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Sinhala kingdom

{{Short description|Series of monarchies in Sri Lanka from 543 BCE to 1815 CE}}

{{Sri Lankan former states}}

The Sinhalese kingdom refers to the successive Sinhalese kingdoms that existed in what is today Sri Lanka.{{cite book|last1=Cavendish|first1=Marshall|title=World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia|date=2007|publisher=Cavendish Square Publishing|isbn=978-0761476313|pages=350–51|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V1pQkwIXTG0C&dq=Sinhalese+Kingdom&pg=PA350}}{{cite book|last1=Bandaranayake|first1=S. D.|title=Sinhalese Monastic Architecture: The Viháras of Anurádhapura|date=1974|publisher=BRILL|location=Leiden|isbn=9004039929|page=17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tJM3AAAAIAAJ&dq=Sinhalese+Kingdom&pg=PA17}}{{cite book|last1=De Silva|first1=K. M.|title=A History of Sri Lanka|date=1981|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0195616552|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_dByI_qil26YC|quote=A History of Sri Lanka.}}{{cite book|last1=Blaze|first1=L. E.|title=History of Ceylon|date=1938|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-8120618411|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RFxCJ9__KBMC&dq=sinhalese+kingdom&pg=PA11}} The Sinhalese kingdoms are kingdoms known by the city at which its administrative centre was located.{{efn|such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa kingdoms}} These are in chronological order: the kingdoms of Tambapanni, Upatissa Nuwara, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Gampola, Kotte, Sitawaka and Kandy.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

History

The Sinhala kingdom ceased to exist by 1815, following the British takeover. While the Sinhala kingdom is claimed to have existed from 543 BCE to 1815 CE, other political entities claimed to have co-existed in Sri Lanka spanning certain partial periods, including the Jaffna kingdom (which existed 1215–1624 CE),{{cite book|last1=Manogaran|first1=Chelvadurai|title=Ethnic Conflict and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka|date=1987|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0824811167|pages=25–26|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IdR9N9R7T4C&dq=Sinhalese+Kingdom&pg=PA25}} Vanni chieftaincies (which existed from the 12th century to 1803 CE) and the Portuguese and Dutch colonies (which existed 1597–1658 CE and 1640–1796 respectively).{{cite book|last1=Malalgoda|first1=Kitsiri|title=Buddhism in Sinhalese Society, 1750–1900: A Study of Religious Revival and Change|date=1976|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0520028732|page=29|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p7Tqdb-gvDkC&dq=Sinhalese+Kingdom&pg=PA291}} During these partial periods of time, these political entities were not part of the Sinhala kingdom, except Jaffna and the Vanni chieftaincies following the invasion by Parakramabahu VI, until his death.{{efn|Parakramabahu VI was the last Sinhalese king to control the entirety of Sri Lanka.}} Records by Faxian thero{{clarify|date=July 2024}} and the Mahavamsa suggests it may have extended to Maldives and parts of India as well.{{cite book|title=Fa-Hien's Records of Buddhistic Kingdoms|pages=10–13}}

Epochs according to the Mahavamsa chronology

Notes

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References

{{Reflist}}

{{Sinhalese Monarchy}}

{{Epochs of Sri Lanka Monarchs}}

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Category:Names of Sri Lanka

Category:Former monarchies of South Asia