he offered many top-level positions, including that of minister of justice, to Tamil civil servants.[citation needed]
While TULF, in conjunction with the UNP, pressed for the all-party conference, the Tamil Tigers escalated their terrorist attacks, which provoked Sinhalese backlash against Tamils and generally precluded any successful accommodation. In reaction to the assassination of a Jaffna police inspector, the Jayewardene government declared an emergency and dispatched troops, who were given an unrealistic six months to eradicate the terrorist threat.[citation needed]
The government passed the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act in 1979. The act was enacted as a temporary measure, but it later became permanent legislation. The International Commission of Jurists, Amnesty International, and other human rights organizations condemned the act as being incompatible with democratic traditions. Despite the act, the number of terrorist acts increased. Guerrillas began to hit targets of high symbolic value such as post offices and police outposts, provoking government counterattacks. As an increasing number of civilians were caught in the fighting, Tamil support widened for the "boys", as the guerrillas began to be called. Other large, well-armed groups began to compete with LTTE. The better-known included the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam, Tamil Eelam Liberation Army, and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization. Each of these groups had forces measured in the hundreds if not thousands. The government claimed that many of the terrorists were operating from training camps in India's Tamil Nadu State. The Indian government repeatedly denied this claim. With the level of violence mounting, the possibility of negotiation became increasingly distant.[citation needed]
- Internal conflict
In July 1983, communal riots took place due to the ambush and killing of 13 Sri Lankan Army soldiers by the Tamil Tigers using the voters list, which contained the exact addresses of Tamils. The Tamil community faced a backlash from Sinhalese rioters including the destruction of shops, homes, savage beatings and the
In elections held on 17 November 2005
The Sri Lanka government declared total victory on 18 May 2009. On 19 May 2009, the Sri Lankan military led by General Sarath Fonseka, effectively concluded its 26-year operation against the LTTE, its military forces recaptured all remaining LTTE controlled territories in the Northern Province including Killinochchi (2 January), the Elephant Pass (9 January) and ultimately the entire district of Mullaitivu.
On 22 May 2009, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary
Several International bodies including UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic, Human Rights Watch and Permanent People's Tribunal have raised allegations on the Sri Lankan Government for genocide against Tamils. On 10 December 2013, Permanent People's Tribunal unanimously ruled Sri Lanka guilty of the crime of genocide against the Tamil people.[63][64][65][66][67][68][69]
Post-conflict period
Presidential elections were completed in January 2010. Mahinda Rajapaksa won the elections with 59% of the votes, defeating General Sarath Fonseka who was the united opposition candidate. Fonseka was subsequently arrested and convicted by court martial.
In January 2015 presidential elections Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated by the common candidate of opposition, Maithripala Sirisena, and Rajapaksa's attempted return was thwarted in the parliamentary election the same year by Ranil Wickremesinghe[70][71] This resulted in a unity government between the UNP and SLFP[72]
Easter Sunday Attacks
On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches in Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital, Colombo, were targeted in a series of coordinated Islamic terrorist suicide bombings. A total of 267 people were killed,[73][74] including at least 45 foreign nationals,[75] three police officers, and eight bombers, and at least 500 were injured.[76][77][78][79][80] All eight of the suicide bombers in the attacks were Sri Lankan citizens associated with National Thowheeth Jama'ath, a local militant Islamist group with suspected foreign ties, previously known for attacks against Buddhists and Sufis.[81][82]
Rajapaksa brothers in power
Sri Lankan President,
Since 2010,
On 9 July 2022 after many months of protests, the President's residence was stormed by protesters. The President escaped and then fled the country on a military jet to the Maldives. His departure followed months of mass protests over soaring prices and a lack of food and fuel.[92] The country's foreign currency reserves have dipped low and the country has missed debt interest payments. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president, who declared a state of emergency in western providences. Thousands of Sri Lankan protesters streamed the streets of the capital, Colombo.[93]
In July 2022, protesters occupied President's House in Colombo, causing Rajapaksa to flee and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to announce his own willingness to resign.[94] About a week later, Parliament elected Wickremesinghe as president, on 20 July.[95]
See also
- History of Asia
- Outline of South Asian history
- Mahavamsa
- Architecture of ancient Sri Lanka
- Ancient constructions of Sri Lanka
- Irrigation works in ancient Sri Lanka
- Politics of Sri Lanka
- List of presidents of Sri Lanka
- List of prime ministers of Sri Lanka
- Velupillai Prabakaran
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Further reading
- Arsecularatne, S. N, Sinhalese immigrants in Malaysia & Singapore, 1860–1990: History through recollections, (Colombo, KVG de Silva & Sons, 1991)
- Bandarage, Asoka. The separatist conflict in Sri Lanka: Terrorism, ethnicity, political economy (Routledge, 2008).
