North Indian Tribal coins

Invention of currency went back before the time of written history. When studying the history of coins as a medium of exchange, northern Indian indigenous coins are noteworthy. Coins used by tribal people are known as ‘Gana’ or ‘Sanga’were recognized as indigenous coins.[i] 

 

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HINDU TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

A temple (from the Latin word templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice (Prasanna Kumar 1996: 14). It is typically used for such buildings belonging to all faiths where a more specific term such as church, mosque or synagogue is not generally used in English. These include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism among religions with many modern followers, as well as other ancient religions such as Ancient Egyptian religion. The temple, it is needless to say, is not an Indian invention (Adam 2007: 35)

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1815 : Kandyan Convention - උඩරට ගිවිසුම

The Kandyan Convention was an agreement signed on the 02nd 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. This ended the line of the Kingdom of Kandy and King Rajasinha was taken as a prisoner.

A drawing depicting the

Kandyan Convention

being drawn up at the

Audience Hall (Magul Maduwa)

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The progressive era of Udarata

Main characteristics of the epoch.

Konappu Bandara’s (also known as Wijesundara Bandara) triumph over Udarata in 1592, immediately following the death of Yamasinghe Bandara who had received the kingdom under the patronage and the aid of the Portuguese was an event which marked a new era both in the history of the kingdom and the history of Sri Lanka as a whole. Only when the way in which history evolved is closely examined in later times, it became clear that it was the ascendency of Konappu Bandara who claimed kingship by the name Wimaladarmasuriya I (1592-1604) that marked a climax point in the history of the island.

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Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala: The Person who Found the Lost Identity of the Buddhist

The socio-political, economic and cultural position of Sri Lanka in the 19th and the early 20th century was based on the British imperialist requirements. At that period the evil influence of western domination, Buddhism had dropped to its lowest ebb in Sri Lanka and the Sinhalese Buddhist identity began to lose ground. However, there was a considerable amount of religious agitation began among Sinhalese. Srimath Anagarika Darmapala was one of the great personality who revival against colonial missionary policies and got various efforts to reestablish the Buddhism.

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The origin of Anuradhapura as an organized city.

The Anuradhapura city was created and developed as an organized city during the reign of king Pandukabhaya who was born to Deegagamini and Unmadhanie Chiththa. The king should be bestowed honor for his great service of building a city which came to be called Anuradhapura the reasons being the Anura Nekatha which was the chosen auspicious time to start the construction coupled with the fact that it was the residence for two important people named Anuradha. (the minister of king Vijaya and the brother of queen Baddrakachchayana. Only after having built the city that he claimed kingship establishing Swarnapali Devi as his chief consort. Therefore, the king also holds an important place being the first monarch in the history of Sri Lanka. He placed the soldiers in due positions and spared the life of king Abhaya considering the help offered by him both to Pandukabhaya and his mother and assigned him with the task of safe guarding the city. From then onwards a position called Nagara Guththika came in to being within the city. The emergence of the so-called position point to the beginning of the official positions in the city. He built many waters of which one was named Jaya Wewa for the reason that the king bathed there after obtaining victories. To the east of the city he built the Kalawelayaku Devalaya

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The nature of the foreign invasions during the Anuradhapura period.

Sri Lanka has met with foreign invasions in the Anuradhapura  kingdom which either resulted in the death of the native king or causing the ruler to withdraw from the capital seeking for refuge. However, both had equally disastrous outcomes such as the instability of the kingdom and the ill-fated condition of the Buddha Sasana in the face of foreign occupations. Besides the arrival of Vijaya in Sri Lanka, which cannot be entirely assumed to be an invasion but more likely a migration as Vijaya grasped the throne thanks to the aid of the local queen Kuweni which is a feature absent in the cases of later foreign occupations. King Surathissa’s reign was marked by the invasion of the two horse traders named Sena and Guththika who were said to be pious rulers and adopted Buddhism. Sena and Guththika marked an end to the ten year rule of Surathissa. The Mahavamsa mentions them as in possession of a great power whose reign lasted for twenty-two years.

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