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124-637: In accordance with the old saying "Pond in Taungthamun and Lake in Meiktila", Taungthaman is the largest pond and Meiktila is the largest lake in Myanmar. Then King Kutha redammed. After that 17 other Myanmar kings in different dynasties mended it and it is later known as "Mingalar Lake ". It is also said that the powerful and glorious King Thiridamarthawka Lurch was one of them. Then King Anawrahta of Pagan renovated it in 414 Burmese year by

248-481: A coup de grace by Hindu Forces. The scholarship helped revitalize a more orthodox form of Theravada Buddhism. To be sure, his reforms could not and did not achieve everything overnight. The spread of Theravada Buddhism in Upper Burma was gradual; it took over three centuries. Its monastic system did not achieve widespread village level penetration in more remote areas until as late as the 19th century. Nor did

372-653: 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,

496-545: 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)

620-796: 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

744-430: 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,

868-417: 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

992-751: A copy of the Theravada Buddhist Canon . (Anawrahta had been converted to Theravada Buddhism from his native Ari Buddhism by Shin Arahan , a monk originally from Thaton.) In reality, it was merely a demand for submission couched in diplomatic language, and the real aim of his conquest of Thaton was to check the Khmer Empire 's conquests in the Chao Phraya basin and encroachment into the Tenasserim coast . The conquest of Thaton

1116-468: 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

1240-516: 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

1364-401: A governor. Due to geographical distances, other tributary areas such as Arakan and Shan Hills were allowed to retain hereditary chieftainships. In 1056, a Mon Theravada Buddhist monk named Shin Arahan made a fateful visit to Pagan, and converted its king Anawrahta to Theravada Buddhism from his native Ari Buddhism . The king had been dissatisfied with the enormous power of Ari monks over

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1488-546: A monk, refused. On 16 December 1044, Min Saw ascended the throne with the title of Anawrahta, a Burmanized form of Sanskrit name Aniruddha (अनिरुद्ध). His full royal style was Maha Yaza Thiri Aniruddha Dewa ( မဟာ ရာဇာ သီရိ အနိရုဒ္ဓ ဒေဝ ; Sanskrit : Mahā Rājā Śrī Aniruddha Devá ). Burmese history now begins to be less conjectural. In the beginning, Anawrahta's principality was a small area—barely 200 miles north to south and about 80 miles from east to west, comprising roughly

1612-655: A much needed reprieve and a safe shelter. He helped restart Theravada Buddhism in Ceylon , the Buddhist school's original home. The success of Pagan dynasty made Theravada Buddhism's later growth in Lan Na (northern Thailand), Siam (central Thailand), Lan Xang (Laos), and Khmer Empire (Cambodia) in the 13th and 14th centuries possible. Anawrahta is one of the most famous kings in Burmese history. His life stories (legends) are

1736-491: A much-needed reprieve and a safe shelter. He helped restart Theravada Buddhism in Ceylon, the Buddhist school's original home. The success of Pagan dynasty made Theravada Buddhism's later growth in Lan Na , Siam , Lan Xang , and Cambodia , also due in a large part to Ceylon's interactions with those lands, in the 13th and 14th centuries possible. Ceylon Sri Lanka , historically known as Ceylon , and officially

1860-479: A new nation. He never accepted the cult of the god-king, and he was impatient even with gods that his people worshipped; men came to say that he beat up gods with the flat of his lance. He achieved his aims but only at the price of his own popularity. His subjects admired and feared him, but did not love him. His execution of two young heroes for a trifling breach of discipline after the conclusion of his Nanzhao campaign angered people, and to appease them he declared that

1984-527: 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

2108-527: A population even as large as the modest population of the late precolonial era. At any rate, during the 11th century, Pagan established its Lower Burma and this conquest facilitated growing cultural exchange, if not with local Mons, then with India and with Theravada stronghold Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Anawrahta's next conquest was north Arakan (Rakhine). He marched over the pass from Ngape near Minbu to An in Kyaukphyu , and then laid siege to Pyinsa , then