- Blake, Henry A. (1905). . The Empire and the century. London: John Murray. pp. 707–15.
- Brohier, R. L, The Golden Age of Military Adventure in Ceylon: an account of the Uva Rebellion 1817–1818. (Colombo: 1933)
- Cheran, Rudhramoorthy, ed. Pathways of dissent: Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka;; (Sage Publications India, 2009).
- Crusz, Noel, The Cocos Islands Mutiny. (Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Fremantle, WA, 2001)
- De Mel, Neloufer. Women & the nation's narrative: gender and nationalism in twentieth century Sri Lanka. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2001).
- Deraniyagala, Siran, The Prehistory of Sri Lanka; an ecological perspective. (revised ed.), (Colombo: Archaeological Survey Department of Sri Lanka, 1992)
- de Silva Wijeyeratne, Roshan. Nation, Constitutionalism and Buddhism in Sri Lanka. ( Routledge, 2013).
- DeVotta, Neil. "From ethnic outbidding to ethnic conflict: the institutional bases for Sri Lanka's separatist war 1." Nations and Nationalism 11.1 (2005): 141-159.
- Ganguly, Sumit. "Ending the Sri Lankan civil war." Dædalus 147.1 (2018): 78–89. online
- Liyanagamage, Amaradasa, The decline of Polonnaruwa and the rise of Dambadeniya. (Department of Cultural Affairs, Government Press, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 1968)
- Manogaran, Chelvadurai. Ethnic conflict and reconciliation in Sri Lanka (University of Hawaii Press, 1987).
- Mills, Lennox A. (1933). Ceylon Under British Rule, 1795–1932. Oxford U.P. ISBN 9780714620190.
- Nubin, Walter (2002). Sri Lanka: Current issues and historical background. ISBN 978-1-59033-573-4.
- Peebles, Patrick (2006). The History of Sri Lanka. Greenwood. ISBN 9780313332050.
- Pieris, Paulus Edward, Ceylon and Hollanders 1658–1796. (American Ceylon Mission Press, 1918).
- Pieris, Paulus Edward, Ceylon and the Portuguese 1505–1658. (American Ceylon Mission Press, 1920}.
- Peiris, Gerald Hubert. Twilight of the tigers: peace efforts and power struggles in Sri Lanka. (Oxford University Press, 2009).
- Silva, K. M. de History of Sri Lanka (1982) pp 239–488 online
- Silva, R. Kumar de, and Willemina G. M. Beumer, Illustrations and Views of Dutch Ceylon, 1602–1796. Serendib Publications, London, 1988.
- Sivasundaram, Sujit. "Ethnicity, Indigeneity, and Migration in the Advent of British Rule to Sri Lanka," American Historical Review (2010) 115#2 pp 428–452.
- Spencer, Jonathan (1990). Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780203407417.
- Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja. Buddhism betrayed?: Religion, politics, and violence in Sri Lanka (University of Chicago Press, 1992).
- Vittachi, Tarzie. Emergency'58: the story of the Ceylon race riots (London: Andre Deutsch, 1958).
- Wickramasinghe, Nira. Sri Lanka in the Modern Age: A History (2015)
- Woodcock, George. "The Kings of Kandy" History Today (Dec 1963) 13#12 pp 852–862, covers 1505 to 1833.
- The Betrayal of Buddhism: An Abridged Version of the Report of the Buddhist Committee of Inquiry 1956:124 pages
External links
- Nearly 1200 links on Sri Lanka
- The Virtual Motherland of Sri Lankans
- Sri Lanka in 1942 – World War II Movie Clip
- Library of Congress Country Study: Sri Lanka
- The Netherlands – Ceylon Heritage
- Colombo in Dutch Times
- Jacob Haafner. Travels Through The Island of Ceylon in 1783
- The Dutch in Ceylon glimpse of their life and times
- The Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon
- A Baptism of Fire: The Van Goens Mission to Ceylon and India, 1653–54
- 1694 Census in Jaffnapatnam City and Castle
- Dutch and Portuguese Buildings in Sri Lanka
- Tourist Board of Sri Lanka
- hWeb – Sri Lanka's recent history of ethnic conflict originates from its colonial legacy
- Books on Sri Lanka History
- Maritime Heritage in Sri Lanka
- The Mahavamsa History of Sri Lanka The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka
- Peace and Conflict Timeline (PACT) – interactive timeline of the Sri Lankan conflict
- 1956 – A Year of National and Religious Awakening
- Repression of Buddhism in Sri Lanka by the Portuguese (1505–1658)