Welcome to uiboss.com on July 6 2009.
This is an internet experiment running to monitor browsing habbits of individuals through wikipedia contents.

Prehistory of Sri Lanka

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The Prehistory of Sri Lanka dates back to about 125,000 BP and possibly even as early as 500,000 BP and covers the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron ages. Evidence of a transition between the Mesolithic and the Iron Age is scant.

Fluctuations in sea level led to Sri Lanka being linked to the Indian subcontinent from time to time over the past million years. The last such link occurred about 5000 BC.[1]

Contents

[edit] Palaeolithic

Findings at Iranamadu indicate that there were Paeolithic people in Sri Lanka as early as 300,000 BP.[2] There is definite evidence of settlements by prehistoric peoples in Sri Lanka by about 125,000 BP. These people made tools of quartz and chert which are assignable to the Middle Palaeolithic period.[1]

[edit] Mesolithic

The island appears to have been colonised by the Balangoda People (named after the area where their remains were discovered) prior to 34,000 BP. They have been identified as a group of Mesolithic hunter gatherers who lived in caves. Fa Hien Cave has yielded the earliest evidence (at ca. 34,000 BP) of anatomically modern man in South Asia.[1]

Several of these caves including the well known Batadombalena and the Fa Hien Cave) have yielded many artefacts that points to them being the first modern inhabitants of the island. There is evidence from Beli-lena that salt had been brought in from the coast earlier than 27,000 BP[1]

Several minute granite tools of about 4 centimetres in length, earthenware and remnants of charred timber, and clay burial pots that date back to the Stone Age Mesolithic Man who lived 8000 years ago have been discovered during recent excavations around a cave at Varana Raja Maha vihara & also in Kalatuwawa area.

It is suspected that the hunter gatherer people known as the Wanniyala-Aetto or Veddas, who still live in the Central, Uva and North-Eastern parts of the island may be descendants of the Balangoda people.

The skeletal remains of dogs from Nilgala cave and from Bellanbandi Palassa, dating from the Mesolithic era, about 4500 BC, suggest that Balangoda People may have kept domestic dogs for driving game. The Sinhala Hound is similar in appearance to the Kadar Dog, the New Guinea Dog and the Dingo. It has been suggested that these could all derive from a common domestic stock. It is also possible that they may have domesticated jungle fowl, pig, water buffalo and some form of Bos (possibly the ancestor of the Sri Lankan neat cattle which became extinct in the 1940s.) [3]

The Balangoda People appear to have been responsible for creating Horton Plains, in the central hills, by burning the trees in order to catch game. However, evidence from the plains suggests the incipient management of Oats and Barley by about 15,000 BC.[4]

[edit] Mesolithic-Iron age transition

The transition in Sri Lanka from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age has been not been adequately documented. A human skeleton found at Godavaya in the Hambantota district, provisionally dated back to 3000 - 5000 BC was accompanied by tools of animal-bone and stone.[5]

However, evidence from Horton Plains indicates the existence of agriculture by about 8000 BC, including herding of Bos and cultivation of oats and barley. Excavations in the cave of Dorawaka-kanda near Kegalle indicate the use about 4300 BC of pottery, together with stone stools, and possibly cereal cultivation.[1][4]

Slag found at Mantai dated to about 1800 BC could indicate the knowledge of copper-working.[4]

Cinnamon, which is native to Sri Lanka, was in use in Ancient Egypt in about 1500 BC, suggesting that there were trading links with the island. It is possible that Biblical Tarshish was located on the island (James Emerson Tennent identified it with Galle).[6]

[edit] Early Iron age

A large settlement appears to have been founded before 900 BC at the site of Anuradhapura where signs of an Iron Age culture have been found. The size of the settlement was about 15 hectares at that date, but it expanded to 50 ha, to 'town' size within a couple of centuries. A similar site has been discovered at Aligala in Sigiriya.[7]

The earliest chronicles the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa say that the island was inhabited by tribes of Yakkhas (demons), Nagas (cobras) and devas (gods). [8] These may refer to totemist Iron Age autochthones.

Pottery dating back to 600 BC has been found at Anuradhapura, bearing Brāhmī script (among the earliest extant examples of the script) and non-Brahmi writing, which may have arisen through contact with Semitic trading scripts from West Asia.[2][4]

The emergence of new forms of pottery at the same time as the writing, together with other artifacts such as red glass beads, indicate a new cultural impulse, possibly an invasion from North India. The Brahmi writing appears to be in Indo-Aryan Prakrit and is almost identical to the Asokan script some 200 years later); none appears to be in Dravidian - corroborating the view that Indo-Aryan was pre-dominant from at least as early as 500 BC in Sri Lanka.[4]. Following ancient ethnic groups are attested from the ancient cave inscriptions found from different regions of Sri Lanka.

