''Mahāvaṃsa'' (Sinhala: මහාවංශ (Mahāvansha),
Pali
Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
: ''මහාවංස (Mahāvaṃsa)'') is the meticulously kept historical chronicle of
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
until the period of
Mahasena of Anuradhapura. It was written in the style of an epic poem written in the
Pali
Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
language.
It relates the history of Sri Lanka from its legendary beginnings up to the reign of
Mahasena of Anuradhapura covering the period between the arrival of
Prince Vijaya
Prince Vijaya (c. 543–505 BCE) was a legendary king of Kingdom of Tambapanni, Tambapanni, based in modern day Sri Lanka. His reign was first mentioned in ''Mahāvaṃsa.'' He is said to have came to Sri Lanka with seven hundred followers afte ...
from India in 543 BCE to his reign and later updated by different writers. It was first composed by a
Buddhist monk named Mahanama at the
Mahavihara temple in Anuradhapura in the 5th or 6th-century CE.
The Mahavamsa first came to the attention of Western researchers around 1809 CE, when
Sir Alexander Johnston, Chief Justice of the
British Ceylon
British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...
, sent manuscripts of it and other Sri Lankan chronicles (written in mainly Sinhala language being the main language of Sri Lanka) to
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
for translation and publication.
Eugène Burnouf produced a Romanized transliteration and translation into Latin in 1826, but these garnered relatively little attention.
Working from Johnston's manuscripts,
Edward Upham
Edward Upham (1776–1834) was an English bookseller, antiquarian and orientalist.
Life
The third son of Charles Upham (1739–1807), mayor of Exeter in 1796, he was born at Exeter. He began life as a bookseller there; his brother John carried o ...
published an English translation in 1833, but it was marked by several errors in translation and interpretation, among them suggesting that the Buddha was born in Sri Lanka and built a monastery atop
Adam's Peak.
The first printed edition and widely read English translation was published in 1837 by
George Turnour, a historian and officer of the
Ceylon Civil Service who translated 38 chapters.
Mudaliyar L. C. Wijesinghe completed the remaining 62 chapters and reviewed Turnour's work, publishing in 1889. A
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
translation of ''Mahavamsa'' was completed by
Wilhelm Geiger in 1912. This was then translated into
English by Mabel Haynes Bode, and revised by Geiger.
In 2023, the Mahavamsa was listed an item of globally important documentary heritage on UNESCO’s
Memory of the World
UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction. It ca ...
International Register.
Compilation
The Buddhist monks of the
Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya
The Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya was an important mahavihara or large Buddhist monastery for Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka. King Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura (247–207 BCE) founded it in his capital city of Anuradhapura. Monks such as B ...
maintained chronicles of the island's history starting from the 3rd century BCE. These annals were then combined and compiled into a single document in the 5th century while
King Dhatusena was ruling the
Anuradhapura Kingdom. It was written based on prior ancient compilations known as the ''
Atthakatha
Aṭṭhakathā (Pali for explanation, commentary) refers to Pali-language Theravadin Buddhist commentaries to the canonical Theravadin Tipitaka. These commentaries give the traditional interpretations of the scriptures. The major commentaries ...
'' (sometimes ''Sinhalaatthakatha''), which were commentaries written in Sinhala. An earlier document known as the ''
Dipavamsa'' (4th century CE) "Chronicles of the Island" is much simpler and contains less information than the ''Mahavamsa'' and was probably compiled using the ''Atthakatha'' on the ''Mahavamsa'' as well.
Authorship of the ''Mahavamsa'' is attributed to an otherwise unknown monk called Mahānāma by the ''Mahavamsa-tika''. Mahānāma is described as residing in a monastery belonging to general
Dighasanda and affiliated with the Mahavihara, but no other reliable biographical information is known.
Mahānāma introduces the ''Mahavamsa'' with a passage that claims that he intends to correct repetitions and shortcomings that afflicted the chronicle compiled by the ancients- this may refer either to the ''
Dipavamsa'' or to the Sinhala Atthakatha.
Contents
The contents of the ''Mahavamsa'' can be broadly divided into four categories:
* The Buddha's Visits to Sri Lanka: This material recounts three legendary visits by the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
to the island of Sri Lanka. These stories describe the Buddha subduing or driving away the
Yakkhas (Yakshas) and
Nagas that were inhabiting the island and delivering a prophecy that Sri Lanka will become an important Buddhist center. These visits are not mentioned in the
Pali Canon
The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...
or other early sources.
