With H.A.I. Goonetileke’s massive A Bibliography of Ceylon: A Systematic Guide to the Literature on the Land, People, History and Culture Published in the Western Languages from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day, Switzerland, 1970–1983, of which five volumes have been published, researchers and the general reader alike have a reliable and self-sufficient source of reference on historical writings on Sri Lanka. Some short bibliographies by others including specialist historians might also be mentioned. They include Vijaya Samaraweera’s bibliography in K.M. de Silva (ed.), History of Ceylon, Vol. III, University of Ceylon, Colombo, 1973, pp. 534–58 and the bibliography in K.M. de Silva (ed.), History of Sri Lanka, Vol. II (from c. 1500 to c. 1800), Peradeniya, 1995, pp. 567–94, compiled by the editor.
See also Vijaya Samaraweera, Sri Lanka, World Bibliographical Series, Vol. 20, London, 1987.
The following are short introductory surveys of the island’s history and politics:
S. Arasaratnam, Ceylon, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1964.
H. W. Codrington, A Short History of Ceylon, revised edn, London, 1947.
K.M. de Silva, ‘Historical Survey’, in K.M. de Silva (ed.), Sri Lanka: A Survey, London, 1976, pp. 31–85.
C.R. de Silva, Sri Lanka: A History, Delhi, 1983.
B.H. Farmer, Ceylon: A Divided Nation, London, 1963.
E.F.C. Ludowyk, The Story of Ceylon, London, 1962.
E. Meyer, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) (in French), Paris, 1977.
S.A. Pakeman, Ceylon, London, 1964.
U. Phadnis, Sri Lanka, Delhi, 1973.
S. Paranavitana (ed.), History of Ceylon, Vol. I (Parts I and II), The University of Ceylon, published in 1959–60. This work, now out of print and out of date, still remains the most wide-ranging study of ancient Sri Lanka. The scope of C.W. Nicholas and S. Paranavitana, A Concise History of Ceylon, Colombo, 1961, is much narrower than its title suggests: it is, in fact, a study of ancient Sri Lanka. Its usefulness is vitiated by the authors’ proclivity for fanciful theories on some aspects of the island’s history. Two earlier works—H.W. Codrington, A Short History of Ceylon and G.C. Mendis, Early History of Ceylon, Calcutta, 1932, (several editions)—may still be read with profit.
A great deal of work has been done on several aspects of the history of ancient Sri Lanka; most of it is published in learned journals, or remain as unpublished doctoral dissertations. But there are several valuable monographs, many of them analysing aspects of the history of this period in considerable depth. Some of these are listed below. Those marked with an asterisk contain useful bibliographies.
E.W. Adikaram, The Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon*, Colombo, 1953.
M.B. Ariyapala, Society in Medieval Ceylon, Colombo, 1956.
S. Bandarnayake, Sinhalese Monastic Architecture: Viharas of Anuradhapura, Leiden, 1974.
R. Brohier, Ancient Irrigation Works in Ceylon*, 3 Vols, Colombo, 1933.
A. Coomaraswamy, Medieval Sinhalese Art*, 2nd edn, New York, 1951.
W. Geiger (ed. H. Bechert), Culture of Ceylon in Medieval Times*, Wiesbaden, 1960.
R.A.L.H. Gunawardana, Robe and Plough: Monasticism and Economic Interest in Early Medieval Sri Lanka*, Tucson, Arizona, 1979.
T. Hettiarachchy, History of Kingship in Ceylon up to the Fourth Century ad*, Colombo, 1973.
John C. Holt, Buddha in the Crown: Avalokitesvara in the Buddhist Traditions of Sri Lanka, New York, 1991.
K. Indrapala (ed.), The Collapse of the R•jarata Civilization in Ceylon and the Drift to the South West*, Peradeniya, 1971.