[edit] Kaboja or Kambojas

"Several early Brahmi inscriptions in Ceylon refer to a community of people called Kambojas who then lived in various parts of Sri Lanka. An early Pali text refers to a Kambojagama in Rohana". [9].

The Kaboja (also Kamboja or Kambodin) are mentioned in eight Brahmi texts. The Dameda are referenced in five texts. The Mileka are mentioned twice. The Muridi, Meraya and Jhavaka are mentioned only once.[10] The Kambojas living in Rohana are mentioned in the (?th) chapter of the Sihalavatthu, a Pali text from about 300 AD. An Elder named Maleyya was residing in Kamboja-gama, in the province (Janapada) of Rohana on the Island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka), according to chapter 3, Metteyya-vatthu, of the Sihalavatthu.[11] Further, the Mahavamsa asserts the Yonas or Yavanas (Greeks), neighbors to the Kambojas in the north-west, also had a settlement in Pandukabhaya in Anuradhapura [12]. Eight epigraphic and one literary sources attest that the Kambojas had settled in various parts of Ceylon including Hambantoa district and Aparai districts of Rohana province, in Kurunagala district Southwest of Anuradhapura, in Polonnaruva district in eastern Ceylon as well as in Anuradhapura city. A Kambojagama is attested in the Southeast in Rohana province.

Ancient inscriptions reveal that the Kambojas were actively involved in trade, referencing one "Grand Trade Guild of the Kambojas" (Kabojhiya-mahapugiyana) in Aparai district in Rohana and one "Sangha of the Kambojas" (Gota-Kabojhi(ya]na) in Kurunagala district in Southwest Anuradhapura.[13] Epigraphers date these inscriptions to at least 200 BC, or even earlier.

The Indo-Aryan speakers of Sri Lanka may be descended from these north-western Kambojas [14] [15] [16] Another portion of this Aryan population originated among the Sakas and the Yavanas. These Kambojas inhabited a region bordering the upper Indus in a country near Sind, from whence they, and the Yavanas, finally reached Ceylon in pre-Christian times[17].

[edit] Dameda (=Damela) or Tamils (Dravidian group from southern India)

The Dameda are the second most mentioned ethnic group in the epigraphy of Ceylon, with mention in five cave inscriptions. "Dameda" in these inscriptions stands for Damela (=Tamil) [18] According to another view, Dameda is a Sanskrit equivalent of Dravida [19] [20]. These inscriptions reference the Tamil merchant (Vishaka) [21], the Tamil householder Samana (residing) in Ilubharata[22] and a Tamil navika (or sailor) Karava [23]. These Tamil inscriptions are further corroborated by a reference in the Mahavamsa which contains the expression "Damilas Assandviks" i.e those (Tamils) who brought horses in water-craft [24]. Early Buddhist literature from north India refers to the Uttarapatha (comprising the Kambojas, Kashmiras, and Gandharas) [25] as horse traders [26] attesting that horses were brought for sale to various parts of the subcontinent. By early mediaeval times, the Kambojas had adopted Islam and were still trading all along the west-coast of India from the Persian Gulf to Ceylon and probably further-east [27]. Kamboja traders from the north-west and Tamil merchants from southern India had probably been involved in trade and settlement in Sri Lanka. Two of the five ancient inscriptions referring to the Damedas (Tamils) are in Periya Pullyakulam in the Vayuniya District, one is in Seruvavila district in Trincomalee district, one is in Kuduvil in Amprai district and one in the ancient city of Anuradhapura [28].

[edit] Mileka, Muridi, Merya and Jhavaka

Other ethnic terms like Mileka, Muridi [29], Meraya and Jhavaka are also mentioned in the ancient texts. Milaka, occurring twice in the sources, may be Mlechcha, an aboriginal population of Vedda people. Muridi may be Murunda (Saka Murunda)[30] Merya may be Maurya. Jhavaka identity is not clear. Each of the last three of these terms occur only once in the record[31].

