The History of Sri Lanka (The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations)

Sri Lanka—an island nation located in the Indian Ocean— has a population of approximately 19 million. Despite its diminuative size, however, Sri Lanka has a long and complex history. The diversity of its people has led to ethnic, religious, and political conflicts that continue to exist. Peebles describes the experiences of the country, from its earliest settlers, to civil war, to its current state, allowing readers to better understand this often misunderstood country. With an emphasis on the 20th century, chapters discuss the economy, religion, culture, and government of Sri Lanka. A timeline outlines key events in Sri Lankan history, as well as biographies of notable people, and a bibliographic essay. Contents......Page 8 Maps......Page 10 Series Foreword......Page 12 Preface......Page 14 Acronyms......Page 16 Timeline of Historical Events......Page 20 1 The Settings......Page 28 2 Ancient Civilization to 1200......Page 40 3 Abandonment of the Dry Zone and the Kandyan Kingdom......Page 54 4 Portuguese, Dutch, and British Colonialism......Page 68 5 A Colonial Society......Page 82 6 A Plantation Economy......Page 96 7 Sinhalese and Tamil Nationalism......Page 110 8 The Coming of Independence......Page 122 9 Triumph of Sinhalese Nationalism......Page 136 10 Authoritarianism and Ethnic Conflict......Page 150 11 Economic Liberalization and the Quality of Life......Page 164 12 Civil War......Page 178 13 Searching for Peace......Page 192 Notable People in the History of Sri Lanka......Page 208 Appendix: Sri Lankan Sovereigns, Dutch and British Governors, Prime Ministers, and Presidents......Page 216 Glossary......Page 222 Bibliographic Essay......Page 226 Index......Page 232 Physical Map of Sri Lanka......Page 31 Ancient Sri Lanka......Page 43 Colonial Sri Lanka......Page 81 Provinces and Districts......Page 134 Modern Sri Lanka......Page 168 Peebles (history, U. of Missouri, Kansas City) presents the history of Sri Lanka in this volume that is part of a series aimed at students and general readers. Along the way, he integrates geography, economics, culture, colonialism, and Sinhalese and Tamil nationalism into the discussion, and describes the country's independence from Britain, ethnic conflicts, quality of life, the recent civil war and quest for peace, and the 2004 tsunami. Brief biographies of key figures are appended