134-747: The Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College , also known as the CINEC campus (pronounced / ˈ s ɪ n ɛ k / SIN -eck ) is a Sri Lankan private institute of higher education. It is registered as a private limited liability company under the Companies Act. It is also the largest maritime educational training facility approved by the Directorate of Merchant Shipping in Sri Lanka. Established in 1990, The main CINEC Campus
268-653: A British invasion in 1803 but successfully retaliated. The First Kandyan War ended in a stalemate. By then the entire coastal area was under the British East India Company as a result of the Treaty of Amiens . On 14 February 1815, Kandy was occupied by the British in the Second Kandyan War , ending Sri Lanka's independence. Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, the last native monarch of Sri Lanka,
402-545: A Pāḷi chronicle written in the 5th century CE, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are said to be the Yakshas and Nagas . Sinhalese history traditionally starts in 543 BCE with the arrival of Prince Vijaya , a semi-legendary prince who sailed with 700 followers to Sri Lanka, after being expelled from Vanga kingdom (present-day Bengal ). He established the Kingdom of Tambapanni , near modern-day Mannar . Vijaya (Singha)
536-796: A bhikkhu and the son of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka arrived in Mihintale carrying the message of Buddhism. His mission won over the monarch, who embraced the faith and propagated it throughout the Sinhalese population . Succeeding kingdoms of Sri Lanka would maintain many Buddhist schools and monasteries and support the propagation of Buddhism into other countries in Southeast Asia. Sri Lankan Bhikkhus studied in India's famous ancient Buddhist University of Nalanda , which
670-555: A land mine blast. Their deaths badly affected military morale. The LTTE also scored a major victory when one of its suicide bombers killed Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in May 1993. In November 1993 the LTTE defeated the army in the Battle of Pooneryn . This attack left 532 Sri Lankan soldiers and 135 sailors either dead or missing in action . In the 1994 parliamentary elections
804-430: A severe economic crisis occurred caused by rapidly increasing foreign debt, massive government budget deficits due to tax cuts, falling foreign remittances, a food crisis caused by mandatory organic farming along with a ban on chemical fertilizers, and a multitude of other factors. The Sri Lankan Government officially declared the ongoing crisis to be the worst economic crisis in the country in 73 years. In August 2021,
938-417: A 24,000 strong army. Unlike previous invaders, he looted , ransacked and destroyed everything in the ancient Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa Kingdoms beyond recovery. His priorities in ruling were to extract as much as possible from the land and overturn as many of the traditions of Rajarata as possible. His reign saw the massive migration of native Sinhalese people to the south and west of Sri Lanka, and into
1072-563: A common sight. Throughout the country, government death squads hunted down, kidnapped or killed Sinhalese or Tamil youth suspected of sympathizing with the JVP or the LTTE, respectively. In October 1990 the LTTE expelled all the Muslims residing in Northern province . A total of 72,000 Muslims were forced to leave their homes, taking nothing but the clothes on their backs. The largest battle of
1206-468: A fledgling Tamil militancy in the north during the 1970s. The policy of standardisation by the Sirimavo government to rectify disparities created in university enrolment, which was in essence an affirmative action to assist geographically disadvantaged students to obtain tertiary education, resulted in reducing the proportion of Tamil students at university level and acted as the immediate catalyst for
1340-459: A food emergency was declared. In June 2022, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared the collapse of the Sri Lankan economy in parliament. The crisis resulted in Sri Lanka defaulting on its $ 51 billion sovereign debt for the first time in its history, along with double-digit inflation, a crippling energy crisis that led to approximately 15 hour power cuts, severe fuel shortages leading to
1474-717: A long time, but the Federal Party (as well as its offshoot, the TULF), deeply conservative and dominated by Vellalar casteism, did not attempt to form a national alliance with the leftists in their fight for language rights. Following the sweeping electoral victory of the United National Party (UNP) in July 1977, the TULF became the leading opposition party, with around one-sixth of the total electoral vote winning on
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#17327977150921608-522: A number of concessions to Tamil demands, including devolution of power to the provinces , a merger – subject to later referendum – of the northern and eastern provinces into a single province , and official status for the Tamil language (this was enacted as the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka ). India agreed to establish order in the north and east through
1742-527: A number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all those over which it has authority. The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years and possibly even as far back as 500,000 years. The era spans the Palaeolithic , Mesolithic , and early Iron Ages . Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala (37,000 BP), named after
1876-411: A party platform of secession from Sri Lanka. After the 1977 riots the J.R. Jayewardene government made one concession to the Tamil population; it lifted the policy of standardization for university admission that had driven many Tamil youths into militancy. The concession was regarded by the militants as too little too late, and violent attacks continued. By this time TULF started losing its grip over
2010-426: A result of the depression of 1847 stalled economic development and prompted the governor to introduce a series of taxes on firearms, dogs, shops, boats, etc., and to reintroduce a form of rajakariya , requiring six days free labour on roads or payment of a cash equivalent. These harsh measures antagonised the locals, and another rebellion broke out in 1848. A devastating leaf disease, Hemileia vastatrix , struck
2144-562: A speech at the ICES-Colombo, indicated that the appropriate investigations into massacres and disappearances of civilians including many children in the Sathurukondan , Eastern University , Mylanthanai and the mass murder and burial of school children at Sooriyakanda were hampered by the adoption of emergency regulations which contributed to a climate of impunity. Along roadsides in the north and east, burning bodies became
2278-506: A time when the Sri Lankan government stated it was close to defeating the LTTE, India dropped 25 tons of food and medicine by parachute into areas held by the LTTE in a direct move of support to the rebels. Negotiations were held, and the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed on 29 July 1987 by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President Jayewardene . Under this accord the Sri Lankan government made
2412-564: Is Pidurutalagala , reaching 2,524 metres (8,281 ft) above sea level. Sri Lanka has 103 rivers. The longest of these is the Mahaweli River , extending 335 kilometres (208 mi). These waterways give rise to 51 natural waterfalls of 10 metres (33 ft) or more. The highest is Bambarakanda Falls , with a height of 263 metres (863 ft). Sri Lanka's coastline is 1,585 km (985 mi) long. Sri Lanka claims an exclusive economic zone extending 200 nautical miles , which
