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Gajabahu I Of Sri Lanka
Gajabahu I (lit. 'Elephant-Arm'), also known as Gajabahuka Gamani (c. 113 – 135 CE), was a Sinhalese king of Rajarata in Sri Lanka. He is renowned for his military prowess, religious benefactions, extensive involvement in South Indian politics, and for possibly introducing the cult of the goddess Pattini to Sri Lanka. The primary source for his reign is the Mahavamsa, though he is also the only early Sri Lankan king (along with Elara) to be extensively mentioned in the Chera Cilappatikaram (also spelled Silapathikaram). Life and Religion Next to nothing is known about Gajabahu's youth, except that he was the son of Vankanasika Tissa (reigned 110–113 CE), king of Rajarata from Anuradhapura, and his consort Mahamatta. As such he might have witnessed the most dramatic event of Tissa's reign, the invasion of Rajarata by the Chola king Karikalan. The Mahavamsa mentions Gajabahu's accession and reign of twenty-two years and mentions neither Karikalan's invasion nor the milita ...
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Vankanasika Tissa Of Anuradhapura
Vankanasika Tissa was the second King of Anuradhapura from the House of Lambakanna I. He ruled from 111 to 113 AD. He was preceded by his father, Vasabha and succeeded by his son, Gajabahu I. During his reign time, two local rulers were sons of King Vasabha called Dutaga and Uttara ruled the current Tammannava and Monaragala area respectively. This was stated in inscriptions found in Tammannava and Habessa. During his ruling period, Chola King Karikala Chola invaded the island and took away 12000 Sinhalese men to work as slaves to construct the great Kaveri Dam. He built Mangla Maha Viharaya Mangla (منگلا) is a town situated in District Mirpur within the region of Azad Kashmir. The village is located in the west of the foothills of Mangla's fort (which also derived its name from the same village). It is surrounded on three sides ... on Kadigala hill located on the banks of Kala Oya (Gona Nadi). As well as it was said his consort Mahamatta collected money for a vihara to ...
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Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Shiva.Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism' (1996), p. 17. In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the supreme being who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. In the Shaktism tradition, the Goddess, or Adi Shakti, is described as the supreme Para Brahman, yet Vishnu is revered along with Shiva and Brahma. Tridevi is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Lakshmi being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. According to Vaishnavism, the highest form of Ishvara is with qualities (Saguna), and have certain form, but is limitless, transcend ...
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Monarchs Of Anuradhapura
The Sinhalese monarch -- anachronistically referred to as the Kings of Sri Lanka—featured the heads of state of the Sinhala Kingdoms, in what is today Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese monarchy originates in the settlement of North Indian Indo-Aryan speaking immigrants to the island of Sri Lanka. The Landing of Vijay (as described in the traditional early chronicles of the island, the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa) recounts the date of the establishment of the first Sinhala Kingdom in 543 BC when Indian prince Prince Vijaya (543–505 BC) and 700 of his followers arrived in Sri Lanka, establishing the Kingdom of Tambapanni.Mittal (2006) p 405 In Sinhalese mythology, Prince Vijaya and followers are told to be the progenitors of the Sinhalese people. However, according to the story in the Divyavadana, the immigrants were probably not led by a scion of a royal house in India, as told in the romantic legend, but rather may have been groups of adventurous and pioneering merchants exploring n ...
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King Of Sri Lanka
The Sinhalese monarch -- anachronistically referred to as the Kings of Sri Lanka—featured the heads of state of the Sinhala Kingdoms, in what is today Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese monarchy originates in the settlement of North Indian Indo-Aryan speaking immigrants to the island of Sri Lanka. The Landing of Vijay (as described in the traditional early chronicles of the island, the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa) recounts the date of the establishment of the first Sinhala Kingdom in 543 BC when Indian prince Prince Vijaya (543–505 BC) and 700 of his followers arrived in Sri Lanka, establishing the Kingdom of Tambapanni.Mittal (2006) p 405 In Sinhalese mythology, Prince Vijaya and followers are told to be the progenitors of the Sinhalese people. However, according to the story in the Divyavadana, the immigrants were probably not led by a scion of a royal house in India, as told in the romantic legend, but rather may have been groups of adventurous and pioneering merchants exploring n ...
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History Of Sri Lanka
The history of Sri Lanka is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions, comprising the areas of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean. The early human remains found on the island of Sri Lanka date to about 38,000 years ago (Balangoda Man). The historical period begins roughly in the 3rd century, based on Pali chronicles like the Mahavansa, Deepavansa, and the Choolavansa. They describe the history since the arrival of Prince Vijaya from Northern India The earliest documents of settlement in the Island are found in these chronicles. These chronicles cover the period since the establishment of the Kingdom of Tambapanni in the 6th century BCE by the earliest ancestors of the Sinhalese. The first Sri Lankan ruler of the Anuradhapura Kingdom, Pandukabhaya, is recorded for the 4th century BCE. Buddhism was introduced in the 3rd century BCE by Arhath Mahinda (son of the Indian emperor Ashoka). The island was divided into nu ...
