Sri Lanka: 2,500 Years of History

People have lived on the island for at least 45,000 years. Buddhism arrived in the 3rd century BCE and shaped the island's culture ever since. Ancient kings built giant stupas and reservoirs that still water rice fields. Portugal, the Netherlands and Britain ruled in turn; Britain held the whole island from 1815. Ceylon became independent in 1948 and the Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972. Civil war, the 2004 tsunami and the 2022 crisis tested the nation deeply. Before the Kings Long before any king or chronicle, hunters and gatherers lived in the island's caves and forests. Their story is told by stone tools, bones and the patient work of archaeologists. The first islanders In 2019, researchers at Fa-Hien Lena cave reported tiny quartz tools called microliths, about 48,000 to 45,000 years old, as early as similar tools in Europe. Archaeologists call the island's Stone Age people "Balangoda Man", after a town near key sites. Human fossils from the island's…