2232-560: A raid to prevent Arakanese raids into Burma, and some historians (Lieberman, Charney) do not believe he (or any other Pagan kings) had any "effective authority" over Arakan. If Pagan never established an administrative system to govern Arakan, it continued to foster a vassal relationship for the remainder of Pagan dynasty, occasionally placing its nominees to the Arakanese throne. Moreover, the Burmese language and script came to dominate

2356-426: 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

2480-461: A staple of Burmese folklore and retold in popular literature and theater. Prior to Anawrahta, of all the early Pagan kings, only Nyaung-u Sawrahan 's reign can be verified independently by stone inscriptions. Anawrahta is the first historical king in that the events during his reign can be verified by stone inscriptions. However, Anawrahta's youth, like much of early Pagan history, is still shrouded in legend, and should be treated as such. Anawrahta

2604-564: 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

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2728-438: 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

2852-535: Is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, king of Burmese history for he founded first "charter polity" of what would later become modern Burma. Not only did he greatly expand the Pagan Kingdom but he also implemented a series of political and administrative reforms that enabled his empire to dominate the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery for another 250 years. Anawrahta's legacy went far beyond

2976-433: 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 ,

3100-547: 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

3224-510: 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

3348-457: Is permissible as evidence, since 984 CE. Anawrahta was an energetic king who implemented many profound enduring political, socioeconomic and cultural changes. He was admired and feared but not loved by his subjects. Historian Htin Aung writes: Anawrahta was ruthless and stern not to any particular ethnic group but to all his subjects, for he felt that harsh measures were needed in building up

3472-451: Is seen as the turning point in Burmese history. Still according to traditional reconstruction, Anawrahta brought back over 30,000 people, many of them artisans and craftsmen to Pagan. These captives formed a community that later helped build thousands of monuments at Pagan, the remains of which today rival the splendors of Angkor Wat . More recent research by historian Michael Aung-Thwin has argued forcefully that Thaton's contributions to

3596-701: 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

3720-676: 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

3844-487: 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

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3968-946: 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

4092-650: The Four Great Paladins in Burmese history—were: Also at his service were Byatta ( ဗျတ္တ ), a Muslim (likely an Arab seaman) shipwrecked at Thaton , and his sons Shwe Hpyin Gyi and Shwe Hpyin Nge , (who later entered the pantheon of Burmese folk deities as Shwe Hpyin Brothers ရွှေဖျဉ်းညီနောင် ). By the mid-1050s, Anawrahta's reforms had turned Pagan into a regional power, and he looked to expand. Over

4216-617: 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

4340-540: The Myitnge river but failed despite all his efforts. The work lasted three years and there were many casualties from fever.) He peopled the newly developed areas with villages, which under royal officers served the canals. The region, known as Ledwin (lit. the rice country) became the granary, the economic key of the north country. History shows that one who gained control of Kyaukse became kingmaker in Upper Burma. Anawrahta organized Pagan's military. His key men—known as

4464-630: 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

4588-744: 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

4712-701: 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

4836-594: The Shan States and Arakan (Rakhine) under Pagan's suzerainty. He successfully stopped the advance of the Khmer Empire into the Tenasserim coastline and into the Upper Menam valley, making Pagan one of the two great kingdoms in mainland Southeast Asia . A strict disciplinarian, Anawrahta implemented a series of key social, religious and economic reforms that would have a lasting impact in Burmese history. His social and religious reforms later developed into

4960-661: The Shwesandaw Pagoda south of Pagan to house the hair relics presented by Pegu. Farther afield, he built other pagodas such as Shweyinhmyaw, Shwegu and Shwezigon near Meiktila. Scholarship believed until recently that Anawrahta commissioned the invention of the Burmese alphabet based on the Mon script , c. 1058, a year after the Thaton conquest. However, recent research finds that the Burmese alphabet had been in use at least since 1035, and if an 18th-century recast inscription

5084-585: 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

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5208-679: 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

5332-457: 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

5456-562: 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 ,

5580-522: The Arakan littoral over the next centuries. With Burmese influence came ties to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and the gradual prominence of Theravada Buddhism. Anawrahta also received tribute from the Buddhist kingdom of Pateikkaya ( ပဋိက္ခယား , IPA: [bədeiʔ kʰəjá] ). The location of the small kingdom remains in dispute. The Burmese chronicles report the location as northwest of Arakan and its kings Indian. But British historian GE Harvey reckoned that it

