The Origins And History Of Sri Lanka

The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years and possibly even as far back as 500,000 years. The era spans the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala (named after the Chinese traveller monk Faxian), which dates back to 37,000 BP, Batadombalena (28,500 BP) and Belilena (12,000 BP) are the most important. In these caves, archaeologists have found the remains of anatomically modern humans which they have named Balangoda Man, and other evidence suggesting that they may have engaged in agriculture and kept domestic dogs for driving game.
One of the first written references to the island is found in the Indian epic Ramayana, which provides details of a kingdom named Lanka that was created by the divine sculptor Vishwakarma for Kubera, the Lord of Wealth. It is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravana's airport.
Early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous people numbering approximately 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka. The 19th-century Irish historian James Emerson Tennent theorized that Galle, a city in southern Sri Lanka, was the ancient seaport of Tarshish from which King Solomon is said to have drawn ivory, peacocks, and other valuables.
Ancient
According to the Mahāvamsa, a chronicle written in Pāḷi, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and Nagas. but Sinhalese history traditionally starts in 543 BCE with the arrival of Prince Vijaya or Singha, a semi-legendary prince who sailed with 700 followers on eight ships 860 nautical miles to Sri Lanka from the southwest coast of what is now the Rarh region of West Bengal. He established the Kingdom of Tambapanni, near modern day Mannar. Vijaya (Singha) is the first of the approximately 189 native monarchs of Sri Lanka described in chronicles such as the Dipavamsa, Mahāvaṃsa, Cūḷavaṃsa, and Rājāvaliya (see list of Sinhalese monarchs). Sri Lankan dynastic history ended in 1815 CE, when the land became part of the British Empire.
Anuradhapura
The Anuradhapura Kingdom was established in 380 BCE during the reign of Pandukabhaya of Anuradhapura. Thereafter, Anuradhapura served as the capital city of the country for nearly 1400 years. Ancient Sri Lankans excelled at building certain types of structures (constructions) such as tanks, dagobas and palaces. Society underwent a major transformation during the reign of Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura, with the arrival of Buddhism from India. In 250 BC, Mahinda, the son of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka and a bhikkhu (Buddhist monk) arrived in Mihintale, carrying the message of Buddhism. His mission won over the monarch, who embraced the faith and propagated it throughout the Sinhalese population. Succeeding kingdoms of Sri Lanka would maintain a large number of Buddhist schools and monasteries and support the propagation of Buddhism into other countries in Southeast Asia. Sri Lankan Bhikkhus studied in India's famous ancient Buddhist University of Nalanda, which was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khilji. It is probable that many of the scriptures from Nalanda are preserved in Sri Lanka's many monasteries and that the written form of the Tipitaka, including Sinhalese Buddhist literature, were part of the University of Nalanda. In 245 BC, bhikkhuni Sangamitta arrived with the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree, which is considered to be a sapling from the historical Bodhi tree under which Gautama Buddha became enlightened. It is considered the oldest human-planted tree (with a continuous historical record) in the world. (Bodhivamsa)

[@fun182]

just awesome & informative video.....thanks

[@vijaychand1980]

Thanks for the video. I love Sri Lanka very beautiful people.and lovely fruits and food.

[@naturerain4550]

thanks

[@maybe4500]

Vijay Chand thank you

[@dsijj123]

adhil kamal thanks

[@srilankanhistory8004]

If you interest in srilanka .watch us

[@vihanjayawardhane6164]

These words are taken straight from Wikipedia!

[@Roolooth]

And the audio is a text to speech robotic voice.

[@dsijj123]

Then where tamil blogs?. Websites?

[@ruwanpiyathilake2031]

Thanks

[@rayan6485]

Though it is not a 100 percent correct documentary.Thank making documentary abt my country.

[@rashithhansika129]

Oh ya

[@rojaweerasekara5668]

I think your own theory contradict with your own statement , because rawana and other people live in sri lanka cannot be descendants from singhalease people or vijaya and his ritinue because ramayana written long before viaya's arrival or at lease that period refers long time before vijaya's time. Even though ramayanaya is a epic story at lease it gives strong evidence that there were some orginal inhabitance live in this land other than veddah people or before vijaya's arrival.

[@nipunmadhurage7899]

Goog Mark

[@rojaweerasekara5668]

The history of our own country provides an added interest and inspiration to all of us. But if you look at prince vijaya was not a person with a good character.And the Sinhabahu who was the father of vijaya was born to a tribal man call singha. ( According to another tale it was a Lion , that can be ruled out easyly.) After Prince vijaya stablished his kingdom He brought a princess from madurai along with another 700 madurai woman . That was from south india. That make me believe our race is a mixed race. I would like to make a correction if you agree with me, orginal inhabitants who were in sri lanka were not the only veddah people, because Brahmin incription with archiological finding suggest that before 9th century BC some other people live here.

[@charlesanton3226]

wow someone with a very sensible analysis. To be honest if everyone learns the true history of sri lanka there wouldnt be any conflicts(talking about both sinhalese and tamils). Really proud of you Roja weerasekara :).

