The History of Sri Lanka is usually taken to begin in the 6th century BCE, when the Indo-Aryan people migrated into the island from India.

History

Main article: History of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka possesses a written history of over 2,500 years and an unwritten history of over 125,000 years attested to by archaeological ruins and other evidence, of more than 125,000 years on the island of Heladiva ('Sri Lanka') Historical chronicles are found in stone writings (‘sel lipi’), leaf writings (‘Hela Atuva’) and also in great Indian chronicles as Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The main historical written evidence is the Mahavamsa, also including Dipavamsa & Chulavamsa . The island presently known as 'Sri Lanka' was originally known as ‘Simhale’ or 'Heladiva' ('the island of the Hela(Comprising of naaga, yaksha, deva & raksha tribes) people') for over 30 millenia.

Prehistory

During the last million years, when humans are known to have existed, Sri Lanka was connected to the sub-continent on numerous occasions. The mainland of Sri Lanka is the remains of the former Continent of Lemuria, which was populated by ancestors of the naaga, yaksha, deva & raksha people. The rise and fall of sea level (due to cold/warm fluctuations in the global climate), & various tsunamis determined the periodicities of these connections, the last separation having occurred at ca. 7000 BP. There is secure evidence of settlements in Sri Lanka by 130,000 years ago, probably by 300,000 BP and possibly by 500,000 BP or earlier.Paleolithic human settlements by about 125,000 years- using chert and quartz tools have been discovered in Sri Lanka from excavations conducted in coastal deposits near Bundala. It is estimated that during certain pluvial episodes in South Asia, as at ca. 125,000 BP, The population density in the Dry Zone of northern, eastern and southern Sri Lanka (for ecozones v. ibid.: app. I) could have ranged between 1.5 and 0.8 individuals per square kilometre, whereas the Wet Zone in the west would have had densities of 0.1 or less.The island was colonised by the Balangoda man about 34,000 years ago, who were a group of Mesolithic hunter gatherers who lived in caves (e.g. Batadombalena, Fa-Hien Rock cave.

Studies using the ground-breaking technique of dental morphological analysis has clearly indicated that skeletal remains at Pomparippu (who probably lived around 500-1000 BC) and the Austro-Asiatic people of Eastern and North Eastern Indian Indus Valley Civilisation of Harappa clearly indicate they possessed dental traits much more similar to Sinhalese, which is completely different from the Dravidian people in southern India. And its also noteworthy that veddas ( decendants of yaksha tribes ) teeth bear a closer resemblance to that of Balangoda Man.Another important conclusion from this dental morphological analysis, is that those communities of Balangoda Man lived in Sri Lanka less than 10,000 years ago possessed different dental morphological traits than contemporary Indian groups. This indicates that although the two countries were then probably connected by the land link known as Adam's Bridge, the gene flow between its peoples even during that period was not significant.]]

The Balangoda man appear to have been dwelling in the reagons of Horton Plains. However, discovery of Oats and Barley on the plains dating to about 15,000 BC suggest they may have engaged in agriculture on the island long before similar groups in the world during that time.Several minute granite tools of about 4 centimeters in length, earthenware and remnants of charred timber, & clay coffins that date back to the Stone Age man Mesolithic Man who lived 8000 years ago have been discovered during recent excavations around a cave at Varana Raja Maha vihara & also in Kalatuwawa area.

Cinnamon, which is native to Sri Lanka, was used in Ancient Egypt in about 1500 BC, suggesting that the island had trading links with the outside world.

A large settlement appears to have been founded before 900 BC at the site of Anuradhapura and signs of an Iron Age culture have also been found. The size of the settlement was about 15 hectares at that date, but it expanded to 50 ha, to 'town' size within a couple of centuries. A similar site has been discovered at Aligala in Sigiriya.

One of the first references to the island is found in the great Indian epic Ramayana. The Ramayana tells the story of Rama (an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu), Rama invaded the island through the Mannar causeway with the help of Vanara Army, to save his abducted wife, Sita, from Ravana the King & the ruler of Sri Lanka. Ravana as a devotee of Lord Siva & a devoted Buddhist was a pious and just ruler. Plenty of archaeological evidence of been found that are supportive of the fact that Ravana did indeed rule over Lankapuri from his capitol in the south.