* Chronicles of Kings of Sri Lanka: This material consists of genealogies and lineages of Sri Lankan kings, sometimes with stories about their succession or notable incidents in their reigns. This material may have been derived from earlier royal chronicles and king lists that were recorded orally in vernacular languages, and are a significant source of material about the history of Sri Lanka and nearby Indian kingdoms.
* History of the Buddhist Sangha: This section of the Mahavamsa deals with the mission sent by Emperor
Ashoka
Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...
to Sri Lanka, the transplantation of the
bodhi tree, and the founding of the
Mahavihara
Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas.
Mahaviharas of India
A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Biha ...
. It includes the names of prominent monks and nuns in the early Sri Lankan
sangha
Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...
. It also includes accounts of the early
Buddhist councils
Since the Mahaparinirvana of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, Buddhist monastic communities, the "''sangha''", have periodically convened for doctrinal and disciplinary reasons and to revise and correct the contents of the Buddhist ...
and the first recording of the
Pali canon
The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...
in writing. This is a significant source of material about the development of the early Buddhist community and includes the names of missionaries dispatched to various regions of South and Southeast Asia, some of which have been confirmed by inscriptions and other archaeological evidence.
* Chronicles of Sri Lanka: This material begins with the immigration of
Prince Vijaya
Prince Vijaya (c. 543–505 BCE) was a legendary king of Kingdom of Tambapanni, Tambapanni, based in modern day Sri Lanka. His reign was first mentioned in ''Mahāvaṃsa.'' He is said to have came to Sri Lanka with seven hundred followers afte ...
from India with his retinue and continues until the reign of King
Mahasena, recounting wars, succession disputes, the building of stupas and reliquaries, and other notable incidents. An extensive chronicle of the war between the Sinhala King
Dutthagamani and Tamil invader, and later king,
Elara (861 verses in the ''Mahavamsa'' compared with 13 verses in the ''Dipavamsa'') may represent the incorporation of a popular epic from the vernacular tradition.
While much of the contents of the ''Mahavamsa'' is derived from expansions of the material found in the ''Dipavamsa'', several passages specifically dealing with the
Abhayagiri vihara are omitted, suggesting that the ''Mahavamsa'' was more specifically associated with the
Mahavihara
Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas.
Mahaviharas of India
A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Biha ...
.
Further compilations
A companion volume, the ''
Culavamsa'' "Lesser Chronicle", compiled by
Sinhala monks, covers the period from the 4th century to the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
takeover of Sri Lanka in 1815. The ''Culavamsa'' was compiled by several authors of different periods.
The combined work sometimes referred to collectively as the ''Mahavamsa'', provides a continuous historical record of over two millennia, and is considered one of the world's longest unbroken historical accounts. It is one of the few documents containing material relating to the
Nāga
In various Asian religious traditions, the Nāgas () are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...
and
Yakkha peoples, indigenous inhabitants of
Lanka
Lanka (; ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary Rakshasa king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks kn ...
before the legendary arrival of Prince Vijaya from Singha Pura of Kalinga. As it often refers to the royal
dynasties
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others.
Historians ...
of
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, the ''Mahavamsa'' is also valuable for historians who wish to date and relate contemporary royal dynasties in the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
. It is very important in dating the
consecration
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...
of the
Maurya Emperor Ashoka
Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...
, which is related to the
synchronicity
Synchronicity () is a concept introduced by Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology, to describe events that coincide in time and appear meaningfully related, yet lack a discoverable causal connection. Jung held that this was a healthy fu ...
with the
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...
and
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
. Indian excavations in
Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
and other locations, confirm the ''Mahavamsa'' account of the empire of Ashoka. The accounts given in the ''Mahavamsa'' are also amply supported by the numerous stone inscriptions, mostly in Sinhala, found in Sri Lanka.
K. Indrapala[K. Indrapala, ''Evolution of an Ethnicity'', 2005] has also upheld the historical value of the ''Mahavamsa''. If not for the ''Mahavamsa'', the story behind the large
stupa
In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...
s in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, such as
Ruwanwelisaya
The Ruwanweli Maha Seya, also known as the Maha Thupa (), is a stupa (a hemispherical structure containing relics) in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Two quarts or one Dona of the Buddha's relics are enshrined in the stupa, making it the largest collect ...
,
Jetavanaramaya,
Abhayagiri vihāra
Abhayagiri may refer to:
* Abhayagiri vihāra a ruined monastic complex of great historical significance in Sri Lanka
* Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, a Theravadin Buddhist monastery in Redwood Valley, California
See also
* Abhaya (disambiguati ...
and other works of ancient engineering would never have been known.
