GCE A/L History study plan

Build a dated timeline of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa rulers, placing irrigation works (tanks, canals) against each reign.

Explain in writing how the Mahavamsa, Dipavamsa and Culavamsa were composed and what source problems each presents.

Compare three interpretations of the Sigiriya site (palace, monastery, fortified refuge) and state which evidence each rests on.

Map the main trade routes and ports (Mantai, Gokanna, Mahatittha) and link them to early settlement and Buddhism's arrival.

Summarize the administrative and social structure of the Kandyan kingdom (land tenure, caste service, the Diyawadana Nilame's role).

Trace the sequence of Portuguese, Dutch and British territorial acquisition, naming the treaties and battles that changed control.

Explain how the Dutch VOC monopoly on cinnamon worked and who bore its costs.

Assess how the 1815 Kandyan Convention's clauses were later reinterpreted by the British.

Explain the economic and social effects of the coffee-to-tea transition, including the role of Tamil labour recruitment.

Describe the 1848 Matale Rebellion's causes and consequences and evaluate how historians have framed it.

Analyze the Colebrooke-Cameron reforms: what changed in administration, courts and education, and what did not.

Evaluate how Buddhist and Hindu revival movements responded to Christian missionary schooling.

Sequence the constitutional reforms from 1910 to 1947 and identify what each granted.

Compare the political strategies of the Ceylon National Congress, the Jaffna Youth Congress and the Sinhala Maha Sabha.

Explain the causes and consequences of the 1915 riots and the 1920-1923 constitutional agitation.

Assess the Donoughmore Commission's contribution to universal suffrage and its limits.

Distinguish primary from secondary sources and apply internal and external criticism to two contrasting accounts of one event.

Compare how Marxist, Annales and nationalist historiographies would explain the same event.

Outline the political and legal institutions of one ancient Near Eastern civilization and one Indus or Chinese civilization.

Identify the main evidence types (epigraphy, archaeology, coins, texts) used for each civilization and their limits.

Compare the causes, phases and outcomes of the French and Industrial revolutions using at least three analytical categories.

Explain the alliance system and the July Crisis as causes of the First World War, and evaluate the Treaty of Versailles' terms.

Trace the interwar breakdown: reparations, Depression, appeasement and the road to 1939.

Assess the Second World War's consequences for European power and the emergence of the superpowers.

Map the decolonization of South Asia, Africa and Southeast Asia, distinguishing negotiated from armed transitions.

Explain the Cold War's effect on decolonization, citing at least two case studies.

Evaluate Sri Lanka's post-1948 politics: citizenship acts, the 1956 language policy and their long-term effects.

Trace the shift from the Westminster model to the 1972 and 1978 constitutions.

Answer two full past-paper-style essays under timed conditions and self-mark against a rubric.

Revise weak areas flagged by earlier self-tests, prioritizing domains 3, 4, 5 and 7.

Practice structuring source-based answers: identify provenance, purpose and bias before writing.

Compile a one-page list of key dates, treaties and names for final review.