The earliest chronicles The Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa say that, before the migration of the Indo-Aryans, tribes of naga, yaksha, deva & raksha inhabited the island. They are said to have lived in highly developed urban areas in all regions of the country.

Early history

The Sinhalese chronicle the Mahavamsa relates the landing of Vijaya, the first Sinhalese king, in 543 BC. The Sinhalese people are believed to have migrated from somewhere in northern India: they are not Dravidian like the peoples of neighbouring south India. The Sinhala language is related to Sanskrit, as is Hindi. The first Sri Lankan kingdom had

Pottery has been found at Anuradhapura, bearing Brahmi script and non-Brahmi writing, dating back to 600 BC, suggesting that the art of writing may have been re-introduced to the subcontinent via Sri Lanka.

In the third century BC the Sinhalese converted to Buddhism, and the island became a centre of Buddhist scholarship and missionary work. This set Sri Lanka apart from the Hindu culture of south India.

Sri Lanka was known to the Greeks and to the Romans, who called it Taprobane, probably after Tambapanni. In the 1st Century, the King sent an embassy to the Roman Emperor Claudius.

Anuradhapura remained Sri Lanka's royal capital until the 8th century AD, when it was replaced by Polonnaruwa.

Tamil presence is noted throughout the country's written history. Its origins are not dated, but must post-date the arrival of the Dravidian language group in South India sometime in prehistory. Given the island's proximity to the Deccan Plateau, people of different ethnicities must have traveled to and from it throughout human history.

There were repeated wars between the Sinhalese and Indian invaders, and for much of the first millennium AD the island was controlled by various Tamil princes. Vijayabahu I re-established a Sinhalese dynasty in the 11th century. The "golden age" of the Sri Lankan kingdom was in the 12th century, when the Sinhalese King Parakrama Bahu I united the whole island under his rule, and even invaded India and Burma.

The island was known to the Persians and Arabs as 'Serendib', and features in the Sindbad stories in the 1001 Nights. After the Arab conquest of the Middle East Muslim traders frequently visited the island, and there has been a Muslim community in Sri Lanka since the 10th century. Ibn Batuta visited the island in the 14th Century.

In the 15th century the island was attacked by Admiral Cheng Ho (Zheng He) of China, and for 30 years the kings paid tribute to the Chinese Ming emperor.

European occupation

The first Europeans to visit Sri Lanka in modern times were the Portuguese: Francisco de Almeida arrived in 1505, finding the island divided into seven warring kingdoms and unable to fend off intruders. The Portuguese founded a fort at the Muslim 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, but 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 Spilberg landed, the king at Kandy appealed to him for help. But it was not until 1638 that the Dutch attacked in earnest, and not until 1656 that Colombo fell. By 1660 the Dutch controlled the whole island except the kingdom of Kandy. The Dutch persecuted the Catholics but left the Buddhists, Hindus and Moslems alone. But they taxed the people far more heavily than the Portuguese had done. A mixed Dutch-Sinhalese people known as Burgher peoples are a legacy of Dutch rule.

British Rule

The Kandyan peasantry were stripped of their lands by the Wastelands Ordinance, a modern enclosure movement and reduced to penury. The British found that the uplands of Sri Lanka were very suited to coffee, tea and rubber cultivation, and by the mid 19th century Ceylon tea had become a staple of the British market, bringing great wealth to a small class of white tea planters. To work the estates, the planters imported large numbers of Tamil workers as indentured labourers from south India, who soon made up 10% of the island's population. These workers had to work in slave-like conditions and to live in line rooms, not very different from cattle sheds.

The British colonialists, following their usual practice, played off one ethnic group against the others. They favoured the semi-European Burghers and also certain high-caste Sri Lankans, fostering divisions and enmities which have survived ever since. The Burghers were given some 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.

The struggle for independence

Main article: Sri Lanka Independence Struggle

In 1919 the Ceylon National Congress(CNC) was founded to agitate for greater autonomy. The party soon split along ethnic and caste lines, however. It did not seek independence: in the 1930s ministers of the Congress petitioned the colonial government to increase their powers, instead of demanding independence - they were forced to withdraw their 'Ministers' Memorandum' after a vigorous campaign by the Youth Leagues.