2546-438: Is approximately 6.7 times Sri Lanka's land area. The coastline and adjacent waters support highly productive marine ecosystems such as fringing coral reefs and shallow beds of coastal and estuarine seagrasses . Sri Lanka has 45 estuaries and 40 lagoons . Sri Lanka's mangrove ecosystem spans over 7,000 hectares and played a vital role in buffering the force of the waves in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami . The island
2680-433: Is considered the oldest human-planted tree (with a continuous historical record) in the world. ( Bodhivaṃsa ) Sri Lanka experienced the first of many foreign invasions during the reign of Suratissa , who was defeated by two horse traders named Sena and Guttika from South India. The next invasion came immediately in 205 BCE by a Chola named Elara , who overthrew Asela and ruled the country for 44 years. Dutugamunu ,
2814-737: Is located in Malabe with branches in Colombo (Metro Branch), Jaffna and Trincomalee . CINEC also opened two overseas branches in Fiji and the Seychelles . CINEC Campus caters to over 20,000 students annually, who follow a range of over 200 educational and training programs. However they specialize in their officer cadet programmes which include maritime sciences, marine electrical engineering and marine engineering . Sri Lanka Sri Lanka , historically known as Ceylon , and officially
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#17327977150922948-547: Is memorable for two major campaigns – in the south of India as part of a Pandyan war of succession, and a punitive strike against the kings of Ramanna ( Burma ) for various perceived insults to Sri Lanka. After his demise, Sri Lanka gradually decayed in power. In 1215, Kalinga Magha , an invader with uncertain origins, identified as the founder of the Jaffna kingdom, invaded and captured the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa . He sailed from Kalinga 690 nautical miles on 100 large ships with
3082-458: Is now known in Sinhala as Śrī Laṅkā ( Sinhala : ශ්රී ලංකා ) and in Tamil as Ilaṅkai ( Tamil : இலங்கை , IPA: [iˈlaŋɡaɪ] ). In 1972, its formal name was changed to "Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka". Later, on 7 September 1978, it was changed to the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka". As the name Ceylon still appears in the names of
3216-1119: Is rich in minerals such as ilmenite , feldspar , graphite , silica , kaolin , mica and thorium . Existence of petroleum and gas in the Gulf of Mannar has also been confirmed, and the extraction of recoverable quantities is underway. Sri Lankan civil war Sri Lankan government victory [REDACTED] Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [REDACTED] PLOTE (1983–1989) [REDACTED] EROS (1983–1990) [REDACTED] Sri Lanka Armed Forces [REDACTED] Indian Armed Forces ( 1987–1990 ) [REDACTED] Pakistan Armed Forces ( 2006-2009 ) [REDACTED] Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [REDACTED] Sri Lanka Armed Forces : 95,000 (2001) 118,000 (2002) 158,000 (2003) 151,000 (2004) 111,000 (2005) 150,900 (2006) 210,000 (2008) Estimates of death toll: The Sri Lankan civil war ( Tamil : இலங்கை உள்நாட்டுப் போர் , romanized: Ilaṅkai uḷnāṭṭup pōr ; Sinhala : ශ්රී ලංකාවේ සිවිල් යුද්ධය , romanized: śrī laṁkāvē sivil yuddhaya )
3350-701: Is the first of the approximately 189 monarchs of Sri Lanka described in chronicles such as the Dīpavaṃsa , Mahāvaṃsa , Cūḷavaṃsa , and Rājāvaliya . Once Prakrit speakers had attained dominance on the island, the Mahāvaṃsa further recounts the later migration of royal brides and service castes from the Tamil Pandya kingdom to the Anuradhapura kingdom in the early historic period. The Anuradhapura period (377 BCE – 1017 CE) began with
3484-555: Is widely attributed to the initial backing it received from RAW. It is believed that by supporting different militant groups, the Indian government hoped to keep the Tamil independence movement divided and be able to exert overt control over it. India became more actively involved in the late 1980s, and on 5 June 1987 the Indian Air Force airdropped food parcels to Jaffna while it was under siege by Sri Lankan forces. At
3618-577: The 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom and the 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom , in which Sinhalese mobs attacked hundreds of Tamils in Sinhalese-majority areas. Sinhalese in Tamil-majority areas were also attacked by Tamil mobs. Dozens, if not hundreds, mostly Tamils, perished, while thousands of both groups fled to areas where they were in the majority. The civil war was a direct result of the escalation of the confrontational politics that followed. In
3752-729: The Ceylon Civil Service and the legal, educational, engineering, and medical professions with natives. New leaders represented the various ethnic groups of the population in the Ceylon Legislative Council on a communal basis. Buddhist and Hindu revivalism reacted against Christian missionary activities. The first two decades in the 20th century are noted by the unique harmony among Sinhalese and Tamil political leadership, which has since been lost. The 1906 malaria outbreak in Ceylon actually started in
3886-487: The Chinese traveller monk Faxian ; Batadombalena (28,500 BP); and Belilena (12,000 BP) are the most important. In these caves, archaeologists have found the remains of anatomically modern humans which they have named Balangoda Man , and other evidence suggesting that they may have engaged in agriculture and kept domestic dogs for driving game. The earliest inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably ancestors of
4020-946: The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia . It lies in the Indian Ocean , southwest of the Bay of Bengal , separated from the Indian peninsula by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait . It shares a maritime border with the Maldives in the southwest and India in the northwest. Sri Lanka has a population of approximately 22 million and is home to several cultures, languages and ethnicities. The Sinhalese people form
4154-578: The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) and to cease assisting Tamil insurgents. Militant groups including the LTTE, although initially reluctant, agreed to surrender their arms to the IPKF, which initially oversaw a cease-fire and a modest disarmament of the militant groups. The Sri Lankan armed forces were confined to barracks in the north and east, and Sinhalese settlers were disarmed. In October 1987, 12 LTTE members who were prisoners of
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4288-617: The Indian Plate , a major tectonic plate that was formerly part of the Indo-Australian Plate . It is in the Indian Ocean southwest of the Bay of Bengal , between latitudes 5° and 10° N , and longitudes 79° and 82° E . Sri Lanka is separated from the mainland portion of the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait . According to Hindu mythology , a land bridge existed between
4422-495: The Indian Tamil ethnic minority by making it virtually impossible for them to obtain citizenship in the country. Approximately 700,000 Indian Tamils were made stateless. Over the next three decades, more than 300,000 Indian Tamils were deported back to India. It wasn't until 2003 – 55 years after independence – that all Indian Tamils living in Sri Lanka were granted citizenship, but, by this time, they only made up 5% of