[@arunakumara9594]

Tamil came to srilanka from tamilnadu

[@mohamedanwarmohamedsinaam6845]

Yaksha and naga Nagas were idol worshippers still u can see naga kovil, What about yaksha, yaksha were believed to worshippers of spirit.why they were called spirit worshippers because the didn't worshipped to statues. These yaksha all of sudden desappeared from ceylon history. Yaksha was believing onnes god, they believed their should be super power, that's why they prayed to that super power without statue, because no one has seen the super power. When this yaksha tribes heard about Islam, they must have embraced and became Muslim. Why mahavamsa not talk about Islam, because mahavamsa was written in 5th century Ad, Islam spread in last period of 6th century. There should be some link between yaksha and yonaka (present day muslim ). This could be the reason why yaksha disappeared from ceylon history.

[@arunakumara9594]

@@mohamedanwarmohamedsinaam6845 ...are you mad🤮🤮🤮🤮...even u don't know Wich century Muslim came to India😁😁😁😁

[@mohamedanwarmohamedsinaam6845]

@@arunakumara9594 My dear brother what I meant. All muslims not came from arabia to India or sri lanka, only islam came (it means the people who lived in sri Lanka or India embraced islam like when European came to sri lanka they brought christianity along with them and some of our people embraced christianity and became Christian. In the case of Islam spread in Sri lanka, this yonaka people were trading community had a trade relationship with arabs as well.when Islam spread in arabia in the 6th century , these arab traders became Muslim and. When they came srilanka for business and met yonaka people who Live in sri lanka they must have told them about Islam and these yonaka people accept and became muslim. This yonaka tribes were very few. And majority of them were traders. In mahavamsa it is mentioned king panducabaya given land to yonas, when he was building anuradhapura. But still some incident happened in Sri Lanka linked to arabs. Like in akurana arab Medic helped king during illness and he has given land and women to make them settle.exactly I dont know which king he was. You can observe this yonaka community lives every corner of sri lanka. Yonaka live in south middle of sinhalese village. In north yonaka lives in middle of Tamil village. We were living from long period of time and we helped our past king in every occasion. You must have heard about Portuguese went king's palace first time taking more than a day , but actual trip was very short. Who has taken these Portuguese, he was one of yonaka. Final thing is what is we all are sri lankan and we should do our best to our motherland. I love my motherland sri lanka.

[@KeithR2002]

thank you for this. im ceylonese . i see that you are turkish. i love turkic people and i am very into turanic history

[@KeithR2002]

oh this is ripped from wikiedia

[@ej4458]

ceylonese newei oi. Our people didn't call each other ceylon its Sri Lanka

[@KeithR2002]

@@ej4458 we didnt call eachother sri lankan either. Nationalism is a fake cause drop it

[@lasithapiyumal3371]

proud of sri lanka

[@TheTharinduTube]

Seriously? Couldn't they find an actual human to recite the script?

[@nicolegavigan5685]

I stopped after two minutes. Can’t listen to the robot voice. Too bad, would’ve loved to see the video!

[@MrCMVikram]

It would be good if you learnt how to pronounce the names properly so that we can relate to what you are saying.

[@dfoolonthehill]

Good heavens! Doesn't the narrator know how to pause when she narrates?

[@vidthiafraser8824]

automation problems

[@miyamaeguab32]

Hi

[@toddparker2377]

Hey i lived in Sri Lanka, my wife is Sri Lankan. We both had a horrible time trying to understand what the computer voice was saying. Could it be possible for you to re-release this video with an actual human voice instead of the computer voice used? Also of what we could understand there were facts presented that are just wrong. In the future please consult or use Sri Lankan historians & use an actual human talking. Thank u

[@themeltingpot5668]

The information in the video are pretty inaccurate at this time of our time. the author needs to research and edit as it is good for the KZbin community. Facts are known to be fairly different from what is stated in this video at this time. Accordingly please research further before believing what is stated in this video.

[@pathumdunukewaththa363]

Empiror of Ravana is the father of Sri Lanka.

[@sachinghare5345]

No Ravana is son of pulushya rishi in bharata

[@deshweerakoon5681]

Without fossil evidence we cant say anything

[@valhallaawaits4036]

@@sachinghare5345 yes he was son of Rishi Pulastya, Ravana overthrew his brother Kubera and became king.

[@arunakumara9594]

Arriving Vijaya only one incident ..that is not a beginning of sinhaless...

[@RajaGanesha-sj1ip]

@papa joe stalin of Stalinist stanistan Sinhalese are Descendants of Bengalis

[@arunakumara9594]

@papa joe stalin of Stalinist stanistan ..Evan you don't know what is that meaning of sinhaless and how exit that name😁

[@arunakumara9594]

@@RajaGanesha-sj1ip ... before 948 there was no county named as bangaladesh...or Pakistan..all were called as barath..Hindustan..or India. arriving vijya only one incident..that is not begining of sinhaless...

