Early Settlements, Kingdoms and the Colonial Encounter in Sri Lanka
What this domain tests
This section examines the evidence for Sri Lanka's earliest inhabitants, the formation of the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa kingdoms, and the sequence of Portuguese, Dutch and British intrusion. Questions ask you to distinguish archaeological evidence from chronicle tradition and to place events in the correct century.
Core sequence and concepts
- Prehistory: Balangoda Man fossils and microliths from caves such as Batadombalena and Fa Hien Lena show hunting-gathering communities; the Horton Plains evidence indicates early agriculture.
- Protohistoric Iron Age: megalithic burial sites such as Ibbankatuwa and Pomparippu show iron technology, pottery and exchange before written records.
- Anuradhapura: the Mahavamsa dates Vijaya's arrival to 543 BCE, but this is dynastic tradition, not excavated fact. Anuradhapura developed as a major settlement and capital, with Buddhism introduced in the 3rd century BCE under Devanampiya Tissa and Mahinda.
- Polonnaruwa: rose after the Chola conquest of 993–1070 and reached its height under Parakramabahu I; Sigiriya is associated with Kashyapa I (5th century CE).
- Colonial sequence: Portuguese arrive 1505 and control maritime Kotte; Dutch take the coast in 1658; the British take the maritime provinces in 1796 and the Kandyan kingdom by the Kandyan Convention of 1815.
Worked example
A source says a king 'built the great tank so that the people might not hunger.' The question asks what the inscription shows. Reasoning: the statement is a royal eulogy, so it reveals an ideal of kingship and public works rather than proving the tank's dimensions; corroborate with archaeology before accepting the claim.
Traps that cost marks
Treating the Vijaya legend as verified history; reversing the Portuguese and Dutch periods; calling 1815 a military conquest rather than a treaty with Kandyan chiefs; ignoring that 'Ceylon' and 'Sri Lanka' refer to the same state at different dates.