This is a timeline of Sri Lankan history, comprising important & territorial changes and political & economic events in Sri Lanka and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Sri Lanka.

Note

Do not add minor event as this timeline is for "important & territorial changes and political & economic events in Sri Lanka and its predecessor states".

Pre-history

Pre 90th century BC

Year Date Events
300,000 - 500,000 BP First human settlements in Sri Lanka[1]

Pre 6th century BC

Year Date Events
543 BC - 437 BC Arrival of Prince Vijaya and establishment of Pre-Anuradhapura.

6th century BC - 1st century AD

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1st century AD - 11th century AD

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11th century AD - 13th century AD

Year Date Event
1017 Chola conquest and occupation of Anuradhapura: The Cholas under Rajendra I attack and conquer Sri Lanka.
1029 Chola conquest and occupation of Anuradhapura: Mahinda V, the last king of Anuradhapura, dies in Chola captivity.
1029-1041 Vikramabahu, the son of Mahinda V, launches a resistance movement against the Chola rule in Sri Lanka, but suddenly dies after contracting a disease in Rohana.
1049 A Sinhalese chieftain named Lokeshwara, temporarily defeats the Chola forces and establishes a military base in Ruhuna.
1054 Keshadhatu Kasyapa, a pretender to the Sinhalese throne, establishes a dominion in Eastern Ruhuna after driving away Chola forces, which would last until 1055.
1055 A fifteen-year-old prince named Kitti, belonging to a royal bloodline, annexes the domains of Lokeshwara and Keshadathu Kasyapa, uniting Ruhuna under his rule. Cholas are further pushed back from the South.
1070 Prince Kitti, who was given the title Vijayabahu, launches a seventeen-year campaign and successfully drives out the Cholas from Sri Lanka.
1070 Vijayabahu is crowned as the first king of Polonnaruwa.
1084 Velakkara Revolt: Tamil mercenaries named Velakkaras, mutiny against king Vijayabahu as he declared war with the Chola Empire due to arresting a group of Sinhalese ambassadors sent to Western Chalukya.
1110 Vijayabahu I dies at the age of 71, and the instalment of Jayabahu I as his successor without passing the throne to Vijayabahu's son Vikramabahu I causes a power struggle between the two rulers.

19th century AD

Year Date Event
1803 First Kandyan War: British forces attack the Kingdom of Kandy after the King's Adigar Pilimatalawe defected.
1815 2 March Kandyan Convention: The Kingdom of Kandy is ceded to the British in an agreement signed between British Governor Sir Robert Brownrigg and the Kandyan chiefs.
1817 Great Rebellion of 1817–1818: The Kandyans rebel against British rule.
1833 Colebrooke–Cameron Commission: Legal and economic reforms proposed, first manifestation of constitutional government. Legislative Council of Ceylon established.
1848 Matale rebellion: Peasant revolt against imposition of taxes.
1864 Rāmañña Nikāya established.

20th century AD

Year Date Event
1915 1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots
1931 Donoughmore Commission: Established universal franchise in Ceylon, and the State Council of Ceylon was elected.
1948 4 February Independence is gained as the Dominion of Ceylon.
1958 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom
1971 1971 JVP insurrection: Marxist insurrection conducted by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna against the government of Sri Lanka.
1972 Sri Lanka becomes a republic, and country's name Ceylon was changes to Sri Lanka
1983 24–30 July Black July by the government and Sinhalese mobs; Beginning of the Sri Lankan Civil War
1987 29 July Signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord

21st century

Year Date Event
2004 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami hits Sri Lanka causing over 35,000 deaths
2009 May Massacre of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan Armed Forces and LTTE
19 May Death of Velupillai Prabhakaran; End of the Sri Lankan Civil War
2019 April 21 Bombing of several churches and hotels by Islamic militants causing 269 deaths
Beginning of the Sri Lankan economic crisis (2019–present)
2022 March–November Protests erupt against the government's mishandling of the economic crisis

Notes

References

  1. ^ Deraniyagala, Siran U. "Pre and Protohistoric settlement in Sri Lanka". International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences. XIII U. I. S. P. P. Congress Proceedings- Forli, 8–14 September 1996. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
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