Sri Lanka

The Finest Island in the World-That's the way Marco Polo, the famous explorer, described Sri Lanka on his travel accounts.Sri Lanka is loaded with romantic landscapes, governed by rising mountains, lavish woods, ocean like tanks and spouting waterfalls, that it was viewed as the lost heaven by numerous a globe trotters, who fell upon the country.

Sri Lanka was known by a variety of names. As indicated by the Mahavamsa, the Prince Vijaya named the area Tambapanni ,In Hindu mythology, such as the Mahabharata the island was referred to as Lanka.Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobana,The Persians and Arabs referred to it as Sarandib,As a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon.

Ancient Kingdoms of Sri Lanka.


Sri Lanka history is incident full. Sri Lanka has captivating documented records over 2500 years of civilization. The most valuable source the legends and ancient history of Sri Lanka is the Mahavansa.

Sri Lankan kingdoms known by the city at which its administrative center was positioned, those are in chronological order the Kingdom of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa, Kurunegala, Gampola,  Kotte and Kandy. Sri Lankan kingdoms ceased to exist through 1815.


Kingdom of Anuradhapura (437 - 1017)

According to the Mahawanasa, Anuradhapura was called by that name after the minister Anuradha, who came along with Prince Vijaya.In the 4th century BC, king Pandukabhaya made Anuradhapura the capital of his Kingdom.This Kingdom is the major component in the Sri Lankan history. Due to the fact this Kingdom plays the main role in the sri lankans historical records. Like arrival of the buddhism to sri lanka.Anuradhapura city have become the capital of Anuradhapura Kingdom within the 4th century BC. It remained as the capital metropolis for 15 centuries and became a distinguished political and exchange center in south asia in the course of this period.


Kingdom of Polonnaruwa (1017 - 1215)


Polonnaruwa,which became the capital of Sri Lanka following the decline of Anuradhapura due to invasion of chola.King Vijayabahu defeated the Cholas and united the country again. He was the first king of Polonnaruwa kingdom. During the period of King Veera Parakramabahu(1153-1186 A.D), Sri Lanka became known as the Granary of the Orient. During his period he constructed massive irrigation systems. His greatest construction is Parakrama Samudraya tank.His famous utterance is "not even a drop of water that comes from the rain must flow into the ocean without being made useful to human".



Kingdom of Dambadeniya(1215 - 1272)


Due Indian invasions royal capital brought to the north-west of the island.King Vijayabahu III is the first king of Dambadeniya kingdom.Then his son Parakramabahu II became the king of Dambadeniya and he recovered Polonnaruwa from Kalinga Maga by 1244 AD.He was a great poet. Kav Silumina is one of his creations. His eldest son VijayaBahu sent to rebuild the Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura areas.
  


Kingdom of Yapahuwa(1272 - 1300)

King Buwanekabahu was the first king of Yapahuwa kingdom.Due to security issues (His brother Vijayabahu was dethroned and Chandrabanus threat) he chooses yapahuwa as the capital.He built Yapahuwa fortress.After king Buwanekabahu I, the Yapahuwa fortress was destroyed by Pandya kings.



Kingdom of Kurunegala(1293 - 1341)


King Buvanekabahu II was the first king of Kurunegala kingdom.Kurunegala was a safe area for a kingdom because of the Ethugala rock.The belief is that the ruins in Panduwasnuwara are of Kurunegala era.King Buwanekabahu's son king Parakramabahu IV invaded Jaffna  and captured its capital against pandya king.



Kingdom of Gampola(1341 - 1415)


King Buwanekabahu IV was the first king of Gampola kingdom.The inauguration of the period was marked by the building of Lankatilaka and Gadaladeniya viharas and ,Ambekka Dewalaya. The last king of Gampola was King Buwanekabahu v.



Kingdom of Kotte (1415 - 1514)


King Parakramabahu VI was the first king of Kotte kingdom.He was the last Sinhalese King managed to reestablish rule over the island.During the times of King Parakramabahu IX (1505) Dutch came to Sri Lanka and he grant permission to Dutch to build a small fortress in Colombo.


Kingdom of Kandy (1514 - 1815) 


King Wickramabahu III was the first king of Kandy kingdom. The Dutch captured, Colombo, Galle & Negombo forts. The first British came to Sri Lanka during 1795-1796. They drove the Dutch out of the country.Finally British captured the hill country in 1815. The last king of Sri Lanka, King Sri Wickrama Rajasinhe were captured in 1816.


 

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