Golden Threads
For the Youth of Sri Lanka for whom the torch must pass
Golden Threads is a chronicle written by President Jayewardene sketching the history of Sri Lanka, beginning from King Vijaya (544 BC) and ending with the Executive President in 1978 AD. The narration does not go by the reigns of individual monarchs like the Mahawamsa does, but the author divides the history into periods where the Lankan Kingdoms prevailed. These were namely Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Gampola, Jayewardenepura and Kandy under our own Kings and later the periods under the foreign powers, the Portuguese, Dutch and British. Following this is a description of the period following colonial Ceylon, the Independent Sri Lanka as a Dominion and later as a Republic and an attempt to describe the significant events peculiar to each of these periods.
The 'Golden Threads’ :
: the doctrine of Buddhism established in Sri Lanka during the reign of King Devanampiyatissa and which continues to be a shining beacon,
: the unique hydraulic system of agriculture which was the wonder of the medieval world,
: an independence lasting stubbornly from 544 BC ending in 1815 and regained in 1948,
: the Sinhalese culture and the language surviving through various periods of transition.
All these are golden threads running through a welter of impediments and oppressions that threatened to destroy the identity, integrity and the might of the Sinhalese Nation.
Since Vijaya's arrival in the 6th Century B.C. 295 kings reigned over Sri Lanka or parts of it, until the Kandyan Chiefs signed over the Kingdom to the British in 1815. The writer outlines the significant occurrences which stand out as landmarks in these different eras, and are mentioned briefly below:
Anuradhapura Era (544 -B.C. to 1029)
The Anuradhapura era stands out as the most significant era of the history of the country. The main events which occurred during this era, which at the same time moulded the future of the nation, were
(a) The advent of Buddhism and its establishment as the main faith of the nation
Foreign invasions by Cholas, Pandyans and Pallawas
Conquest of intruder King Elara by Prince Dutugemunu who brought the country under one flag.
(d) The hydraulic system of agriculture (collection of monsoonal rain water in huge tanks or reservoirs and channelling of river water to feed the tanks)
Polonnaruwa Era (1029 to 1232)
The Cholas who occupied Polonnaruwa were expelled by Vijayabahu 1 but he continued to reign from Polonnaruwa without returning to Anuradhapura which incidentally gradually declined. The Kings developed Polonnaruwa instead, building tanks (Sea of Parakrama) and reviving literary activities. Renewed foreign invasions by the Magha pushed the Kingdom further south to Dambadeniya and Kurunegala.
Dambadeniya Era (1232)
By the end of the 13th century Pandyans had succeeded Cholas. Parakramabahu III ruled from Dambadeniya and made an attempt to re-capture Polonnaruwa but failed. Buvenekabahu IV reigned at Gampola and Dambadeniya was abandoned.
Jayewardenepura Kotte Era (1371 - 1597)
The Portuguese landed in Colombo in 1505 and took control over the Maritime Provinces. Don Juan Dharmapala, King of Kotte was a vassal of the Portuguese. The freedom fighters Mayadunne, Vidiye Bandara and Rajasinghe I who detested foreign rule, came up during this period.
The Kandyan Era (1591-1815)
The central hills which remained free of foreign rule came to be known as the Kandyan Kingdom ruled by Wimala Dharmasooriya. Rajasinghe II, son of King Senarath defeated the Portuguese but later invited the Dutch to overcome the Portuguese. As a result the Dutch, expelling the Portuguese, took control over the Maritime Provinces in 1658. Rajasinghe II ruled from 1635 to 1687.
The last Sinhala King was Narendra Sinha (1707-1738) followed by the Nayakkars. There was a revival of Buddhism under Nayakkar King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe (1747-1782) who brought over with him Siamese monks, which resulted in the establishment of the Siam Nikaya in Ceylon. The revival lasted until the fall of the Kingdom in 1815. The Dalada Maligawa, the Pattirippuwa, the Temples of Gadaladeniya and Lankathilaka and Degaldoruwa are monuments which exist even today. The Dutch handed over the Maritime Provinces to the British after the Treaty of Amiens in 1802 and the British continued to wage war against Kandy. The last Nayakkar King Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe was captured in 1815 and the Sinhala Chiefs by the Kandyan convention, signed over the Kandyan Kingdom to George III of Great Britain.
The British Era (1815 -1948)
With the advent of British rule, the entire life style of the nation changed; the government, religion, agriculture, social life all had to undergo the pains of transition. Buddhism declined, the hydraulic agriculture, the paddy cultivation neglected and its place taken by commercial crops, tea, rubber and coconut. Indented labour from South India, brought over to work in the tea and rubber plantations produced a new society of "stateless citizens" - whilst the irrigation systems of the ancient Lanka were abandoned. A new infrastructure of roads, railways and the like was constructed to cover the plantations of commercial crops.
Among the economic changes came an inevitable revival to regain the lost self respect of the nation. The already existing institutions of the Executive Council, the Legislative Councils and Universal Franchise in 1931 seemed inadequate. The onward thrust for an independent state led by prominent citizens, monks and even foreigners ultimately succeeded in Ceylon gaining independence in 1948.
Freedom and After - 1948 to 1977
The elected Government of independent Ceylon was formed by a coalition headed by the United National Party with D.S. Senanayake as Prime Minister, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike as the Minister of Lands and Local Government, Dudley Senanayake as the Minister of Agriculture and the writer J. R. Jayewardene as the Minister of Finance. Ceylon became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and a founder member of the Non Aligned Group. In 1972 Ceylon shed its dominion status and became a Republic assuming the name Sri Lanka. In 1978 a new constitution came into being with an elected Executive President. The writer J. R. Jayewardene was Executive President from 1978 and was re-elected for a further period from 1982. He retired in 1989.
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