A History of Sri LankaThe History Of Sri Lanka From The Earliest Times To The Present Sri Lanka Is An Ancient Civilization, Shaped And Thrust Into The Modern Globalizing World By Its Colonial Experience. With Its Own Unique Problems, Many Of Them Historical Legacies, It Is A Nation Trying To Maintain A Democratic, Pluralistic State Structure While Struggling To Come To Terms With Separatist Aspirations. This Is A Complex Story, And There Is Perhaps No Better Person To Present It In Reasoned, Scholarly Terms Than K.M. De Silva, Sri Lanka S Most Distinguished And Prolific Historian. A History Of Sri Lanka, First Published In 1981, Has Established Itself As The Standard Work On The Subject. This Fully Revised Edition, In Light Of The Most Recent Research, Brings The Story Right Up To The Early Years Of The Twenty-First Century. The Book Provides Comprehensive Coverage Of All Aspects Of Sri Lanka S Development From A Classical Buddhist Society And Irrigation Economy, To Its Emergence As A Tropical Colony Producing Some Of The World S Most Important Cash Crops, Such As Cinnamon, Tea, Rubber And Coconut, And Finally As An Asian Democracy. It Is A Study Of The Political Vicissitudes Of Sri Lanka S Ancient Civilization And The Successive Phases Of Portuguese, Dutch And British Colonial Rule. The Unfortunate Consequences Of Becoming A Centre Of Ethnic Tension And Sri Lanka S Long-Standing Relationship With India Are Also Discussed. Exhaustively Researched And Analytical, This Book Is An Invaluable Reference Source For Students Of Ancient, Colonial And Post-Colonial Societies, Ethnic Conflict And Democratic Transitions, As Well As For All Those Who Simply Want To Get A Feel Of The Rich And Varied Texture Of Sri Lanka S Long History. |
Contents
Saddhatissa to the Cola Conquest | 18 |
3 | 32 |
5 | 44 |
6 | 81 |
7 | 87 |
From c 1250 to the End of | 109 |
THE PERIPHERY STAKES A CLAIM | 127 |
THE CRISIS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY | 142 |
PEASANT AGRICULTURE 18501910 | 378 |
EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE LATE | 413 |
RELIGION AND THE RISE OF NATIONALISM C | 427 |
POLITICS AND CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM | 447 |
POLITICAL CHANGE IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH | 464 |
ELITE CONFLICT AND THE CEYLON NATIONAL | 483 |
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE IN THE EARLY | 498 |
THE DONOUGHMORE COMMISSION AND | 516 |
PORTUGUESE RULE IN THE MARITIME | 163 |
THE KANDYAN KINGDOM AT BAY 165887 | 184 |
THE STRUGGLE FOR MASTERY OVER | 196 |
TRADE AND AGRICULTURE UNDER THE VOC | 217 |
THE IMPACT OF DUTCH RULE | 249 |
RELIGION LITERATURE AND THE ARTS | 265 |
THE ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY | 275 |
THE FALL OF THE KANDYAN KINGDOM | 289 |
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE EARLY | 307 |
CROWN COLONY GOVERNMENT 180232 | 325 |
AN ERA OF REFORM AND RECONSTRUCTION | 338 |
A PLANTATION ECONOMY 18501910 | 360 |
TO DOMINION STATUS 194247 | 554 |
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE IN | 570 |
The Nineteenth | 590 |
LINGUISTIC NATIONALISM | 626 |
197794 | 681 |
AND AFTER | 703 |
NOTES | 709 |
a CHRONOLOGICAL LIST | 738 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 746 |
FURTHER READING | 759 |
Other editions - View all
A History of Sri Lanka K. M. De Silva,Kingsley Muthumuni de Silva,Professor K M De Silva Limited preview - 1981 |
Common terms and phrases
administration agitation agriculture Anuradhapura kingdom areas Asia Bandaranaike became bhikkhus Bhuvanekabāhu Board of Ministers British Buddhist caste Ceylon National Congress chēna cinnamon civil coast coffee Cōla Colombo Colonial Office constitutional reform constitutionalists cultivation D.S. Senanayake decade Donoughmore dry zone Dutch early economic elections elite established export forces Gampola government's governor Goyigama groups headmen important increase indigenous influence irrigation island Jaffna Jaffna kingdom K.M. de Silva Kandy Kandyan kingdom Karāva king Kōralēs Kotte labour land leadership Legislative Council littoral LSSP LTTE major missionaries movement Muslims nineteenth century officials paddy Parākramabāhu Party peasant period plantation political Polonnaruva population Portuguese position pressure rājakāriya Rājasimha rebellion regard regions religion religious revenue rice Rohana rule ruler S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike Sabhā Salāgamas settlement Sinhala Sinhalese Sinhalese kingdom Sītāvaka SLFP social south India Śrī Sri Lanka status Tamil taxes trade traditional Trincomalee Udarata village