5704-559: The Arakanese accounts, the attacks from the east ousted kings Pe Byu and Nga Ton in succession. However, the dates are off by centuries with the ousted kings having reigned in the late 8th to early 9th centuries, 10th to 11th, or 11th to 12th centuries. At any rate, as was the case with the Shan Hills, Anawrahta's suzerainty over north Arakan (separated by the Arakan Yoma range) was nominal. The "conquest" may have been more of

5828-698: The Aris die out. Their descendants, known as forest dwelling monks, remained a powerful force patronized by the royalty down to the Ava period in the 16th century. Likewise, the nat worship continued (down to the present day). Even the Theravada Buddhism of Anawrahta, Kyansittha and Manuha was one still strongly influenced by Hinduism when compared to later more orthodox (18th and 19th century) standards. Tantric, Saivite , and Vaishnava elements enjoyed greater elite influence than they would later do, reflecting both

5952-460: The Ceylonese king gave a replica of the Buddha Tooth of which Ceylon was the proud possessor. The replica was then enshrined in the Lawkananda Pagoda in Pagan. The greatest achievement of Anawrahta was his consolidation of various ethnic groups into a single nation. He was careful that his own people, the Burmans, not flaunt themselves before other peoples. He continued to show regard for the Pyus, who had recently fallen from greatness. He retained

6076-408: The Cholas asked Anawrahta for Buddhist scriptures and Buddhist monks . The Chola invasions had left the original home of Theravada Buddhism with so few monks that it was hard to convene a chapter and make valid ordinations . Anawrahta sent the monks and scriptures, and a white elephant as a present for Vijayabahu. The Burmese monks ordained or re-ordained the entire clergy of the island. In return,

6200-403: 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

6324-439: 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

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6448-427: 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

6572-415: The Irrawaddy valley laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma. Anawrahta's legacy went far beyond the borders of modern Burma. His embrace of Theravada Buddhism and his success in stopping the advance of Khmer Empire, a Mahayana state, provided the Buddhist school, which had been in retreat elsewhere in South and Southeast Asia ,

6696-412: The Khmer kingdom and sacked the city of Angkor , and another one goes so far as to say that Anawrahta even visited Java to receive his tribute. However, Western historians (Harvey, Hall, et al) present a much smaller empire, consisted of the Irrawaddy valley and nearer periphery. His victory terracotta votive tablets (emblazoned with his name in Sanskrit) have been found along the Tenasserim coastline in

6820-416: The Mon world. Anawrahta also demanded tribute from other neighboring Mon Kingdoms, Haripunjaya and Dvaravati (in present-day northern and central Thailand ). Haripunjaya reportedly sent in tribute but Dvaravati's overlord Khmer Empire instead invaded Tenasserim. Anawrahta sent his armies, again led by the four paladins, who repulsed the invaders. The Burmese chronicles referred to the Kingdom of Cambodia as

6944-467: 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

7068-427: The Pagan period. Scholarship's dates for Anawrahta's birth, death and reign dates are closest to Zata's dates. In 1021, when Min Saw was about six years old, his father was deposed by his step-brothers Kyiso and Sokkate . His father had been a usurper of the Pagan throne, who overthrew King Nyaung-u Sawrahan two decades earlier. Kunhsaw then married three of Nyaung-u's chief queens, two of whom were pregnant at

7192-433: The Shan Hills. He used traditional nat spirits to attract people to his new religion. Asked why he allowed the nats to be placed in Buddhist temples and pagodas, Anawrahta answered "Men will not come for the sake of new faith. Let them come for their old gods, and gradually they will be won over." Urged on by Shin Arahan, Anawrahta tried to reform the very Theravada Buddhism he received from Thaton, which by most accounts,

7316-515: 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

7440-420: 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

7564-464: 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

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7688-433: 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