4556-503: The Kumarapuram massacre , Tampalakamam massacre , Puthukkudiyiruppu massacre , etc., all of them carried out by government forces. Government troops initially cut off the peninsula from the rest of the island, and then, after seven weeks of heavy fighting, succeeded in bringing Jaffna under government control for the first time in nearly a decade. In a high-profile ceremony, Sri Lankan Defense Minister Col. Anuruddha Ratwatte raised
4690-606: The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) members N.M. Perera and Philip Gunawardena demanded the replacement of English as the official language by Sinhala and Tamil. In November 1936, a motion that "in the Municipal and Police Courts of the Island the proceedings should be in the vernacular " and that "entries in police stations should be recorded in the language in which they are originally stated" were passed by
4824-635: The PLO , was that there should be only one. In November 1984, Sinhalese convicts were settled in the Kent and Dollar farms after the Tamil civilians living there were evicted by the Sri Lankan Army. The settlement of prisoners was used to further harass Tamils into leaving the area. The Sinhala settlers confirmed that young Tamil women were abducted, brought there and gang-raped, first by the forces, next by prison guards and finally by prisoners. Initially,
4958-630: The Pali Canon , date to the fourth Buddhist council , which took place in 29 BCE. Also called the Pearl of the Indian Ocean , or the Granary of the East , Sri Lanka's geographic location and deep harbours have made it of great strategic importance, from the earliest days of the ancient Silk Road trade route to today's so-called maritime Silk Road . Because its location made it a major trading hub, it
5092-744: The Portuguese , the independent existence of the Jaffna kingdom came to an end. During the reign of the Rajasinha II , Dutch explorers arrived on the island. In 1638, the king signed a treaty with the Dutch East India Company to get rid of the Portuguese who ruled most of the coastal areas. The following Dutch–Portuguese War resulted in a Dutch victory, with Colombo falling into Dutch hands by 1656. The Dutch remained in
5226-604: The Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka stated, "A number of credible sources have estimated that there could have been as many as 40,000 civilian deaths." The Sri Lankan government has repeatedly refused an independent, international investigation to ascertain the full impact of the war, with some reports claiming that government forces were raping and torturing Tamils involved in collating deaths and disappearances. Since
5360-701: The SAARC , the G77 and the Non-Aligned Movement , as well as a member of the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations . In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names. According to the Mahāvaṃsa , the legendary Prince Vijaya named the island Tambapaṇṇĩ (" copper-red hands" or "copper-red earth"), because his followers' hands were reddened by the red soil of
5494-573: The Sinhalese -dominated Sri Lanka government. Violent persecution erupted in the form of the 1956 , 1958 , 1977 , 1981 and 1983 anti-Tamil pogroms , as well as the 1981 burning of the Jaffna Public Library . These were carried out by the majority Sinhalese mobs often with state support, in the years following Sri Lanka's independence from the British Empire in 1948. Shortly after gaining independence, Sinhalese
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5628-585: The Sinhalese —to Kandy and built the Temple of the Tooth . In spite of on-going intermittent warfare with Europeans, the kingdom survived. Later, a crisis of succession emerged in Kandy upon king Vira Narendra Sinha 's death in 1739. He was married to a Telugu -speaking Nayakkar princess from South India ( Madurai ) and was childless by her. Eventually, with the support of bhikkhu Weliwita Sarankara and ignoring
5762-679: The Sri Lanka Armed Forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam . Sri Lanka is a developing country , ranking 78th on the Human Development Index . It is the highest-ranked South Asian nation in terms of development and has the second-highest per capita income in South Asia. The country has had a long history of engagement with modern international groups; it is a founding member of
5896-433: The Sri Lankan Tamils from working in the Ceylon Civil Service and other public services . The Tamil -speaking minorities of Ceylon (Sri Lankan Tamils, Indian Tamils and Sri Lankan Moors ) viewed the Act as linguistic, cultural and economic discrimination against them. Many Tamil-speaking civil servants / public servants were forced to resign because they weren't fluent in Sinhala. Tension over this policy led to
6030-519: The Valvettithurai massacre . The Anuradhapura massacre sparked the Kumudini boat massacre in which over 23 Tamil civilians died. Over time the LTTE merged with or largely exterminated almost all the other militant Tamil groups. As a result, many Tamil splinter groups ended up working with the Sri Lankan government as paramilitaries or denounced violence and joined mainstream politics; some Tamil-oriented political parties remained, all opposed to LTTE's vision of an independent state. Peace talks between
6164-410: The Vanni region in the interior. Most of the refugees returned later the next year. The LTTE responded by launching Operation Unceasing Waves and decisively won the Battle of Mullaitivu on 18 July 1996, leaving 1,173 army troops dead which included 207 officers and men executed after surrendering to the LTTE. The government launched another offensive in August 1996. Another 200,000 civilians fled
6298-406: The Vedda people , an indigenous people numbering approximately 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka. During the protohistoric period (1000–500 BCE) Sri Lanka was culturally united with southern India, and shared the same megalithic burials, pottery , iron technology, farming techniques and megalithic graffiti . This cultural complex spread from southern India along with Dravidian clans such as
6432-409: The Velir , prior to the migration of Prakrit speakers. One of the first written references to the island is found in the Indian epic Ramayana , which provides details of a kingdom named Lanka that was created by the divine sculptor Vishvakarma for Kubera , the God of Wealth. It is said that Kubera was overthrown by his rakshasa stepbrother, Ravana . According to the Mahāvaṃsa ,
6566-413: The banning of the import of Tamil-language media and the preference given by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka to Buddhism , the main religion followed by the Sinhalese. Prabhakaran formed the Tamil New Tigers (TNT) in 1972. The formation of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) with the Vaddukkodei (Vattukottai) resolution of 1976 led to a hardening of attitudes. The resolution called for
6700-427: The 'traditional enemy of the Sinhalese'. At the time of independence in 1948, Tamils comprised around 30% of the higher ranks of civil service, while comprising around 20% of the island's population. In 1956 Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike passed the " Sinhala Only Act ", which replaced English with Sinhala as the only official language of the country. This was seen as a deliberate attempt to discourage
6834-491: The British to employ Tamils from India to work on tea plantations, furthering fears of racial decline among the Sinhalese. English language schools were also established in Jaffna by the American Ceylon Mission , which provided English-language skills for the Tamil population in Jaffna. The British favored English speakers, so Tamils outcompeted their Sinhalese counterparts in the civil service sector. In 1919, major Sinhalese and Tamil political organizations united to form
