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Story Of the Sri Lanka
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Sri Lanka has been inhabited for at least 30,000 years.Chronicles including
the Mahawansa,the Dipavamsa,the Chulavamsa and
the Rajaveliya
record events from the beginnings of
the Sinhalese monarchy in the 6th century BC through to
the arrival of European Colonialists in the 16th century
and the disestablishment of the monarchy in 1815.
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
From the 16th century some coastal areas of the country were ruled by
the Portuguese, Dutch and British.
After 1815 the entire nation was ruled by the British colonialists until political independence was granted in 1948.
Armed uprisings against British colonial rule took place in 1818 (Uva Rebellion) and in 1848 (Matale Rebellion).
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
After an armed youth uprising in 1971 known as the 1971 April Rebellion,
Sri Lanka became a sovereign state in 1972.
A constitution was introduced in 1978, making the Executive President head of state.
The Sri Lankan Civil War began in 1983 and again an armed youth uprising occurred in 1987-1989.
The 26-year civil war ended in 2009.Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
1. Importance of Sri Lanka (motives)
2. Colonial periods
3. Struggles
4. impacts
5. National Movement
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Geographical Location
Link in the trade routes between East and West world
Traditional ports North, North-West of Island and East Coast, West coast become important for Trade.
Numerous Bays
Anchorages and Roadsteads offered adequate shelter for the sailing ships.
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Economical motives
Colonial Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon. It became very important to the Europe because the soil and climate were well suited for cultivating coffee, tea and rubber..
•Elephants ,Gems and Perl
spice and cinnamon trade
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Purpose- Economic,Expansion Religion
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
In 1505 the Portuguese, under Lorennco de Almeida established friendly relations with the king of Kotte and gained, for Portugal
At this time Sri Lanka had three main kingdoms
the Kingdom of Jaffna in the north, the Kingdom of Kandy in the central highlands Kotte, the most powerful, in the south-west.
In 1592 the Sinhalese moved their capital to the inland city of Kanndy, a location more secure against attack from invaders. Intermittent warfare continued through the 16th century.
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Many lowland Sinhalese were forced to convert to Christianity while the coastal Moors were religiously persecuted and forced to retreat to the Central highlands
The Buddhist majority disliked the Portuguese occupation and its influences,
welcoming any power whomight rescue them.
When the Dutch captainJoris van Spilbergen landed in 1602 the king of Kandy appealed to him for help.
a monopoly in the spice and cinnamon trade, which soon became of enormous importance in Europe
.Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Purpose- Monopoly in Trade
Roman Dutch Law, Religion
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Attempts by Kandy to enlist Dutch help in expelling the Portuguese only resulted in the substitution of one European power for another.
Rajasinghe II, the king of Kandy, made a treaty with the Dutch in 1638 to get rid of the Portuguese
The main conditions of the treaty were that the Dutch should handover the coastal areas they capture to the Kandyan king and the king should grant the Dutch a monopoly over trade on the entire island. The agreement was breached by both parties.
By 1658, 153 years after the first Portuguese contact, the Dutch took control over the costal areas of the Island.
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
During their 140-year-rule the Dutch, like Portuguese, were involved in repeated unsuccessful attempts to bring Kandy under their control.
The Dutch were much more interested in trade and profits than the Portuguese,
who spent a lot of efforts spreading their religion and extending their physical control.
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
The Dutch started ruling and expanding their areas. the King of Kandy searched for another powerful party to help in the war.
Then Dutch possessions were occupied by the British
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Purpose- Economic, Political
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
The French revolution resulted in a major shake-up among the European powers and in 1796 the Dutch were easily supplanted by the British,
in 1815 British won the control of the kingdom of Kandy, becoming the first European power to rule the whole island.
But in 1802, Sri Lanka became a Crown Colony and in 1818 a unified administration for the island was set up.
.Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Soon the country was change with coffee, cinnamon and
coconut plantations and a network of roads and Railways
were built to handle this new economic activity. English
became the official language, and is still widely spoken
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
In 1803 the British invaded the Kingdom of Kandy in the first Kandyan War, but were repulsed.
