Fifty years ago, on 22 May 1972, Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka, severing its 157 years old link with the British crown and 2500 old monarchical system, one of the oldest in the world. Even as the people of Sri Lanka looked forward to a happy and prosperous future, tensions between Sinhalese and Tamils grew into a civil war that lasted from 1983 to 2009, with the defeat of the Tamils. Post civil war, Sri Lanka fell prey to mismanagement and bad policies- that have dragged her to the brink of collapse.
A picture postcard country with one of the highest human development indices in South Asia and a long and rich history and culture is presently facing a disaster of mammoth magnitude. And that is unfortunate, especially for India because the majority of the population of Sri Lanka – both the Singhalese and the Tamil are descendants of people who went from India and settled there.
Sri Lanka has been continuously inhabited for more than 2 million years, with the original inhabitants descended from Stone Age hunter gatherers. Immigration arrived from northern India around the 5th century BCE, forming the basis of the modern Sinhalese population. Tamils from the south of India arrived approximately two centuries later, settling in Jaffna. In contrast to the largely Buddhist Sinhalese, most Tamils are Hindu or Christian and form a minority in the Sri Lankan population.
The legendary north Indian Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers landed near Puttallam and formed the first Sinhalese kingdom around Anuradhapura. In the 3rd century BCE, Buddhism arrived from India at Mihintale, where the conversion of Sinhalese King Tissa occurred. Early Buddhist emissaries brought a cutting from the Bodhi tree under which Lord Buddha attained enlightenment; it survives in Anuradhapura and is an important pilgrimage site. Tensions with Tamil Kingdoms in India were never far away and a Pandyan invasion in 432 led to the establishment of the rock fortress at Sigiriya as the capital. Legends surrounding the fortress also tell a story of King Kassapa building the residence on top of the rock after murdering his own father. Following Kassapa’s short rule, the capital returned to Anuradhapura before moving to Polonnaruwa in 1070 where it remained for 150 years.
Tthe Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka in 1505 at Candy. By 1518 the Portuguese had established good relations with the King and were allowed to build a fort at Colombo, with favourable trading concessions in return for the king’s protection. Meanwhile, the Dutch established a trading fort in Galle, destroying the earlier Portuguese outpost. It wasn’t long until the Dutch East India Company controlled most of Ceylon. But France’s control over the Netherlands and defeat in the Napoleonic wars saw British control of Sri Lanka confirmed at the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. Sri Lanka fell to the British in 1815 after defying the Portuguese and the Dutch for 300 years.
Unrest under colonial rule started soon. Ceylon National Congress was formed in 1919, uniting Sinhalese and Tamils. It demanded freedom. A constitution was written and some concessions provided. However, it wasn’t until the 1947 constitution came into effect that Ceylon gained independence. On 4 February 1948, Ceylon was granted independence as the Dominion of Ceylon. Dominion status within the British Commonwealth was retained for the next 24 years until 22 May 1972 when it became a republic and was renamed the Republic of Sri Lanka.
