Ancient and Medieval Sri Lankan Kingdoms and Society
This domain examines political centres, irrigation, religion, land tenure and social organisation from Anuraphapura through Polonnaruwa to the regional kingdoms of Dambadeniya, Gampola, Kotte, Jaffna and Kandy.
Core concepts
- Rajarata irrigation depended on tanks, canals and the bisokotuwa (valve pit). Parakramabahu I's works are associated with the maxim that not a drop of water should reach the sea unused.
- Major monasteries - Mahavihara, Abhayagiri and Jetavana - were economic and political actors, not only religious institutions.
- Land was held as nindagam, viharagam and devalagam, with obligations such as rajakariya (service tenure).
- Polonnaruwa followed the Chola conquest of 1017; after 1236, centres shifted southwest and to Kandy. Regional kingdoms coexisted, so 'the island' was rarely a single polity.
Worked example
An inscription records a royal grant of land and labour to a temple. Reasoning: identify the donor, the land category, the immunities granted and the witnesses. The grant shows royal legitimation through religion, temple economic power and the binding of labour - not simply royal generosity. Compare with a later Kandyan tenure document to see continuity and change.
Traps
- Listing kings without explaining causation.
- Applying the term 'feudal' as if Sri Lankan tenure exactly matched European feudalism.
- Assuming Anuradhapura's collapse had one cause; irrigation failure, invasion and trade shifts interacted.
- Ignoring the Jaffna kingdom and regional polities.
- Treating monastic wealth as separate from politics.