A. Liyanagamage, The Decline of Polonnaruva and the Rise of Dambadeniya*, Colombo, 1968.
_____, Society, State and Religion in Pre-Modern Sri Lanka, Colombo, 2001.
S. Pathmanathan, The Kingdom of Jaffna, Part 1, Colombo, 1978.
Lakshman S. Perera, The Institutions of Ancient Ceylon from Inscriptions (from the 3rd century BC to 830 AD)*, Vol. I, ICES, Kandy, 2001.
_____, The Institutions of Ancient Ceylon from Inscriptions—Political Institutions (from 831 to 1016 AD)*, Vol. II, Part I, ICES, Kandy, 2003.
_____, The Institutions of Ancient Ceylon from Inscriptions—Economic Institutions (from 831 to 1016 ad) Vol. II, Part II, ICES, Kandy, forthcoming 2005.
W. Rahula, The History of Buddhism in Ceylon*, Colombo, 1956.
W.M. Sirisena, Sri Lanka and South-east Asia*, Leiden, 1978.
Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures of Sri Lanka*, Hong Kong, 1990.
_____, The Golden Age of Sculpture in Sri Lanka: Masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu Bronzes from Museums in Sri Lanka*, Hong Kong, 1992.
See particularly, K.M. de Silva (ed.), History of Ceylon* (from the beginning of the 19th century to 1948), Vol. III, 1973, University of Ceylon, and K.M. de Silva (ed.), History of Sri Lanka* (from c. 1500 to c. 1800), Vol. II, University of Peradeniya, 1995.*
Two very comprehensively researched monographs provide a splendid introduction to Portuguese rule in Sri Lanka: T.B.H. Abeyasinghe, Portuguese Rule in Ceylon, 1594–16I2*, Colombo, 1966 and C.R. de Silva, The Portuguese in Ceylon, 1617–1638*, Colombo, 1972.
The expulsion of the Portuguese from Sri Lanka and the establishment of the Dutch on the island’s coastal regions is surveyed in detail in G.D. Winius, The Fatal History of Portuguese Ceylon*, Cambridge, MA, 1971 and K.W. Goonewardena, The Foundation of Dutch Power in Ceylon*, Amsterdam, 1958.
S. Arasaratnam, Dutch Power in Ceylon*, Amsterdam, 1958 is a study of the consolidation of Dutch power in the island in the second half of the seventeenth century. J. van Goor, Jan Kompenie as Schoolmaster, Groningen, 1978, briefly reviews Dutch education in Sri Lanka over the period 1690–1795.
R. Pieris, Sinhalese Social Organisation*, Colombo, 1956 is a scholarly introduction to the Kandyan kingdom; H.L. Seneviratne, Rituals of the Kandyan State, Cambridge, 1978, deals with an interesting aspect of Kandyan life and covers a longer period than Pieris’s book. L. Dewaraja, The Kandyan Kingdom of Ceylon, 1707–1760*, Colombo, 1972, surveys the politics of the kingdom, in important phases in its history. Two books by Sir Paulus Pieris provide a graphic account of the last years of the Kandyan kingdom: Tri-Sinhala, Colombo, 1939 and Sinhale and the Patriots, Colombo, 1956, a study of the great rebellion of 1817–18. Buddhism in Kandyan times is a major theme in K. Malalgoda, Buddhism in Sinhalese Society, 1750–1900*, Berkeley, 1976, while G. Powell, The Kandyan Wars: The British Army in Ceylon, 1803–1818, London, 1973, provides a balanced and objective account of the British military campaigns in the Kandyan kingdom.
See also Michael Roberts, Sinhala Consciousness in the Kandyan Period 1590s to 1815, Colombo, 2004.
On British rule, see G.C. Mendis, Ceylon Under the British, 3rd edn, Colombo, 1952 and L.A. Mills, Ceylon Under British Rule, 1795–1932, Oxford, 1933.
The following books and monographs deal with the period c. 1800–1948: Colvin R. de Silva, Ceylon Under the British Occupation, 1795–1832, 2 Vols, Colombo, 1941–42.
