The History of Sri LankaSri Lanka--an island nation located in the Indian Ocean-- has a population of approximately 19 million. Despite its diminuative size, however, Sri Lanka has a long and complex history. The diversity of its people has led to ethnic, religious, and political conflicts that continue to exist. Peebles describes the experiences of the country, from its earliest settlers, to civil war, to its current state, allowing readers to better understand this often misunderstood country. With an emphasis on the 20th century, chapters discuss the economy, religion, culture, and government of Sri Lanka. A timeline outlines key events in Sri Lankan history, as well as biographies of notable people, and a bibliographic essay. |
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Contents
1 The Settings | 1 |
Physical Map of Sri Lanka | 4 |
2 Ancient Civilization to 1200 | 13 |
Ancient Sri Lanka | 16 |
3 Abandonment of the Dry Zone and the Kandyan Kingdom | 27 |
4 Portuguese Dutch and British Colonialism | 41 |
Colonial Sri Lanka | 54 |
5 A Colonial Society | 55 |
9 Triumph of Sinhalese Nationalism | 109 |
10 Authoritarianism and Ethnic Conflict | 123 |
11 Economic Liberalization and the Quality of Life | 137 |
Modern Sri Lanka | 141 |
12 Civil War | 151 |
13 Searching for Peace | 165 |
Notable People in the History of Sri Lanka | 181 |
Sri Lankan Sovereigns Dutch and British Governors Prime Ministers and Presidents | 189 |
6 A Plantation Economy | 69 |
7 Sinhalese and Tamil Nationalism | 83 |
8 The Coming of Independence | 95 |
Provinces and Districts | 107 |
Glossary | 195 |
199 | |
205 | |
Common terms and phrases
administration Anglicized elite Anura¯dhapura became benefits bhikkhus Bhuvanekaba¯hu British Buddhist Burghers caste cease-fire century Ceylon Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga Christian civil coast coffee Col.as Colombo colonial conflict constitution created cultivation districts Dry Zone Dutch Eastern Province economic Eelam election English EPRLF ethnic export first forces Governor govigama increased influence IPKF irrigation island ITAK J. R. Jayewardene Jaffna Jayewardene Kandy Kandyan Kingdom kara¯va king Kot.t.e Kumaratunga land leaders Low Country Sinhalese LSSP LTTE Ma¯gha Maha¯vamsa Mahinda Rajapakse ment military missionaries mudaliya¯rs Muslim National nationalists negotiated office officers official language Pan.d.yas Para¯kramaba¯hu Parliament parties People’s percent plantation laborers Plantation Tamils Pol.onnaruva political politicians population Portuguese Premadasa President prime minister ra¯jaka¯riya Ranil Wickremasinghe reforms rice rulers S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike sala¯gama sangha schools seats Senanayake Sinhala Sinhalese Sinhalese and Tamil Sinhalese-Buddhist SLFP south India Sri Lanka Tamil-speaking trade TULF village violence vote Wickremasinghe