Sri Lanka in the Ancient World

Related civilizations: India, Hellenistic and Roman Greece, Imperial Rome.

Date: 8000 b.c.e.-700 c.e.

Locale: Island on the Indian Ocean, to the south of the subcontinent of India

Sri Lanka in the Ancient World

Called Ceylon until 1972, pear-shaped Sri Lanka (sree-LAHN-kuh) has an area of 25,332 square miles (or 65,610 square kilometers). A shallow sea, Palk Strait, separates it from India and has permitted periodic contact. The island has a continuous record of settled and civilized life for more than two millennia, and for much of this time frame, Sri Lanka’s historical profile bears many parallels to India. Overall, the culture and civilization of Sri Lanka are of the Indic pattern.

Prehistory

A datable sequence of strata for the early Stone Age in Sri Lanka has yet to be achieved. Thus far, the earliest stone implements of chert and quartz bear techniques similar to those found in India. Middle and Upper Paleolithic stages are not distinct or easy to correlate. Not only Indian paleolithic tools but also European ones are found on the island. The Mesolithic or Late Stone Age is marked by backed microlithic tools recovered in great abundance and bearing similarities not only to the Indian counterparts but also to those found in Java, Sulawesi, and Australia. This wide distribution suggests heightened activity or population increase. The microlithic industry probably began around 4000 b.c.e., if not earlier. The microliths were frequently found associated with bone implements (gouges, awls, fishhooks, and bipoints) and with specialized stone tools such as hammers, crushers, and pounders.

The transformation from food gathering to producing probably took place more than five thousand years ago. In comparison with the microliths, the Neolithic indicators are relatively sparse. Microliths continue to be found during this period, tending to be found with pebbles 4-5 inches (10-12 centimeters) long with abrasions and shallow drilled holes as well as larger, irregularly formed stone pieces marked with oval cavities and cup-shaped depressions on the sides. Probably these were used as anvils for drilling holes in beads. Pottery from simple dishes and pots also made its appearance; however, no metal was found in association. Burial finds at Bellan Bandi Palassa give clues as to burial practices and the phenotype of the island’s early settlers. Personal adornment is evident in bone pendants, perforated shells, and hints of colored pigments. This Neolithic assemblage was named the Balangoda culture by an archaeologist. Between the Neolithic period and the onset of the Iron Age, estimated to have occurred at 600 b.c.e., is a temporal span that needs to be clarified and filled in.

Contemporaneous with the megalithic period, the Iron Age covers protohistorical Sri Lanka. As in Deccan and south India, this culture is characterized by burial sites. However, Sri Lankan burials did not achieve the elaborateness of the cist (stone-lined burial chamber) in Mysore or the sarcophagi of Madras. Perhaps Buddhism’s entry into the island came too soon. The best-known burial site of this period is the Pomparippu cemetery. Its site yielded terra-cotta urns and pots of the black-and-red type. Some pots bear basket marking and incised lines; others had primitive Brahmi inscriptions (numerals). Also found at the site were evidence of cremation and inhumation, animal bones, bronze objects, and carnelian beads. Outline paintings, in monochrome and polychrome, and rock engravings are also associated with this period, although their precise status, prehistoric or protohistoric is unresolved. Whether these art forms were produced by the aboriginal Veddas or not is moot.

Early settlers

Scholars have reconstructed the peopling of Sri Lanka as a series of migrations and subsequent admixtures of groups, a process that is reflected even in early islanders’ origin myths. Various regions of India have been posited as the source of migrations; however, it is likely that the island’s first human settlers were the Veddas, tribes of proto-Australoids resembling the pre-Dravidian hill tribes of India. The Veddas are characterized by slender build, small stature, dark complexion, and profuse wavy hair. Remnants of these migrants were eventually absorbed by the Indo-Aryans who emigrated from India around 500 b.c.e. and settled in various parts of the island. The most powerful of the clans and tribes were the Sinhalas, whose descendants were later called Sinhalese. Tamils probably came from Dravidian India in a long series of migrations stretching from the second to the thirteenth centuries c.e.