The Marxist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), which grew out of the Youth Leagues in 1935, was the first party to demand independence. Its deputies in the State Council, N.M. Perera and Philip Gunawardena, were aided in this struggle by other less radical members like Natesa Iyer and Don Alwin Rajapaksa. They also demanded the replacement of English as the official language by Sinhala and Tamil.

Second World War

During World War II, Sri Lanka was a front-line British base against the Japanese. There was considerable opposition to the war in Sri Lanka, and the LSSP leaders of the pro-independence agitation were arrested by the Colonial authorities. On 5 April 1942, The Japanese Navy bombed Colombo and LSSP leaders were able to escape. Several of them fled to India, where they participated in the struggle there, but a sizeable contingent remained, led by Robert Gunawardena, Philip's brother.

The Sri Lankan garrison on the Cocos Islands mutinied, partly because of the

Post War

The Sinhalese leader Don Stephen Senanayake left the CNC on the issue of independence, disagreeing with the revised aim of 'the achieving of freedom'. He subsequently formed the United National Party (UNP) in 1946, when a new constitution was agreed on. At the elections of 1947, the UNP won a minority of the seats in Parliament, but cobbled together a coalition with the Sinhala Maha Sabha of Solomon Bandaranaike and the Tamil Congress of G.G. Ponnambalam.

Independence

Dominion status followed in February 1948, with military treaties with Britain (the upper ranks of the armed forces were British) and British air and sea bases remaining intact. Senanayake became the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. In 1949, with the concurrence of the leaders of the Ceylon Tamils, he disenfranchised the Indian Tamil plantation workers. He died in 1952 and was succeeded first by his son Dudley Senanayake and in 1953 - following a massive general strike or 'Hartal' by the Left parties against the UNP government which led to Dudley Senanayake's resignation - by a relative, John Kotelawala. This led to the party being nicknamed the 'Uncle Nephew Party'. .

In 1956 the UNP was defeated at elections (being reduced to 8 seats in Parliament) by the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, which included the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by Solomon Bandaranaike and the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party of Philip Gunawardena. 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, giving those working the land greater rights vis-a-vis absentee landlords.

The SLFP was ostensibly a socialist party, but some feel that its real agenda was Sinhalese nationalism, imposing Sinhala as the sole national language (by the Sinhala Only Act) and favouring Buddhism over other religions. Bandaraike entered into a pact with Chelvanayagam of the Tamil-based Federal Party to secure more rights for the Tamils, but this was torpedoed when JR Jayawardene of the UNP organised a "March on Kandy" in protest. This triggered hostility from the Tamil minority which soon led to disturbances, culminating in serious riots in 1958.

Philip Gunawardena was removed from the government as the right-wing of the governing coalition grew into the ascendent. Bandaranaike was assassinated in September 1959. His successor Wijayananda Dahanayake was unable to hold the government together, and elections in March 1960 brought the UNP under Dudley Senanayake back to office, but without a working parliamentary majority.

Fresh elections in July saw Bandaranaike's widow, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, lead the SLFP to power and become the world's first elected female head of government. Her government avoided further confrontations with the Tamils, but its socialist policies of nationalization led to a cut-off of United States aid and a growing economic crisis. After an attempted coup-d'etat by right-wing Army and Police officers, aimed at bringing the UNP back to power, Bandaraneike nationalised the oil companies. This led to a boycott of the country by the oil cartels, which was broken with aid from the Kansas oil producers co-operative. In 1964 she formed a coalition government with the LSSP, a Trotskyist party with Dr N.M. Perera as Minister of Finance.

Dissatisfaction with the economic situation brought the UNP under Senanayake back to office in 1965, but this government fared no better, since the underlying cause of Sri Lanka's problems was the declining market for its traditional commodity exports, tea, coffee and rubber. In 1968 Bandaranaike formed a coalition, the United Front with the LSSP and the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, which swept the 1970 polls on a platform of socialism.