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#17327977150926968-412: The Ceylon National Congress, under the leadership of Ponnambalam Arunachalam , to press the colonial government for more constitutional reforms. British colonial administrator William Manning actively encouraged the concept of "communal representation" and created the Colombo town seat in 1920, which alternated between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. After their election to the State Council in 1936,
7102-427: The Colombo Tamil leadership, and in the end rejected and annihilated them. The most prominent of these groups was the TNT, which changed its name to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or the LTTE , in 1976. The LTTE initially carried out a campaign of violence against the state, particularly targeting policemen and also moderate Tamil politicians who attempted a dialogue with the government. Their first major operation
7236-403: The Congress lost momentum towards the mid-1920s. The Donoughmore reforms of 1931 repudiated the communal representation and introduced universal adult franchise (the franchise stood at 4% before the reforms). This step was strongly criticised by the Tamil political leadership, who realised that they would be reduced to a minority in the newly created State Council of Ceylon , which succeeded
7370-439: The IPKF in 1990. In October 1990, the LTTE expelled Sri Lankan Moors (Muslims by religion) from northern Sri Lanka. In 2002, the Sri Lankan government and LTTE signed a Norwegian-mediated ceasefire agreement. The 2004 Asian tsunami killed over 30,000 and displaced over 500,000 people in Sri Lanka. From 1985 to 2006, the Sri Lankan government and Tamil insurgents held four rounds of peace talks without success. Both LTTE and
7504-449: The IPKF in Sri Lanka resulted in the deaths of 1200 Indian soldiers and over 5000 Sri Lankans. The cost for the Indian government was estimated at over ₹10.3 billion. Support for the LTTE in India dropped considerably in 1991, after the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by a female suicide bomber, Thenmozhi Rajaratnam . The Indian press subsequently reported that Prabhakaran decided to eliminate Gandhi, as he considered
7638-455: The IPKF to take control of most areas in the north of the country enabled the Sri Lanka government to shift its forces to the south to quell the protests. This led to an uprising by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna in the south, which was put down bloodily over the next two years. While most Tamil militant groups laid down their weapons and agreed to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict, the LTTE refused to disarm its fighters. Keen to ensure
7772-427: The Indian mainland and Sri Lanka. It now amounts to only a chain of limestone shoals remaining above sea level . Legends claim that it was passable on foot up to 1480 CE, until cyclones deepened the channel. Portions are still as shallow as 1 metre (3 ft), hindering navigation. The island consists mostly of flat to rolling coastal plains, with mountains rising only in the south-central part. The highest point
7906-533: The Jaffna peninsula and the air force relentlessly bombed the north. In the second half of 1990, 4500 Tamils were killed or disappeared by security forces in Batticaloa and Amparai District alone. The LTTE responded by attacking Sinhalese and Muslim villages and massacring civilians. One of the largest civilian massacres of the war occurred when the LTTE massacred 166 Muslim civilians at Palliyagodella . The government trained and armed Home Guard Muslim units. Notable international jurist Neelan Thiruchelvam , in
8040-534: The LTTE and the government began in Thimphu in 1985, but they soon failed and the war continued. In 1986 many civilians were massacred as part of this conflict. In 1987 government troops pushed LTTE fighters to the northern city of Jaffna . In April 1987 the conflict exploded with ferocity, as both government forces and LTTE fighters engaged in a series of bloody operations. The Sri Lankan military launched an offensive, called "Operation Liberation" or Vadamarachchi Operation , during May–June 1987 to regain control of
8174-441: The LTTE carried out their first suicide attack. Captain Miller of the Black Tigers drove a small truck carrying explosives through the wall of a fortified Sri Lankan army camp, reportedly killing 40 soldiers. The LTTE carried out over 378 suicide attacks , one of the largest suicide campaigns in the world, and the suicide attack became a trademark of the LTTE and a characteristic of the civil war. [REDACTED] Involvement
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#17327977150928308-403: The LTTE gained prominence due to devastating attacks such as the Kent and Dollar Farm massacres of 1984, where 62 men, women and children were attacked during the night as they slept and were hacked to death with fatal blows to the head from axes. Attacks were often carried out in revenge for attacks committed by the Sri Lankan Army , such as the Anuradhapura massacre which immediately followed
8442-481: The LTTE to fight the IPKF and its proxy Tamil National Army (TNA). Although casualties among the IPKF mounted, and calls for the withdrawal of the IPKF from both sides of the Sri Lankan conflict grew, Gandhi refused to remove the IPKF from Sri Lanka. However, following his defeat in Indian parliamentary elections in December 1989, new Prime Minister V.P. Singh ordered the withdrawal of the IPKF, and their last ship left Sri Lanka on 24 March 1990. The 32-month presence of
8576-467: The Netherlands might deliver Sri Lanka to the French, the British Empire occupied the coastal areas of the island (which they called the colony of British Ceylon ) with little difficulty in 1796. Two years later, in 1798, Sri Rajadhi Rajasinha , third of the four Nayakkar kings of Sri Lanka, died of a fever. Following his death, a nephew of Rajadhi Rajasinha, eighteen-year-old Kannasamy, was crowned. The young king, now named Sri Vikrama Rajasinha , faced
8710-405: The Provincial Council would go ahead with a unilateral declaration of independence of the northern and eastern provinces, as in the case of Rhodesia . President Premadasa moved to quickly dissolve the Council (March 1990). At the same time LTTE used terror tactics to scare Sinhalese and Muslim farmers away from the north and east of the island, and swiftly took control of a significant portion of
8844-399: The State Council and referred to the Legal Secretary. However, in 1944, J.R. Jayawardena moved in the State Council that Sinhala should replace English as the official language. Ethnic tensions were exacerbated immediately after independence in 1948, when a controversial law was passed by the Ceylon Parliament called the Ceylon Citizenship Act , which deliberately discriminated against
8978-416: The UNP was defeated and the People's Alliance , headed by Chandrika Kumaratunga , came to power on a peace platform. During the Presidential election campaign an LTTE bomb attack was carried out during a rally held at Thotalanga, Grandpass , eliminating the entire leadership of UNP, including its presidential candidate, Gamini Dissanayake . Kumaratunga became the president with a 62% majority. A cease-fire