The Great Rebellion of 1817-1818 (Uva-Wellassa Uprising)
It took place in Uva
against the British colonial government under Governor Robert Brownring.
Back ground- The Sinhalese were greatly affected by the administrative policies of the British and were not used to being ruled by a king who lived far away in another continent. This created unrest among the local people and the aristocratic Chiefs in the Kandiyan Kingdom.
Leaders- Keppetipola Disawe
II Pilima Talauve Adikaram
Kohu Kumbure Rate Rala
Dimbulana Disave
Kivulegedara Mohottala, MadugalleDisave
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Killed all cattle and other animals
Burnt homes
Paddy fields in the area of Wellassa were all destroyed
The irrigation systems destroyed by systematically
Massacred the male population above the age of 18 years
Failed-
It was not well planned by the leaders. The areas controlled by some Chiefs who helped the British provided easy transport routes for British supplies.
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
The Matale Rebellion-1848
Against the British colonial government under Governor Lord Torrington.
It marked a transition from the classic feudal form of anti-colonial revolt to modern independence struggles.
It was fundamentally a peasant revolt.
Reason- Imposed license fees on guns, dogs, carts, shops,
labour was made compulsory on plantation roads, unless a special tax.
Leaders- Gongalegoda Banda, Puran Appu, DingRala
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
The Kandyan Convention was an agreement signed on the 10th
of March 1815 between the British and the Chiefs of the Kandyan
Kingdom, in Sri Lanka for the deposition of rule King Sri Vikrama
Rajasinha. The king who was of South Indian ancestry faced
powerful opposition from the Sinhalese chieftains who sought to
reduce his power
A successful coup was organized by the Sinhala chieftains in which
they accepted the British crown as their new king
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Before the signing of the convention, a British soldier took down the Kandyan flag and hoisted the Union Jack in its place. A Buddhist monk, Ven. Wariyapola Sri Sumangala Therosaw what had happened and quickly replaced the English flag with the Kandyan one
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
P o l i t i c a l
E c o n o m i c
S o c i a l
C u l t u r a l
R e l i g i o u sHansini Sampath - Umisarc
Constitutional Reforms
1832 Colebrook-Cameron
First Manning Reforms
- Increase members of non official agents.
Crew Maclum Amendments
Second Manning Reforms
Donoughmore Commission 1927-1931
Soulbery Constitution
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Coffee The British
did not seriously compete in
the coffee race until 1796,
when they took control of
Sri Lanka from the Dutch.
. Rubber•Ceylon was the leading rubber producer fir, tires, gloves, sandals and range of dipped products using rubber the allied during the Second World War.
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
TeaCash crop
experimental tea plants were brought from Assam and Calcutta in India to Peradeniya in 1839 .
In 1867 James Taylor marked the birth of the tea industry in Ceylon by starting a tea plantation in Loolecondera estate in Kandy in 1867.
Indian Tamils were brought to Sri Lanka at the beginning of the tea plantations
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Emergence of new class of capitalist entrepreneurs. and middle class
Professional proficient in English.
Changes of Traditionally Caste system.
Emergence of New identities and consciousness – Sinhala, Muslims, Tamil
Food habits
Dress code
New Religions
Infrastruction- Roads, Railways, Communication and etc
Still sri lanka is a developing country because of the colonization
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Religious revivalRejection of the people converting to Christianity.Panadura Debate in 1873Establishment of Buddhist schools
Formation of Political AssociationCeylon National CongressYoung Lanka League
Initial Trade Union Activity
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Independence 1948 February 4th
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Conclusion
Sri lanka was colonized for 400 years .
Still it is a developing country because of the colonization
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Reference
De silva,K.M. A History of Sri Lanka, oxford university press,Delhi,1981.
Wickramasingha,Nira Sri Lanka in the Modern Age: A history of Contested Identities, University of Hawaii Press,2006
Bandarage, Ashoka Colonialism in South Asia,
Lake House Investment LTD,Colombo,1950.
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
Thank You
Hansini Sampath - Umisarc
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