Ancient Kingdoms

Early Migration:

The Ancient Period About 2600 years ago, migrants from northern India, the ancestors of today’s Sinhalese people, arrived in Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese were among the earliest people outside northern India to adopt the Buddhist religion, which they did around 300 B.C.E. The Buddhist kingdoms of Sri Lanka were related by language and culture to the classic states of northern India, such as the Maurya (324-187 B.C.E.) and Gupta (c. 320-c.550 C.E.) empires, and were in contact with them through diplomacy and trade.

Prosperous Growth:

Early Sri Lanka was primarily agricultural. The Sri Lankan Buddhist kingdoms flourished by building and controlling irrigation networks on the plains in the northern part of the island. One ancient capital, Anuradhapura, was home to some of the largest and most impressive Buddhist temples of southern Asia. The ruler of another Sri Lankan state, King Kasyapa (r. 473-491) made his capital at Sigiriya, a natural rock fortress rising a sheer 500 feet above the surrounding plain, on top of which the king built an elegant city of palaces and gardens. Trade began to assume importance in the economy. Early trade centered on spices and precious stones, and soon attracted Arab, Persian, and Chinese merchants.

The Three Kingdoms:

Settlements gradually moved southwards across the island mainly due to the threat of invasions from Southern India. The center of Sinhalese royal power drifted steadily toward the southern and western parts of the island to found the Kingdom of Kotte, and the separate Sinhalese Kingdom of Kandy rose to power in the central hills. Meanwhile, a Tamil kingdom was established on the Jaffa Peninsula, in the northern part of Sri Lanka, by the early 13th century. The division of Sri Lanka into a Tamil north and east, and a Sinhalese south, center and west, is thus not a new phenomenon of the 20th century, but a situation that has existed for hundreds of years.