Sri Lanka, an island country in Southeast
Asia, has been inhabited since as early as the 6th century BC.
Buddhism was introduced by the 3rd century BC, and a great
civilization developed and flourished.
The island was conquered by a succession of invaders beginning in
the 14th century and gained its independence in 1948. Its name was
changed from Ceylon to Sri Lanka in 1972.
Sri Lanka is a predominantly Buddhist country and is home to one of
the holiest sites in Buddhism, the Temple of the Tooth. Believed to
contain a tooth of the Buddha, the shrine is visited by Buddhists
from all over the world and great festivals are held in its honor.
Sri Lankan popular religion blends elements of Buddhism, Hinduism
and ancient concepts of gods and demons into a syncretistic religion
of daily life. Sri Lanka is home to an array of fascinating shrines,
pilgrimage sites, temples and even churches and mosques.
The civilisational history of Srilanka is more than 2500 years old.
In earlier times it was known as Ceylon. Sri Lanka's first settlers
were the nomadic Veddahs. They were conquered by the Sinhalese
around the 5th or 6th century BC. A number of Sinhalese kingdoms,
including Anuradhapura in the north, took root across the island
during the 4th century BC.
Buddhism was introduced by Mahinda, son of the Indian Mauryan
emperor Ashoka, in the 3rd century BC, and it quickly became the
established religion and the focus of a strong nationalism.
Anuradhapura was established as capital of Sri Lanka in ancient
times. Continuous struggle between South Indian kingdoms and
Sinhalese kingdom went on for over 1000 years. In 11 century AD, the
capital was shifted from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa.
The Portuguese arrived in Colombo in 1505 and gained a monopoly on
the invaluable spice trade. By 1597, Potuguese had taken formal
control of the island. But they failed to dislodge the powerful
Sinhalese kingdom in Kandy. With the help of Dutch the Sinhalese
kings were able to expel Portuguese from Sri Lanka in 1658.
The Dutch were more interested in trade and profits than in ruling
the country. They only half-heartedly resisted when the British
arrived in 1796. In 1815 Britain defeated the Sinhalese kingdom of
Kandy and became the first European power to rule the entire island.
Coffee, tea, cinnamon and coconut plantations sprang up and English
was introduced as the national language.
Sri Lanka achieved independence in 1948 and adopted democratic
system of governance. In1972, the country became a republic and
adopted Sri Lanka as its official name-hitherto it was known as Ceylon.
Shortly after independence an ethnic conflict between majority
Sinhalese and minority Tamils started.
The conflict has taken a heavy toll on the island country and has
resulted in the death of thousands of people. Peace talks brokered
by Norway resulted in ceasefire in 2001 and currently the peace
talks are going on between the two sides.
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