Historical and literary significance
Historiographical sources are rare in much of South Asia. As a result of the ''Mahavamsa'', comparatively more is known about the history of the island of Ceylon and neighboring regions than that of most of the subcontinent. Its contents have aided in the identification and corroboration of archaeological sites and inscriptions associated with early Buddhism, the empire of
Ashoka
Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...
, and even the Tamil kingdoms of southern India.
The ''Mahamvasa'' covers the early history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, beginning with the time of
Siddhartha Gautama
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...
, the founder of Buddhism. It also briefly recounts the history of
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, from the date of the Buddha's death to the
3rd Buddhist council where the
Dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
was reviewed. Every chapter of the ''Mahavamsa'' ends by stating that it is written for the "serene joy of the pious". From the emphasis of its point-of-view, and being compiled to record the good deeds of the kings who were patrons of the
Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya
The Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya was an important mahavihara or large Buddhist monastery for Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka. King Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura (247–207 BCE) founded it in his capital city of Anuradhapura. Monks such as B ...
, it has been said to support
Sinhalese nationalism.
Besides being an important historical source, the ''Mahavamsa'' is the most important epic poem in the
Pali
Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
language. Its stories of battles and invasions, court intrigue, and great constructions of stupas and water reservoirs, written in elegant verse suitable for memorization, caught the imagination of the Buddhist world of the time. Unlike many texts written in antiquity, it also discusses various aspects of the lives of ordinary people, and how they joined the King's army or farmed. Thus the ''Mahavamsa'' was taken along the
Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...
to many Buddhist lands.
Parts of it were translated, retold, and absorbed into other languages. An extended version of the ''Mahavamsa'', which gives many more details, has also been found in Southeast Asia.
[Dr. Hema Goonatilake, ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka''. 2003] The ''Mahavamsa'' gave rise to many other Pali chronicles, making Sri Lanka of that period probably the world's leading center in Pali literature.
Political significance
The ''Mahavamsa'' has, especially in modern Sri Lanka, acquired significance as a document with a political message. The Sinhalese majority often use Mahavamsa as proof of their claim that Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese nation since historical time.
The British historian Jane Russell
[Communal politics under the Donoughmore Constitution, 1931–1947, Tissara Publishers, Colombo 1982] has recounted how a process of "''Mahavamsa'' bashing" began in the 1930s, from within the
Tamil Nationalist movement. The ''Mahavamsa'', being a history of the Sinhala Buddhists, presented itself to the Tamil Nationalists and the Sinhala Nationalists as the hegemonic epic of the Sinhala people. This view was attacked by G. G. Ponnambalam, a representative of the Nationalist Tamils in the 1930s. He claimed that most of the Sinhala kings, including Vijaya, Kasyapa, and Parakramabahu, were Tamils. Ponnambalam's 1939 speech in Nawalapitiya, attacking the claim that Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese, Buddhist nation was seen as an act against the notion of creating a Sinhalese-Buddhist only nation. The Sinhala majority responded with a mob riot, which engulfed Nawalapitiya, Passara, Maskeliya, and even in Tamil
Jaffna
Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...
.
Historical accuracy
Early Western scholars like
Otto Franke dismissed the possibility that the ''Mahavamsa'' contained reliable historical content, but subsequent evidence from inscriptions and archaeological finds have confirmed that there is a factual basis for many of the stories recorded in the ''Mahavamsa'', including Ashoka's missionary work and the kings associated with founding various monasteries and stupas.
The contents of the ''Mahavamsa'' beginning from the King
Devanampiyatissa
Tissa, later Devanampiya Tissa (, ), also known as Devanape Tis (, ), was one of the earliest kings of Sri Lanka based at the ancient capital of Anuradhapura. According to the traditional chronology, he ruled from 307 BC to 267 BC, b ...
is considered mostly historically, apart from some bias by the writers.
Wilhelm Geiger was one of the first Western scholars to suggest that it was possible to separate useful historical information from the mythic and poetic elaborations of the chronicle. While other scholars had assumed that the ''Mahavamsa'' had been assembled from borrowed material from Indian Pali sources, Geiger hypothesized that the ''Mahavamsa'' had been based on earlier Sinhala sources that originated on the island of Ceylon. While Geiger did not believe that the details provided with every story and name were reliable, he broke from earlier scholars in believing that the ''Mahavamsa'' faithfully reflected an earlier tradition that had preserved the names and deeds of various royal and religious leaders, rather than being a pure work of heroic literary fiction. He regarded the early chapters of the ''
Culavamsa'' as the most accurate, with the early chapters of the ''Mahavamsa'' being too remote historically and the later sections of the ''Culavamsa'' marked by excessive elaboration.
