Pre-Independence history

1. The Indian epic Ramayana, carries one of the first written references to Sri Lanka; it provides details of a kingdom named Lanka that had been created by the divine sculptor Vishwakarma, for Kubera, the lord of wealth.True/False?

2. When does the ancient period of Sri Lanka begin?

3. Where did Vijaya establish his kingdom?

4. Approximately how many native monarchs were there in Sri Lanka according to the chronicles?

5. What is the time period of the Sri Lankan dynasty until its fall to the British?

6. During whose reign did the kingdom of Sri Lanka move to Anuradhapura?

7. Sri Lanka was the first Asian country to have a female ruler; Queen Anula who reigned from 4742 BC.True/false?

8. When does the early period of Sri Lanka begin?

9.In which year did the Portuguese establish a fort at the port city of Colombo?

10. In which year did King Vimaladharmasuriya I move the kingdom to the inland city of Kandy?

11. During whose reign did the Dutch explorers arrive in the country?

12. In which year did the king sign a treaty with the Dutch East India Company to get rid of the Portuguese who ruled most of the coastal areas?

13.The Kingdom of Kandy was the last independent monarchy of Sri Lanka.True/False?

14. Name the monarch who brought the sacred Tooth Relic - the traditional symbol of royal and religious authority amongst the Sinhalese - to Kandy, and built the Temple of the Tooth in 1595.

15. On which date was Kandy occupied by the British?

16 Name the Governor who thwarted the attempts of Sri Lankan noblemen to undermine the British power in 1818 during the Uva Rebellion ?

17.To which country did the British send the last king of Kandy on exile?

18.Name the convention that formally ceded the entire country to the British Empire?

19.Who introduced tea to the country?

20. What marks the beginning of the modern period of Sri Lanka?

21.When did the Uva -Wellassa rebellion take place?

22. What Constitution ushered in the Dominion status for Ceylon?

23. When was the office of Prime Minister of Ceylon created?

24. Who became the first prime minister of Independent Ceylon ( Sri Lanka)?.

25.Even though Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, the British Royal Navy stationed at Trincomalee remained until 1956 True/False?.

[ANSWERS]

1. True

2. According to the Mahvamsa, a chronicle written in Pali , the ancient period of Sri Lanka begins in 543 BC with the landing of Vijaya, a semi-legendary king who arrived in the country with 700 followers from the southwest coast of what is now the Rarh region of West Bengal .

3. He established the Kingdom of Tambapanni, near modern day Mannar.

4.Vijaya is the first of the approximately 189 native monarchs of Sri Lanka, the chronicles like Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa, Chulavamsa and Rajavaliya describe.

5. Sri Lankan dynasty spanned over a period of 2359 years, from 543 BC to 1815 AD, until it came under the rule of the British Empire.

6 The ruling kingdom of Sri Lanka moved to Anuradhapura in 380 BC, during the reign of Pandukabhaya.

7. True.

8. The early modern period of Sri Lanka begins with the arrival of Portuguese soldier and explorer Lorenzo de Almeida, the son of Francisco de Almeida in 1505.

9. The Portuguese founded a fort at the port city of Colombo in 1517 and gradually extended their control over the coastal areas.

10 In 1592 Vimaladharmasuriya I moved the kingdom to the inland city of Kandy.

11 During the reign of the RajasingheII, Dutch explorers arrived in the island.

12. In 1638.

13.True

14. King Vimaladharmasuriya .

15.On February 14 ,1815, Kandy was occupied by the British, in the second Kandyan War, finally ending Sri Lanka's independence.

16..Governor Robert Brownrigg.

17.Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, the last monarch of Sri Lanka was exiled to India.

18. The Kandyan Convention.

19. Tea plantation was introduced to the country by James Taylor, a British planter in 1867.

20. The beginning of the modern period of Sri Lanka is marked by the Colebrooke-Cameron reforms of 1833.

21.The Great Rebellion,also known as the Uva-Wellassa Uprising, (after the two places it had started), or simply the Uva Rebellion was the third Kandyan War with the British and it took place during 1817-1818.

22. The Soulbury Constitution ushered the Dominion status for Ceylon.

23. The office of Prime Minister of Ceylon was created in advance of Independence, on October 14, 1947

24. D. S. Senanayake

25. True.