K.M. de Silva, Social Policy and Missionary Organizations in Ceylon, 1840–1855*, London, 1965.
K.M. de Silva (ed.), Sri Lanka—Part I, The Second World War and the Soulbury Commission, 1939–1945, London, 1997; Part II, Towards Independence, 1945–1948, London, 1997. British Documents on End of Empire Series.
V.K. Jayawardena, The Rise of the Labour Movement in Ceylon, Durham, NC, 1972.
Sir Charles Jeffries, Ceylon: The Path to Independence, London, 1962.
G.C. Mendis (ed.), The Colebrooke-Cameron Papers, 2 Vols, Oxford, 1959.
S. Namasivayam, The Legislatures of Ceylon, London, 1951.
M.W. Roberts (ed.), Documents of the Ceylon National Congress and Nationalist Politics in Ceylon, 1929–1950, 4 Vols, Colombo, 1978.
I.D.S. Weerawardene, Government and Politics in Ceylon (1931–1946), Colombo, 1951.
Four volumes provide a wealth of information on the island in this period, each containing material not available in the others:
K.M. de Silva (ed.), Sri Lanka: A Survey, London, 1976.
T. Fernando and R.N. Kearney, Modern Sri Lanka: A Society in Transition, Syracuse, 1978.
Russell, Ross R., Andrea Matles Savada et al. (eds.), An Area Handbook for Ceylon, 2nd edn, Washington DC, 1990.
On the island’s politics in the years since independence there are several introductory surveys:
K.M. de Silva (ed.), Sri Lanka: The Problems of Governance, Delhi, 1993.
J. Jupp, Sri Lanka: Third World Democracy, London, 1978.
R.N. Kearney, The Politics of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Ithaca, NY, 1973.
A.J. Wilson, Politics in Sri Lanka, 1947–1979*, London, 1979.
The following are more specialized works on this period.
K.M. de Silva, Regional Powers and Small State Security: India and Sri Lanka, Washington DC, 1995.
_____, Reaping the Whirlwind: Ethnic Conflict and Ethnic Politics in Sri Lanka, Delhi, 1998.
K.N.O. Dharmadasa, Language, Religion and Ethnic Awareness: The Growth of Sinhalese Nationalism, Ann Arbor, 1992.
B. H. Farmer, Pioneer Peasant Colonization in Ceylon, Oxford, 1957.
Sir Ivor Jennings, The Constitution of Ceylon, 3rd edn, London, 1953.
_____, The Economy of Ceylon, 2nd edn, London, 1951.
Sir Ivor Jennings and H.W. Tambiah, The Dominion of Ceylon, London, 1952.
J. Jiggins, Caste and Family in the Politics of the Sinhalese, 1947–1976, Cambridge, 1979.
R.N. Kearney, Communalism and Language in the Politics of Ceylon, Durham, NC, 1967.
_____, Trade Unions and Politics in Ceylon, Berkeley, 1971.
W.D. Lakshman (ed.), Dilemmas of Development: Fifty Years of Economic Change in Sri Lanka, 1997.
G. Lerski, Origins of Trotskyism in Ceylon, Stanford, 1968.
Mick Moore, The State and Peasant Politics in Sri Lanka, Cambridge, 1985.
U. Phadnis, Religion and Politics in Sri Lanka, New Delhi, 1976.
Marshall R. Singer, The Emerging Elite: A Study of Political Leadership in Ceylon, Cambridge, MA, 1964.
D.R. Snodgrass, Ceylon: An Export Economy in Transition, Homewood, IL, 1966.
A.J. Wilson, Electoral Politics in an Emergent State: The Ceylon General Election of May 1970, Cambridge, 1975.
W. Howard Wriggins, Ceylon: Dilemmas of a New Nation, Princeton, NJ, 1960.
Calvin Woodward, Growth of a Party System in Ceylon, Providence, RI, 1969.