HISTORY

Sri Lanka was part of the Empire of Asoka during the 3rd century, during which time the population was converted to Buddhism. The Sinhalese inhabitants later moved their capital to Polonnaruva in the south of the island to escape from repeated Tamil invasions during the 11th and 12th centuries.

The first Europeans to arrive were the Portuguese, quickly supplanted by the Dutch in the 17th century. In 1796 Sri Lanka (as Ceylon) was acquired from the Dutch by the British. It was "Tambapanni" to the Indians, "Taprobane" to the ancient Europeans, "Serendib" to the Arabs and "Ceylon" for the British. For us it's Sri Lanka "Lanka the blessed", the glamorous Island. A teardrop-shaped island just off the southern tip of India, less than 50km away at its closest. It’s a combination of tropical sunshine and superb beaches with a fascinating and colourful culture epitomized by the mighty relics of ancient vanished empires.

The Protrugese Era

At this time Sri Lanka had three main kingdoms – the Kingdom of Jaffna in the north, the Kingdom of Kandy in the central highlands and Kotte, the most powerful, in the south-west. In 1505 the Portuguese, under Lorennco de Almeida established friendly relations with the king of Kotte and gained, for Portugal, a monopoly on the spice and cinnamon trade, which soon became of enormous importance in Europe. Attempts by Kotte to utilize the strength and protection of the Portuguese only resulted in Portugal taking over and ruling not only their regions, but the rest of the island, apart form the central highlands around Kandy. Because the highlands were remote and inaccessible, the kings of Kandy were always able to defeat the attempts by the Portuguese to annex them, and on a number of occasions drove the Portuguese right back down to the coast.

The Dutch Era

Attempts by Kandy to enlist Dutch help in expelling the Portuguese only resulted in the substitution of one European power for another. By 1658, 153 years after the first Portuguese contact, the Dutch had taken control over the costal areas of the Island. 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.

The British Era

The French revolution resulted in a major shake-up among the European powers and in 1796 the Dutch were easily supplanted by the British, who in 1815 also managed to win 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. Soon the country was dotted with coffee, cinnamon and coconut plantations and a network of roads and railways was built to handle this new economic activity. English became the official language, and is still widely spoken. 

Coffee was the main crop and the backbone of the colonial economy, but a leaf blight virtually wiped it out in the 1870s and the plantations quickly switched over to tea or rubber. Today Sri Lanka is the world’s second largest tea exporter. The British were unable to persuade the Sinhalese to work cheaply and willingly on the plantations, so they imported large number of South Indian labourers from South India. Sinhalese peasants in the hill country lost land to the estates.