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List Of Sri Lankan Monarchs
The Sinhalese monarch -- anachronistically referred to as the Kings of Sri Lanka—featured the heads of state of the Sinhala Kingdoms, in what is today Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese monarchy originates in the settlement of North Indian Indo-Aryan speaking immigrants to the island of Sri Lanka. The Landing of Vijay (as described in the traditional early chronicles of the island, the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa) recounts the date of the establishment of the first Sinhala Kingdom in 543 BC when Indian prince Prince Vijaya (543–505 BC) and 700 of his followers arrived in Sri Lanka, establishing the Kingdom of Tambapanni.Mittal (2006) p 405 In Sinhalese mythology, Prince Vijaya and followers are told to be the progenitors of the Sinhalese people. However, according to the story in the Divyavadana, the immigrants were probably not led by a scion of a royal house in India, as told in the romantic legend, but rather may have been groups of adventurous and pioneering merchants exploring n ...
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Brāhmī Script
Brahmi (; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' or 'Lat', 'Southern Aśokan', 'Indian Pali', 'Mauryan', and so on. The application to it of the name Brahmi 'sc. lipi'' which stands at the head of the Buddhist and Jaina script lists, was first suggested by T rriende Lacouperie, who noted that in the Chinese Buddhist encyclopedia ''Fa yiian chu lin'' the scripts whose names corresponded to the Brahmi and Kharosthi of the ''Lalitavistara'' are described as written from left to right and from right to left, respectively. He therefore suggested that the name Brahmi should refer to the left-to-right 'Indo-Pali' script of the Aśokan pillar inscriptions, and Kharosthi to the right-to-left 'Bactro-Pali' script of the rock inscriptions from the northwest." that appeared as a fully developed scrip ...
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Common Era
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the original Anno Domini (AD) and Before Christ (BC) notations used for the same calendar era. The two notation systems are numerically equivalent: " CE" and "AD " each describe the current year; "400 BCE" and "400 BC" are the same year. The expression traces back to 1615, when it first appeared in a book by Johannes Kepler as the la, annus aerae nostrae vulgaris (), and to 1635 in English as " Vulgar Era". The term "Common Era" can be found in English as early as 1708, and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish religious scholars. Since the later 20th century, BCE and CE have become popular in academic and scientific publications because BCE and CE are religiously neutral terms. They are used by others who wish to be sensit ...
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Silk Route
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the East and West. The name "Silk Road", first coined in the late 19th century, has fallen into disuse among some modern historians in favor of Silk Routes, on the grounds that it more accurately describes the intricate web of land and sea routes connecting East and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, the Middle East, East Africa and Europe. The Silk Road derives its name from the highly lucrative trade of silk textiles that were produced almost exclusively in China. The network began with the Han dynasty's expansion into Central Asia around 114 BCE, which largely pacified the once untamed region. Imperial envoy Zhang Qian was commissioned to explore the unknown lands beyond the region in s ...
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Godavaya
Godavaya or Godawaya is a small fishing hamlet located at the mouth of the Walawe river, between Ambalantota and Hambantota in the Hambantota District in southern Sri Lanka. It received its name, originally ''Goda Pavata Pattana'' or ''Gota Pabbata Pattana'' (meaning 'small rock harbour') from a huge rock overlooking the Indian Ocean, at the foot of which it is situated. The original harbour town was an entrepot on the maritime silk route from at least the 2nd century CE. It has been the site of extensive excavations by German and Sri Lanka Archaeologists since 1994. Godavaya is also the site if a wildlife sanctuary. The beach is important for nesting leatherback turtles. History The Godavaya area has been inhabited for about 7000 years. In August 2008, a human skeleton dating back to 3000-5000 BC (carbon dating has yet to be done) was discovered in an abandoned stone quarry at Godavaya, together with tools of animal-bone and stone. In honour of the discoverer of the site, Germ ...
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Gajabahu Synchronism
Gajabahu synchronism is the chronological device used by historians to help date early Tamil history. The synchronism, first propounded by V. Kanakasabhai Pillai in 1904 in his ''The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years ago'', was adopted by some scholars of the time to date Tamil literature. Kamil Zvelebil, even while acknowledging the fragility of the synchronism, called it the "sheet anchor" of the dating of Tamil literature. The synchronism however, involves numerous conjectures and has been dismissed by Gananath Obeyesekere in his '' The Cult of the Goddess Pattini'' (1984) as ahistorical and invalid. The 'synchronism' From a mention in the ''Silappatikaram'', the Sinhalese king of Lanka, Gajabahu is taken to be a contemporary of the Chera king Senguttuvan. The genuineness of Gajabahu synchronism as an instrument to date early Tamil literature is accepted by most scholars today. Dating of Senguttuvan In the ''Silappatikaram'', there is reference to a certain ''Kayavaku'', t ...
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SLNS Gajabahu
SLNS ''Gajabahu'' (named after '' Gajabahu'', a former king of Sri Lanka) was a of the Sri Lanka Navy. She has since been converted to a training ship for the Naval & Maritime Academy, Trincomalee. She was originally HMCS ''Hallowell'' of the Royal Canadian Navy, built during the Second World War and then saw service as INS ''Miznak'' of the Israeli Navy. The Royal Ceylon Navy purchased her in 1958 from Israel. Construction and career Royal Canadian Navy and Israeli Navy HMCS ''Hallowell'' was ordered on 1 February 1943 as part of the 1943-44 River-class building program by the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). She was laid down by Canadian Vickers Ltd. aT Montreal on 22 November 1943 and launched 28 March 1944. She was commissioned into the RCN on 8 August 1944 at Montreal. After working up at Bermuda, ''Hallowell'' was assigned to the Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) escort group C-1 as the Senior Officer's Ship. From late November 1944 until June 1945, she was continuously employed ...
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