Geiger's Sinhala student G. C. Mendis was more openly skeptical about certain portions of the text, specifically citing the story of the Sinhala ancestor
Vijaya
Vijaya may refer to:
Places
* Vijaya (Champa), a city-state and former capital of the historic Champa in what is now Vietnam
* Vijayawada, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India
People
* Prince Vijaya of Sri Lanka (fl. 543–505 BC), earliest recorde ...
as being too remote historically from its source and too similar to an epic poem or other literary creation to be seriously regarded as history.
The date of Vijaya's arrival is thought to have been artificially fixed to coincide with the date for the death of
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...
around 543 BCE.
[E.J. Thomas. (1913). BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES. Available: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/busc/busc03.htm. Last accessed 26 03 10.] The Chinese pilgrims
Fa Hsien and
Hsuan Tsang both recorded myths of the origins of the Sinhala people in their travels that varied significantly from the versions recorded in the ''Mahavamsa''- in one version, the Sinhala are descended from
naga or nature spirits who traded with Indian merchants, and in another, the Sinhala progenitor is a prince exiled for patricide who then slays a wealthy merchant and adopts his 500 children.
The story of the Buddha's three visits to Sri Lanka is not recorded in any source outside of the ''Mahavamsa'' tradition.
Moreover, the genealogy of the Buddha recorded in the ''Mahavamsa'' describes him as being the product of four
cross cousin marriages. Cross-cousin marriage is associated historically with the
Dravidian people of southern India- both Sri Lankan
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
s and
Sinhala practiced cross-cousin marriage historically- but the exogamous marriage was the norm in the regions of northern India associated with the life of the Buddha.
[ No mention of cross-cousin marriage is found in earlier Buddhist sources, and scholars suspect that this genealogy was created to fit the Buddha into conventional Sri Lankan social structures for noble families.]
The historical accuracy of Mahinda converting the Sri Lankan king to Buddhism is also debated. Hermann Oldenberg, a German scholar of Indology
Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies.
The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...
who has published studies on the Buddha and translated many Pali texts, considers this story a "pure invention". V. A. Smith (Author of ''Ashoka'' and ''Early History of India'') also refers to this story as "a tissue of absurdities". V. A. Smith and Professor Hermann came to this conclusion due to Ashoka not mentioning the handing over of his son, Mahinda, to the temple to become a Buddhist missionary and Mahinda's role in converting the Sri Lankan king to Buddhism, in his 13th-year Rock Edicts, particularly Rock-Edict XIII.[Wilhelm Geiger (1912). Mahavamsa: Great Chronicle of Ceylon. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. 16–20.] Sources outside of Sri Lanka and the Mahavamsa tradition do not mention Mahinda as Ashoka's son. There is also an inconsistency with the year in which Ashoka sent Buddhist missionaries to Sri Lanka. According to the ''Mahavamsa'', the missionaries arrived in 255 BCE, but according to Edict 13, it was five years earlier in 260 BCE.
Related works
The ''Mahavamsa'' is believed to have originated from an earlier chronicle known as the '' Dipavamsa'' (4th century CE; ). The ''Dipavamsa'' is much simpler and contains less information than the ''Mahavamsa'' and probably served as the nucleus of an oral tradition that was eventually incorporated into the written ''Mahavamsa''. The ''Dipavamsa'' is believed to have been the first Pali text composed entirely in Ceylon.
A subsequent work sometimes known as '' Culavamsa'' extends the ''Mahavamsa'' to cover the period from the reign of Mahasena of Anuradhapura (277–304 CE) until 1815, when the entire island was surrendered to the British throne. The '' Culavamsa'' contains three sections composed by five different authors (one anonymous) belonging to successive historical periods.
In 1935, Buddhist monk Yagirala Pannananda published '' Mahavamsa Part III'', a Sinhala language
Sinhala ( ; Sinhala: , , ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( ), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. It is also the first ...
continuation of the ''Mahavamsa'' that covers the period from the end of the ''Culavamsa'' up until 1935. While not authorized or supported by any government or religious organization, this continuation of the ''Mahavamsa'' was later recognized by the government of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister J. R. Jayawardene.
