A note on history

Throughout its war-torn history, Sri Lanka has been a victim of its strategic location. Perfectly located close to India, midway between South-east Asia and the Middle East, and likewise between China and Europe, it has been a key trading hub for millennia. The Romans traded indirectly through intermediaries, and thousands of Roman artefacts, including 300,000 coins, have remained as testimony to this globalised traffic of two thousand years ago.
Legend has it that in 543 BC, Prince Vijaya established the Sinhala Kingdom after being expelled from the Vanga Kingdom, in what is today Bengal. Buddhism was introduced in the 3rd century BCE, during the Anuradhapura period (377 BCE–1017). The Dravidian influence from Southern India is a continuous factor in Sri Lankan politics, even today. Sinhalese monarchs used Tamil (from Tamil Nadu, the closest Indian state) mercenaries. The Anuradhapura Kingdom fell in the 11th century in the Chola (a medieval thalassocratic (based on maritime domination) empire based in southern India) Conquest (992-1017 CE). The Chola Empire remained in control of Sri Lanka till 1070 CE, when Sinhalese sovereignty was restored by Vijayabahu I.
Governance was exercised in the north during the Polonnaruwa period (1017–1232), but as a consequence of repeated invasions, the Sinhalese withdrew further south to a series of different capitals in the mountainous interior. This is known as the Transitional period (1232–1597). As a consequence of the waning Sinhalese power, the Jaffna Kingdom (1215–1619 CE) was created in the north. The Wars of Succession divided the country into three parts, under three brothers (echoes of King Lear?), known as the Crisis of the Sixteenth Century (1521–1597).
A new disaster began with the arrival of the Portuguese to what was to become the harbour at Colombo. Seeking to control the lucrative external trade by taking control of the maritime regions of the island, they brought about the collapse of the Kingdom of Sitawaka and Jaffna Kingdom. The Kandyan period (1597–1815) began as the only remaining independent kingdom, based at Kandy.
During the Eighty Years’ War (1566/1568–1648), a revolt against the Spanish (who at that time also controlled Portugal through a personal union of the king) in the Habsburg Netherlands, the Dutch began attacks on Portugal´s overseas territories, gaining control of most of Sri Lanka, from 1640-1796. It was not until 1815 that the British unified the country through the Kandyan Wars (1796-1818). British colonial rule lasted till independence in 1948. Armed resistance erupted in 1818 and 1848.
From 1948 Sri Lanka was a dominion of the British Empire, and became a constitutional republic in 1978. The new Constitution of 1978 changed the previous Westminister style of parliament to a French-style presidential system. This granted the chief executive, the president, broad powers, elected by direct suffrage for a six-year term.
Amongst concessions to the Tamil population, although Sinhala remained the official language of administration, Tamil was given a new “national language” status. The “standardization” policy of the previous United Front government was abrogated, a major Tamil grievance, which had made it difficult for Tamil speakers to obtain university admission. Armed uprisings occurred in the 1970s and 80s, and a civil against the Tamil rebels lasted 25 years, from 1984-2009.