“The dynasty of Devānampiya Tissa became extinct in the first century AD. We do not know how this happened. One significant feature of the subsequent political history of Sri Lanka was that the right to the throne appeared to lie with one of two powerful clans, the Lambakannas and the Moriyas. By the beginning of the first century AD the Lambakannas were established in power, enjoying by far the most prestige of all the clans. Their claims to this position of primacy did not go unchallenged. The opposition came mainly from the Moriyas, who became in time their chief rivals for power. Their periodic struggles for the throne are a conspicuous feature of the history of this period. The Lambakannas were more successful than their rivals, as the following brief summary of the dynastic history of the period would show. The first Lambakanna dynasty (established by Vasabha AD 67-111) retained hold on the throne at Anurādhapura till the death of Mahānāma in AD 428, when the dynasty itself became extinct.” [1] “The Lambakanna dynasty ruled between the first and fourth centuries CE in comparative peace. For the next several centuries there were more invasions from southern India and Anuradhapura was ruled by both Tamils and Sinhalese.” (Bouma et al. 2010, 109) Bouma, Gary M., Rod Ling and Douglas Pratt. 2010. Religious Diversity in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: National Case Studies. London and New York: Springer. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/JR2SJMP2/collection §REF§
[1]: (De Silva 1981, 18) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
| Anurādhapura III |
| continuity |
| Preceding: Anurādhapura I (sl_anuradhapura_1) [continuity] | |
| Succeeding: Anurādhapura III (sl_anuradhapura_3) [continuity] |
| nominal |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| Year Range | Anurādhapura II (sl_anuradhapura_2) was in: |
|---|
“According to the written history, the origin of present Anuradhapura has connections with the migrations that happened during the 5th to 6th century BCE, from India. Accordingly, the name Anuradhapura is due to two ‘Anuradha’s settled at this site during different periods. The first Anuradha was a man, among the one of 700 followers of Vijaya (prince), who came from India, and landed on the north-west coast in Sri Lanka during the 5th to 6th century. Vijaya was the first king of this civilization. The second Anuradha was a prince, one of six brothers of princess Bhaddakachana, the daughter of a Sakyan king, who arrived in Sri Lanka with thirty-two maidens for the consecration of Panduvasudeva (444 BCE–414 BCE). Her six brothers arrived later to Sri Lanka and settled down at different places, according to their wish. One of her brothers, Anuradha, built Anuradhagama. ‘Anuradha built a tank, and when he had built a palace to the south of this, he took up his abode there.’ This gives an important insight to the long history of urbanism, settlement and the agriculture and irrigation of Sri Lanka. For the building of a tank, he might have utilized indigenous knowledge and work- force (of pre-Vijaya); the storage of water should be for the irrigation and cultivation, as Malwathu Oya nearby was well enough for the daily consumption. This geographical and historical information is evidence of the anthropological ethnographical experience of the natural landscape location of Anuradhapura as important for a human settlement, which guides the dwelling, process of dwelling and the orientation of the place.” [1] “In the Mahavamsa, the Great Chronicle, the time before the arrival of the first Aryan settlers is not described in detail. The chronicle refers to the island being inhabited by spirits and nagas—snakes or snake demons. It is assumed that this is the Aryans’ mythical conception of an indigenous population of hunters and gatherers. This indigenous population was first challenged by the arrival of the first Aryan settlers from North India. In the fifth century BC these Aryan settlers started to occupy parts of the island. They either pushed back the aboriginal inhabitants into the interior of the island or, at times, mixed with them. The Aryans were organised in clans. The Sinhalas, the most powerful clan, settled in the northern Dry Zone and introduced the cultivation of rice and the use of iron to the island. From intermarriages of the Aryans with the aboriginal people of Ceylon and with immigrants of South Indian Dravidian stock sprang the Sinhalese as an ethnic group. A regular supply of water was crucial for survival in the Dry Zone. Rainfall was not reliable and provided the settlers with only a single crop per year. Thus, the settlers started to develop considerable skills in the construction of irrigation works. At first, these works aimed at the conservation and storage of surplus water for the dry season, later the settlers also constructed works for the equal distribution of water in the region. The first large scale tank for the storage of water was constructed near the village of Anuradhagama which was later chosen as the capital of the region—under the name of Anuradhapura.” [2]