7812-423: The borders of modern Burma. The success and longevity of Pagan's dominance over the Irrawaddy valley laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma. His embrace of Theravada Buddhism and his success in stopping the advance of Khmer Empire, a Hindu kingdom, provided the Buddhist school, which had been in retreat elsewhere in South and Southeast Asia ,

7936-412: The capital of Arakan. He reportedly tried to bring home the giant Mahamuni Buddha but could not. He did take away the gold and silver vessels of the shrine. There is no single unified Arakanese account to corroborate the event. Surviving Arakanese chronicles (from the 18th and 19th centuries) mention at least two separate raids from the east, as well as "visits" by Anawrahta and Kyansittha. According to

8060-443: 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

8184-414: 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

8308-422: 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

8432-399: 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

8556-485: 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

8680-400: The court. Min Saw and his mother attended Kunhsaw, and lived nearby the monastery. In 1038, Kyiso died, and was succeeded by Sokkate. Min Saw was loyal to the new king. He took wives, and had at least two sons ( Saw Lu and Kyansittha ) by the early 1040s. In 1044 however, Min Saw raised a rebellion at nearby Mount Popa , and challenged Sokkate to single combat. According to the chronicles,

8804-435: The cultural transformation of Upper Burma are a post-Pagan legend without contemporary evidence, that Lower Burma in fact lacked a substantial independent polity prior to Pagan's expansion, and that Mon influence on the interior is greatly exaggerated. Possibly in this period, the delta sedimentation—which now extends the coastline by three miles a century—remained insufficient, and the sea still reached too far inland, to support

8928-595: 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 ,

9052-530: 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,

9176-670: 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

9300-445: 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 ,

9424-486: 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,

9548-466: 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

9672-600: 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

9796-528: 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

9920-551: 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

10044-766: 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

10168-827: 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

10292-593: The levy it could raise. He made great efforts to turn the arid parched lands of central Burma into a rice granary. He constructed the irrigation system, which is still used in Upper Burma today. He repaired the Meiktila Lake , and successfully built four weirs and canals (Kinda, Nga Laingzin, Pyaungbya, Kume) on the Panlaung river, and three weirs (Nwadet, Kunhse, Nga Pyaung) on the Zawgyi. (He also tried to control

10416-608: 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

10540-655: 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

10664-476: The method of modern irrigation. He also established, in the upper and lower parts of Meiktila Lake, nine Theins (Buddhist ordination hall), nine high hill, nine pools and nine ponds. Later on, his grandson, King Alaungsithu succeeded damming the Meiktila Lake. There are also 24 historical pagodas in and near by the town. Meiktila Lake has been the only water resource for the residents of Meiktila and for

10788-456: The modern-day Burmese culture . By building a series of weirs, he turned parched, arid regions around Pagan into the main rice granaries of Upper Burma, giving Upper Burma an enduring economic base from which to dominate the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery in the following centuries. He bequeathed a strong administrative system that all later Pagan kings followed until the dynasty's fall in 1287. The success and longevity of Pagan's dominance over

10912-414: 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

11036-592: The name Pyu for his kingdom although it was under the leadership of the Burmans. He showed regard for the Mons, and encouraged his people to learn from the Mons. Anawrahta replaced the kings of Lower Burma (Pegu and Thaton) with governors. At Pegu, he allowed the king of Pegu to remain as a vassal king in appreciation of the latter's help in Anawrahta's conquest of Thaton. But after the vassal king's death, he appointed

11160-554: The next ten years, he founded the Pagan Empire, the Irrawaddy valley at the core, surrounded by tributary kingdoms. Estimates of the extent of his empire vary greatly. The Burmese and Thai chronicles report an empire which covered present-day Myanmar and northern Thailand. The Thai chronicles assert that Anawrahta conquered the entire Menam valley, and received tribute from the Khmer king. One states that Anawrahta's armies invaded

11284-495: The pantheon of Burmese nat spirits ). But people admired and feared him, and he was able to implement many of his ambitious multifaceted reforms. Anawrahta died on 11 April 1077 in the outskirts of Pagan. The chronicles hint that his enemies ambushed and killed him and then disposed of the body in such a way that it was never found. The chronicles state that a nat (spirit) appeared in the guise of wild buffalo and gored him to death, and then demons took away his body. Anawrahta

