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Vijithapura
Vijithapura ( si, විජිතපුර, translit=Vijitapura; ta, விஜித நகரம், translit=Vijita Nakaram), also known as Vijitha Nagara or Vijithagama, was a fortress–city in ancient Sri Lanka. When Vijaya of Sri Lanka, Vijaya, the first recorded ruler of the country arrived from India, he brought a large retinue of his followers with him. These followers spread throughout the country, and established settlements. One of his chief followers named Vijitha founded the establishment which was then known as Vijitha Nagara (city of Vijitha) or Vijithagama (village of Vijitha). The city is believed to have been founded during the reign of king Panduvasdeva of Sri Lanka, Panduvasudeva, the third recorded king of Sri Lanka, who was the brother in law of the chieftain Vijitha. The city is mentioned again in the chronicles Mahavamsa, Dipavamsa, Rajavaliya and Thupavamsa nearly 300 years later during the reign of king Dutthagamani. The city is then a highly fort ...
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Battle Of Vijithapura
The Battle of Vijithapura was a decisive battle fought in the campaign carried out by Sri Lankan king Dutthagamani against the invading South Indian king Ellalan. The battle is documented in detail in the ancient chronicles of the country. However, they only provide the viewpoint of Dutthagamani and his army, and details are scarce on Elara's side. After launching a campaign to regain the country from Elara, Dutthagamani captured a number of his strongholds before coming to the fortified city of Vijithapura. A four-month siege ensued, followed by a large assault where Dutthagamani's champions and royal elephant played a major part. The chronicles focus a lot on these ten champions, and vividly describe some unusual "tests" that Dutthagamani carried out to find out their skills. The battle ended in victory for Dutthagamani's forces and considerably weakened Elara's army, ultimately leading to his defeat and death. The exact location of Vijithapura is unknown, though historians ...
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Dutthagamani
Dutugamunu the Great (, , also spelled as ''Dutthagamani''), also known as Dutthagamani Abhaya ("fearless Gamini"), was the greatest king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom who reigned from 161 BC to 137 BC. He is renowned for reuniting the whole island of Sri Lanka by defeating and overthrowing Elara, the usurping Tamil prince from the Chola Kingdom, who had invaded the Anuradhapura kingdom in 205 BC. Dutugamunu also expanded and beautified the city of Anuradhapura and projected the power of his native Rajarata region across the island of Sri Lanka. Due to his significance as one of the most potent symbols of Sinhalese historical power, Dutugamunu's story is swathed in myth and legend. However, many aspects of the accounts of his life have been verified by contemporary inscriptions, and the basic account of his life is generally accepted as accurate. Etymology The Mahavamsa describes how as a youth he mocked his father Kavantissa, king of Ruhuna, for refusing to wage war against ...
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Anuradhapura Kingdom
The Anuradhapura Kingdom ( Sinhala: , translit: Anurādhapura Rājadhāniya, Tamil: ), named for its capital city, was the first established kingdom in ancient Sri Lanka related to the Sinhalese people. Founded by King Pandukabhaya in 437 BC, the kingdom's authority extended throughout the country, although several independent areas emerged from time to time which expanded towards the end of the kingdom. Nonetheless, the king of Anuradhapura was seen as the supreme ruler of the entire island throughout the Anuradhapura period. Buddhism played a major role in the Anuradhapura period, influencing its culture, laws, and methods of governance.Buddhism was such an important factor in this period that , p.196 asserts, "The island of Lanka belonged to the Buddha himself; it was like a treasury filled with the three gems". The society and the culture were revolutionized when the faith was introduced during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa; this cultural change was further stre ...
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Forts In Sri Lanka
Forts and fortifications in Sri Lanka date back thousands of years with many being built by Sri Lankan Kings, these include several walled cities. With the out set of colonial rule in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka was occupied by several major colonial empires that from time-to-time became the dominant power in the Indian Ocean. The colonists built several western styled forts, mostly in and round the coast of the island. The first to build colonial forts in Sri Lanka were the Portuguese, these forts were captured and later expanded by the Dutch. The British occupied these Dutch forts during the Napoleonic wars. Most of colonial forts were garrisoned up until the early 20th century. The coastal forts had coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ... manned by ...