[1]: (De Silva 2019, 166-168) De Silva, Wasana. 2019. ‘Urban agriculture and Buddhist concepts for wellbeing: Anuradhapura Sacred City, Sri Lanka’. International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics. Vol 14: 3. Pp 163-177. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/JIJEFKG3/collection
[2]: (Wenzlhuemer, R. 2008, 19) Wenzlhuemer, Roland. 2008. From Coffee to Tea Cultivation in Ceylon, 1880–1900: An Economic and Social History. Leiden and Boston: Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/EMUGE5WD/collection
“The ancient city of Anuraduapura was the capital of Sri Lanka for over a millennium; its massive stupas rising over the jungle, its gigantic reservoirs turning an arid land green and its Kings and Queens ruling over the island of Sri Lanka.” [1] “Until the end of the 10th century, when its pre-eminence was eclipsed by the rise of Polonnaruva, successful rebels always continued to rule from Anur dhapura, and it is correct to maintain that for more than a millennium this fortified city represented the power of the state.” [2]
[1]: (Strickland 2017, 1) Strickland, Keir Magalie. 2017. A Time of Change: Questioning the Collapse of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4B8362A9/collection
[2]: (Gunawardana 1989, 158). Gunawardana, R.A.L.H. 1989. ‘Anurādhapura: ritual, power and resistance in a precolonial South Asian city’. Domination and Resistance edited by Daniel Miller, Michael Rowlands, Chris Tilley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/G8CWKJ2U/collection
“The first large scale tank for the storage of water was constructed near the village of Anuradhagama which was later chosen as the capital of the region—under the name of Anuradhapura.” [1]
[1]: (Wenzlhuemer, R. 2008, 19) Wenzlhuemer, Roland. 2008. From Coffee to Tea Cultivation in Ceylon, 1880–1900An Economic and Social History. Leiden and Boston: Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/EMUGE5WD/collection
“The first Lambakanna dynasty (established by Vasabha AD 67-111) retained its hold on the throne at Anurādhapura till the death of Mahānāma in AD 428, when the dynasty itself became extinct.” [1]
[1]: (De Silva 1981, 18) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
“The first Lambakaṇṇa dynasty (established by Vasabha AD 67-111) retained its hold on the throne at Anurādhapura till the death of Mahānāma in AD 428, when the dynasty itself became extinct. In the confusion that followed his death there was a South Indian invasion, and Sinhalese rule—such as it was—was confined to Rohana. The Moriya Dhātusena led the struggle against the invader and for the restoration of Sinhalese power at Anurādhapura. His success brought the Moriyas to power but not to a pre-eminence such as that achieved by the Lambakaṇṇas in the past few centuries. Indeed Dhātusena (455–73) and hardly consolidated his position when he was murdered by his son Kassapa who usurped the throne at Anurādhapura at the expense of Moggallāna I, Kassapa’s brother, whom Dhātusena had been grooming as his legitimate successor.” [1]
[1]: (De Silva 1981, 18) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
“The dynasty of Devānampiya Tissa became extinct in the first century AD. We do not know how this happened. One significant feature of the subsequent political history of Sri Lanka was that the right to the throne appeared to lie with one of two powerful clans, the Lambakaṇṇas and the Moriyas. By the beginning the first century AD the Lambakaṇṇas were established in power, enjoying by far the most prestige of all clans. Their claims to this position of primacy did not go unchallenged. The opposition came mainly from the Moriyas, who became in time their chief rivals for power. Their periodic struggles for the throne are a conspicuous feature of the history of this period.” [1]
[1]: (De Silva 1981, 18) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
“The first Lambakaṇṇa dynasty (established by Vasabha AD 67–111) retained its hold on the throne at Anurādhapura till the death of Mahānāma in AD 428, when the dynasty itself became extinct. In the confusion that followed his death there was a South Indian invasion, and Sinhalese rule—such as it was—was confined to Rohana. The Moriya Dhātusena led the struggle against the invader and for the restoration of Sinhalese power at Anurādhapura. His success brought the Moriyas to power but not to a pre-eminence such as that achieved by the Lambakaṇṇas in the past few centuries.” [1]