11408-473: The peasants for about 1000 years. During the reign of King Swa Saw Ke of Ava , Nga Nyo from Winzinn village was famous for his wisdom. Later, he became the king's counselor named Winzinn Minnyarzar and later honoured by the king as his counselor concerning his wise knowledge on the statue found on the bank of lake. On the eastern part of Meiktila Lake, King Alaungsithu built the Phaung Daw U Pagoda at

11532-447: The people, and considered the monks, who ate evening meals, drank liquor, presided over animal sacrifices, and enjoyed a form of ius primae noctis , depraved. In Theravada Buddhism he found a substitute to break the power of the clergy. From 1056 onwards, Anawrahta implemented a series of religious reforms throughout his kingdom. His reforms gained steam after his conquest of Thaton, which brought much needed scriptures and clergy from

11656-694: The place where his raft halted during his journey. The pagoda festival is annually held in Myanmar month of Tawthalin . In Meiktila, there are many other famous pagodas such as Shwemyintin Padoda, built by King Thiridamarthawka in the east of the Lake, Nagayon Pagoda by King Narapatisithu and Auntagu Pagoda in the center of the lake. This Myanmar location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Anawrahta Anawrahta Minsaw ( Burmese : အနော်ရထာ မင်းစော , pronounced [ʔənɔ̀jətʰà mɪ́ɰ̃ sɔ́] ; 11 May 1014 – 11 April 1077)

11780-566: The present districts of Mandalay , Meiktila , Myingyan , Kyaukse , Yamethin , Magwe , Sagaing and Katha east of the Irrawaddy, and the riverine portions of Minbu and Pakkoku . To the north lay Nanzhao Kingdom , and to the east still largely uninhibited Shan Hills , to the south and the west the Pyus , and farther south still, the Mons . Anawrahta's first acts as king were to organize his kingdom. He graded every town and village according to

11904-454: The reason for his uprising was that Sokkate had just raised Min Saw's mother as queen. Sokkate is said to have addressed Min Saw as brother-son, which the latter took great offense. Sokkate accepted the challenge to single combat on horseback. On 11 August 1044, Min Saw slew Sokkate at Myinkaba , near Pagan. The king and his horse both fell into the river nearby. Min Saw first offered the throne to his father. The former king, who had long been

12028-558: 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

12152-479: The relative immaturity of early Burmese literacy culture and its indiscriminate receptivity to non-Burman traditions. Indeed, even today's Burmese Buddhism contains many animist, Mahayana Buddhist and Hindu elements. He was the first of the "Temple Builders" of Pagan. His chief monument was the Shwezigon Pagoda. The work began in 1059 but was still unfinished at his death 18 years later. He also built

12276-437: 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,

12400-533: 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

12524-501: 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

12648-488: The route presented Anawrahta with tributes. Still, their allegiance was nominal and he had to establish 43 forts along the eastern foothills of which the following 33 still exist as villages. The 43 forts were established per the royal order issued 7 February 1061 (12th waxing of Tabaung 422 ME). After his first Shan campaign, Anawrahta turned to the Mon -speaking kingdoms in the south, which like Pagan were merely large city-states in reality. He first received submission of

12772-544: The ruler of Pegu (Bago). But the Thaton Kingdom refused to submit. Anawrahta's armies, led by the "Four Paladins", invaded the southern kingdom in early 1057. After a 3-months' siege of the city of Thaton, on 17 May 1057, (11th waxing of Nayon, 419 ME ), the Pagan forces conquered the city. According to Burmese and Mon traditions, Anawrahta's main reason for the invasion was Thaton king Manuha 's refusal to give him

12896-501: The scriptures from Thaton, it was really a demand for tribute. The ruler of Dali shut the gates, and would not give up the relic. After a long pause, two kings exchanged presents and conversed amicably. The Dali ruler gave Anawrahta a jade image which had come into contact with the tooth. In 1069, Vijayabahu I of Ceylon asked Anawrahta for aid against the Chola invaders from Tamil country . Anawrahta sent ships of supplies in aid of Buddhist Ceylon. In 1071, Vijayabahu who had defeated

