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Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean south east of India
and known as the "Pearl of the Indian Ocean". It lays between
longitudes 790 and 810 east and latitudes 50 and 100 north. From
north to south, the isle is 425 kilometers long and from west to
east, 225 kilometers wide. Sri Lanka with its 5,000 years old
culture, lush vegetation and four different types of climate,
ranging from the tropical in the coastal areas to temperate in
the picturesque hill country, comprises of only 25,000 square
miles.
According to the 'Ramayana', the ancient book comes out of
Indian history, there are people lived here since 1800 B.C. and
Sri Lanka known as 'Lanka' or 'Taprobane' those times. There was
a powerful majestic king named Ravana and the war between Ravana
and Rama in 1810 B.C. is a popular historical story of India,
and over 1200 years since then, there is no written evidence
about Sri Lanka. 'Mahawansa', the ancient historical book that
includes complete details of history and historical events
(Panorama of Festivals) of Sri Lanka, is an evidence to the
three times visit of the Lord Buddha to Sri Lanka. From 543 B.C.
on there were 175 kings ruled Sri Lanka until the British take
over Sri Lanka completely in year 1815.
The brazen palaces of the Sinhalese kings, now in ruins, are
testimony of their architectural skills. The ancient irrigation
works - tanks - little seas by themselves were another example
of their prowess in Hydrology. These reservoirs provided means
for rice cultivation on a gigantic scale, so much so, that the
country was called "The Granary of the East". Sri Lanka also had
Rubber and Coconut besides spices such as Cinnamon, Cardimums,
Nutmeg, and Clovers. Tea and Coffee, then in its nascent stages
of cultivation, awaited future developments on an extensive
scale. As an island, fishing was another natural industry. On
top of all this, plumbago and precious stones were the other
gifts of nature. All these natural resources, a salubrious
climate (55 to 65 degrees in the hill country) and a
geographically strategic position attracted the Western Powers
seeking pastures new for trade and colonization. The way was
open to them with the discovery of hitherto unknown routes to
the East - thanks to the Portuguese explorer Vasco De Gama.
Naturally, the Portuguese were the first to come to Sri Lanka
for trade and the spread of Christianity. Later they made it a
part of their Empire. The Portuguese were there for about 150
years from about 1500 A.D. Some of them made Sri Lanka their
permanent abode. In 1656, the Dutch defeated the Portuguese with
the help of Sinhalese King and ruled the country for about 150
years. Like Portuguese, a large number of Hollanders remained
permanently in Sri Lanka and they were called "Burghers", a
Dutch word so common in Amsterdam. In 1798, the British defeated
the Dutch, took procession of Sri Lanka and colonized it. And
they named Sri Lanka as "Ceylon" and still many of the English
known Sri Lanka as Ceylon. They were the over-lords until 1948
when Sri Lanka got its Independence and from fourth of February
1948 on, we celebrate our Independence on every fourth of
February.
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