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- The provinces were first established by the British rulers of Ceylon in 1833. Over the next century, most of the administrative functions of the provinces were transferred to the districts, the second level administrative division of the country. By the middle of the 20th century, the provinces had become mostly ceremonial.
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Background. The provinces were first established by the British rulers of Ceylon in 1833. Over the next century most of the administrative functions were transferred to the districts, the second level administrative division. By the middle of the 20th century the provinces had become merely ceremonial .
- Overview
- Sri Lanka’s prehistoric record
- Early settlement and the spread of Buddhism
- Legendary origins
- Indo-Aryan settlement in Sri Lanka
- Conversion to Buddhism
- Early growth and political centralization, c. 200 bce–1255 ce
- The Anuradhapura period
- The Polonnaruwa period
- Government and society
history of Sri Lanka, a survey of the notable events and people in the history of Sri Lanka from ancient times to the present day. The country, formerly known as Ceylon, is an island lying in the Indian Ocean and separated from peninsular India by the Palk Strait. Proximity to the Indian subcontinent has facilitated close cultural interaction between Sri Lanka and India from ancient times. At a crossroads of maritime routes traversing the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka has also been exposed to cultural influences from other Asian civilizations.
Sri Lanka has had a continuous record of human settlement for more than two millennia, and its civilization has been shaped largely by that of the Indian subcontinent. The island’s two major ethnic groups, the Sinhalese and the Tamils, and its two dominant religions, Buddhism and Hinduism, made their way to the island from India, and Indian influence pervaded such diverse fields as art, architecture, literature, music, medicine, and astronomy.
Despite its obvious affinities with India, Sri Lanka nevertheless developed a unique identity over the ages that ultimately set it apart from its neighbour. Cultural traits brought from India necessarily underwent independent growth and change in Sri Lanka, owing in part to the island’s physical separation from the subcontinent. Buddhism, for instance, virtually disappeared from India, but it continued to flourish in Sri Lanka, particularly among the Sinhalese. Moreover, the Sinhalese language, which grew out of Indo-Aryan dialects from the mainland, eventually became indigenous solely to Sri Lanka and developed its own literary tradition.
Also important to Sri Lanka’s cultural development has been its position as the nexus of important maritime trade routes between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Long before the European discovery of an oceanic route to India in the 15th century, Sri Lanka was known to Greek, Roman, Persian, Armenian, Arab, Malay, and Chinese sailors. With the coming of the Europeans, however, the strategic importance of Sri Lanka increased, and Western maritime powers fought to control its shores. Both Sri Lanka and India came under European influence and colonial rule. This common experience worked to tighten the long-standing links between the two countries, and, with the attainment of independence in the mid-20th century, Sri Lankan and Indian social institutions and ideologies began to resonate more closely with each other.
Geologically, Sri Lanka is an extension of peninsular India that separated from the mainland perhaps as recently as the Miocene Epoch (roughly 25 to 5 million years ago). Archaeological excavations undertaken since the late 20th century have indicated that the island already supported human inhabitants some 75,000 to 125,000 years ago. The earliest...
Sri Lanka’s earliest human inhabitants of whom there is direct fossil evidence were hunter-gatherers in the area of Balangoda in the south. Urban settlements first appeared in the 10th century bce near Anuradhapura in north-central Sri Lanka. The ancestors of the Sinhalese, who were speakers of Indo-Aryan languages, migrated from northern India about the 5th century bce. The Tamils were probably later immigrants from areas of central, eastern, and southern India where Dravidian languages were spoken; their early migrations spanned a period from about the 3rd century bce to about 1200 ce.
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Sri Lanka possesses a historical tradition preserved in written form by Buddhist chroniclers. The earliest of the extant chronicles is the Dipavamsa (“Island’s Chronicle”), compiled probably by Buddhist nuns in the 4th century ce. The Dipavamsa was followed by the Mahavamsa (“Great Chronicle”) and its continuation, called the Culavamsa (“Little Chronicle”). Together, these chronicles constitute a literary record of the establishment and growth of Sinhalese political power and of Sri Lankan Buddhism; however, the documents must be used with caution and always in conjunction with archaeological—especially epigraphic—material.
According to the Sinhalese tradition, as recorded in the Mahavamsa, the first Indian settlers on Sri Lanka were Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers, who landed on the west coast near Puttalam (5th century bce). They had been banished for misconduct from the kingdom of Sinhapura in northern India by Vijaya’s father, King Sinhabahu, who put them all ...
