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Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th
century and the Dutch in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the
British in 1802. As Ceylon it became
independent in 1948; its name was changed in 1972. Tensions between the
Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted in violence in the
mid-1980s. Tens of thousands have died in an ethnic war that continues to
fester
The Island of Sri
Lanka lies 3 degrees north of the equator, 82 degrees east of
Greenwich and 32 KM southeast of India. She occupies 65,610 sq Km
(approximately 25,000 sq miles). She possesses tropical beaches, ancient
monuments, rain forests, gorgeous waterfalls and many places to delight
any person. The typically tropical climate with an average temperature of
270C fluctuates between 150 C in the highlands to 350C in certain areas of
the lowlands.Sri Lanka is mainly an agricultural country. She is self
sufficient in her staple diet rice which is the largest cultivation. Tea,
Coconut and Rubber are the main economic agricultural crops. Tea brings
beauty as well as the foreign exchange to the country.
Sri Lanka, according to historical sources was settled by Indo-Aryans in
the 6th century B.C. These Indo-Aryans were the first Sinhalese, who are
74% of the population today. The Indo-Aryans assimilated the indigenous
inhabitants who are called Yakkhas in the historical chronicles. While the
country had contacts in historical times with various foreign races, the
Tamil and Muslim minorities of the
present day had no settlements in the island until about the 10th century
AD; that is to say about 1,500 years after the Sinhalese settlement.
From the 19th Century however, Tamil minority leaders have put forward
various claims to political rights unsupported by fact or principle. From
the early 1970s the Tamil political leadership has sought to enforce even
more extreme claims with the use of violence. From 1949 the Tamils have
been claiming the right to establish a Tamil state in over one third of
the island. A Muslim theocratic party, the only such in a non-Muslim
country, was formed in 1985 with the objective of establishing a Muslim
political region in the island. The Indian Tamils, the first of whom were
brought in the 19th century as labour by the British, were a floating
population until the end of the Second World War. Though they were all
entitled to Indian citizenship under Article 8 of the Indian constitution,
they have been indiscriminately granted Sri Lankan citizenship by various
Governments of independent Sri Lanka. The Indian Tamil leaders now expect
to establish an Indian Tamil autonomous region in the heart of the
country. Minority politics particularly Tamil terrorism seek to wreck the
political, financial and cultural life of the country and there is serious
disruption already.
205 km from Colombo is Anuradhapura,
Sri Lanka's first capital founded about the 4th century BC. According to
the Mahavansa, the Sinhala Buddhist chronicle, the city was a model of
planning. Precincts were set aside for huntsmen and scavengers and even
heretics and foreigners. There were hostels and hospitals, separate
cemeteries for high and low castes. A water supply was assured by the
construction of reservoirs.
Anuradhapura was to continue for six hundred years as the national
capital. But internecine struggles for the royal succession grew, and it
became more and more vulnerable to the pressures of South Indian political
expansion. The city was finally abandoned and the capital withdrawn to
more secluded areas.
But the monuments of Anuradhapura's heyday survive, surrounded by the
solemn umbrage of trees, scions of an ancient parkland.
Colombo is the
commercial capital of Sri Lanka. Until recently, Colombo used
to be the administrative capital as well, but for better security in these
modern times, the administrative offices were moved to nearby Kotte (Sri
Jayawardhanapura).
Served by the busy Colombo harbor for maritime traffic and by the
International Airport at Katunayake, some 21 miles (34 km.) north of
Colombo city for air traffic, every visitor starts his or her stay in Sri
Lanka at Colombo. In and around Colombo, the visitor can find a wide
variety of accommodations, from international class luxury hotels to
modest guest houses, dormitories and rooms in private homes.
Colombo is a true metropolis with over a million inhabitants, an ethnic
melange of the island's diverse races and religions. Here, Sinhalese (74%)
who are mostly Buddhists, Tamil (18%) who are mostly Hindus, Moors (7%),
people of middle eastern extraction, who are mostly Muslims, co-exist,
although not in complete harmony at all times, with a small numbers of
Burghers, who are descendants of Portugese, Dutch, and the British, who
were rulers of Sri Lanka in the past.
Known as "Kolomba" in Sinhala, the city goes back to 8th century A.D. when
Arab traders used it as a port for shipping cinnamon to the middle east.
The Portugese who came to Sri Lanka in 1505, and the Dutch who defeated
them later, established a fort here. The area is still known as the "Fort"
and still is the commercial center of Colombo.
The British who drove out the Dutch in 1796, rebuilt Colombo with wide
tree lined avenues, parks and greens. Before nationalism swept the island
during prime minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike's time, most of the major
streets in Colombo were named after street names in English cities. Street
names like Queen's, Prince, and York were commonplace. Horse racing on the
Galle Face Green used to be regular activity. Today most of the streets
are renamed to honor national heros, and horse racing on the green is a
thing of the past. Most of the International class hotels now occupy the
land surrounding the Galle Face Green.
(information courtesy
Destination Sri Lanka by Ari Withanage) |
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