[1]: (De Silva 1981, 18) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
Inferred from the following quotes. “In the early centuries of the Anurādhapura kingdom, there is little or no evidence of a regular army, except for a small body of soldiers who guarded the palace and the capital city. Though a regular force was established with the passage of time with foreign—largely South Indian—mercenaries as a component element in it, this was still far from being a standing army which would have been used on a regular basis to impose the will of the ‘central’ authority over recalcitrant provinces for the purpose of serving as an efficient mechanism of control over such provinces from Anurādhapura. The inscriptions of this period reveal the existence of a sabhā or council of ministers. It is impossible to determine whether this developed from the earlier institution known as ämati pahaja or whether it was something completely new. Nor have we any clear picture of the functions of this council.” [1] “One important theme emerges from this: the comparative weakness of the central authority vis-à-vis the outlying provinces under the Anurādhapura kings generally. Thus the Sinhalese kingdom was not a highly centralized structure but one in which a balance of political forces incorporated a tolerance of particularism. This held true for the whole history of the Anuradhapura kingdom”. [2] “The records relating to the Anuradhapura Period (fourth century BC to the end of the 10th century AD) give a convincing basis to the fact that the ancient Sri Lankan state had matured and evolved to the point that sophisticated city planning (for example, of the capital Anuradhapura) coexisted with a mode of highly decentralized governance. It would be a fair generalization to say that the Anuradhapura civilization was founded on a pattern of autonomous villages. While the king was the all-powerful ruler and custodian of all land, day-to- day life was controlled by a decentralized village administration.” [3]
[1]: (De Silva 1981, 22) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
[2]: (De Silva 1981, 23) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
[3]: (Sirivardana 2004, 228) Wignaraja, Ponna and Susil Sirivardana. 2004. Pro-Poor Growth and Governance in South Asia: Decentralization and Participatory Development. New Delhi: Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd. Seshat URL:https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UBZVJ7PT/collection
Also known as Sinhalese. “Sinhalese oral histories about the peopling of Sri Lanka suggest that north India ruling castes migrated to Sri Lanka around the sixth century BCE and that was the origin of Sinhalese speakers in Sri Lanka today.” [1] “Sinhalese as a distinct language and script developed rapidly under the joint stimuli of Pāli and Buddhism. Indeed it would be true to say that the art of writing came to Sri Lanka with Buddhism. By the second century AD Sinhalese was being used to literary purposes, and thereafter a body of religious writing explaining the Pāli canon was accumulated, primarily for the purpose of conveying its ideas to those not conversant with Pāli. The Sinhalese language was also enriched by translations from Pāli. But Pāli did not remain for long the only or even the dominant influence on Sinhalese. Sanskrit, the language of the Mahāyānist and Hindu scriptures, which was richer in idiom, vocabulary and vitality, left a strong impression on the Sinhalese language in the later centuries of the Anurādhapura era. There was also a considerable Tamil influences on the vocabulary, idiom and grammatical structure of Sinhalese.” [2]
[1]: (Schug and Walimbe 2016, 582) Schug, Gwen Robbins, and Subhash R. Walimbe. 2016. A Companion to South Asia in the Past, 2016. Somerset: Wiley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/7MXIBSHQ/collection
[2]: (De Silva, 1981, 58) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