The account of Sri Lanka’s settlement as presented in the Mahavamsa contains an element of historical fact—the settlers were Indo-Aryan peoples from northern India. However, controversy exists as to the exact provenance of the early settlers; the legends contain evidence pointing to both the northeastern and the northwestern parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Vijaya’s ancestors hailed from Bengal, in the northeast, but his father established himself subsequently in Gujarat, the area in northwest India from which the adventurers were put out to sea. Before arriving in Sri Lanka, their ship called at Supara, on the west coast of India. Their landing in Sri Lanka, at Tambapanni, near Puttalam, would indicate their arrival from western India. Some early tribal names occurring in Sri Lanka also suggest connections with northwestern India and the Indus River region.
While considerable evidence points to western India as the home of the first immigrants, it seems probable that a subsequent wave arrived from the vicinity of Bengal and Odisha in the northeast. One band of settlers landed in Sri Lanka at the east-coast port of Gokanna, a natural port of disembarkation for vessels arriving from the Bay of Bengal. The traditional accounts of the arrival of Panduvasudeva may portray a second wave of migration following the first mentioned in the Vijaya legend. Linguistic affinities between the early Sinhalese- and Prakrit-speaking peoples of eastern India strengthen the hypothesis of a migration from this area.
The tradition speaks primarily of settlement by conquest, and tribes of conquerors led by a warrior nobility would certainly have propelled the Indo-Aryan migration southward. Also important, however, was the pursuit of trade (as opposed to military conquest). Indo-Aryan merchants probably reached Sri Lanka while sailing down the Indian coast, and some of these merchants, motivated by a lucrative trade in Sri Lanka’s natural products, may have founded settlements.
The view that Indo-Aryan migrants laid the foundations of Sinhalese civilization increasingly has come into question since the late 20th century. Archaeological evidence has indicated that settled agriculture, tank irrigation, use of iron, and pottery were features present before the Indo-Aryan migrations. During the early phases of these migrations, a synthesis seems to have taken place between Indo-Aryan, pre-Indo-Aryan, and possibly Dravidian elements to create the early Sinhalese culture of the Anuradhapura period, which spanned the 3rd century bce to the 10th century ce. The chronicled account of Vijaya’s confrontation with the yakshas and the search for consorts in the Pandu kingdom of Madurai (if this may be presumed to be the Pandya Tamil kingdom of southern India) point to such integration.
In any case, Indo-Aryan settlements grew in different parts of the island from about the 5th century bce. The settlers came in numerous clans or tribes; the most powerful were the Sinhalese, who eventually gave their name to the descendants of the various groups. The earliest settlers were those on the west-central coast, who pushed inland along the Malwatu River and founded a number of riverbank villages. Their seat of government was Upatissagama.
Tradition attributes the founding of the kingdom of Anuradhapura to Pandukkabhaya, the third king of the Vijaya dynasty. With its growth as the strongest Sinhalese kingdom, the city of Anuradhapura and the nearby settlements flourished. Kings built up the city and developed it for urban life as they extended royal control over villages and outlying settlements. With the establishment of strong government, the population grew and the kingdom expanded into the north-central region.
According to Sinhalese tradition, Buddhism was first brought to Sri Lanka by a mission sent out from eastern India during the reign of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (c. 273–232 bce). The leader of the mission to Sri Lanka, Mahendra (Mahinda), is described as Ashoka’s son. Mahendra and his colleagues traveled to the Mihintale hill (the site of some of the earliest inscriptions), 8 miles (13 km) from Anuradhapura. There they chanced to meet the Sinhalese king Tissa, to whom they delivered a sermon on Buddhism. The king was brought into the Buddhist fold, and he invited Mahendra and his followers to the city. The missionaries were settled in a royal pavilion in the city park of Mahamegha, where they preached first to members of the royal family and then to the common people. Many embraced the new religion, some taking holy orders and joining the Buddhist sangha (community of monks). The king donated the Mahamegha park to the sangha. Meanwhile, the monastery of Mahavihara was established, and it became the prime centre of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Mahendra sent for his sister Sanghamitta, who arrived with a branch of the Bo tree (at Bodh Gaya), under which the Buddha had attained enlightenment. The sapling was ceremonially planted in the city. Sanghamitta founded an order of nuns, and a stupa (shrine), the Thuparamacetiya, was built by the king for popular worship. Thus, with the founding of these and other institutions, Buddhism became an established religion in Sri Lanka.
Through the conversion of King Tissa and the missionary activity of monks in the villages, by the 2nd century bce the Sinhalese had accepted Buddhism, and this faith helped produce a unity and consciousness on which subsequent political and economic strength was founded. However, it should be recognized that while the monastic chronicles accord the pride of place to Buddhism, other religions also were practiced on the island. Jainism, for instance, probably represented another major religious tradition, and a Jain monastery is mentioned in the Mahavamsa. The chronicle also indicates the presence of Brahmans—Hindus of the highest social rank—in Sri Lanka.