9112-515: The area where he landed. In Hindu mythology , the term Lankā ("Island") appears but it is unknown whether it refers to the modern-day state. The Tamil term Eelam ( Tamil : ஈழம் , romanized: īḻam ) was used to designate the whole island in Sangam literature . The island was known under Chola rule as Mummudi Cholamandalam ("realm of the three crowned Cholas"). Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā ( Ancient Greek : Ταπροβανᾶ ) or Taprobanē ( Ταπροβανῆ ) from
9246-420: The areas they had captured, thereby violating the treaty they had signed in 1638. The Burgher people , a distinct ethnic group, emerged as a result of intermingling between the Dutch and native Sri Lankans in this period. The Kingdom of Kandy was the last independent monarchy of Sri Lanka. In 1595, Vimaladharmasurya brought the sacred Tooth Relic —the traditional symbol of royal and religious authority amongst
9380-464: The arrival of Portuguese soldier and explorer Lourenço de Almeida , the son of Francisco de Almeida , in 1505. In 1517, the Portuguese built a fort at the port city of Colombo and gradually extended their control over the coastal areas. In 1592, after decades of intermittent warfare with the Portuguese, Vimaladharmasuriya I moved his kingdom to the inland city of Kandy , a location he thought more secure from attack. In 1619, succumbing to attacks by
9514-447: The assassination, although he stopped short of outright acceptance of responsibility. In a 2011 interview, Kumaran Pathmanathan , who was the Treasurer of LTTE and its chief arms procurer, apologized to India for Velupillai Prabhakaran's "mistake" of killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He further said Rajiv's assassination was "well planned and done actually with Prabhakaran and (LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman). Everyone knows
9648-481: The bill posed a grave concern for the Tamil community, which perceived in it a threat to their language and culture. The Federal Party (FP) launched a movement of non-violent resistance ( satyagraha ) against the bill, which prompted Bandaranaike to reach an agreement ( Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact ) with S. J. V. Chelvanayakam , leader of the FP, to resolve the looming ethnic conflict. The pact proved ineffective in
9782-415: The capital, and elsewhere (see Black July ). According to Tamil Center for Human Rights 5,638 Tamils were massacred and 250,000 Tamils fled were displaced internally during Black July ; majority of them fled Sinhala-majority areas. This is considered the beginning of the civil war. Apart from the LTTE, there initially was a plethora of militant groups (see list ). The LTTE's position, adopted from that of
9916-470: The cease-fire broke down. The government then launched an offensive and tried to retake Jaffna but failed. This phase of the war soon acquired the name Eelam War II , and featured unprecedented brutality. On 11 June 1990 the LTTE massacred 600 policemen in the Eastern Province after they had surrendered on promises of safe-conduct. The government placed an embargo on food and medicine entering
10050-443: The coffee plantations in 1869, destroying the entire industry within fifteen years. The British quickly found a replacement: abandoning coffee, they began cultivating tea instead. Tea production in Sri Lanka thrived in the following decades. Large-scale rubber plantations began in the early 20th century. By the end of the 19th century, a new educated social class transcending race and caste arose through British attempts to staff
10184-518: The conquest led by king Parâkramabâhu VI 's adopted son, Prince Sapumal . He ruled the North from 1450 to 1467 CE. The next three centuries starting from 1215 were marked by kaleidoscopically shifting collections of capitals in south and central Sri Lanka, including Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa , Gampola , Raigama , Kotte , Sitawaka , and finally, Kandy . In 1247, the Malay kingdom of Tambralinga which
10318-541: The continued Indian presence in Sri Lanka. These led to the Sri Lankan government's call for India to quit the island, and the government allegedly entered into a secret deal with the LTTE that culminated in a cease-fire. However, the LTTE and IPKF continued to have frequent clashes. In April 1989 the Ranasinghe Premadasa government ordered the Sri Lanka army to clandestinely hand over arms consignments to
10452-477: The country based on the rule of law and amalgamated the Kandyan and maritime provinces as a single unit of government. An executive council and a legislative council were established, later becoming the foundation of a representative legislature. By this time, experiments with coffee plantations were largely successful. Soon, coffee became the primary commodity export of Sri Lanka. Falling coffee prices as
10586-451: The country for the first time in over a century. Upon his request, ordained monks were sent from Burma to Sri Lanka to re-establish Buddhism, which had almost disappeared from the country during the Chola reign. During the medieval period, Sri Lanka was divided into three sub-territories, namely, Ruhunu , Pihiti and Maya . Sri Lanka's irrigation system was extensively expanded during
10720-624: The course of the 26 year long conflict. 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings carried out by the terrorist group National Thowheeth Jama'ath on 21 April 2019 resulted in the brutal death of 261 innocent people. On 26 April 2019 an anti terrorist operation was carried out against the National Thowheeth Jama'ath by the Sri Lanka Army with the operation being successful and National Thowheeth Jama'ath's insurgency ending. Economic troubles in Sri Lanka began in 2019, when
10854-420: The creation of a secular, socialist state of Tamil Eelam, based on the right of self-determination . The TULF clandestinely supported the armed actions of the young militants who were dubbed "our boys" . TULF leader Appapillai Amirthalingam even provided letters of reference to the LTTE and to other Tamil insurgent groups to raise funds. Amirthalingam introduced Prabhakaran to N.S. Krishnan, who later became
10988-595: The danger of not writing it down so that even if some of the monks whose duty it was to study and remember parts of the Canon for later generations died, the teachings would not be lost. After the council, palm-leaf manuscripts containing the completed Canon were taken to other countries such as Burma , Thailand , Cambodia and Laos . Sri Lanka was the first Asian country known to have a female ruler: Anula of Anuradhapura (r. 47–42 BCE). Sri Lankan monarchs undertook some remarkable construction projects such as Sigiriya ,
11122-530: The early 1900s, but the first case was documented in 1906. In 1919, major Sinhalese and Tamil political organisations united to form the Ceylon National Congress, under the leadership of Ponnambalam Arunachalam , pressing colonial masters for more constitutional reforms. But without massive popular support, and with the governor's encouragement for "communal representation" by creating a "Colombo seat" that dangled between Sinhalese and Tamils,
11256-618: The eldest son of the southern regional sub-king, Kavan Tissa , defeated Elara in the Battle of Vijithapura . During its two and a half millennia of existence, the Sinhala kingdom was invaded at least eight times by neighbouring South Indian dynasties such as the Chola , Pandya , and Pallava . There also were incursions by the kingdoms of Kalinga (modern Odisha ) and from the Malay Peninsula as well. The Fourth Theravāda Council