“Anuradhapura (377 BCE–1017 CE) was the first Buddhist city in Sri Lanka.” [1] “it is very likely that the early Aryans brough with them some form of Brāhmanism. By the first century BC, however Buddhism had been introduced to the island, and was well established in the main areas of settlement. According to Mahāvaṁsa the entry of Buddhism to Sri Lanka occurred in the reign of Devānampiya Tissa (250-210 BC), a contemporary of the great Mauryan Emperor Aśoka whose emissary Mahinda (Aśoka’s son, as some authorities would have it, or his brother, as is suggested by others) converted Devānampiya Tissa to the new faith. Once again the Mahāvaṁsa’s account of events conceals as much as it reveals, and what it hides in this instance is the probability that Buddhists and Buddhism came to the island much earlier than that.” [2] “Although the spread of Buddhism in the island was at the expense of Hinduism, the latter never became totally submerged, but survived and had an influence on Buddhism which became more marked with the passage of time. Vedic deities, pre-Buddhistic in origin in Sri Lanka, held their sway among the people, and kings who patronised the official religion, Buddhism, supported Hindu temples and observed Brāhmanic practices as well. Hinduism was sustained also by small groups of Brāhmans living among the people and at the court. It was in later centuries of the Anurādhapura kingdom that the Hindu influence on Buddhism became more pronounced as a necessary result of political and religious change in South India.” [3]
[1]: (De Silva 2019, 163) De Silva, Wasana. 2019. ‘Urban agriculture and Buddhist concepts for wellbeing: Anuradhapura Sacred City, Sri Lanka’. International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics. Vol 14: 3. Pp 163-177. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/JIJEFKG3/collection
[2]: (De Silva, 1981, 9) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
[3]: (De Silva 1981, 50). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
“Though it was never able to displace Theravāda Buddhism from its position of primary, Mahāyānism had a profound influence on Sri Lankan Buddhism. This it achieved by the response it evoked among the people, in the shift of emphasis from the ethical to the devotional aspect of religion. To the lay Buddhist Mahāyānist ritual and ceremonies had a compelling attraction, and they became a vital part of worship. The anniversary of the birth of Buddha became a festive occasion celebrated under state auspices. Relics of the Buddha and of the early disciples became the basis of a powerful cult of relic worship.” [1]
[1]: (De Silva 1981, 49) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
levels. 1. Capital :2. Major religious sites ::3. Towns (inferred) :::4. Villages (inferred) :::: “Influenced by Buddhism, large stupas and monasteries were sponsored and constructed by the rulers; many of them have survived the ravages of time and are testament to the historical links established between peninsular South Asia and island Sri Lanka.” [1] “Buddha visited the Anuradhapura during the third visit to Sri Lanka, seated with his disciples, in a meditative posture, at the places where the great Tupa (present Ruwanwelisaya), Thuparamaya and sacred Bodhi tree coming afterward, marked three important points.” [2] “The introduction of Buddhism, during the reign of Devanampiyatissa (247 BCE–207 BCE), by Arhat Mahinda (from India) made a significant contribution to advancing the urban landscape to the Buddhist sacred city Anuradhapura. The growing demand for food due to the increasing number of urban population in monasteries, worshiping places, related services, and the workforce employed in new constructions, reshaped the landscape and urban agriculture achieving the new balance and created a Buddhist sacred city. However, the new city comprehends the same orientation directed by the natural landscape elements. Adding three more large wewa, and related agriculture lands further strengthened the orientation (Fig. 7d). The citadel and monasteries were in the same location as in the Pandukabhaya’s city, continuing the same anthropological – ethnographical understanding. Agriculture and irrigation signify the boundary/periphery of the urban landscape while the centre is represented by the stupa, monasteries and the citadel. In brief, the orientation in Anuradhapura directs the centre, physically and non-physically. In the urban landscape, centre is symbolized through piers of the stupa, urban monasteries, and citadel, while agriculture and irrigation at the periphery enhance the centre.” [3]
[1]: (Schug and Walimbe 2016, 581) Schug, Gwen Robbins and Subhash R. Walimbe. 2016. A Companion to South Asia in the Past. Somerset: Wiley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/7MXIBSHQ/collection
[2]: (De Silva 2019, 168-170) De Silva, Wasana. 2019. ‘Urban agriculture and Buddhist concepts for wellbeing: Anuradhapura Sacred City, Sri Lanka’. International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics. Vol 14: 3. Pp 163-177. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/JIJEFKG3/collection