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Deraniyagala (1996)
  2. ^ a b Pichumani (2004)
  3. ^ Deraniyagala (1992), p. 454
  4. ^ a b c d e Deraniyagala, nd
  5. ^ http://www.lankadeepa.lk/2008/08/21/front_news/01.htm Walawe gang moayen ipærani maanavayek, Lankadeepa, 21 August 2008.
  6. ^ Galle : "Tarshish" of the Old Testament
  7. ^ Deraniyagala, 2003
  8. ^ Mahawamsa, chapter 1
  9. ^ A Concise History of Ceylon: From the Earliest Times to the Arrival of the Portuguese in 1505, 1961, p 25, Cyril Wace Nicholas, Senarat Paranavitana - Sri Lanka; Sinhalese and Other Island Languages in South Asia: By M.W.S. de Silva, 1979, p 15, M. W. Sugathapala De Silva.
  10. ^ Inscriptions of Ceylon, 1970, p xc, Senarat Paranavitana - Inscriptions; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 341-42, 347, Dr J. L. Kamboj
  11. ^ Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean, 2002, pp 108-109, David Parkin and Ruth Barnes; Epigraphia Zeylanica: Being Lithic and Other Inscriptions of Ceylon, 1984, p 53, Don M. de Z. Wickremasinghe, Ceylon Archeological Dept, Archaeological Dept - Inscriptions, Sinhalese; The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia (Cambridge World Archaeology) 2003, p 206, Himanshu Prabha Ray, Norman Yoffee, Susan Alcock, Tom Dillehay, Stephen Shennan, and Carla Sinopoli (14 August, 2003) - Cambridge University Press; Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions, Steven Collins....See APPENDIX 4, Selections from the Story of the Elder Máleyya i.e. Maleyyadevattheravatthu).
  12. ^ Mahavamsa X.90, XII.5, XII.37-39; Dipavamsa. VIII.9; Samantapasadika, (P.T.B.)..I.67; See: History of Ceylon, Vol I, Part I, pp 88-91, Dr S Parnavitana
  13. ^ Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean, 2002, pp 108-109, David Parkin and Ruth Barnes; The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia (Cambridge World Archaeology) 2003, p 206, Himanshu Prabha Ray, Norman Yoffee, Susan Alcock, Tom Dillehay, Stephen Shennan, and Carla Sinopoli (14 August, 2003) - Cambridge University Press; The Beginnings of Civilization in South India, Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 29, No. 3 (May, 1970), pp. 603-616, Clarence Maloney)
  14. '^ "It is believed that the people who arrived in Lanka from time to time came from the region of Ancient Kamboja. These people may have come from the Indus Vally Civilization or related southern Indian groups. Evidence of such origens may be seen in the bathing ponds and drainage system at Anuradhapura city. Symbols and signs (eg. Swastika) found in caves, on pottery and on coins may have been introduced by these yet unknown arrivals (from Kamboja)" (See: Heritage of Sri Lanka, 1984, p 14, Nandadeva Wijesekera - Sri Lanka.
  15. ^ Cf: Proceedings of the Pakistan History Conference, 1968, p 14/15, Pakistan Historical Society - Pakistan.
  16. ^
    • IMPORTANT NOTE: While referring to Simhala country, which is referred to in the Book III, Chapter VII of Saktisangama Tantra, , Dr D. C. Sircar, a front rankinng Indologist observes:
    The great country called Simhala, the best of all countries, is placed to the east of Maru-desa and to the south of the Kama-dra. This Simhala of the Saktisangama Tantra can not be identified with Ceylon as such. It is evidently in the Punjab... and reminds us of the kingdom of Sinhapura, mentioned by Hiuen Tsang. The capital of this kingdom has been identified with Khetas, or Katas in the Jhellum District (See: Saktisangama Tantra III. 83, 4 and 205) which is next to the Javalamukhi, the most frequented place of pilgrimage in the Punjab. Tantric literature locates Shambhala (i.e Simhala) and Lankapuri in the SWAT-KASHMIR region (SeeL Studies in Tantras, pp 39-40, Dr P. C. Bagchi; Geography of Ancient India and Medieval India, 1971, pp 108/110, Dr D. C. Sircar). Kama or Kama-giri is also referred to in the Saktisangama Tantra and is located to the north of Maru-desa and also to the north of Huna country (in Punjab and called the land of Heroes) (See: Geography of Ancient India and Medieval India, 1971, pp 108, 110, Dr D. C. Sircar).