13020-454: 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

13144-652: The south, Katha in the north, Thazi in the east and Minbu in the west. His first efforts were in then lightly inhabited Shan Hills in the east and the north. He acquired allegiance of Shan Hills in two waves. In the early to mid-1050s, Anawrahta first visited the nearer Shan Hills in the east, and received tribute. He founded the Bawrithat Pagoda in Nyaungshwe . The second wave came in the late 1050s and early 1060s after his march to Nanzhao Kingdom . After his return from Nanzhao expedition, Shan chiefs along

13268-404: The southeastern limit of the Pagan Empire. After the Khmer advance was checked, Anawrahta turned his attention toward Dali. Anawrahta led a campaign against the kingdom in the northeast. (According to a mid-17th century source, he began the march on 16 December 1057.) He advanced to Dali , the capital of Dali Kingdom , ostensibly to seek a Buddha's tooth relic. As in the case of the request for

13392-549: 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

13516-730: 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

13640-454: The time, and subsequently gave birth to Kyiso and Sokkate. Kunhsaw had raised Sokkate and Kyiso as his own sons. After the putsch, Kyiso became king and Sokkate became heir-apparent. They forced their step-father to a local monastery, where Kunhsaw would live as a monk for the remainder of his life. Min Saw grew up in the shadow of his two step-brothers, who viewed Min Saw as their youngest brother and allowed him to retain his princely status at

13764-540: The two dead heroes were now gods who could be worshipped. His forcing of Kyansittha to become fugitive increased his popularity although this action at least was justified for the great paladin, like the Lancelot of the Round Table , was in love with one of his queens. (The queen in love with Kyansittha was Manisanda Khin U. The two young heroes executed were Shwe Hpyin Gyi and Shwe Hpyin Nge , who later entered

13888-505: The vanquished kingdom. He broke the power of the Ari monks first by declaring that his court would no longer heed if people ceased to yield their children to the priests. Those who were in bondage of the priests gained freedom. Some of the monks simply disrobed or followed the new way. However, the majority of the monks who had wielded power for so long would not go away easily. Anawrahta banished them in numbers; many of them fled to Popa Hill and

14012-472: 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

14136-603: 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

14260-571: 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

14384-451: Was born Min Saw ( မင်းစော , IPA: [mɪ́ɰ̃ sɔ́] ) to King Kunhsaw Kyaunghpyu and Queen Myauk Pyinthe on 11 May 1044. The Burmese chronicles do not agree on the dates regarding his life and reign. The table below lists the dates given by the four main chronicles. Among the chronicles, scholarship usually accepts Zata's dates, which are considered to be the most accurate for

14508-651: 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

14632-605: 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

14756-507: 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

14880-449: Was in a state of decay, and increasingly influenced by Hinduism. (The Mon chronicles hint that Manuha was reprehensible for making a compromise with Hinduism. Shin Arahan left Thaton because he was unhappy with the decaying of Buddhism there.) He made Pagan a center of Theravada learning by inviting scholars from the Mon lands, Ceylon as well as from India where a dying Buddhism was being given

15004-738: Was more likely nearer to the eastern Chin Hills. The Tripura State was described as "Patikara" in Maharajoang, an ancient historical book of Bramhadesh. As his kingdom expanded, Anawrahta came into contact with the Dali Kingdom (the erstwhile home of the Burmans ) in the northeast, and in the southeast, the Khmer Empire , the main power of mainland Southeast Asia at the time. He assisted fellow Theravada Buddhist Ceylon in its war against Hindu Chola invaders. Pagan's conquest of Thaton shook

15128-400: 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

15252-497: 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

15376-520: Was the founder of the Pagan Empire . Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone of Upper Burma into the first Burmese Empire that formed the basis of modern-day Burma (Myanmar). Historically verifiable Burmese history begins with his accession to the Pagan throne in 1044. Anawrahta unified the entire Irrawaddy valley for the first time in history, and placed peripheral regions such as

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