[@RajaGanesha-sj1ip]

@@arunakumara9594 But the history of Sinhalese can't be dictated and manipulated by Tamil people ;) Sinhalese and Bengalis know about the real story.

[@RajaGanesha-sj1ip]

@@arunakumara9594 actually u are wrong lol. Before 948 this region was known as Gaur,Vanga,Tamralipta, Karnasuvarna and Pundravardhana. The 5 Mahajanapadas of Bengal. So Bengal did exist. It comes from the ancient word "Vanga".

[@guruhulanalvappillai]

After arrival of king vijaya and his friends 700 friends from orissha after ... When thevanambiyathissan ruled the #buddism came to #srilanka by king #asokas son mahindan and sangamittai came after Tevanampiyathissan converted into buddism and his people also changed into buddism

[@prettytse7762]

NOT VERY ACCURATE////

[@historiadegauda3740]

Vijay Singha had his ancestry from Bengal.There are many similarities between Bengali and Singhali Language

[@anandaluxman5076]

The tourist who made this video is harmful for Sri Lankan's'peace ful life for all Sri Lankan's now Sri Lankan's try to turn the page, please help them And one thing all Sri Lankan 's should be know our old history could not bring the rice for our brothers and sisters. Thing about it.

[@pimlico_qld]

India and Sri Lanka has so much common in terms of History,Language,religion and of course food. Indian government whole heartedly supported Lankan struggle against armed militancy in its north and establishment of rule of law. It is disheartening to hear about Lankan outreach towards Pakistan who is actively funding religious armed militancy in our North. My understanding of outreach means instead of unequivocally supporting Indian stand on Kashmir, past and current Srilankan regimes are busy exploring new avenues of friendship with Pakistan. It's military engagements with China also do not explain any logic as China does not share boundary with Lanka and India and Sri Lanka were never at war. Hope this changes.

[@Mahesh-sf7dg]

No really. First off, India has more of Hinduism as a religion and Sri Lanka has more Buddhism. Also no, India's government hasn't done much for Sri Lanka. China on the other hand, is much closer with Sri Lanka as they have helped Sri Lanka much. But I don't see why Sri Lanka can't be friends with both countries.

[@Mahesh-sf7dg]

+Yanushka Gunawardena Right.. Tamils are more like South Indians than Sinhalese from what I've gathered. Their language is too.. And don't forget that Buddhism was born in North India as well, although now India has more Hinduism and the Tamil/ Muslim population and Sri Lanka has mostly Buddhist population. From what I know, there were people in Sri Lanka already, before the Indians came and it's most likely that original Sri Lankans were mostly mixed with Indians and that's why Sinhalese have a more bronze-like skin colour. But there are also Sinhalese people who are not so mixed with Indians and have the original pure Sri Lankan blood hence being darker than other Sinhalese. But Tamil people are much darker in complexion than the average Sinhales and their language is more similar to South Indian language, Sinhala language being much similar to *Sanskrit language* as well which is rarely used now (this coming from a foreigner who've studied their language), and South Indians are also mostly Tamils so obviously Tamil people are more like South Indians. But it is possible that Sinhalese have North- *east* Indian genetics too..

[@velu1671]

Yanushka Gunawardena # It is funny sinhalese are northindian they are from kalinga Oria region from india. all indians are tamil origin mother of all language and all the languages flowering from .color completion due to mutation on gene by geography. Tamil are ancient cacasoid spread by pandiya through ancient greece and Spanish. Greeks are from today tribes from tamilnadu.

[@velu1671]

Yanushka Gunawardena # you don't know genetic markers it can mutate by geography and weather color is not by african issue

[@velu1671]

Yanushka Gunawardena # tamil is global language and adapt every ethnicity in ancient times like english present era.

[@roshanfonseka7506]

I didn't understand shit, because of the accent.

[@dinanarunthavanathan2552]

Long live tamil people

[@Thetunnelvision]

Illiterate fathers

[@bhutia8695]

Buddhist are the native of sri lankna , now tamilian (indian) hav established their goverment ,in the name of help

[@akalankawickramatilake9019]

Anvi Rose Native Buddhists did not came from any ware. Native Yakkas, Nagas, Devas, Rakshas accepted buddhism.

[@velu1671]

Yanushka Gunawardena # don't tell lies I lived in canada I am more fair than all srilankan and my kids too.many of tamil here more fair than sinhalese here I have lot of black sinhala friends here.and even in Scandinavian tamils are more fair complection coming generation.

[@velu1671]

even l lived in colombo long time majority sinhalese lives in lower land black like vedas.in south in india people color depending on geography malayalam, kovai canal people and seem are fair.l lived many parts of india including northindia many indians are blacks

[@raechalpriya5458]

Yanushka Gunawardena in general Sri Lankan ancestry is from parts of orissa and West Bengal tribes and majority of them have dark skin and wide forehead.Tamils are dark as well but lighter compared to your gene,they have very fair and lighter skin like Caucasian as well and purely the melanin is as.per the climatic conditions.

[@uthpalaherath8501]

Velmurugan Kandasamy ha ha😂😂😂😂 come here I show u our skin colour😂😂