History of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka was populated about 2500 years ago by settlers from northern India and Hindus/Tamils from southern India. The Sinhalese joined Buddhism around 200 BC, which has since been very formative for the sense of unity of the ethnic group living in the south of the country. We have summarized here which parts of history are still reflected in cultural monuments and historic cities.
The Buddhist high culture of Sri Lanka can be experienced most intensively in the cultural triangle between Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandy!
Buddhist Anuradhapura
As early as 160 BC, Anuradhapura – located in the central hill country of Sri Lanka – rose to become the most powerful kingdom on the island. At the same time, Sri Lanka was an important hub for the trading powers of the world at that time due to its valuable spices: Romans, Indians and Persians. For more than a thousand years, Anuradhapura, whose remains are still a must-see for cultural travelers today, was able to assert itself as a center of power.
Hindu Polonnaruwa
In several wars, Anuradhapura in the Golden Triangle was conquered by the South Indian Chola kings in 1017. Polonnaruwa became the new capital of the now Hindu empire.
The former Buddhist rulers were forced into exile, the population was largely exploited, so that in 1255 only a pile of shards remained of the formerly powerful empire.
From the 13th to the 15th century, several small principalities were established in Sri Lanka. In the highlands, these were Buddhist. In the coastal towns, Islam was predominant due to the Arab traders who settled here. In the north, the empire of the Hindu Tamils grew stronger around Jaffna.
Portuguese invasion and struggle for spice supremacy
Around 1500, the Portuguese Vasca da Gama repeatedly set out on expeditions and conquests into the South Asian region. The Portuguese king tried with all his might to dispute the Persians' monopoly on the spice and soon achieved his goal: in 1509, Portugal conquered parts of India, and in 1517 the first Portuguese fort was built on Sri Lankan soil. The Portuguese had an easy time taking power, after all, Sri Lanka was fragmented into many inpidual parts, whose principalities were not exactly at the height of their power. Only Kandy was able to assert itself as an independent kingdom.
With Dutch help against Portugal
The Sinhalese asked the Dutch, who had settled in Indonesia, for help against the Portuguese colonialists. They sensed new opportunities for their own spice trade and did not need to be asked for long. Between 1638 and 1658, all ports gradually fell to the Dutch, and in 1765 the last Sinhalese bastion, the Kingdom of Kandy, was as good as disempowered. Through tariffs and the expansion of plantation cultivation to include coffee, sugar and cotton, the Dutch were able to make high profits from their colony – at the expense of the local population.
From Dutch rule to British rule
As a result of the French Revolution, the Netherlands had become dependent on France. This worried the British, who had been in a power struggle with the French for years, more and more and finally prompted them to launch a campaign of conquest on Sri Lankan territory. In 1796, Ceylon fell to the British.
The Kingdom of Kandy falls
In 1815, the British colonial rulers also conquered the still independent Kingdom of Kandy, which led to numerous violent uprisings.
British colonization as a cause of civil war
In the decades that followed, the British invested massively in road construction and the expansion of the railway. Plantations gained in importance, especially rubber and tea brought Ceylon sensational profits. Workers were needed everywhere, which led to a massive influx of South Indian Tamils, whose descendants still represent an important population group in Sri Lanka today. Under the British crown, the Tamil minority enjoyed a certain supremacy – one of the reasons for the later civil war.
A lot of exports – low social responsibility
Despite high export profits, the supply of the local population was neglected, hunger was the order of the day in the lower classes of the population. At the same time, since the disempowerment of the Kingdom of Kandy, the Buddhist population has increasingly reflected on the roots of its cultural identity, which had lost importance under the Christian leadership.
Struggle for independence and degradation of the Tamils
Exposed to this social pressure, the British colonial rulers gradually gave in to the demand for Ceylon's independence from 1920 to 1948. At the time of the Second World War, the joint forces concentrated on putting the Japanese aggressors to flight. In 1948 it was sealed – Ceylon was independent.
In a populist decision and out of fear of dominance by the hitherto well-off Tamils, the first prime minister denied the citizenship of the Indian Tamils in the highlands. In 1964, it was even decided that two-thirds of Indian Tamils should be expelled from the country.
Favoring the Sinhalese and civil wars
In state enterprises and universities, Sinhalese were preferred in the 50s and 60s. With the new constitution in 1972, Sinhalese Buddhism was also anchored in Sri Lankan national feeling. All this led to the displeasure of the Tamils living in the north of the country, who became increasingly radicalized in the 1980s. In 1976, Tamil youths under the leadership of Velupillai Prabhakaran founded the radical LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), which also made international headlines in the following years due to numerous assassination attempts.
In July 1983, the situation escalated after an LTTE attack on a military building. Subsequently, moderate Tamils were also persecuted, attacked and kidnapped by the Sinhalese.
The Indian government's attempt to bring peace to Sri Lanka with its troops sent in 1987 backfired. The resentment against the Indian troops and the Sri Lankan government, which cooperates with India, increased in intensity.
The years from 1987 to 1993 were marked by bloody attacks by the Tamil LTTE and the Sri Lankan Marxists. A bitter civil war broke out that was to keep the country in check for 26 years. Peace has prevailed in Sri Lanka since 2009. The LTTE has been smashed, its leader killed.