The first historic colonists of Sri Lanka were Prince Vijaya and his seven hundred Sinhalese followers, who landed on the west coast of Puttalam in the sixth century b.c.e. Banished from India by his father, King Sinhabāhu, for misbehavior, Vijaya and company were put on a ship and driven away. The group landed on the island (Sri Lanka) described as inhabited by yakṣas (demons). The demons were defeated and pursued into the interior. Vijaya subsequently married a yakṣa princess (other interpretations claim a Tamil princess), who bore him two children. Later Vijaya sent her and the children to the Madurai court in India for a Paṇḍu princess for him and for wives to his followers. He reigned as the first sovereign of Lanka, variously known in the chronicles as Sihaladipa (island of Sihalas) or Simhaladipa (island of the Lion), and formed a dynasty. He was succeeded by his brother’s youngest son, Pāṇḍuvāsudeva, who came with a thirty-two-person entourage. The capital, Tambapanni (sheet of copper), called Taprobane by Greeks and Roman authors, was transferred by the third ruler to Anuradhapura, where archaeology has revealed a long occupation. For more than a thousand years, it was to become the royal capital.

Conversion to Buddhism

According to the chronicles, the sixth king, Dēvānaṃpiya Tissa (fl. c. 247-207 b.c.e.), was in power when Buddhism came to the island. The proselytizing zeal of King Aśoka of India and the missionary undertaking of one of his sons, Mahinda, brought Buddhism into the island. The Indian monk Mahinda was said to have memorized all the Buddhist teachings and tenets, which were written down in Pāli and thus preserved in full by local devotees. Reportedly, Mahinda converted Dēvānaṃpiya Tissa in the year of the latter’s coronation. In honor of his new faith, the Lanka king built a monastery in Anuradhapura called the Mahāvihāra and the first stupa, the Thuparama Dāgaba. Mahinda’s sister, Saṅ-ghamittā, a nun, followed him to the island and set up the first communities for women. She brought with her a slip from the Bodhi tree and planted it in the capital. After the death of Dēvānaṃpiya Tissa, dynastic rivalries ensued.

At the end of the third century c.e., the throne was conquered by a Tamil (Hindu) king, Elara (204-161 b.c.e.), who was celebrated in the texts as a just leader. Soon Dutthagāmanī (r. 161-137 b.c.e.) recovered the throne for the Vijaya line through a single battle. Dutthagāmanī was the ruler of the princedom of Rohana in the southeast of the island. Dutthagāmanī has been hailed a hero and a symbol of Sinhalese nationalism. The cycle of peaceful dynastic rule and occasional struggle with an external peril became a common pattern for much of Sinhalese history. The Vijaya Dynasty ruled with occasional interruptions until 65 c.e.

At the beginning of the first century b.c.e., workers laid the foundation of the Abhayagiri monastery, the centerpiece of Vattagamani’s reign (r. 89-77 b.c.e.). However, the founding of the monastery also marked the beginning of a religious schism that would last until 1200 c.e. Three other kings ruled before the end of the first Anuradhapura period: Mahāsena (r. 276-303 c.e.), Sirimeghavana (r. 303-331 c.e.), and Mahānama (d. 432 c.e.). Mahāsena built major irrigation systems and championed Buddhist sect heterodoxy. The dynasty ruled for four hundred years but was ended by a Pāṇḍyan invasion from south India.

Dhātusena (r. 459-477 c.e.) recovered the throne from the Pāṇḍyas and subsequently passed it on to his son, Kāśyapa I (r. 477-495 c.e.). Kāśyapa moved the capital from Anuradhapura to Sirigiya. However, on his dethronement, the capital was returned to Anuradhapura. The Anuradhapura period ended when Sri Lanka was annexed to the kingdom of the Cōḷas (993-1070 c.e.), and the capital was totally abandoned. More reigns and rulers followed as additional dynasties were formed and revived. All the kings were practicing Buddhists and patrons of Buddhist institutions. They built, maintained, and endowed monasteries and shrines, intervened to establish order, and prevented schisms in the Buddhist faith.

Bibliography

Arasaratnam, S. Ceylon. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1964.

Boisselier, Jean. Ceylon-Sri Lanka. Geneva, Switzerland: Nagel, 1979.

Hammond, Norman, ed. South Asian Archaeology. Ridge Park, N.J.: Noyes Press, 1973.

Samarasinghe, S. W. R. Historical Dictionary of Sri Lanka. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1998.