SRI
LANKA
HISTORY
Sri Lanka's first settlers were the nomadic Veddahs.
Legend relates them to the
Yakkhas, demons conquered by the Sinhalese around
the 5th or 6th century BC. A number of Sinhalese kingdoms,
including Anuradhapura in the north, took root across
the island during the 4th century BC. Buddhism was
introduced by Mahinda, son of the Indian Mauryan emperor
Ashoka, in the 3rd century BC, and it quickly became
the established religion and the focus of a strong
nationalism. Anuradhapura was not impregnable. Repeated
invasions from southern India over the next 1000 years
or so left Sri Lanka in an ongoing state of dynastic
power struggles.
The Portuguese arrived in Colombo in 1505 and gained
a monopoly on the invaluable spice trade. By 1597,
the colonisers had taken formal control of the island.
However, they failed to destabilise the powerful Sinhalese
kingdom in Kandy which, in 1658, enlisted Dutch help
to expel the Portuguese. The Dutch were more interested
in trade and profits than religion or land, and only
half-heartedly resisted when the British arrived in
1796. The British wore down Kandy's sovereignty and
in 1815 became the first European power to rule the
entire island. Coffee, tea, cinnamon and coconut plantations
(worked by Tamil labourers imported from southern
India) sprang up and English was introduced as the
national language.
Then known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka finally achieved
full independence as a dominion within the British
Commonwealth in 1948. The government adopted socialist
policies, strengthening social services and maintaining
a strong economy, but also disenfranchising 800,000
Tamil plantation workers. Sinhalese nationalist Solomon
Bandaranaike was elected in 1956 and pushed a 'Sinhala
Only' law through parliament, making Sinhalese the
national language and effectively reserving the best
jobs for the Sinhalese. This was partly instituted
to address the imbalance of power between the majority
Sinhalese and the English-speaking, Christian-educated
elite. However, it enraged the Tamil Hindu minority
who began pressing for a federal system of government
with greater autonomy in the main Tamil areas in the
north and east.
The country's ethnic and religious conflicts date
from this time and they escalated
as competition for wealth and work intensified. In
1972 the constitution formally made Buddhism the state's
primary religion, and Tamil places at university were
reduced. Subsequent civil unrest resulted in a prolonged
ethnic conflict between the Tamil rebels and the majority
Sinhalese Government. The Sri Lankan government oscillated
between political solutions and military offensives,
neither of which ended the massacres and terrorism.
Peace talks brokered by a Norwegian delegation coupled
with the resolve of the population from both sections
of the community to achieve peace as the only path
to prosperity has resulted in meaningful dialogue
between the Government and the Tamil Tigers. Tourists
are flocking back to Sri Lanka, the Pearl of the Orient,
than they have been in a very long time.