Independent Republic

Under Bandaranaike the country became a republic, the Free Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka , the Senate was abolished and the position of Sinhala as the official language (with Tamil as a second language) was confirmed. Full independence was established as the last remaining ties of subjection to the UK were broken (e.g. the Privy Council was no longer a body of appeal above the Supreme Court). The British-owned plantations were nationalised in order to prevent the ongoing dis-investment by the owning companies.

An attempt was made at economic independence, with a five-year plan to achieve industrial development. However, this was stymied due to a shortage of foreign exchange, which was exacerbated by the oil crisis of 1974, combined with an unprecedented drought which severely affected the harvest of rice, the staple food of the country's people. Strides forward were made in the fields of heavy industry, automotive spares and electronics.

In 1971 a group variously labelled Maoist or Guevarist, the People's Liberation Front (JVP) launched a rebellion, ostensibly revolutionary but considered by some to be motivated largely by anti-Tamil nationalism. Although the JVP rebellion was suppressed, the JVP established a permanent place in Sri Lankan politics as a voice of extreme Sinhalese chauvinism, along with the movement within the UNP associated with Cyril Mathew.

Tamil nationalists responded in kind, forming separatist groups such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ('Tamil Tigers'), demanding an independent Tamil state called Eelam, and the country began to slide towards civil war.

Second Republic

By 1977 the voters had tired of Bandaranaike's socialist policies and elections returned the UNP to power under Junius Jayewardene on a manifesto pledging a free ration of 8 seers (kilograms) of cereals. The SLFP and the left-wing parties were virtually wiped out in Parliament (although they garnered 40% of the popular vote), leaving the Tamil United Liberation Front, led by Appapillai Amirthalingam, as the official opposition. This created a dangerous ethnic cleavage in Sri Lankan politics. The new government unleashed a pogrom against Tamil residents in Colombo, which gave rise to an exodus of Tamils, the beginning of the Tamil Diaspora. The unrest in the North began to give way to a low-key insurgency.

Bandaranaike had her civic rights removed by an act of Parliament. In 1978 Jayewardene introduced a new constitution making Sri Lanka a presidential 'Democratic Socialist' republic, with himself as executive President . In 1980 he crushed a general strike by the trade-union movement, jailing its leaders. When the UNP member for the parliamentary constituency of Kalawana was removed on an election petition by his Communist opponent, Jayawardene allowed him to continue sitting in the house.

The economy was opened up and import restrictions were removed. The automotive spares and electronics industries collapsed, with the loss of a hundred thousand jobs. The 'brain drain' of educated professionals was joined by an exodus of skilled workers to the Middle East. Sri Lanka now depended on massive foreign loans in order to bridge the balance of payments deficit. In spite of the worsening human rights situation in the country and open disregard for the law, US aid ballooned.

Elections to District Councils in 1981 were marred by the open theft of ballot boxes in Jaffna. The Jaffna Library, the repository of thousands of valuable documents was burned down by government thugs.

President Jayawardene had the constitution amended (one of 13 amendments during his 10 years in office) to allow presidential elections to be held early, in 1982. The main opposition candidate, Hector Kobbekaduwa was garlanded with onions by the farmers of the Jaffna peninsular, impoverished by the policy of unrestricted imports.

The Presidential election, held amidst widespread acts of electoral malpractice (Hector Kobbekaduwa arrived at the polling station only to find his vote had already been cast) resulted in Jayawardene's re-election. He followed this with an infamous plebiscite on postponing parliamentary elections for six years. Associates of Kobbekaduwa, such as TB Ilangaratne and Vijaya Kumaratunga, were jailed as 'Naxalites', a political creed unheard of in Sri Lanka, before or since. The Commissioner of Elections, in his report on the referendum, reported that it was flawed.

In 1983 following a demonstration against the US military occupation of Diego Garcia, former MP Vivienne Goonewardena was physically assaulted at a police station. Her fundamental rights application in this matter was upheld by the Supreme Court in a act of judicial independence. Following this, thugs stoned the houses of the Supreme Court judges who had made the ruling and the police officer who had been convicted had his fine paid by the government and received a promotion.