A commentary on the ''Mahavamsa'', known as the ''Mahavamsa-tika'', is believed to have been composed before the first additions composing the '' Culavamsa'' were written, likely sometime between 1000 CE and 1250 CE. This commentary provides explanations of ambiguous Pali terms used in the ''Mahavamsa'', and in some cases adds additional details or clarifies differences between different versions of the ''Mahavamsa''. Unlike the ''Mahavamsa'' itself, which is composed almost entirely of material associated with the Mahavihara
Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas.
Mahaviharas of India
A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Biha ...
, the ''Mahavamsa-tika'' makes several references to commentaries and alternate versions of the chronicle associated with the Abhayagiri vihara tradition.
Extended
In Southeast Asia, a Pali work referred to as the "Extended ''Mahavamsa''" includes not only the text of the Sri Lankan ''Mahavamsa'', but also elements of the '' Thupavamsa'', '' Buddhavamsa'', ''Mahavamsa'' commentaries, and quotations from various jataka
The ''Jātaka'' (Sanskrit for "Birth-Related" or "Birth Stories") are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories we ...
s. It is sometimes referred to in academic literature as the ''Kampuchean Mahavamsa'' or ''Khmer Mahavamsa'' because it is distinguished by being recorded in the Khmer script
Khmer script (, )Huffman, Franklin. 1970. ''Cambodian System of Writing and Beginning Reader''. Yale University Press. . is an abugida (alphasyllabary) script used to write the Khmer language, the official language of Cambodia. It is also use ...
. Its composition is attributed to an otherwise unknown monk called Moggallana and its exact period of composition and origin are unknown. The origin of this version is believed to be Burma
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
or Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
.
See also
* History of Sri Lanka
The history of Sri Lanka covers Sri Lanka and the history of the Indian subcontinent and its surrounding regions of South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean.
Prehistoric Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years and possibly even as far back a ...
* Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...
* Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra
The ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra'' (Sanskrit: लङ्कावतारसूत्रम्, "Discourse of the Descent into Laṅkā", , Chinese: 入楞伽經) is a prominent Mahayana Buddhist sūtra. It is also titled ''Laṅkāvatāraratnasūt ...
References
Bibliography
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*
Editions and translations
* Geiger, Wilhelm; Bode, Mabel Haynes (transl.); Frowde, H. (ed.)
The Mahavamsa or, the great chronicle of Ceylon
London: Pali Text Society 1912.
* Guruge, Ananda W.P.: ''Mahavamsa.'' Calcutta: M. P. Birla Foundation 1990 (''Classics of the East'').
* Guruge, Ananda W. P. Mahavamsa: The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka, A New Annotated Translation with Prolegomena, ANCL Colombo 1989
* Ruwan Rajapakse, ''Concise Mahavamsa'', Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2001
* DHS Abayaratna (ed.) The Sinhalese Maháwansa ... an easy Sinhalese literal translation of the ... "Mahawansa" versified in the Pali language by ancient scholars such as Mahanama Mahasthavira ith an appendix on more recent history1922
* Sumangala, H.; Silva Batuwantudawa, Don Andris de: ''The Mahawansha from first to thirty-sixth Chapter. Revised and edited, under Orders of the Ceylon Government by H. Sumangala, High Priest of Adam's Peak, and Don Andris de Silva Batuwantudawa, Pandit.'' Colombo 1883.
* Turnour, George (C.C.S.): ''The Mahawanso in Roman Characters with the Translation Subjoined, and an Introductory Essay on Pali Buddhistical Literature. Vol. I containing the first thirty eight Chapters.'' Cotto 1837.
;Early translation of a Sinhalese version of the text:
* Upham, Edward (ed.): ''The Mahavansi, the Raja-ratnacari, and the Raja-vali : forming the sacred and historical books of Ceylon; also, a collection of tracts illustrative of the doctrines and literature of Buddhism: translated from the Singhalese''. London : Parbury, Allen, and Co. 1833
vol. 1
vol. 2
vol. 3
External links
Geiger/Bode Translation of the ''Mahavamsa''
The ''Mahavamsa'': The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka
"Concise ''Mahavamsa''"
on-line version of: Ruwan Rajapakse, P.E. (2003). ''Concise Mahavamsa: History of Buddhism in Sri Lanka''. Maplewood, NJ : Ruwan Rajapakse. .
History of Sri Lanka
Original Pali Text in Devanagari (अन्य > महावंस > पथमपरिच्छेद to तिसट्ठिम परिच्छेद )
{{Anuradhapura period topics
Anuradhapura period
History of Buddhism in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan Buddhist texts
5th-century history books
Pali Buddhist texts
Sri Lankan chronicles
Texts about the history of Buddhism
Buddhist poetry