    • Here Kama or Kama-giri obviously refers to Kama/Kamma valley/ region in the north-east Afghanistan. Kata is the name of a people and their language, located north of the Kabul river and south of the Hindu Kush. These people are also called Katirs/Kamtoz and are considered descendants of ancient Kambojas. The Saktisangama Tantra attests one Simhala and also one Lankapuri, in the Swat valley to the north of Kabul and the west of the Indus in present day northern-eastern Afghanistan. This location corresponds precisely with the land of the Ancient Kambojas. Thus the Aryan speaking Sinhalese migration to Ceylon, must have started/originated from this Swat/Kashmir region of north-west India.
  17. ^ History of Ceylon, 1959, p 91, Ceylon University, University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, Hem Chandra Ray, K. M. De Silva - Sri Lanka.
  18. ^ Buddhism Among Tamils in Pre-colonial Tamilakam and Ilam, 2002, p 349, Peter Schalk, A. Veluppillai - Tamil (Indic people); Buddhism Among Tamils in Pre-colonial Tamilakam and Ilam, 2002, p 349, Peter Schalk, A. Veluppillai - Tamil (Indic people); The Dravidian Languages, 2003, p 2, Bhadriraju Krishnamurti - Language Arts & Disciplines; Inscriptions of Ceylon, 1970, p xc, Senarat Paranavitana - Inscriptions; Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict, 1990, p 46,Jonathan Spencer; Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean, 2002, pp 101, 121, 122, Ruth Barnes, David Parkin; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 341-42, 347, Dr J. L. Kamboj.
  19. ^ Sanskrit: Dramida or Dravida; Pali: Damila, Sinhali: Damela, and Tamil: Tamil (Mahāvaṃsa, the Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka: Chapters One to Thirty-seven : an Annotated New Translation with Prolegomena, p 283, Mahānāma, Ananda W. P. Guruge).
  20. ^ Island Interlude , 1971, p 29, Esmée Rankine; The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia: The Formative Period, 2003, p 205, Himanshu Prabha Ray, Social Science.
  21. ^ Dameda vanija gahapati Vishaka.
  22. ^ Ilu bhartechi Dameda karite Dameda gahapatikana.
  23. ^ Dameda navika karava.
  24. ^ "Two Damilas (SENA and GUTTIKA), sons of a freighter who brought horses hither" (via water-craft (See: Mahavamsa XXI, v 10-12.
  25. ^ Dictionary of Pali Proper Names: Pali-English, 2003 (edition), p 363, G. P. Malalasekera - Reference.
  26. ^ Vinaya Pitaka, III, 6; Játaka, Vol II, 287, Fausboll; Samantapāsādikā (P.T.S), Vol I, p 175.
  27. ^ Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, XV, 1915, p. 171, E. Muller, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; Pracina Kamboja, Jana aura Janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, Jiya Lal Kamboj, Satyavrat Shastri; Epigraphia Zeylanica: Being Lithic and Other Inscriptions of Ceylon, Vol-2, 1928, p 75, Inscriptions, Sinhalese.
  28. ^ Narsiṁhapriyā (prof. A.V.N. Murthy Felicitation Volume): Essays on Indian Archaeology, Epigraphy, Numismatics, Art, Architecture, Iconography, and Cultural History, 2000, p 77, Inguva Karthikeya Sarma, D. V. Devaraj, Ram Gopal, A. V. Narasimha Murthy.
  29. ^ Muridi-Utaraha sheni = Trans: "The flight of the steps of Uttara--the Murnidiya".
  30. ^ Since the epithet 'Muridi' is prefixed to the name '-Utara' (Skt. Uttara), Dr S. Paranavitana believed that Muridi is a derivative of Muruda, which is the same as Murunda in the compound Saka-Murunda that occurs in the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta. Dr S. Konow (1929: XX), referring to the same inscription argued that Murunda is almost certainly a Saka word meaning 'master', 'lord', and he argued that the word murunda has become synonymome with Saka, when applied to royalty.
  31. ^ A Concise History of Ceylon: From the Earliest Times to the Arrival of the Portuguese in 1505, 1961, p 25, Cyril Wace Nicholas, Senarat Paranavitana - Sri Lanka; Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean, 2002, p 109, Ruth Barnes, David Parkin; THE PEOPLE OF THE LION ETHNIC IDENTITY, IDEOLOGY AND HISTORICAL REVISIONISM IN CONTEMPORARY SRI LANKA: K. N. O. DHARMADASA; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 341-42, 347, Dr J. L. Kamboj.

[edit] References

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory_of_Sri_Lanka"
Personal tools
Visit joltnews for the latest headlines
Visit bloit.com for company information
Geed Media does computer consulting on long island.
This page viewed times. See Logs