Historical Landmarks

c.16,000BC Arrival of Veddahs.

c.500BC Arrival of first Sinhalese settlers.

377BC Foundation of Anuradhapura.

247BC King Devanampiya Tissa converts to Buddhism.

161BC Dutugemunu establishes first island-wide Sinhalese kingdom.

AD473 Kassapa establishes short-lived capital at Sigiriya.

993 Cholas establish new capital at Polonnaruwa.

1070 Vijayabahu drives out Cholas and re-establishes Sinhalese rule.

1215 Tamil mercenary Magha seizes control of Polonnaruwa.

13th–15th centuries Series of short-lived Sinhalese capitals, leading to establishment of Kandy and Kotte. Rise of Jaffna kingdom.

1505 Arrival of Portuguese, and establishment of fort in Colombo.

1619 Portuguese annexe Jaffna.

1638 Beginning of Dutch attacks against Portuguese.

1658 Jaffna falls to Dutch; end of Portuguese power in Sri Lanka.

1796 British take control of Sri Lanka from Dutch.

1867 First tea plantation established. Colombo to Kandy railway built.

1919 Foundation of Ceylon National Congress, first nationalist party.

1948 Country achieves independence. Changes name to Sri Lanka.

1959 Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike assassinated by a Buddhist monk. His widow becomes the world’s first female PM.

1971 Armed insurrection against government by JVP.

1972 Country becomes Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

1983 Civil war erupts between government forces and LTTE.

1987 Arrival of Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) in the north.

1990 Departure of IPKF after failure to keep the peace.

1996 Sri Lanka co-hosts and wins World Cricket Cup.

2004 Tsunami devastates coastal areas, killing thousands.

2005 Mahinda Rajapakse elected president.

2008 Final defeat of LTTE by Sri Lankan Army.

2010 Mahinda Rajapakse re-elected president.

2015 Maithripala Sirisena elected president and promises strong government reform.