Civil war

Under Jayewardene's government the ethnic situation deteriorated, and in 1983 civil war (Eelam War I) broke out, with the Tamil areas coming under the control of separatist militias. In July ('Black July') the UNP Government launched another pogrom against Tamil civilians and Colombo became a lawless battlefield for a week. Hundreds of educated Tamil youth from Colombo joined the separatist cause in response. The Tigers and similar groups outflanked the moderate Tamil nationalist parties and found a constituency among the many educated but unemployed young Tamils. They gained some unofficial support from the large Tamil population in southern India. The Tamil groups also carried out terrorist attacks on targets in the Sinhalese areas, hardening attitudes towards the Tamil question.

Jayewardene held office until 1989, ruling as a virtual dictator under emergency powers. In 1987, following an army offensive in the Vadamarachchi peninsular, India started getting deeply involved in the ethnic conflict. A convoy sent by India was stopped in Sri Lankan waters by the Sri Lankan Navy and the Indian Air Force retaliated with an air drop of supplies onto the Jaffna peninsular. While the UNP organised street protests against India, Jayawardene declared that he would defend the country's independence to the last bullet.

However, the air drop also caused Jayawardene to reconsider his position and he then accepted the offer of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of a Peace Accord. Gandhi's offer to send troops into Sri Lanka was deeply unpopular with the Sinhalese and, although initially popular with the Tamils, led to an outbreak of hostilities between the LTTE and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) - Eelam War II.

In 1989 Jayewardene was succeeded by his own choice as President, Ranasinghe Premadasa, who asked for the Indian troops to be withdrawn - which was later done by Indian Prime Minister V.P. Singh. Premadasa was assassinated by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber in 1993. Gandhi had already met a similar fate in 1991.

Premadasa was succeeded by Dingiri Wijetunge, with Ranil Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister. In August 1994 the People's Alliance under Bandaranaike's daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga won legislative elections on a platform of concessions to the Tamils and a 'balanced economy'. Kumaratunga became Prime Minister and in November she was elected President, appointing her 78-year-old (but still active) mother Prime Minister. A ceasefire ensued, which broke down after several months - the beginning of Eelam War III. Under the Bandaranaikes the civil war dragged on, with the military unable to defeat the separatists and the government opposed to negotiations. By 2000 an estimated 65,000 people had been killed in the conflict.

Ceasefire

At Presidential elections in 1999, former Prime Minister Wickremesinghe of the UNP contested on a platform of no concessions to the Tamils, but was defeated by Kumaratunga. A 180-degree turn in UNP policy occurred and in December 2001 the UNP returned to office on a policy of a negotiated settlement with the Tigers, with Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister. A cease fire began, the first long cessation of hostilities since the beginning of the conflict. But the 1978 constitution left the Prime Minister with little power against a hostile President, and Kumaratunga did all she could to frustrate Wickremesinghe's government. In March 2004 she dismissed Wickremesinghe and called fresh elections, which returned the SLFP to office under Mahinda Rajapakse.

By 2005 there had been no further progress towards either a military or political solution. The assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August 2005, allegedly by the Tigers (although they denied responsibility), further hardened attitudes. His successor was Anura Bandaranaike, the President's brother and putative political heir. Twenty years of civil conflict had done immense damage to Sri Lankan society and the economy, which has fallen behind other Asian economies, although it remains the second most prosperous nation in South Asia (after Maldives).

In elections held on 17 November 2005, Mahinda Rajapakse, the son of Don Alwin Rajapaksa, was elected President, defeating Wickremasinghe. He appointed Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Prime Minister and Mangala Samaraweera Foreign Minister. He offered to hold talks with the LTTE, which responded with low-key urban guerrilla war.

References

Arsecularatne, SN, Sinhalese immigrants in Malaysia & Singapore, 1860-1990: History through recollections, Colombo, KVG de Silva & Sons, 1991

Brohier, RL, The Golden Age of Military Adventure in Ceylon: an account of theUva Rebellion 1817-1818. Colombo: 1933

Crusz, Noel, The Cocos Islands Mutiny, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Fremantle, WA, 2001

Deraniyagala, Siran, The Prehistory of Sri Lanka; an ecological perspective (revised ed.), Colombo: Archaeological Survey Department of Sri Lanka, 1992

História do Sri Lanka