The Cūḷavaṃsa or Chulavamsa (Pāli: "Lesser Chronicle") is a historical record, written in the Pali language, of the monarchs of Sri Lanka. It covers the period from the 4th century to 1815. The Cūḷavaṃsa was compiled over many years by Buddhist monks, and displays a variety of epic styles. It is generally considered to be a sequel to the Mahavamsa ("Great Chronicle") written in the 6th century by the monk Mahanama. The Mahavamsa and the Cūḷavaṃsa are sometimes thought of as a single work (referred to as the "Mahavamsa") spanning over two millennia of Sri Lankan history.
The Cūḷavaṃsa is a continuation of the Mahavamsa. But unlike the Mahavamsa it was written by different authors at different periods. The Cūḷavaṃsa is divided into two parts.
The first part, chapters thirty-seven to seventy-nine, begins with the 4th century arrival of a tooth relic of Siddhartha Gautama to Sri Lanka and continues to the reign of Parakramabahu the Great (1153–1186) in the 12th century, and was written in the 13th century. While the authorship of the first part is traditionally ascribed to the Buddhist monk Thera Dhammakitti, many historians now believe it to be a collaborative effort, written by a number of monks.
The second part, whose author remains unknown, records Sri Lankan history from the 12th century, with the reign of Vijayabahu II and continues the history of the Sinhalese monarchy to that of Parakramabahu IV (Chaps. 80-90). Within the second part the section of the chronicle which deals with the period from Parakramabahu IV to the death of Kirti Sri Rajasinha was compiled by Tibbotuvāve Sumangala Thera, while the last chapter was continued to 1815 by Hikkaduve Siri Sumangala. This portion of the chronicle has not been assigned a definite authorship and is generally considered inferior, both in style and in factual reliability, to Dhammakitti’s portion.
Tradition has it that the work was compiled by the monk Dhammakitti, whom Geiger regards as 'a man of literary culture ... acquainted with Indian Niti literature'.
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Sigiriya or Sinhagiri (Lion Rock සීගිරිය, சிகிரியா/சிங்ககிரி, pronounced see-gi-ri-yə) is an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District near the town of Dambulla in the Central Province, Sri Lanka. It is a site of historical and archaeological significance that is dominated by a massive column of granite rock approximately high. According to the ancient Sri Lankan chronicle the Cūḷavaṃsa, this area was a large forest, then after storms and landslides it became a hill and was selected by King Kashyapa (AD 477–495) for his new capital.
Anuradhapura Kingdom (Sinhala: අනුරාධපුර රාජධානිය, translit: Anurādhapura Rājadhāniya, Tamil: அனுராதபுர இராச்சியம்), named for its capital city, was the first established kingdom in ancient Sri Lanka related to the Sinhalese people. Founded by King Pandukabhaya in 437 BC, the kingdom's authority extended throughout the country, although several independent areas emerged from time to time which expanded towards the end of the kingdom. Nonetheless, the king of Anuradhapura was seen as the supreme ruler of the entire island throughout the Anuradhapura period.
Mahāvaṃsa (Sinhala: මහාවංශ (Mahāvansha), Pali: මහාවංස (Mahāvaṃsa) is the meticulously kept historical chronicle of Sri Lanka until the period of Mahasena of Anuradhapura. It was written in the style of an epic poem written in the Pali language. It relates the history of Sri Lanka from its legendary beginnings up to the reign of Mahasena of Anuradhapura covering the period between the arrival of Prince Vijaya from India in 543 BCE to his reign and later updated by different writers.