11390-535: The end of the civil war, the Sri Lankan state has been subject to much global criticism for violating human rights as a result of committing war crimes through bombing civilian targets, usage of heavy weaponry, the abduction and massacres of Sri Lankan Tamils and sexual violence . The LTTE gained notoriety for carrying out numerous attacks against civilians of all ethnicities, particularly those of Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Muslim ethnicity, using child soldiers , assassinations of politicians and dissenters, and
11524-445: The establishment of the Anuradhapura kingdom in 380 BCE during the reign of Pandukabhaya . Thereafter, Anuradhapura served as the capital city of the country for nearly 1,400 years. Ancient Sri Lankans excelled at building certain types of structures such as tanks , dagobas and palaces. Society underwent a major transformation during the reign of Devanampiya Tissa , with the arrival of Buddhism from India. In 250 BCE, Mahinda ,
11658-439: The ex-Prime Minister to be against the Tamil liberation struggle and feared that he might re-induct the IPKF, which Prabhakaran termed the "satanic force", if he won the 1991 Indian general election . In 1998 a court in India presided over by Special Judge V. Navaneetham found the LTTE and its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran responsible for the assassination. In a 2006 interview, LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham expressed regret over
11792-469: The examination in their language. Officially the policy was designed to increase the representation of students from rural areas. In practice the policy reduced the numbers of Sri Lankan Tamil students who had previously, based on their examination scores alone, gained admission in a higher proportion than their participation in the examination. They were now required to gain higher marks than Sinhalese students to gain admission to universities. For instance,
11926-542: The face of ongoing protests by opposition and the Buddhist clergy. The bill, together with various government colonisation schemes , contributed much towards the political rancour between Sinhalese and Tamil political leaders. Bandaranaike was assassinated by an extremist Buddhist monk in 1959. Sirimavo Bandaranaike , the widow of Bandaranaike, took office as prime minister in 1960, and withstood an attempted coup d'état in 1962. During her second term as prime minister,
12060-415: The first South Asian country to liberalise its economy. Beginning in 1983 , ethnic tensions were manifested in an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the LTTE. An LTTE attack on 13 soldiers resulted in the start of a civil war, and in response anti-Tamil race riots took place, allegedly backed by Sinhalese hard-line ministers, which resulted in more than 150,000 Tamil civilians fleeing
12194-600: The first Sri Lankan president to resign in the middle of his term. On the same day the President's House was stormed, protesters besieged and stormed the private residence of the prime minister and burnt it down. After winning the 2022 Sri Lankan presidential election , on 21 July 2022, Ranil Wickremesinghe took oath as the ninth President of Sri Lanka. He implemented various economic reforms in efforts to stabilize Sri Lanka's economy, which has shown slight improvement since. On 23 September 2024, Anura Kumara Dissanayake
12328-408: The first international representative of LTTE. It was Krishnan who introduced Prabhakaran to Anton Balasingham, who later became the chief political strategist and chief negotiator of LTTE. The "boys" were the product of the post-war population explosion. Many partially educated, unemployed Tamil youth fell for revolutionary solutions to their problems. The leftist parties had remained "non-communal" for
12462-612: The government committed suicide , leading to an anti-Sinhalese pogrom committed by Tamil militants, especially the LTTE, throughout the Eastern Province in which 150 Sinhalese were killed and tens of thousands were made refugees. The signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, so soon after J.R. Jayawardene's declaration that he would fight the Indians to the last bullet, led to unrest in the south. The arrival of
12596-412: The government could not protect them or their cultural heritage and persuaded many of them to back a separate state. In July 1983 the LTTE launched a deadly ambush on Sri Lanka army patrol Four Four Bravo outside the town of Thirunelveli , killing an officer and 12 soldiers. Using nationalistic sentiments to their advantage, members of the ruling UNP organized massacres and pogroms in Colombo ,
12730-528: The government instituted socialist economic policies, strengthening ties with the Soviet Union and China, while promoting a policy of non-alignment. In 1971, Ceylon experienced a Marxist insurrection , which was quickly suppressed. In 1972, the country became a republic named Sri Lanka, repudiating its dominion status. Prolonged minority grievances and the use of communal emotionalism as an election campaign weapon by both Sinhalese and Tamil leaders abetted
12864-551: The government resumed fighting in 2006, and the government officially backed out of the ceasefire in 2008. In 2009, under the Presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa , the Sri Lanka Armed Forces defeated the LTTE, bringing an end to the 26 year long civil war on 19 May 2009, and re-established control of the entire country by the Sri Lankan Government. Overall, between 60,000 and 100,000 people were killed during
12998-575: The island's population. Prior to 1950, various minority groups, excluding the Sri Lankan Tamils , had been attacked by Sinhalese Buddhists, these included Christians, Muslims and Malayalis . The Sri Lankan Tamils however had remained largely untouched. Early Sinhala Buddhist propaganda was directed mainly against foreign and religious ethnic minorities. This changed in the 1950s as the Sri Lankan Tamils were rediscovered to be
13132-687: The island, seeking asylum in other countries. Lapses in foreign policy resulted in India strengthening the Tigers by providing arms and training. In 1987, the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was deployed in northern Sri Lanka to stabilise the region by neutralising the LTTE. The same year, the JVP launched its second insurrection in Southern Sri Lanka, necessitating redeployment of
13266-482: The late 1960s several Tamil youth, among them Velupillai Prabhakaran , also became involved in these activities. They carried out several hit-and-run operations against pro-government Tamil politicians, Sri Lanka police and the civil administration. During the 1970s the Policy of standardization was initiated. Under the policy, students were admitted to university in proportion to the number of applicants who sat for
13400-413: The leader of the LTTE. In May 1981 the burning of the Jaffna library , in the presence of two Sinhalese cabinet members, by what witnesses described as uniformed police and Sinhalese mobs, resulted in the destruction of more than 90,000 books, including palm leaf scrolls of immense historical value. This violent example of ethnic biblioclasm was a major turning point in convincing the Tamil people that
13534-827: The legislative council. In 1937, Tamil leader G. G. Ponnambalam demanded a 50–50 representation (50% for the Sinhalese and 50% for other ethnic groups) in the State Council. However, this demand was not met by the Soulbury reforms of 1944–45. The Soulbury constitution ushered in dominion status , with independence proclaimed on 4 February 1948. D. S. Senanayake became the first Prime Minister of Ceylon . Prominent Tamil leaders including Ponnambalam and Arunachalam Mahadeva joined his cabinet. The British Royal Navy remained stationed at Trincomalee until 1956. A countrywide popular demonstration against withdrawal of
