Ruminations on Sri Lanka’s ancient past– Part I

By Seneka Abeyratne

Sri Lanka, with its exquisite shoreline, its enchanting seascapes and landscapes, its diversity of climate and terrain, and its abundance of streams, river valleys and lagoons, must have been one of the most attractive places to live on earth in ancient times. No wonder that various people came to its shores, some to settle down, others to imbibe its culture, its religion, its idyllic setting, and to continue with their travels. One of the top 10 rivers in the island, the Walawe Ganga, joins the sea at a small fishing village called Godawaya in the deep-south. Godawaya was once a port in the ancient Maritime Silk Route, which ran from China in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. So was Manthai, a small coastal town in the northwest (bay of Mannar), where the Malwatu Oya, Sri Lanka’s second longest river, flows into the sea.

Strategic location

Due to its strategic and central location in the Indian Ocean, the island was a magnet for seafarers, traders, missionaries, pilgrims and envoys from many countries. From the east of Lanka came Chinese, Malays, Burmese and Cambodians, and from the west came Greeks, Turks, North and East Africans, Persians, Venetians, Arabs and Indians. Among the great missionaries, pilgrims and travellers to visit the island were Buddhaghosa and Fa-Hien (5th century), Marco Polo (13th century) and Ibn Battuta (14th century).

Emissaries from Lanka also travelled to various parts of the world with which it had cultural, political and economic ties. Some went as far west as Rome and others, as far east as China. Buddhist missionaries also went hither and thither. It is interesting to note that in the 5th century, as a consequence of Fa-Hien’s visit, Sinhalese bhikkhunis, or female monks, travelled to China to admit women into the Order of Sangha, the local term for the Buddhist priesthood.

It was primarily because the island was centrally located on the sea route, linking east and west, that it constantly attracted traders, pilgrims and invaders. Prior to European intervention, the invasions were almost exclusively from South India. The invaders, at various times, were from four different Tamil dynasties – Pandyans, Cholas, Pallavas, and Cheras, who were at most times hostile to one another. These dynasties were either allies or enemies of Sri Lanka depending on the political circumstances.

Not all South-Indians were invaders and usurpers. Most of the Tamils who settled in the northwestern and northeastern littoral and in the northern extreme of the dry zone, that is, the Jaffna peninsula and northern part of the Jaffna mainland, migrated to Sri Lanka peacefully. Some Tamils also became part of the Vanniyar community. The Tamil settlers included farmers, traders, merchants, and Brahmins.

It is interesting to note, by way of a digression, that the monarchs of Anuradhapura (103 in all) included six Tamils from South India, probably Colas and Pandyas, who reigned from 428 to 455 CE. “Perhaps the incursion of Tamils into Sri Lanka in the fifth century, which brought the country under foreign rule for a little over quarter of a century, was not unconnected with the disturbed conditions that prevailed in South India at the time” (Siriweera, W.I. History of Sri Lanka: From earliest times up to the sixteenth century, second edition, 2004).

It was mainly commerce and the concomitant need to secure new trade routes that brought the seagoing nations of Western Europe to Ceylon in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The island was a European colony for nearly 500 years. The western colonial powers exported culture and religion to Ceylon (Catholicism/Protestantism) while importing a range of primary goods, including gems and spices. The British introduced tea to Ceylon and by the time they left, it had become the island’s leading primary export commodity.

Prior to the advent of colonialism, there was a significant influx of Indian, Arab and Malay traders to the island. Though commerce was the common factor, the processes of trade were fundamentally different. In the case of the Western European naval powers, commerce, military aggression and proselytisation went hand in hand. The Portuguese were the first to invade Sri Lanka in 1505. They were ousted by the Dutch in 1658, who in turn were ousted by the British in 1796.

Traditional view of Island’s ancient past

Many a scholar has written about Sri Lanka’s colonial and pre-colonial history, but what is known about the island’s ancient past, and how much of it is accurate? Should we take our myths and legends for granted, or should we subject what is regarded as ‘common knowledge’ to a critical reappraisal? Since Independence, archaeological research in Sri Lanka has been intensified and availability of modern techniques of investigation and analysis has enabled scientists to explore previously uncharted territory and come up with findings which throw new light on the island’s ancient past. The nature of these findings is such that modern scholars have formulated a view of prehistory and protohistory which by traditional standards is not only radical but also highly controversial.

We shall briefly explore the uncharted territory, keeping in mind that the modern historian is still a long way from producing a comprehensive, as well as convincing, picture of Sri Lanka’s ancient civilisation; as such this essay cannot pretend to be anything more than a hypothetical sketch. With that caveat in mind, we proceed.

According to the traditional historian, who is largely guided and influenced by the ancient Pali chronicles (Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa, Culavamsa), prior to the arrival of settlers from northern India, the island was inhabited by demon-worshippers, snake-worshippers, tree-worshippers, and a tribe of primitive cave-dwellers called Veddas. The Sinhalese were the first civilised people to inhabit the island because they spoke an advanced Indo-Aryan language known as proto-Sinhalese, practised the art of agriculture, knew how to make tools and weapons from iron, and introduced a traditional system of governance for villages which has survived to this day in a more complex form.

The Sinhalese adopted Buddhism as their religion during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura (250-210 BCE). This was more than two centuries after the first settlers arrived from northwestern or northeastern India. The Sinhalese first occupied the inland valley systems of the dry zone and later established their village settlements throughout a greater part of the island, including the deep-south, birthplace of the great Sinhalese warrior king, Dutugemunu. The Tamils and other ethnic groups, such as the Moors and Malays, came later and transformed what was a homogeneous society and culture into a heterogeneous one. South India is the traditional enemy of Sri Lanka because it attempted to conquer the island several times and annihilate the Sinhalese.

This, to reiterate, is the traditional view of Sri Lanka’s early history, which modern historians have subjected to considerable revision, modification and reinterpretation.