Sri Lanka, a land with a strange irresistible charm

On 4 February 1948, the country gained independence after 133 years of British rule of the whole island

- Pic by Lasantha Kumara

By D.C. Ranatunga

Sri Lanka celebrates its 68th Independence anniversary today, with religious observances, a march past by the armed forces, the President’s address to the nation and a cultural pageant. 

On 4 February 1948, the country gained independence after 133 years of British rule of the whole island after the British took over the Kandyan kingdom in 1815 and started administering the entire country. It was another 310 years earlier that the Portuguese arrived and got a foothold in the maritime provinces. That was in 1505.The Portuguese as well as the Dutch and the British who followed them administered these areas from Colombo.

Sri Lanka has a fascinating history dating back to around 500 BC. During this long period, the country has gone through numerous forms of administration from monarchical rule and foreign regimes to democratic forms of government. Since gaining independence, we have experienced a constitutional administration based on the Westminster model followed by a Republican form of government and Executive Presidency. And soon there will be changes to the present system.

Over centuries Sri Lanka, though a dot in the Indian Ocean has been admired, well-liked and taken note of.

In the introduction to ‘History of Ceylon’ (1900), renowned scholar/Kingswood College Principal L.E. Blaze described Sri Lanka thus: No island in the world has been so long famous, and famous among so many different nations. It is the sacred land of three religions. The Hindus reverence it as the place where Rama, once honoured as one of their princes, and then worshipped as one of their gods, fought to get back his bride who had been cruelly carried away from her home in India. The Muhammadans declare that when Adam and Eve were driven out of Paradise, Ceylon was given to them to console them for their loss. The Buddhists regard it as the centre of their faith, the land which the Buddha loved, which he is said to have thrice visited. The fertility of its soil, the loveliness of its scenery, its delightful climate, its valuable commercial products, the wealth that lay hidden in the heart of its mountains and in the sands of its rivers – all these advantages united to give the land a strange, irresistible charm that was felt by every traveller who was so fortunate as to visit its shores.

To the Brahman this land was “Lanka the Shining Land”; to the Siamese “Tewa Lanka – Lanka the Divine”; to the Indian Buddhist “The Pearl Upon the Brow of India”; to the Chinese, “The Island of Jewels”; to the Greek and the Persian, “The Land of the Hyacinth and the Ruby”; to the Tamil of South India, “I’lam’ – The Land of Gold”; to the Sinhalese, “The Island of the Lion-Race”; to the modern European, “The Eden of the Eastern Wave”… It was first known in Europe as ‘Taprobane,’ a name which the English poet Milton his preserved in one of his poems. In Arabic writings it is spoken of as ‘Serendib’.

To Sir Emerson Tennent, “there is no island in the world, Great Britain itself not excepted, that has attracted the attention of authors in so many distant ages and so many different countries as Ceylon. There is no modern nation in ancient or modern times possessed of a language and literature, the writers of which have not at some time made it their theme. Its aspect, its religion, its antiquities, and productions, have been described as well by the classic Greeks, as by those of the Lower Empire; by the Romans; by the writers of China, Burmah, India and Kashmir; by the geographers of Arabia and Persia; by the medieval voyagers of Italy and France; by the annalists of Portugal and Spain; by the merchant adventurers of Holland, and by the travellers and topographers of Great Britain.” (‘Ceylon,’ 1859)

He wrote that from whatever direction it is approached, Ceylon “unfolds a scene of loveliness and grandeur unsurpassed, if it be rivalled, by any land in the universe”.

Rule by Sinhalese kings

Looking back at the beginnings, the chronicles Mahavansa and Culavansa mention 185 kings starting with Vijaya, who landed in Tambapanni around the sixth century before Christ. He ruled from Tammanna-gama and his successors had moved to Upatissa-gama until Pandukabhaya chose Anuradha-gama as the seat of his government. It emerged into political prominence and was to remain the seat of Sinhalese royalty for over a millennium. From’ gama’ (village’ it became a ‘pura’ (city) and over the years Anuradhapura was adorned with numerous monuments of great architectural magnificence and religious sanctity becoming a centre of art and religion which won fame beyond the country’s shores.

It has been confirmed that the ancestors of the Sinhalese migrated from a region in North India through the inscriptions found in various parts of the country dating from the 3rd century BC. Historians Nicholas and Pranavitana start recording dates of kings in the ‘History of Ceylon’ (University of Ceylon publication-1961) only from the 3rd century starting with Devanampiya Tissa (250-10 BC).

Except for Kasyapa I (477-495 AC) who ruled from Sigiriya and three others from Polonnaruva, others kept Anuradhapura as the capital until the Colas started to rule the Raja Rata, the kingdom with Anuradhapura as capital. Two other principalities – Rohana (Ruhuna) in the South and Maya in King from Viyabahu I (1055-1110 AC) to Magha from Kalinga (1215-36 AC) had Polonnaruwa as the capital. Vijayabahu III, who gained the kingdom from Magha, ruled from Dambadeniya. So did three of his successors. The kings who followed reigned from Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala and Gampola until Kotte became the capital under Parakramabahu VI (1412-67). Meanwhile, rival kings starting with Mayadunne (1521-81) ruled from Sitavaka. 

The Kandyan kingdom was established in the 15th century with Senasammata Vikramabahu becoming king in 1469. Eleven rulers who followed him succeeded in keeping the Sinhalese flag flying amidst the inroads made by European powers with the last, Sri Vickrma Rajasinghe (1798-1815) having to surrender due to intrigue among the Kandyan chieftains who plotted with the British.