13668-608: The local king Vira Alakesvara of Gampola . Zheng He captured King Vira Alakesvara and later released him. Zheng He erected the Galle Trilingual Inscription , a stone tablet at Galle written in three languages ( Chinese , Tamil , and Persian ), to commemorate his visit. The stele was discovered by S. H. Thomlin at Galle in 1911 and is now preserved in the Colombo National Museum . The early modern period of Sri Lanka begins with
13802-588: The majority of the population, followed by the Sri Lankan Tamils , who are the largest minority group and are concentrated in northern Sri Lanka; both groups have played an influential role in the island's history. Other long-established groups include the Moors , Indian Tamils , Burghers , Malays , Chinese , and Vedda . Sri Lanka's documented history goes back 3,000 years, with evidence of prehistoric human settlements dating back 125,000 years. The earliest known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka , known collectively as
13936-439: The militant groups. LTTE ordered civilians to boycott the local government elections of 1983 in which even TULF contested. Voter turnout was as low as 10%. Thereafter, Tamil political parties were unable to represent the interests of the Tamil community. Supported by the ongoing politics of conflict in Sri Lanka, politicised Tamil youth in the north and east started to form militant groups . These groups developed independently of
14070-414: The mountainous interior, in a bid to escape his power. Sri Lanka never really recovered from the effects of Kalinga Magha's invasion. King Vijayabâhu III, who led the resistance, brought the kingdom to Dambadeniya . The north, in the meanwhile, eventually evolved into the Jaffna kingdom . The Jaffna kingdom never came under the rule of any kingdom of the south except on one occasion; in 1450, following
14204-542: The national flag inside the Jaffna Fort on 5 December 1995. The government estimated that approximately 2500 soldiers and rebels were killed in the offensive, and an estimated 7,000 wounded. Many civilians were killed in this conflict, such as the Navaly church bombing in which over 125 civilians died. The LTTE and more than 350,000 civilians, compelled by SL military operations and LTTE pressure to leave Jaffna, fled to
14338-409: The qualifying mark for admission to the medical faculties was 250 out of 400 for Tamil students, but only 229 for Sinhalese. The number of Sri Lankan Tamil students entering universities fell dramatically. The policy was abandoned in 1977. Other forms of official discrimination against the Sri Lankan Tamils included the state-sponsored colonization of traditional Tamil areas by Sinhalese peasants ,
14472-558: The reign of Parākramabāhu the Great (1153–1186). This period is considered as a time when Sri Lanka was at the height of its power. He built 1,470 reservoirs – the highest number by any ruler in Sri Lanka's history – repaired 165 dams, 3,910 canals, 163 major reservoirs, and 2,376 mini-reservoirs. His most famous construction is the Parakrama Samudra , the largest irrigation project of medieval Sri Lanka. Parākramabāhu's reign
14606-437: The rice rations resulted in the resignation of prime minister Dudley Senanayake . S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was elected prime minister in 1956. His three-year rule had a profound influence through his self-proclaimed role of "defender of the besieged Sinhalese culture". He introduced the controversial Sinhala Only Act , recognising Sinhala as the only official language of the government. Although partially reversed in 1958,
14740-533: The right of "Unambuwe Bandara" , the crown passed to the brother of one of Narendrasinha's princesses, overlooking Narendrasinha's own son by a Sinhalese concubine . The new king was crowned Sri Vijaya Rajasinha later that year. Kings of the Nayakkar dynasty launched several attacks on Dutch controlled areas, which proved to be unsuccessful. During the Napoleonic Wars , fearing that French control of
14874-501: The rise of militancy. The assassination of Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiyappah in 1975 by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) marked a crisis point. The government of J. R. Jayawardene swept to power in 1977, defeating the United Front government. Jayawardene introduced a new constitution , together with a free-market economy and a powerful executive presidency modelled after that of France. It made Sri Lanka
15008-454: The so-called "Fortress in the Sky", built during the reign of Kashyapa I , who ruled between 477 and 495. The Sigiriya rock fortress is surrounded by an extensive network of ramparts and moats. Inside this protective enclosure were gardens, ponds, pavilions, palaces and other structures. In 993 CE, the invasion of Chola emperor Rajaraja I forced the then Sinhalese ruler Mahinda V to flee to
15142-497: The southern part of Sri Lanka. Taking advantage of this situation, Rajendra I , son of Rajaraja I, launched a large invasion in 1017. Mahinda V was captured and taken to India, and the Cholas sacked the city of Anuradhapura causing the fall of Anuradhapura kingdom . Subsequently, they moved the capital to Polonnaruwa . Following a 17-year-long campaign, Vijayabahu I successfully drove the Chola out of Sri Lanka in 1070, reuniting
15276-473: The success of the accord, the IPKF then tried to demobilize the LTTE by force and ended up in full-scale conflict with them. The three-year-long conflict was also marked by the IPKF being accused of committing various abuses by many human rights groups as well as some within the Indian media. The IPKF also soon met stiff opposition from the Tamils. Simultaneously, nationalist sentiment led many Sinhalese to oppose
15410-730: The suspension of fuel to all non-essential vehicles, and more such economic disorder. Due to the crisis, massive street protests erupted all over the country, with protesters demanding the resignation of the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa . The protests culminated with the storming and siege of the President's House on July 9, 2022, and resulted in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing to Singapore and later emailing his resignation to parliament, formally announcing his resignation and making him
15544-521: The territory in the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE. This marked the Sri Lankan military's first conventional warfare on Sri Lankan soil since independence. The offensive was successful, and LTTE leader Prabhakaran and Sea Tiger leader Thillaiyampalam Sivanesan alias Soosai narrowly escaped from advancing troops at Valvettithurai. Key military personnel involved in the operation were Lt Col. Vipul Boteju, Lt. Col. Sarath Jayawardane, Col. Vijaya Wimalaratne and Brig. Gen. Denzil Kobbekaduwa . In July 1987
15678-578: The territory. When the Indian Peace-Keeping Force withdrew in 1989–90, the LTTE established many government-like functions in the areas under its control. A tentative cease-fire held in 1990 as the LTTE occupied itself with destroying rival Tamil groups while the government cracked down on the JVP uprising with the Operation Combine . When both major combatants had established their power bases, they turned on each other and