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Vijitapura
Vijitapura is a town situated near Ratnapura in Sri Lanka and from Colombo Vijitapura is between Batticaloa and Badulla and Galle, behind this area of "We" river, which is heading to "Kauu River". Gem trade Vijitapura is known for its gemstone trading and attracts tourists and gem buyers from the local area and international specialty buyers from Thailand. The main income of this economic area is the gem market and gem-related business since its earliest years. Municipal structure The Vijitapura Urban Development Council was created in the 1940s. It was succeeded by the Vijitapura Urban Council. See also *Balangoda Man Balangoda Man refers to hominins from Sri Lanka's late Quaternary period. The term was initially coined to refer to anatomically modern ''Homo sapiens'' from sites near Balangoda that were responsible for the island's Mesolithic 'Balangoda Cult ... Populated places in Ratnapura District {{SabaragamuwaLK-geo-stub ...
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Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and southeast of the Arabian Sea; it is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka shares a maritime border with India and Maldives. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is its legislative capital, and Colombo is its largest city and financial centre. Sri Lanka has a population of around 22 million (2020) and is a multinational state, home to diverse cultures, languages, and ethnicities. The Sinhalese are the majority of the nation's population. The Tamils, who are a large minority group, have also played an influential role in the island's history. Other long established groups include the Moors, ...
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Anuradhapura Period
The Anuradhapura period was a period in the history of Sri Lanka of the Anuradhapura Kingdom from 377 BCE to 1017 CE. The period begins when Pandukabhaya, King of Upatissa Nuwara moved the administration to Anuradhapura, becoming the kingdom's first monarch. Anuradhapura is heralded as an ancient cosmopolitan citadel with diverse populations. Overview Periodization of Sri Lanka history: Political history Early Anuradhapura period (377 BCE-463 CE) Pandukabhaya (437–367 BCE) King of Upatissa Nuwara and the first monarch of the Anuradhapura Kingdom and 6th over all of the island of Sri Lanka since the arrival of the Vijaya, he reigned from 437 BC to 367 BCE. According to many historians and philosophers, he is the first truly Sri Lankan king since the Vijayan invasion, and also the king who ended the conflict between the Sinha clan and local community, reorganizing the populace. Elara (205–161 BCE), a Tamil King with Chola origins, who ruled "Pihiti Rata", i.e., Sri Lanka ...
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Polonnaruwa
Poḷonnaruwa, ( si, පොළොන්නරුව, translit=Poḷonnaruva; ta, பொலன்னறுவை, translit=Polaṉṉaṟuvai) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The modern town of Polonnaruwa is also known as New Town, and the other part of Polonnaruwa remains as the royal ancient city of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa. The second oldest of all Sri Lanka's kingdoms, Polonnaruwa was first established as a military post by the Sinhalese kingdom. It was renamed Jananathamangalam by the Chola dynasty after their successful invasion of the country's then capital, Anuradhapura, in the 10th century. The ''Ancient City of Polonnaruwa'' has been declared a World Heritage Site. Modern Polonnaruwa is undergoing a major development project known as the "Awakening of Polonnaruwa," championed by former President Maithripala Sirisena. It envisions the development of all s ...
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Kalawewa
Kala Wewa ( Sinhala:කලා වැව) built by the King Datusena in 460 A.D, is a twin reservoir complex (Kala Wewa & Balalu Wewa) which has a capacity of 123 million cubic meters. This reservoir complex has facilitated with a stone made spillway and three main sluices. From the central major sluice, a 40 feet wide ''central conveys'' water to feed thousands of acres of paddy lands and ends at the historical capital Anuradhapura city tank Tissa Wewa meandering over at a slope of 6 inches per mile and is another wonder of primeval hydraulic engineering facility in ancient Ceylon. History This reservoir was built by the King Dhathusena who ruled the country during 454 – 473 CE in the 5th century. Tamil invaders who arrived from South India ruled the north part of the country during the period from 429 to 455 AD. King Dhathusena defeated the invaders and united the country and then he wanted to rebuild the irrigation system by constructing several tanks, canals, etc., ...
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Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the current capital of Colombo in the North Central Province, on the banks of the historic Malvathu River. The city is now a World Heritage Site famous for its well-preserved ruins of the ancient Sinhalese civilization. While Mahavamsa place the founding of the city in 437 BCE, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it a major human settlement on the island for almost three millennia and one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in Asia. It is the cradle of the Hydraulic Sinhalese civilization, Theravada Buddhism, and the longest-serving ancient capital of Sri Lanka that has survived for 1500 years. Moreover, It was the first capi ...
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