[3]: (De Silva 2019, 170). De Silva, Wasana. 2019. ‘Urban agriculture and Buddhist concepts for wellbeing: Anuradhapura Sacred City, Sri Lanka’. International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics. Vol 14: 3. Pp 163-177. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/JIJEFKG3/collection
levels.1. King :2. Court Officials ::3. Pramukas :::4. Village headmen :::: “In the early centuries of the Anuradhapura kingdom, the main officials were few: the sēnāpati (the chief of ‘army’), the bhandāgārika (treasurer), a few adhyaksas, mahāmātras and a purohita. By the tenth century, there was a regular hierarchy of officials with a wide range of titles. Evidently a complex administrative structure had emerged; its writ ran in many parts of the country and affected many aspects of the lives of the people (especially in the field of irrigation). But it is impossible to reach any firm conclusions about the precise function of the bulk of these officials, or to assess the nature of their impact on the outlying provinces. […] There is also the position of the parumakas (from the Sanskrit pramukha, chief or notable) or the kulīna gentry closely connected with the clan structure of Sinhalese society. They were clearly people of standing and importance, a social elite of distinctly higher status than the village headmen (gamika) and others. Kinship ties linked some of them to the ruling elite—high officials in the court and elsewhere—and in some instances to the royal family itself.” [1]
[1]: (De Silva 1981, 22, 23) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
“The earliest projects were no doubt directed more at conserving than at diverting water on any large scale. But by the first century AD, large-scale irrigation works were being built. The construction of tanks, canals and channels which this involved exhibited an amazing knowledge of trigonometry, and the design of the tanks a thorough grasp of hydraulic principles. The tanks had broad bases which could withstand heavy pressures, and at suitable points in the embankment there were outlets for the discharge of water. The Sinhalese were the ‘first inventors of the valve pit’ (bisokotuva), counterpart of the sluice which regulated the flow of water from a modern reservoir or tank. The engineers of the third century BC or earlier who invented it had done their work with a sophistication and mastery that enabled their successors of later centuries merely to copy the original device with only minor adaptations or changes, if any. […] During the reign of Mahāsena (227-301 AD), the Älahära canal became the main source of water supply for the Minneriya tanks which he built, and which was by far the largest tank up to that time. Mahāsena is credited with the construction of sixteen tanks and canals, four of which are in the Anurādhapura area, and one in the Puttalam district. Three notable trends in the development of irrigation facilities during his reign were: a resolute endeavour to harness the waters of the Mahaväli and the Ambangaṅga, the most important project being the massive Minneriya tank; the improvement of facilities for water conservation in the north-western part of the island; and the attempt to develop the south-western part of the dry zone on the periphery of the wet zone. Together they accelerated agricultural development in the vicinity of Anurādhapura, and opened up new areas for cultivation in the east and southwest. All the major irrigation projects initiated by him were achieved by a prodigious investment of labour resources on an unprecedented scale, and they reflect, too, a notable advance in irrigation technology in the island.” [1]
[1]: (De Silva, 1981, 28, 29). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
“The outer reaches of the city are defined by the presence of three artificial lakes, the Basawak Kulam, the Tessa Wewa and the Nuwara Wewa covering areas of 91, 160 and 1288ha respectively. With dates ranging from the fourth century BC for the Basavak Kulam in the first century AD for the Nuwara Wewa, they were augmented in the fifth century AD with feeder channels and canals (Brohier 1934). This hydraulic system allowed excess wet season water to be stored for drinking and irrigation agriculture as well as enabling the diverting of water from other river catchments to large storage tanks, such as the Nachchaduwa, before being released into Anuradhapura’s system.” [1] “During the reign of Mahāsena (227-301 AD), the Älahära canal became the main source of water supply for the Minneriya tanks which he built, and which was by far the largest tank up to that time. Mahāsena is credited with the construction of sixteen tanks and canals, four of which are in the Anurādhapura area, and one in the Puttalam district. Three notable trends in the development of irrigation facilities during his reign were: a resolute endeavour to harness the waters of the Mahaväli and the Ambangaṅga, the most important project being the massive Minneriya tank; the improvement of facilities for water conservation in the north-western part of the island; and the attempt to develop the south-western part of the dry zone on the periphery of the wet zone. Together they accelerated agricultural development in the vicinity of Anurādhapura, and opened up new areas for cultivation in the east and southwest. All the major irrigation projects initiated by him were achieved by a prodigious investment of labour resources on an unprecedented scale, and they reflect, too, a notable advance in irrigation technology in the island.” [2]
[1]: (Coningham, Robin et al. 2007, 703). Coningham, Robin et al. 2007. “The State of Theocracy: Defining an Early Medieval Hinterland in Sri Lanka.” Antiquity. Vol 81:313. Pp 699-719. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/M4HWIC84/collection
[2]: (De Silva, 1981, 29). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
Hospitals (as an example of a utilitarian public building although this kind of public building does not reflect the four variables to follow), Irrigation systems, drinking water supply systems. “Amenities at the city included institutions for medical care. In the 4th century Upatissa I provided maternity homes, hospitals and homes for the crippled and the blind (1925, Ch. 37, v. 182).” [1] “The earliest projects were no doubt directed more at conserving than at diverting water on any large scale. But by the first century AD, large-scale irrigation works were being built. The construction of tanks, canals and channels which this involved exhibited an amazing knowledge of trigonometry, and the design of the tanks a thorough grasp of hydraulic principles. The tanks had broad bases which could withstand heavy pressures, and at suitable points in the embankment there were outlets for the discharge of water. The Sinhalese were the ‘first inventors of the valve pit’ (bisokotuva), counterpart of the sluice which regulated the flow of water from a modern reservoir or tank. The engineers of the third century BC or earlier who invented it had done their work with a sophistication and mastery that enabled their successors of later centuries merely to copy the original device with only minor adaptations or changes, if any.” [2] “The outer reaches of the city are defined by the presence of three artificial lakes, the Basawak Kulam, the Tessa Wewa and the Nuwara Wewa covering areas of 91, 160 and 1288ha respectively. With dates ranging from the fourth century BC for the Basavak Kulam in the first century AD for the Nuwara Wewa, they were augmented in the fifth century AD with feeder channels and canals (Brohier 1934). This hydraulic system allowed excess wet season water to be stored for drinking and irrigation agriculture as well as enabling the diverting of water from other river catchments to large storage tanks, such as the Nachchaduwa, before being released into Anuradhapura’s system.” [3]
[1]: (Gunawardana 1989, 163). Gunawardana, R.A.L.H. 1989. ‘Anurādhapura: ritual, power and resistance in a precolonial South Asian city’. Domination and Resistance edited by Daniel Miller, Michael Rowlands, Chris Tilley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/G8CWKJ2U/collection
[2]: (De Silva, 1981, 28). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
[3]: (Coningham, Robin et al. 2007, 703). Coningham, Robin et al. 2007. “The State of Theocracy: Defining an Early Medieval Hinterland in Sri Lanka.” Antiquity. Vol 81:313. Pp 699-719. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/M4HWIC84/collection
“In the Buddhist sacred place of Anuradhapura centre is represented by the great stupas, resembling the mountains a vital element in the sacred landscape, while water tanks encircle the city attached with paddy fields and everyday life performance of people represent the periphery the boundary of the place.” [1] “The most constant feature of Buddhist Sri Lanka is the stūpa or cetiya which came to the island from Northern India. These stūpas generally enshrined relics of the Buddha and the more celebrated illuminati of early Buddhism, and were on that account objects of veneration. They dominated the city of Anurādhapura and the landscape pf Rājaraṭa by their imposing size, awe-inspiring testimony to the state’s commitment to Buddhism and to the wealth as its command. The stupa, generally a solid hemispherical dome, gave a subdued but effective expression to the quintessence of Buddhism—simplicity and serenity. There were five importance stūpas at Anurādhapura. The first to be built was the small by elegant Thūpārāmā. Duṭṭhagāmaṇī