15812-562: The truth". India remained an outside observer of the conflict after the assassination. The violence continued unabated despite the steps taken to appease Tamil sentiments, such as the 13th Amendment (enacted in November 1987). Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of the then North and East Provincial Council , Vartharaja Perumal , put forward a 19-point demand to resolve the ethnic crisis. He threatened if these demands were not met that
15946-514: The use of suicide bombings against military, political and civilian targets. The origins of the Sri Lankan civil war lie in the continuous political rancor between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils . The roots of the modern conflict extend back to the colonial era , when the country was known as Ceylon. The British colonial period lasted from 1815 to 1948, during which the British sought monetary gain from Sri Lanka's supply of tea, coffee, coconuts, and rubber. A labour shortage led
16080-594: The war took place in July 1991, when 5,000 LTTE fighters surrounded the army's Elephant Pass base, which controlled access to the Jaffna Peninsula . More than 2,000 died on both sides in the month-long siege, before 10,000 government troops arrived to relieve the base. In February 1992 another series of government offensives failed to capture Jaffna. Lt. Gen. Denzil Kobbekaduwa together with Maj. Gen. Vijaya Wimalaratne and Rear Adm. Mohan Jayamaha , died on 8 August 1992 at Araly (Aeraella) point Jaffna due to
16214-472: The word Tambapanni . The Persians and Arabs referred to it as Sarandīb (the origin of the word " serendipity ") from Sanskrit Siṃhaladvīpaḥ . Ceilão , the name given to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese when they arrived in 1505, was transliterated into English as Ceylon . As a British crown colony , the island was known as Ceylon; it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. The country
16348-528: Was a civil war fought in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009. Beginning on 23 July 1983, it was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers) led by Velupillai Prabhakaran . The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by
16482-603: Was a vassal of Sri Vijaya led by their king Chandrabhanu briefly invaded Sri Lanka from Insular Southeast Asia . They were then expelled by the South Indian Pandyan dynasty. However, this temporary invasion reinforced the steady flow of the presence of various Austronesian merchant ethnic groups, from Sumatrans (Indonesia) to Lucoes (Philippines) into Sri Lanka which occurred since 200 BCE. Chinese admiral Zheng He and his naval expeditionary force landed at Galle, Sri Lanka in 1409 and got into battle with
16616-521: Was agreed to in January 1995, but the ensuing negotiations proved fruitless. The LTTE broke the cease-fire and blew up two gunboats, SLNS Sooraya and SLNS Ranasuru of the Sri Lanka Navy on 19 April, thereby beginning the next phase of the war, dubbed Eelam War III . The new government then pursued a policy of "war for peace". Determined to retake the key rebel stronghold of Jaffna, which
16750-571: Was already known to both East Asians and Europeans as long ago as the Anuradhapura period . During a period of great political crisis in the Kingdom of Kotte , the Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka and sought to control its maritime trade, with a part of Sri Lanka subsequently becoming a Portuguese possession . After the Sinhalese–Portuguese War , the Dutch colonial empire and the Kingdom of Kandy took control of those areas. Dutch Ceylon
16884-651: Was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khalji . It is probable that many of the scriptures from Nalanda are preserved in Sri Lanka's many monasteries and that the written form of the Tripiṭaka , including Sinhalese Buddhist literature, were part of the University of Nalanda. In 245 BCE, bhikkhunī Sanghamitta arrived with the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree, which is considered to be a sapling from the historical Bodhi Tree under which Gautama Buddha became enlightened. It
17018-605: Was exiled to India. The Kandyan Convention formally ceded the entire country to the British Empire. Attempts by Sri Lankan noblemen to undermine British power in 1818 during the Uva Rebellion were thwarted by Governor Robert Brownrigg . The beginning of the modern period of Sri Lanka is marked by the Colebrooke–Cameron reforms of 1833. They introduced a utilitarian and liberal political culture to
17152-507: Was held at the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka under the patronage of Valagamba in 25 BCE. The council was held in response to a year in which the harvests in Sri Lanka were particularly poor and many Buddhist monks subsequently died of starvation. Because the Pali Canon was at that time oral literature maintained in several recensions by dhammabhāṇaka s ( dharma reciters), the surviving monks recognised
17286-531: Was occupied by 2,000 rebels, it poured troops into the peninsula in the successful Operation Riviresa . In one particular incident in August 1995, Air Force jets bombed St. Peter's church at Navali (Naavaella), killing at least 65 refugees and wounding 150 others. In another instance in the same year, over 40 people were massacred in Nagerkovil and more civilian massacres followed in subsequent years, such as
17420-745: Was particularly strong in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu , where ethnic kinship led to strong support for the independence of Sri Lankan Tamils. Throughout the conflict the Indian central and state governments supported both sides in different ways. From August 1983 until May 1987 the Indian government, through its intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), provided arms, training and monetary support to six Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups including LTTE, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) and Tamil Eelam Liberation Army (TELA). LTTE's rise
17554-580: Was recognized as the sole official language of the nation. After a 26-year military campaign, the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009 , bringing the civil war to an end. Up to 70,000 had been killed by 2007. Immediately following the end of war, on 20 May 2009, the UN estimated a total of 80,000–100,000 deaths. However, in 2011, referring to the final phase of the war in 2009,
17688-400: Was sworn in as Sri Lanka's new president after winning the presidential election as a left-wing candidate. On 14 November 2024, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's National People's Power (NPP), a left-leaning alliance, received a two-thirds majority in parliament in Sri Lankan parliamentary election. Sri Lanka, an island in South Asia shaped as a teardrop or a pear/ mango , lies on
17822-434: Was taken by the British Empire , which extended control over the whole island, colonising it as British Ceylon from 1815 to 1948. A national movement for political independence arose in the early 20th century, and 1948, Ceylon became a dominion . It was succeeded by the republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. Sri Lanka's more recent history was marred by the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War , which began in 1983 and ended in 2009, when
17956-415: Was the assassination of the mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah , in 1975 by Prabhakaran. The LTTE's modus operandi of the early war was based on assassinations, whereas the mode of operation of the then government was through setting up a series of checkpoints around the city. The attempted assassination in 1978 of a Tamil Member of Parliament, M. Canagaratnam , was carried out personally by Prabhakaran,
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