I would like to thank the countless people without whom this book would not have been possible, all those who shared their friendship, their expertise and their honesty throughout the time of its writing. Special thanks are owed to: Premasiri Herath and his family for sharing their home and their life with me during my time in Polonnaruwa; St. Thomas’ College in Gurutalawa and the Al Aksha Muslim Vidyalaya in Diwulana for inviting me to teach at their institutions; and all my friends at the Polonnaruwa Library. I am further indebted to Janaka Sampath and Nadeesha Yurangi for extending me their friendship, hospitality and assistance in Sri Lanka, and helping with Sinhala translations that eluded me. Also Nuwan Lakmal Rathnayaka for his friendship and guidance, Sanjeevika for being the most excellent friend and Sinhala teacher, and Dhruvni Shah for her early interest and help with research. To Professor Lakshmi Holmström, Peter Blegvad, Maureen Freely, Sian Evans, Upamanyu Pablo Mukherjee, Sarah Morreau, Ambalavaner Sivanandan, Rebecca Stott, George Ttoouli, Annabella Massey, David Devanney, Tim Leach, Trezza Azzopardi and Amit Chaudhuri, I offer apologies and gratitude in equal measure for their enduring the early stages of the manuscript and offering their kind encouragement. Further thanks go to Prof Michael Hulse, who gave up his time on many occasions to help me translate my German edition of Magha’s Shishupala Vadha. I am also infinitely grateful to my family, David, Margaret, Catrin and Duncan, for their unwavering belief and support, and my wonderful agents Eve White and Jack Ramm. My editors at Bloomsbury, Helen Garnons-Williams, Elizabeth Woabank, Himanjali Sankar and Rachel Mannheimer have also bowled me over with their enthusiasm and dedication to my work. My gratitude further extends to Eugen Schultz and Hippolyte Fauche, without whose turn-of-the-century German and French translations of Magha’s Shishupala Vadha I would have had to drastically improve my Sanskrit, and to William Geiger for translating the Chulavamsa into German, and Mabel Haynes Bode for translating his work into English. Honourable mentions also go to Dr. M. Shanmugam Pillai and David E. Ludden for their unparalleled translation of the Kuruntokai, the lady known as Sei Shōnagon and her translator Meredith McKinney for inspiring Asanka’s lists and providing some items, and of course W. H. Auden for supplying me with Asanka’s erstwhile motto. Finally this book goes out to all the translators, artists and writers around the world who continue to create beauty and freedom from beneath the heel of oppression. Today you are more necessary and powerful than you could possibly imagine.