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Timeline Of Sri Lanka |
(see also: Southeast Asia Timeline)
| 25,000 BC - 1,000 BC | Prehistoric (Mesolithic culture) |
| 1,000 BC - 400 BC | Early Iron Age I (Megalithic-BRW culture) |
| 400 BC - 200 BC | Early Iron Age II |
| 250 BC - 100 AD | Early Historic (Anuradhapura) |
| 100 AD - 500 AD | Middle Historic I (Sigiriya) |
| 500 - 1000 AD | Middle Historic II |
| 1000 - 1300 AD | Late Historic I (Polonnaruwa) |
| 1300 - 1500 AD | Late Historic II |
| 1500 - 1800 AD | Colonial Period (Portuguese, Dutch; coast) and Kandyan Kingdom (interior) |
| 1800 - 1948 AD | British Colonial Period |
| 10,000 BC - 543 BC | Prehistory. Austronesian migration. Microliths from heat-shattered quartz. Urn burials. |
| 543 BC | Year One in the Mahavamsa. Sinhalese settlers, led by Prince Vijaya, arrive from India. |
| 300 BC | Megasthenes, a Greek historian, mentions Sri Lanka in his writings. |
| 250 BC - 459 AD | Early Anuradhapura Period |
| c. 250 BC - 210 BC | King Devanampiya Tissa |
| c. 250 BC - 200 BC | Mahinda introduces Buddhism from India to Sri Lanka. |
| 161 BC - 137 BC | King Dutugemunu unifies Sri Lanka. |
| 35 BC - 32 BC | Pali Canon (Buddhist scriptures) committed to writing. |
| 45 AD | Envoys from Sri Lanka visit Rome. |
| 303 - 331 | Tooth Relic arrives. |
| 412 - 413 | Fa Xian visits Anuradhapura. |
| 432 - 459 | Tamil invasion. |
| 459 - 1017 | Late Anuradhapura Period |
| 459 - 477 | King Dhatusena repels Tamils but is killed by his son Kasyapa. |
| 477 - 495 | King Kasyapa builds Sigiriya but is defeated by his brother and commits suicide on the battlefield. |
| 7th - 10th centuries | A complicated time of alliances and conflicts between Lanka and several South Indian states, as: the Pandya, Pallava, Chola, etc. |
| 993 | Cholas sack Anuradhapura. |
| 1073 - 1215 | Polonnaruwa Period |
| 1073 | Native Sinhalese defeat the Cholas; new capital established at Polonnaruwa. Sculptures at Gal Vihara. |
| 1110 - 1153 | Rival capitals. |
| 1153 - 1186 | Reign of Parakrama I (The Great). Political reunification and building program at Polonnaruwa. |
| 1187 - 1196 | Reign of Nissanka Malla. Building program continues at Polonnaruwa. |
| 1214 - 1597 | Period of Disunity |
| 1214 - 1236 | Kalingan invaders destroy Polonnaruwa; ephemeral capitals thereafter. |
| 1254 - 1324 | Marco Polo visits the island. |
| 1505 | Portuguese arrive. |
| 16th century (1st half) | Portuguese occupy the coastal areas. |
| 16th century (2d half) | Native Singhalese kings (Rajasinha I, others) and Portuguese puppet king (Dom Jao Dharmapala) vie for dominance. |
| 1597 - 1815 | Kandyan Period |
| 1597 | Native capital moves to Kandy, holds out against European invaders for next 200 years. |
| 1656 - 1796 | Dutch Colonial Period |
| 1656 | Dutch oust the Portuguese. |
| 1796 - 1948 | British Colonial Period |
| 1796 | Dutch surrender to British. |
| 1802 | Ceylon (the British name for the island) becomes a Crown Colony. British establish coffee plantations. |
| 1815 | Last king of Kandy is deposed and exiled to India. |
| 1870 | Coffee blight forces changeover of plantation system from growing coffee to growing tea. |
| 1948 - present | Independence |
| 1948 | Ceylon declares independence. |
| 1972 | Ceylon changes name to Republic of Sri Lanka. |
| 1985 | Tamil Tigers (LTTE) emerge from Jaffna secessionist movement. |
| 2009 | LTTE defeated. |
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