Expansion of Buddhism preceded political unification; many of the areas embraced by the new religion were still ruled by a multitude of chiefs. The ruler of Anuradhapura, Duttagamani Abhaya (reigned 161–137 bce), was preeminent among these chiefs, and, as Buddhism spread, the Anuradhapura kingdom extended its political control over the rest of Sri ...
The Vijaya dynasty of kings continued, with brief interruptions, until 65 ce, when Vasabha, a member of the Lambakanna royal family, founded the Lambakanna dynasty. The Lambakannas ruled for about four centuries. Their most noteworthy king was Mahasena (reigned 276–303), who constructed many major irrigation systems and championed heterodox Buddhist sects.
A Pandyan invasion from southern India put an end to this dynasty and, briefly, to Sinhalese rule in 432. Dhatusena (reigned 459–477) defeated the Pandyas and reestablished Sinhalese rule with the line of Moriya kings. His son Kashyapa I (reigned 477–495) moved the capital from Anuradhapura to the rock fortress of Sigiriya. After Kashyapa’s dethronement the capital was returned to Anuradhapura.
From the 7th century there was an increase in the involvement of south Indian powers in the island’s politics and in the presence of Tamil mercenaries in and around the capital. Manavamma, a Sinhalese royal fugitive, was placed on the throne in 684 with the support of the Pallava rulers of south India.
Manavamma founded the second Lambakanna dynasty, which reigned in Anuradhapura for about 400 years. The dynasty produced a number of distinguished kings, who consolidated and extended Sinhalese political power. During this period, Sinhalese involvement with southern India was even closer. Sinhalese kings were drawn into the dynastic battles between the Pandyas, Pallavas, and Colas. Invasions from south India to Sri Lanka and retaliatory raids were a recurrent phenomenon. In the 10th century the island’s political and military power weakened because of regional particularism and internecine warfare; the Colas—hostile because of the Sinhalese alliance with Pandya—attacked and occupied the Sinhalese kingdom in 993 and annexed Rajarata (in the north-central region of Sri Lanka) as a province of the Cola empire. The conquest was completed in 1017, when the Colas seized the southern province of Ruhuna.
The Colas occupied Sri Lanka until 1070, when Vijayabahu liberated the island and reestablished Sinhalese power. He shifted the capital eastward to Polonnaruwa, a city that was easier to defend against south Indian attacks and that controlled the route to Ruhuna. The capital remained there for some 150 years. The most colourful king of the Polonnar...
Kingship was the unifying political institution in the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods, a symbol of the aims and achievements of the Sinhalese people. The kingship was essentially Brahmanic (hereditary within the priestly social class), with strong Buddhist influences; all the kings were practicing Buddhists and patrons of Buddhist institutions. The support and blessing of the clergy, moreover, were perceived as essential to a peaceful and continuous reign. This connection between kingship and Buddhism enabled Buddhism to flourish. Kings built, maintained, and endowed many shrines and monasteries, and they intervened to establish order and prevent schism within the Buddhist community. Nobles and commoners too were lavish in their support, and thus Buddhist institutions prospered. Many beautiful temples were built with finely carved sculpture, and monasteries thrived as centres of learning in the Pali and Sinhalese languages and in Buddhist philosophy.
The king was supported by an inner administrative hierarchy consisting of members of his family and influential nobles. The yuvaraja, the king’s chosen heir to the throne, was given responsible office. The army was the major prop of royal absolutism, and the senapati, or commander in chief, was the king’s closest counselor and confidant.
Sep 21, 2017 · For the purpose of this chapter the term “local government” embraces all types of popularly elected local level governmental authorities dealing with matters concerning the inhabitants living within the areas delineated to them, whose interests cannot be served directly by the central government.
- A. M. Navaratna-Bandara
- naveb@sltnet.lk
- 2017
Currently, Sri Lanka is divided into 9 provinces. Each province is further divided into districts , which are further divided into divisional secretariats . The provinces were first established by the British rulers of Ceylon in 1833.
- 1,061,315–5,851,130
- Sri Lanka
Sep 24, 2013 · Though three successive European powers invaded Sri Lanka during the 16th to the 19th century, the Central Province maintained its independence until the early 19th century when the British finally managed to conqueror Kandy. The first provincial election of the central province was held on the 23rd June 1988 and the United National Party won ...
Jan 25, 2012 · 24/01/2012. Updated: 21/07/2014. By Sri Lanka Brief. ”It is a Parliamentary form of Government that operates in the Provinces. In relation to matters set out in the Provincial and Concurrent Lists, the Governor must act on the advice of the Board of Ministers and the Chief Minister.
History. Sri Lanka has a long history of local government. According to the Mahavamsa the earliest Sinhalese settlements, dating to the 4th century BC, were village based. These villages were used by the Sinhalese kings as a unit of administration. Each village was independently administered.
