HISTORY - SuperSriLanka.com - The History Of Sri Lanka

The largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka today, the Sinhalese, originated in India during the 5th centure B.C. The Tamils, the second-largest
ethnic group on the island, were originally also from the Tamil region of India but emigrated between the 3rd century B.C. and A.D. 1200.
Until colonial powers controlled Ceylon (the country's name until 1972), Sinhalese and Tamil rulers fought for dominance over the island.
The Tamils, primarily Hindus, claimed the northern section of the island and the Sinhalese, who are predominantly Buddhist, controlled
the south. In 1505 the Portuguese took possession of Ceylon until the Dutch India Company usurped control (1658–1796). The British
took over in 1796, and Ceylon became an English Crown colony in 1802. The British developed coffee, tea, and rubber plantations. On
Feb. 4, 1948, after pressure from Ceylonese nationalist leaders (which briefly unified the Tamil and Sinhalese), Ceylon became a self-
governing dominion of the Commonwealth of Nations.

S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike became prime minister in 1956 and championed Sinhalese nationalism, making Sinhala the country's only
official language and including state support of Buddhism, further marginalizing the Tamil minority. He was assassinated in 1959 by a
Buddhist monk. His widow, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, became the world's first female prime minister in 1960. The name Ceylon was
changed to Sri Lanka (“resplendent island”) on May 22, 1972.

The Tamil minority's mounting resentment toward the Sinhalese majority's monopoly on political and economic power, exacerbated by
cultural and religious differences, erupted in bloody violence in 1983. Tamil rebel groups, the strongest of which were the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers, began a civil war to fight for a separate nation. A disastrous result of this armed offensive against
Sinhalese government targets, was that in July 1983, certain portions of the Sinhalese civilians took up arms against all Tamils, resulting
in the bloody civil-war type riots of 1983.

President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated at a May Day political rally in 1993, when a Tamil rebel detonated explosives
strapped to himself. The next president, Chandrika Kumaratunga, vowed to restore peace to the country. In Dec. 1999, she was herself
wounded in a terrorist attack.

After Dec. 2001 elections, Ranil Wickremesinghe, a longtime bitter rival of President Kumaratunga, was sworn in as prime minister.
Wickremesinghe's victory precipitated a formal cease-fire with the Tamil rebels, signed in Feb. 2002. In September talks, the government
lifted its ban on the group, and the Tigers dropped their demand for an independent Tamil state. Another significant breakthrough came in
December when the Tigers and the government struck a power-sharing deal that would give the rebels regional autonomy. But
negotiations in 2003 achieved little.

Intense political rivalry threatened the peace process. In Nov. 2003, President Kumaratunga, convinced that Prime Minister
Wickremesinghe was too soft in his negotiations with the Tigers, wrested away some of his powers. In Feb. 2004, the president
dissolved parliament and called for elections in the hope of further eroding the power of the prime minister. The gamble paid off for
Kumaratunga—her United People's Freedom Alliance won April's parliamentary elections, and Wickremesinghe was replaced by a new
prime minister, Mahinda Rajapakse, a high-ranking member of Kumaratunga's party.

On Dec. 26, 2004, a powerful tsunami ravaged 12 Asian countries. About 38,000 people were reported killed in Sri Lanka. President
Kumaratunga and the Tamil Tigers reached a deal in June 2005 to share about $4.5 billion in international aid to rebuild the country. But
intensifying violence in the eastern part of the country threatened the cease-fire and jeopardized the aid package. In Aug. 2005, Foreign
Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was assassinated and the government declared a state of emergency.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse won November's presidential elections, taking 50% of the vote to former prime minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe's 48%. Rajapakse is expected to take a hard line with the Tamil Tigers. Rajapakse appointed Ratnasiri
Wickremanayaka as prime minister.

In 2006, repeated violations of the 2002 cease-fire on both sides turned into outright war. Efforts by Norway, which brokered the 2002
cease-fire, to bring both sides to the negotiating table were unsuccessful throughout the summer.

Fighting between the rebels and government troops continued into 2007. After a weeks of deadly battles, the military took control of rebel-
held regions of eastern Sri Lanka in March, leaving tens of thousands civilians displaced. In April, the Tamil Tigers launched their first air
raid, using small airplanes to bomb an air force base near Colombo. An attack by the Sri Lankan air force in November killed the leader of
the Tigers' political wing, S. P. Tamilselvan.

Following an unprecedented attack on rebel forces, and to the surprise of many, the Government of Sri Lanka virtually eliminated the LTTE
in 2009.

And even more surprisingly, the small island of Sri Lanka has enjoyed relative peace for the first time in many years, thanks to the end of
this bloody conflict. There has never been a better time to visit Super Sri Lanka!

SRI LANKA HISTORY

ANY HOTEL OR HOLIDAY TOUR PACKAGE IN THIS WEBSITE CAN BE BOOKED & CONFIRMED FOR ONLY US $ 10 PER PERSON, WITH THE BALANCE DUE ONLY AFTER ARRIVAL IN SUPER SRI LANKA

Faithfully serving visitors to Sri Lanka since 1999 - Recommended by TIME Magazine - Sri Lanka Board Of Tourism License No. 8386 - Website Concept & Creation by S am