built two, the Mirisaväṭi and the Ruvanvälisäya or the Mahāstūpa. Two stupas subsequently surpassed the Mahāstūpa in size, the Abhayagiri and the largest of them all, the Jetavana. The scale of comparison was with the largest similar monuments in other parts of the ancient world. At the time the Ruvanvälisäya was built it was probably the largest monument of its class anywhere in the world. The Abhayagiri was enlarged by Gajabāhu I in the second century AD to a height of 280 feet or more, while the Jetavana rose to over 400 feet. Both were taller than the third pyramid at Giyeh, and where the wonders of their time, with the Jetavana probably being the largest stupa in the whole Buddhist world.” [2]
[1]: (De Silva 2019, 950) De Silva, Wasana. 2019. ‘Urban agriculture and Buddhist concepts for wellbeing: Anuradhapura Sacred City, Sri Lanka’. International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics. Vol 14: 3. Pp 163-177. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/JIJEFKG3/collection
[2]: (De Silva, 1981, 52-53). De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection
Hospitals: “Amenities at the city included institutions for medical care. In the 4th century Upatissa I provided maternity homes, hospitals and homes for the crippled and the blind (1925, Ch. 37, v. 182).” [1]
[1]: (Gunawardana 1989, 163). Gunawardana, R.A.L.H. 1989. ‘Anurādhapura: ritual, power and resistance in a precolonial South Asian city’. Domination and Resistance edited by Daniel Miller, Michael Rowlands, Chris Tilley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/G8CWKJ2U/collection
“Recent excavations at the Sri Lanka site of Anuradhapura, the capital of Devanampiya Tissa, have provided evidence of Brahmi dating to the beginning of the fourth century BC. The discovery of this script, the earliest example of its kind in South Asia, has enabled a reassessment of the traditionally accepted theories and allows us to suggest fresh hypotheses for its development and spread in South Asia.” [1] “Literature for much of the Anurādhapura period was Buddhist, written in the Pāli language. The Buddhist scriptures were preserved on the island, first orally and then in writing. The three main monastic orders added their own commentaries, but only some of the Mahāvihāra texts survive. In the later Anurādhapura period, the production of Pāli literature declined and literary works in Sinhala appear.” [2]
[1]: (Coningham et al. 1996, 76-77) Coningham, R.A.E. et al. 1996, ‘Passage to India? Anuradhapura and the Early Use of the Brahmi Script’. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. Vol 6: 1. Pp 73-97. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/QNHMB4H3/collection
[2]: (Peebles 2006: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/HJG4VBC5/collection.
“Sinhala has its own script. Its alphabet is known as hoodiya. Only Sinhala is written with the letters of the Sinhala hoodiya. The Sinhala writing system is largely phonetic in that one can understand how words are pronounced simply by looking at their spelling.” [1] “Literature for much of the Anurādhapura period was Buddhist, written in the Pāli language. The Buddhist scriptures were preserved on the island, first orally and then in writing. The three main monastic orders added their own commentaries, but only some of the Mahāvihāra texts survive. In the later Anurādhapura period, the production of Pāli literature declined and literary works in Sinhala appear.” [2]
[1]: (Chandralal 2010, 21) Chandralal, Dileep. 2010. Sinhala. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/AC8BQ53V/collection
[2]: (Peebles 2006: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/HJG4VBC5/collection.
“Literature for much of the Anurādhapura period was Buddhist, written in the Pāli language. The Buddhist scriptures were preserved on the island, first orally and then in writing. The three main monastic orders added their own commentaries, but only some of the Mahāvihāra texts survive. In the later Anurādhapura period, the production of Pāli literature declined and literary works in Sinhala appear.” [1]
[1]: (Peebles 2006: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/HJG4VBC5/collection.
“Literature for much of the Anurādhapura period was Buddhist, written in the Pāli language. The Buddhist scriptures were preserved on the island, first orally and then in writing. The three main monastic orders added their own commentaries, but only some of the Mahāvihāra texts survive. In the later Anurādhapura period, the production of Pāli literature declined and literary works in Sinhala appear.” [1]
[1]: (Peebles 2006: 26) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/HJG4VBC5/collection.